BEtter enclosures for tarantulas?

[Vilurum]

Now I have one of my Ts (rose hair) in a 5 gallon glass exo terra cage and even with the sub reaching to where the doors open it is still to high for her (she climbs and falls alot)

Aswell I would like her to have more ground space.

I have looked into all mannor of plastic containers but they have bad lids and arn't see through.

What can you recommend I use?

 

[groovyspider]

Now I have one of my Ts (rose hair) in a 5 gallon glass exo terra cage and even with the sub reaching to where the doors open it is still to high for her (she climbs and falls alot)

Aswell I would like her to have more ground space.

I have looked into all mannor of plastic containers but they have bad lids and arn't see through.

What can you recommend I use?

larger sized kritter keepers work

 

[Verneph]

She climbs a lot? What kind of substrate are you using?

 

[Alexandra V]

Personally I use the Exo Terra plastic vivariums ("Kritter Keepers"). The fist thing I do however is remove the little handle on the lid so I'm not tempted to lift it up by the lid because while the tarantula can't escape those lids, the lid isn't secure enough to lift the enclosure by. They come in a bunch of different sizes and are very cheap.

Another option if you want something more like a display cage would be something along the lines of these: http://tarantulacages.com/ They're really cool looking and seem to be very high quality from the reviews I've read.

 

[Pugsley]

I moved my rose to one of these.. http://www.reptilecentre.com/exoterra-flat-faunarium-large-460x300x170mm_p4022011.htm

was only £10 at surrey pet supplies. Gives her tons of floor space and is low to stop any ambitious climbing (not that I'd ever describe my Rosie as ambitious when it comes to exploring)

 

[Vilurum]

As far as I am aware the largest Kritter Kepper isn't really that big?

I am using Vermiculite and she loves it, she has no probs going into her hide on it, sitting on it in the open or digging in it, she climbs alot as she is very active.

---------- Post added at 02:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 PM ----------

Pugsly i have been actually considering getting one of them, but my T digs ALOT about 5" deep at some spots so if I had that much sub in he wouldn't really have any height at all then :/

 

[Alexandra V]

As far as I am aware the largest Kritter Kepper isn't really that big?

There are a lot of companies now that make the exact same thing in different sizes and shapes under different names. At my lps there are tons of different types. For instance, the Exo Terra Faunariums: http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/faunarium.php my young G. Porteri is in the PT-2300 and still has ample room, but a G. Rosea when full grown should be alright in the biggest one (PT-2310).

Edit: wait, just realized Pugsley showed you the same thing...

 

[Vilurum]

I know they are in my shops but with the sub in she would more or less be squashed against the top.

I guess I could put less sub in but as I said she loves to dig.

 

[groovyspider]

not only that the kritter keepers come with diffrent colors you can set up a color system like for instance all my Ts like haplos along them lines have a blue lid my safe ones have light color lid was gonna go with pink or sumthen but hard to color cordinate if constanly out of the fml so i just go with the light color one.. and the other inverts that require food more i use black like for my centipede... just a suggestion i dunno works for me

 

[Stan Schultz]

Now I have one of my Ts (rose hair) in a 5 gallon glass exo terra cage and even with the sub reaching to where the doors open it is still to high for her (she climbs and falls alot)

Aswell I would like her to have more ground space.

I have looked into all mannor of plastic containers but they have bad lids and arn't see through.

What can you recommend I use?

For showing off your most prized specimens use 2.5 or 5.5 gal aquariums. (Multiply those values by 3.8 to get liter capacity.) For the really, REALLY big tarantulas a 10 or 15 gal is generally okay. These look great and the glass doesn't scratch very easily. The cons to these are that they're expensive and heavy. (Click the thumbnails to see larger versions.)



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A close second best are the so-called Kritter Keeper style cages. Use the same sizes as the aforementioned aquariums, but beware of the very largest sizes. They're much too tall for most tarantulas. Pros: Relatively inexpensive. Readily available. There is a shape available that is flatter than the photo below that works really well for large collections. Not terribly expensive, ... Cons: ... but the cost adds up for very large collections. The plastic scratches easily. Tarantulas often stick their legs throw the slots in the grill and get stuck, sometimes pulling off a leg. The grilled top is difficult to cover with something like plastic food wrap to control ventilation, and therefore humidity.



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Plastic shoe boxes are also very popular for the bulk of your working collection, especially if you just need housing and you're not planning on displaying the tarantula. Pros: Available almost everywhere. Extremely economical. Semi-disposable. Empty units nest for compact storage. Units in use stack well up to 5 or 6 tall. Cons: NOT ESCAPE PROOF! Can be too light and flimsy. Often not transparent enough to inspect the contents without opening the box (important if you're dealing with hyperactive species or those with "medically significant" bites). Plastic scratches readily.



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Gotta go ...battery's dying. Cheers,

 

[Vilurum]

Why would you bother having them if you wern't going to display them?

By that I mean not having them so you can't look at.

 

[Nanchantress]

Container thread

Search for this thread: The Container Thread
(Sorry I don't know how to link threads here...)

It has some great, inexpensive ideas.

 

[astraldisaster]

I notice you're in Ireland, so I don't know if you can get them, but my new favorite enclosures for terrestrials are these. They look great, stack nicely, and even come with pre-drilled ventilation holes! The men's shoebox is good for any medium to large T (up to 6" or so), and the small mid-heeled one is good for juveniles up to 4".

 

[Kirsten]

I use 5.5 gal. glass tanks for my G. rosea, B. vagans, A. payson,and a 10 gallon for my large Pulchripes. For my juvie P. murinas and juvie B. smithi, I have them in kritter keepers; I use the medium size, and of course, the appropriate amount of sub for digging, safety etc. For my s'lings of which I have 3, 1-2", I have my G. pulchra and my Euathlus sp. orange in the square breeder boxes with the feeding door on the side; I have a 2" N. chromatus in a nice little glass jewelry type box trimmed with brass that I rigged with small lid propers for adequate oxygen and is quite lovely. Lid sides are secured and no problems. I have one avic. avic. in a Michael's acrylic show box (I'm sure you've seen those). Got all fancy and put brass corner pieces and a brass and 'crystal' handle on the lid : ) my P. irminia and another avic. avic. in the clear 1 gal. paint cans with the metal lids you pry up with the attached 'coin' thing that are also from Michael's. Of course, the proper ventilation holes must be drilled or melted in. I have a Haplopelma vonworthi in a large (not the tall largest, though I think she'd love the tunneling depth) and she's made a good tunnel and chamber in that. A P. scrofa is housed in the shorter, but longer kritter keeper seen above and happily so. One G. rosea RCF is in one of those odd-shaped, transparent, blue-topped jobs, though. A nice 5.5 when I have the room. I have a mygalomorph (A. franckie) in one of those cheeseball containers and she's webbed that up nicely.

So, you see, lots of options. As adults, all my terrestrials will be in 5.5 tanks with the exception of the one in the 10 gallon. I like making 'show tanks' at all stages, though : )

 

[Jwest]

Lay the exoterra on its side and lift the lid up when you want to open it

 

[Stan Schultz]

Now I have one of my Ts (rose hair) in a 5 gallon glass exo terra cage and even with the sub reaching to where the doors open it is still to high for her (she climbs and falls alot) ...

Someone else brought up the subject of what and how much substrate you were using. I am going to hijack that posting with some advice about substrates.

Simple is better. There are no significant advantages to mixing up some exotic concoction. Unless you have some specific goal in mind, use either horticultural peat (aka, black peat, Canadian peat, sphagnum peat - but NOT plain sphagnum) or shredded coconut husk (aka, coir, coco husk, and a bunch of unimportant trade names). Both are available from landscape and garden centers in your neighborhood for much less than you'll pay in a pet shop.

The standard rule of thumb (that 50% of enthusiasts ignore) is that if you don't want your tarantula to burrow, use a layer only 1" to 2" (2.5 - 5 cm) deep, but give the tarantula something to hide in.

If you don't mind your tarantula burrowing, or you want it to burrow, use whatever depth you feel compelled to, but you may have to mix some portion of garden loam into the substrate to keep the burrow from collapsing every time you walk past the cage. Such garden loam is also available in most landscaping and garden centers. Try to get something that's declared "natural and organic."

Having said that, another standard rule is that the distance between the top of the substrate and the top of the cage should not exceed 1.5 times the leg span of the tarantula to prevent it from hurting itself when it climbs and subsequently falls. Please note:

1. Spiderlings are not so prone to falling, and are of much lighter weight, so their cages can be a little taller.

2. Very old, fat tarantulas should be kept in flatter cages with much less climbing room.

3. This rule doesn't apply to the arboreal species because they have evolved special behaviors and anatomies to prevent cataclysmic falls.

To find out how to use these substrates, merely click the <Search> link in the gray bar across the top of this page and type either peat, husk, or coconut in the box. Click Go.

While the computer and network are working you might consider going into the kitchen to pour yourself a glass/cup/stein of your favorite beverage. You've got a lot of reading to do.

If you want to concentrate on my little pearls of wisdom, go "Advanced Search" and type Pikaia in the "User Name:" box. Just be aware that I often get flamed for so boldly lobbying in favor my personal biases. So, in self defense, if you're a newby, do it this way for now. After you've had several tarantulas for more than a year it's okay to gently experiment on them with new arrangements, or to follow someone else's advice.

Lastly, enthusiasts generally fall into two broad groups: Those that like to keep fancy, natural and organic, toy utopias (these arrangements often require frequent attention, and if anything goes wrong, correcting it is a BIG chore). And, those who take a minimalist approach, supplying the tarantula with all the basic, important things, but shying away from the flashy, museum diorama type cages. These alternate, basic cages are a lot easier to care for, especially if you accumulate dozens or hundreds of tarantulas.

BTW, has anyone told you of the tarantula enthusiast's lament?

LIKE THOSE POTATO CHIPS, YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!

You've been warned!

Best of luck.

 

[Vilurum]

Why would you make it so your T couldn't burrow if it wanted to?

Thats not exactly fair on the T (I like to care for there needs 1st then my own, not the other way round)

Those flat rectangle boxes people have been showing me would be perfect, but again I need a good 6"+ sub in the tank as my T likes to burrow (and to reducs sub so it can't dig would be mean imo so I am not going to reduce the sub :/

I have looked into large cheap plastic boxes (don;t mind the huge amount of sub to fill it to a safe level, but its just the lids on them seem abit bad)

 

[Stan Schultz]

Why would you make it so your T couldn't burrow if it wanted to? ...

1. Babies and small spiderlings almost always burrow (at least the terrestrial species). But we usually keep them on comparatively thick layers of substrate anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

2. Larger spiderlings to adults may or may not burrow if given the chance. A lot depends on the species and the cage, but there are no exact rules or even guidelines beyond setting up a burrower's cage and watching what happens.

3. Fifty+ years of experience by literally thousands of enthusiasts have demonstrated that burrowing per se is not necessary to the health and well being of almost all terrestrial tarantulas (and since few or no arboreals "burrow," they are automatically excluded). The whole issue may be moot.

4. Because I want to at least see, and possibly interact with the spider I just paid $300 for! The thought of a $300 pet hole just seems so silly to me.

... Thats not exactly fair on the T (I like to care for there needs 1st then my own, not the other way round) ...

What's fair? If yours is a wild caught tarantula remember that it was unceremoniously dug out of its burrow on another continent by some huge, clumsy, bipedal creature with bad breath and body odor. Think "alien abduction" here. Or, "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind!"

If yours was cage bred and raised, it's been completely deprived of any interaction with its native, wild environment from birth. Does this seem fair?

It turns out that this type of discussion has occurred time and time again on this and other forums with some taking the stance that stealing these animals from their native habitat under any circumstances is dead wrong; and those on the other end of the spectrum taking the stance that there's nothing wrong at all, that we're actually doing them a favor. It's an old, old argument that involves everything from tigers and penguins to domestic cats and dogs. There have been flame wars that rivaled the American Civil War!

There is no answer or solution to the question because the universe isn't set up to consider "fair."

... Those flat rectangle boxes people have been showing me would be perfect, but again I need a good 6"+ sub in the tank as my T likes to burrow (and to reducs sub so it can't dig would be mean imo so I am not going to reduce the sub ...

Then use the regular shaped Kritter Keeper style cage as in the middle photo in my earlier post.

... I have looked into large cheap plastic boxes (don;t mind the huge amount of sub to fill it to a safe level, but its just the lids on them seem abit bad)

Ah! Lids are critical because they prevent the tarantula from escaping. And, it will escape if it gets a chance. There are all sorts of ways of fastening those covers, but they all require some ingenuity and a few common tools on your part. I suggest you start looking through the photo sections of the various Internet forums for ideas and instructions.

Abducted by aliens, eh? (That's a Canadian joke. )

 

[bravesvikings20]

Why would you make it so your T couldn't burrow if it wanted to?

Thats not exactly fair on the T (I like to care for there needs 1st then my own, not the other way round)

Those flat rectangle boxes people have been showing me would be perfect, but again I need a good 6"+ sub in the tank as my T likes to burrow (and to reducs sub so it can't dig would be mean imo so I am not going to reduce the sub :/

I have looked into large cheap plastic boxes (don;t mind the huge amount of sub to fill it to a safe level, but its just the lids on them seem abit bad)

My only thing is rosies almost never really climb...how moist are you keeping the substrate? Keep it bone dry

 

[Vilurum]

Well we try to replicate how it was in the wild.

Both my Ts were captive born and raised so know no other life, nothing is being taken away, the T is question was taken from a pet shop that had her on a shallow layer of wood chippings and no hide :/ so I think I am giving it a better life and doing my best to give it the best life it can have.

But again its all opinion.....

Also yes the sub is ofcourse kept bone dry, she has a dish of fresh water in the corner of the cage, I don;t even mist (unless it was coming to a molt then a very light mist)

Why is it hard to believe my T just likes to climb? :S