Gasping for Air

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
283
Alright, I'm still a little worried that my new s'ling will break outta jail. This, right now, in getting my new T, is my number one fear. Branching from this fear is a question that is probably really, really stupid. If the holes are too small, or too few, can the T..suffocate? If there isn't enough air getting in there, is it going to be in danger? Also, how will small holes affect humidity levels? How many should I have in, say, a baby food bottle. I was thinking 3. Is 3 good?
Maybe I'll know everything eventually. I'm working on it.
Thanks,
The Rookie
 

skinheaddave

SkorpionSkin
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 15, 2002
Messages
4,341
Rookie,

I wouldn't worry about suffocation in anything but the smallest of most carefuly sealed and never opened containers. Ts need an incredibly small amount of oxygen to survive.

The ventelation question is important from other perspectives, though. Idealy, you want as much ventelation as you can to prevent the air from stagnating. This can lead the eventual development of mould/fungus problems. The flip-side of this is that you need to restrict ventelation enough to maintain adequate humidity.

If you are using a pill bottle and getting a fair-sized s'ling (3/4" and up), you should be able to get away with putting several finishing-nail sized holes in the lid. You can even wait until your T arrives and judge for yourself how big the holes can be. If you have a variety of nails/tacks/pins on hand, you can then punch the holes in a matter of minutes and feel completely comfortable as to the security of your T.

Cheers,
Dave
 

Wade

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,929
It would take many days, possibly weeks, to suffocate a spider even if there were no holes. The bigger problem of poor ventilation (combined with moisture) is it can create ideal conditions for various fungi that can be detremental to the spider. This is why many keepers opt for the dryest conditions posssible for adults and larger immatures, but I assume you're dealing with a spiderling. When raising a sling, you want to find the balance that keeps enough moisture in there, but doesn't let it fester to the point of becoming unhygenic. Generally, you want the substrate to be "slightly moist" which means that it shouldn't be so moist that if you take a handful of it you can squeeze water out of it. Three holes may be enough, but I'd say it's safe to put more holes in if you want. When punching holes in metal jar lids, it's good to do it from the inside of the lid, so that any jagged bits of metal are pointing outwards rather than inwards, where they could injure the spider. Using a small finishing nail or brad and a hammer, you should be able to make holes small enough to prevent escapes.

Wade

Hmmmm...Dave beat me to the punch, I've gotta start typing faster!
 
Last edited:

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
283
thanks fellas

Thanks guys,
That was a bigger help than you may realize. This suffocation/escape stuff has been absolutly eating me for the past few days.
Haha, it looks like you might want to speed up Wade. Speaking of competitions amongst us hobbiests, I don't want to offend anyone, but I do believe my white-man's fro is far greater than the almighty code monkey's. I'll have a picture of myself up as soon as I get my G.Pulchra.
Thanks again,
The Rookie
 
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