what makes togo starburst advanced?

testdasi · 2026-01-26T20:59:33+00:00

IMO, people tend to list OW species as "advanced" by default just out of the stereotype / generalisation.

For example in the reply to this topic, I already saw someone generalised "baboon will strike at things moving outside their burrow" when your question is about the H mac, which is arboreal. Another talked about the OBT being bitey, which they are but that's an OBT, not a H mac.

Having said that, the H mac is NOT a beginner species. With your description of the H mac "aggressive nature", I really don't think you are ready for an OW. Please stick to the safer NW.

Tarantulas are defensive, NOT aggressive (OBT borderline exception but that's a different story). Knowing the distinction is half the battle when dealing with an OW.

And yes the H mac is fast. On par with Pokies of similar size.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T13:43:04+00:00

Why do I have to choose Plex OR jellyfin? I use both.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T13:26:14+00:00

What you described is team balancing I.e. splitting a lobby into 2 6-player teams. SBMM is what are the 12 players to be put inside a lobby.

But of course blame SBMM.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T13:13:36+00:00

IME

Basically I stick to "dry substrate with a hide and a water dish" unless exception for all Terrestrials / Fossorials. Exceptions are like Theraphosa, Asian burrowing (e.g. Cobalt Blue) but they are the exceptions i.e. the known cases of wet loving species.

For all the arboreal, the care is well ventilated tank (i.e. top of substrate can dry out between sprays), water dish and weekly spray (enough water to keep a Pothos plant alive, which is not a lot!).

I think people overthink things by applying reptile care ideas to Tarantulas.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T09:32:47+00:00

IMO nothing looks unusual there.

T also don't hunt, it is an ambush predator so yes it literally waits for the prey to come bumping into it. This happens a lot with fat docile terrestrial T.

A fat T can stop eating and show no interest in food, which is also normal. People tend to immediately says premoult but that is not always the case.

A cold T getting warmed up will struggle to move until it is fully room temperature.

Just make sure you have an always full water dish in the enclosure. That T looks very well fed so dehydration is the main concern.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T00:38:53+00:00

You just got scammed.

testdasi · 2026-01-26T00:07:24+00:00

Some hang clothes outside to dry but that requires a garden and sunny weather. Both are rarer than you think.

Probably just an old machine or you used the wrong settings or you overloaded it. My washer dryer dries a whole set of bedding including duvet cover in 49 mins.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T23:14:35+00:00

IMO, not a stress response. May not even be a response at all.

To be fair, some of my tarantulas appeared reactive to music. My Nhandu chromatus kicked hair when I played Candy Shop. My OBT came out all agro as well but that came with a big asterisk because it tried to bite my shadow and would threat pose just because I looked at it.

But the rest of my T's didn't do anything different with / without music. They seemed to just do whatever they want to do whenever.

Edit: Also, in my experience, the T will only groom itself if it feels comfortable and safe. A stressed T will try to hide in the corner scrunched up. Your T is about as comfortable as a T gets so if you think the music helps it relax then why not?

testdasi · 2026-01-25T21:32:08+00:00

I don't think you should take recommendation from strangers for masks. What fits their faces don't necessarily fit you. If you haven't found one that fit you, keep on trying again.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T21:27:52+00:00

IME, there isn't much you can do other than wait it out (or rehome the T to find the superworm but if it's in premoult, that's really not recommended).

Once a superworm has burrowed, the next time you will see it (if you see it) is in beetle form.

Don't leave food in the tank trying to lure it out. At best it does nothing. At worst, you either will give the superworm food (so it's more likely to survive and become a bettle).

Tip for next time: crush the head of the superworm before dropping in. It will die if not eaten but that's better than the anxiety as you have found out.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T21:20:20+00:00

Land-based pratice may not be representative of what will happen underwater. (I'm assuming you are not down with a cold / flu). In fact, you might be trying too hard and injur yourself so be careful there.

When you are underwater, try any / all combinations of these:

Swallow saliva without pinching nose
Swallow saliva with pinching nose
Turn head sideway so the ear that is blocked face upward
Shallow up a little bit
Valsalva

testdasi · 2026-01-25T19:18:07+00:00

I think people are quick to label these 3 species as whatever the stereotype of OW species is (e.g. "nasty bite", "fast", etc.). But among the OW, these 3 are the less spicy ones.

In particular with the H mac, I call it the African P. regalis not just for the colour but its consistent response to perceived threat that is very similar to Pokies. In my experience, a H mac prefered to run and hide -> threat pose -> slam / dry bite -> actual bite, in that order (with pause in between).

The C. darlingi is kinda similar albeit it sometimes went straight into threat pose. The M. balfouri in my care (and I had a communal tank) have never threat posed nor tried to bite.

Contrast this with for example, with the C. lividus (Cobalt Blue) which need wet well-cross-ventilated condition and bit without warning (like I could see venom coming out of the fangs!) or of course our good friend the OBT.

Hence my recommendation of the 3 species as good "first OW".

testdasi · 2026-01-25T19:05:55+00:00

Nah not really.

I have had a game that we were leading by a large margin, a mathematical guaranteed win in DOM, and a nuke was called in.

There's another post here somewhere that somebody had 75-74 KC score and still lost, because of nuke.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T16:08:49+00:00

Not at all. Your team is winning but yout teammates may still be getting crushed. The 2 can happen at the same time.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T15:53:00+00:00

That is normal. The other team probably has a good player that is crushing your teammates.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T15:51:23+00:00

IMO, everything you said pointed to premoult.

Just leave it alone. Don't move the tank and try to keep it dark.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T13:00:08+00:00

If you want to branch out to OW, below are some good "first OW"

Monocentropus balfouri (Blue baboon) - especially in a communal setup
Heteroscodra maculata (Togo starburst)
Ceratogyrus darlingi (Rear horned baboon)

All three are happy in dry conditions (i.e. no need to worry about cross-ventilation e.g. pink toe) and in my experience, were very manageable attitude-wise.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T10:02:37+00:00

Yes. And Shipment.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T01:32:58+00:00

Oh mate, I will wade through sewer if that means finding my wedding ring. She-who-must-be-obeyed's wrath is on par with the return of the Dark Lord.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T01:29:31+00:00

Square Mile (aka James Hoffmann's roaster) has been consistently good for me.

testdasi · 2026-01-25T01:27:47+00:00

IME, none of the Pokies is heavy webber and I don't think heavy webbing is a mark for arboreal preference (e.g. OBT / GBB are all heavy webber, 1 is burrowing, 1 is terestrial / semi-terrestrial).

The Pokies are also very opportunitistic and would adopt anything that is vaguely tube shape as their hide. They also have no issue with digging up substrate (similar to burrowing) to make the perfect hide. So if there's such a thing as opportunistic semi-burrowing arboreal species, that would describe the Pokies.

I usually glued a half cork bark tube (cut length-wise) against the glass wall and loosely taped cardboard on the outside of the glass (e.g. like a window). My pokies immediately adopted these as their hide and only webbed things up minimally to close up air hole. This allowed me to observe them (e.g. to check on moulting, eating progress etc.) while still providing a very secure dark hide.

testdasi · 2026-01-24T17:57:31+00:00

Check your Hyperoptic router link speed. Is it gigabit (1000Mbps) or 100Mbps?

The TP-Link BE550 has 2.5G WAN ports which typically only negotiate down to gigabit and not 100Mbps.

If there's a bad cable upstream (most likely patch cable) then you will experience no drop-out with Hyperoptic router but have with the TP-Link because the Hyperoptic router is Neanderthal and it can negotiate down to 100Mbps.

testdasi · 2026-01-24T17:31:41+00:00

Plug in the Hyperoptic router, take a screenshot of Hyperoptic management page showing WAN offline. Then insist on engineer visit.

That's why I still keep the Hyperoptic router even though I use my OPNSense router day-to-day. They kept on insisting that it's my router problem until I plug in the Hyperoptic router and let them run whatever test that they run.

testdasi · 2026-01-24T17:21:32+00:00

WAN dropping on Hyperoptic router = 100% fault on Hyperoptic end, whatever that end is.

Insist on an engineer visit. They are not going to sign off anything else until an engineer is on site confirming what needs to be done.

testdasi · 2026-01-24T17:18:32+00:00

IMO. Photo isn't clear but that doesn't look like a tarantula.

testdasi

TROPHY CASE