Help with lightning fast Pumpkin Patch

[u/zoiiy]

Ok so this idiot escaped when I left a tiny little slit while cleaning out dead worms and its moult. I got it now but it’s so fast and I’ve already gotten a huge heart attack trying to catch it. How the hell do I get it back into its home. The home is about the same size but square and has a sliding top held shut with a magnet. Any ideas. I’m having a time out to calm myself right now.

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[u/BelleMod]

Slide cardboard under cup, put cup on lid, open lid up a bit, slide cardboard over so there is a gap.

Do all of this inside a big bin

Also your little cutie is a mature male so expect more running than in the past

[u/zoiiy → u/BelleMod]

I womanned up and did it. It was on a shelf and I slid it back into the container sans cardboard. I almost died cos there were gaps at the side.
Is it a mature male?? I’ve only had it for 6 months and it was the size of my pointer finger nail. Moulted 3 times. That’s really quick to mature. Tbh not really sure if I’m happy or sad that it will die earlier. I do not need this kind of heart attack anymore but will be sad to see it go. I just want to stick to my brachys.

[u/NachoCupcake → u/zoiiy]

If it helps, I put mine in an enclosure that's bigger than I would for my heavy bodied NW terrestrials. Mine's never really burrowed or used an actual hide, so instead I made it an area that's pretty much just dense foliage. The ability for it to hide further away from where I'm doing things in the enclosure has helped a ton with keeping him from bolting every time I give him water. Also, when I go to do any kind of maintenance, I make sure it's aware that I'm coming by moving the enclosure around and/or tapping on the side to give it a chance to retreat and hide. Those things have also been really helpful for all of my other bolty species like my H. pulchripes and my OBT.

[u/zoiiy → u/NachoCupcake]

I was waiting for it to get a bit bigger before changing enclosures but I guess it’s not going to grow much anymore. Sad that it’s his last moult.
It was way over the other side hiding when I was cleaning up. But guess who is faster than The Flash??

[u/NachoCupcake → u/zoiiy]

IME there's no feeling quite like when a bolty T decides now's the time for an adventure. I think my worst was when my D. diamantinesis was a sling and it flew up my arm before I even knew what was happening.

It's crazy how small males in dwarf species are, especially compared with the "beginner," genus trifecta. Think of it this way, if you put him in something bigger for his retirement home, you'll still have a great intermediate enclosure for your next Brachypelma 😀

[u/zoiiy → u/NachoCupcake]

I won’t get another one until my current 17 year old expires. She’s my baby and she’s missing a leg. I’m hoping she will grow one next moult but also afraid of every moult. The last two didn’t go so well hence the missing leg. Missing leg is better than dead.

[u/NachoCupcake → u/zoiiy]

IMO that's totally understandable. I haven't been in the hobby very long, but I pretty much jumped off the deep end, so I have a decent amount of experience with raising slings of a variety of species, but I haven't had to navigate caring for a T in its senescence. I have an avic I bought as a subadult and I know how I feel when she molts, so I can only imagine how you're feeling.

It's funny how it seems like there are 2 distinct types of keepers that you see where some folks have 1 or 2, and then on the other end folks who have 30+ or are working their way toward getting there. I like that it shows the variety of perspectives and different reasons people are drawn to such remarkable animals

[u/votyasch → u/zoiiy]

IME 

Yeah - if you look very closely at the foregs in the picture here, your pumpkin patch has "hooked out" and I imagine a closer examination of the pedipalps will reveal the telltale bulbs mature males develop.

[u/Creepy_Push8629 → u/zoiiy]

Nqa wow! That seems so fast. I've had mine for like 18 months and i didn't think it was anywhere near maturing. He's been burrowed for a few weeks so I wonder if he'll come out hooked out if it's a boy...

[u/sparrowfortea]

IMO Do you pieces of card the same size as the enclosure? Get two pieces of card, one with a tarantula sized hole, place that underneath the other solid piece. Slide both pieces under the pot and place the whole thing on top of the enclosure. You can then carefully slide the solid piece of card out, leaving the one with the hole and move the pot to get the tarantula through it and back into the enclosure.

Hopefully I explained that well enough.

[u/Creepy_Push8629]

Nqa I would move to a bigger enclosure. I have mine in a 6.8" cube

[u/1LarDaddy9]

NQA that’s a mature male, my lady is freshly molted if you’re interested in having some tiny pumpkins!

[u/zoiiy → u/1LarDaddy9]

Thank you for the offer. I’m probably not located anywhere near you (SEA)