u/CapitalTonight6673

finally got the tank set up for the two males i’ll be receiving soon! I used a mix of cyprus’s mulch and coconut coir with just a small bit sphagnum moss and leaf litter to decorate the top!
the decorations are a synthetic vine auctioned to the back wall, a cork cylinder split in half to make two hides, a sanded branch and a small, shallow water dish buried enough so they can drink without falling in or climbing up!

any advice for changes are appreciated as this is my first time keeping hissers!

Hey! Apologies for the- state of the room. We’re in the middle or rearranging/reorganizing (to make way for the hissers i’m setting up for!)
Wanting to see if this is a good location/tank for my boys before i start setting up the enclosure itself! (it will be flush to the wall there’s just some chords still in the way)
Tank is a Reptihabitat box does not state the dimensions but it looks to be a 5 gallon (same size as my tarantulas enclosure)

Just wanted to share my baby girl is molting for the first time since i’ve gotten her! Leaving her alone and not disturbing but wanted to share, she’s so bright!

SO! My OBT is very quickly outgrowing the cup she was purchased in! I was told she was okay to leave in until she was much larger but her cup feels so small now. She was only about the size of the top joint of my pinky when i got her but now she’s basically the entire length of said pinky!!

I’ve only ever worked with an already full-grown tarantula (a deserts blonde/Aphonopelma chalcodes specifically) so setting up a new enclosure was very easy given her docile temperament, but my OBT spiderling is very skittish, and very fast (as per usual of the species LOL) so i just want to know what the best way of transporting them into a new set up would be!

(The new setup i’m going to keep tall and mostly dirt with a natural clam shell for a water dish and two pieces of cork for climbing/web support as she loves to build webs but also burrow, and i want her to have a bit of decoration without it being too overcrowded or unnecessary since she’s still fragile and growing. sorry for the yapping! just trying to give as much info as possible about plans so that i can get better assistance from you all!)

Bonus picture of her eating last night :3

Hey all!! some background info, sorry i’m unsure how to go about this post:
I started my ear stretching about 3/4 years ago. I’m currently at a 6 gauge (i go based on what my piercer tells me if that’s improper size term i apologize, picture for reference!)
My last size up was April 9th 2026 when i went up to a 6 and it was by far the most painful stretch despite being a nearly year long wait from my last appointment (june 4th 2025). I had horse shoes since the start to have gravity assist (i think dead stretching is the proper term?? but we were tapering to get to the next sizes and then sticking the horseshoe in as the jewelry for the gravity assist, which it never helped, so correct me if i’m wrong).
Every appointment from my first stretch up until that most recent one has been more and more painful each appointment and I have been letting my piercer know and he suggested at my next size up we start taping instead of tapering.

my problem is I feel like maybe myself or my piercer is doing something wrong? Every size up I’ve done no matter how long I wait (which is why my most recent wait was almost a year), one of my ears bleeds and the pain is more painful than the last. my piercer at our last appointment had asked me if I was neurodivergent (i am) and that could be why it’s so painful but that it’s “mostly in your head”. Yes, i understand i feel pain differently but bleeding during my stretches??? i feel like maybe my body is just slower at recovering and maybe i should be waiting even longer, or maybe it’s the fact i was tapering and that’s just not a good way for my body to do it? I’m not sure what kind of advice i’m seeking i’m just tired of being in so much pain during my appointments and feeling like i’m messing something up or doing it wrong.
(pictures are from 1 week ago, just as a reference for the size i’m at. I got a warning before posting that encouraging bad practices is bad. I am in no way encouraging you guys to do anything if what I am doing is wrong! I just want advice for moving forward.)