- Joined
- May 7, 2004
- Messages
- 1,822
To the first question... yes, for the most part. When using a water dish-less setup for tarantulas, it is important to wet the substrate when it starts drying out. The wet substrate not only acts as a source of drinking water but also keeps the humidity up so the tarantula doesn't quickly dehydrate. With the tarantulas I keep without water dishes, I provide water by pouring it onto the substrate. Even for species from arid climates such as my Euathlus spp. The traditional advice for keeping tarantulas from arid climates is to keep them constantly on dry substrate. Since I don't use water dishes, I have to keep half of the substrate damp and restrict ventilation so it doesn't dry out too quickly. One also has to consider if their tarantula uses a hide or burrow. In that case, the substrate inside the hide or burrow won't dry out as much as the outside so one can slack a little on how often the entire enclosure has to be watered. That is the case with my two Theraphosa apophysis juveniles I raised in Kritter Keepers with the plastic screen lids. They use their half log hides all the time so when the enclosure starts drying out, they stay within their hides where it is more humid and damp. After I water the entire enclosure to get it nice and damp, they come out and are ready to feed. Because the two T. apophysis juvies use hides, I don't have to wrap the screen lid in plastic wrap to restrict ventilation.
To the second question...maybe. Generally speaking the humidity inside someone's house is lower than what it is outside. Of course that can vary so much depending on where someone lives, how often they run the air conditioning/ heater, etc. When it comes to your tarantulas though, you have to measure the humidity and temperature inside the enclosure. Measuring these factors in just the room won't tell you what conditions your tarantulas are in. Using my own experience as an example, the temperature and humidity levels inside my tarantula enclosures are higher than in the room they are in. I proved that to myself with an indoor/ outdoor thermo-hygrometer with probe. I lay the probe on the substrate in a tarantula enclosure and close the lid. After a few minutes, the reading from the probe shows a higher humidity and temperature than the room. Of course that is because I primarily use plastic boxes with a single row of 1/8 inch holes around the top and in the lid. Plastic is a good insulator so it traps heat; the restricted ventilation keeps humidity in even when the substrate is dry to the touch. Sometimes, the difference is huge. During the winter here in Dallas, TX, the humidity in my spider room can get as low as 20 something % where inside a plastic box housing a tarantula, the humidity level is at 50-60%. After watering my tarantulas, the humidity inside an enclosure can read 90-100% where the room humidity remains at 20-30% (Still in the winter. Summer humidity levels in the room is more like 50-60%).
