How can I make a decent water dish?

[viper69]

I use silicone molds for a lot of my water dishes, and Amazon has a leaf shaped silicone mold you could use. Just cut out one or two of the molds and bury them level with your substrate line.

You serve up candy to your Ts?

 

[miss moxie]

You serve up candy to your Ts?

Yeah, it keeps me on my toes when they get all hyper and jacked up on sugar. You should try it. You haven't seen fast until you've let your Poecilotheria drink some kool aid and snack on some jolly ranchers.

 

[viper69]

You should try it.

Who says I haven't

 

[Ellenantula]

I ended up buying the professional model glue gun and glue sticks -- I've had much better holding power. Especially for silk leaves on the wall in an avic & GBB enclosure.

That said, I still don't want a water dish I can't easily swap out when it gets dirty.
I sink 2 condiment cups/soufflé cups (ranging in size from 1 oz to 3 oz - depending on T size); the bottom cup holds substrate in place -- the top cup is then easily swapped out as needed.

Never thought these cups looked that bad, personally.

 

[bryverine]

Hot glues fine. Only certain types of silicone are fine.

Spiders are fine with hot glue minutes after drying. You have a wait a day or two for silicone.

What kind of silicones aren't ok? I thought silicone was pretty inert once cured...

I'd just take a clear bottle cap/dish, some hot glue, and cover the outside in substrate. I saw a post awhile back (@viper69) posted a link at one point about attaching one of those flat marbles underneath to prevent flipping.

 

[Venom1080]

What kind of silicones aren't ok? I thought silicone was pretty inert once cured...

I'd just take a clear bottle cap/dish, some hot glue, and cover the outside in substrate. I saw a post awhile back (@viper69) posted a link at one point about attaching one of those flat marbles underneath to prevent flipping.

I'd only use the silicone that fish hobbyists use. If it's safe for fish, I've heard it's safe for spiders.

 

[Trenor]

What kind of silicones aren't ok? I thought silicone was pretty inert once cured...

A lot of them are not just silicone but have additives. I know some used to seal around bathtubs/sinks have additives to help it cure faster in moister rooms. Not sure how that might affect anything though I wouldn't use those personally as some additives might leach out over time.

 

[viper69]

What kind of silicones aren't ok? I thought silicone was pretty inert once cured...

I'd just take a clear bottle cap/dish, some hot glue, and cover the outside in substrate. I saw a post awhile back (@viper69) posted a link at one point about attaching one of those flat marbles underneath to prevent flipping.

This is true I did. I do it myself, quite helpful.

 

[Ungoliant]

A lot of them are not just silicone but have additives. I know some used to seal around bathtubs/sinks have additives to help it cure faster in moister rooms. Not sure how that might affect anything though I wouldn't use those personally as some additives might leach out over time.

Silicone designed for use in moist environments often contains mildewcide. I'm not sure how that affects tarantulas, so I err on the side of caution and stick to the aquarium-safe silicone.

 

[OliverWhatever]

In the Norwegian invert hobby, Tec7 is recommended over aquarium silicone. It's been well tested in the hobby here, without issues, it is completely harmless for inverts once dried, is easy to work with, remains elastic for over 20 years, and comes in different colors as well. I don't know how accessible it is in the US, but in Norway you can get it pretty much everywhere, and it's used quite often in my line of work.

 

[TRection]

I use water dishes they sell at the pet store, they come in a pack of 3 one large, one med, and one small and they look like rocks (they also sell ones that look like little hollowed out tree stumps and look awesome). They only cost 4-5 bucks for the pack and will last you probably forever, not to mention seeing as they come with 3 different sizes you can swap them out as your T grows or moves on to a larger enclosure. Cleaning it also really isnt that difficult, take it out, rinse it off, and place it back. It takes like 2 minutes, I dont get why people are so adamant about not wanting to clean a water dish (unless they have dozens which then i can see it might become a pain), its arguably the only cleaning you'll ever have to do for your t and unless you have a t that defecates in its water dish on a daily basis its really not an issue. I clean my beardy's entire enclosure once a week which also involves a strainer to sift through all of the sub and clean out everything because he loves to toss his food EVERYWHERE and its a 120 gallon tank, now that's a real pain in the ...

 

[StampFan]

In Canada LePage Stik N Seal appears to be the aquarium safe bond of choice, anybody know if its tarantula safe?

 

[Ungoliant]

In Canada LePage Stik N Seal appears to be the aquarium safe bond of choice, anybody know if its tarantula safe?

In aquariums, you have to worry about what might leech out of the silicone into the water. So I think if it's aquarium-safe, it's likely to be tarantula-safe (once it fully cures).