Need help about enclosure VENTILATION

[Mr1692]

Hi Guys, Me and my girlfriend are fairly new to the hobby (And to this forum)
and we are unsure about the ventilation for our little 8 legged friends.

Here's the question: Are Exo Terrarium consider well ventilated?

We have 5 Tarantula's so far, GreenBottle Blue, OBT, Mexican fire leg, Brazillian Fire Red and a Antille Pink toe.

They are all contained in Exo Terrarium, beside the OBT which is homed in a 10 Gallon Top lid tank.

We wanna know if those are good to keep our pets in.

Thanks for your help

 

[EtienneN]

I wouldn't use one personally just because it looks like even if you do manage to fill it up to the bottom vents with substrate, there will still be too much height between the mesh lid and the top of the substrate which poses a fall risk. And it doesn't look like it allows for enough substrate to burrow well. I like at least six inches of substrate in with my terrestrials. Also the mesh lids are a pain as many tarantulas will accidentally get their claws and fangs stuck. You can go to somewhere like The Container Store or whatever you have in Canada and get a nice plastic tub that you can melt/solder/drill holes in. These cages are just more trouble than they're worth. However, people do often exchange the lid for a new one with perspex/acrylic but that doesn't solve the problem of not being able to put enough substrate in it.

 

[Mr1692]

Thanks for your reply EtienneN.
I should've specified that my containers are the 12x12x12inch model. I have 4.5inch up to the vent and put more substrate in the back.
Change the lid for an Acrylic is not a bad idea at all, thanks for that.

However, do you think it's ventilated enough? Thank you!

 

[EtienneN]

If you can manage to get the substrate in, none of the species you've mentioned are moisture dependent so there would be a decreased likelihood of mould because the substrate will stay dry. I would try getting an acrylic sheet cut at your local hardware store, then you can have one large sheet cut to fit more than one enclosure. The main thing is that you want to discourage climbing for the Fireleg and other heavy bodied Ts you have. If they fall from more than a couple of inches they can rupture their abdomens. Generally, the rule of thumb is this: you want no more than 1.5 times the diagonal length of the tarantulas' legs between the top of the lid of the cage and the substrate. If you decide to try to house your OBT in one of these I strongly recommend getting it a 'cork round' or large cork bark tube. This can be buried at a 45˚ angle and offer a 'safe haven' for the T. Otherwise it's going to adopt the WHOLE cage as its den and will probably be more spastic. If it were me, I'd house the OBT in another container with like eight inches of substrate.
Also, for your Pink Toe, they really like leaves up high. In my cages I have hot glued silk and plastic plants and leaves to the sides of the acrylic cage to look like tree branches coming off the central cork bark in the centre. The more leaf litter you can include up top, the better.

 

[cold blood]

Terrestrials shouldnt be housed in enclosures with front doors...it leads to a fall risk.

Now Avicularia need top notch ventilation, but terrestrials kept dry, or predominantly dry, have no such requirements, so ventilation isnt a primary concern.

For arboreals though, exo terras offer good airflow because of the vent strip below the doors.

 

[Mr1692]

Thanks again for those well appreciated advices!
Just to be clear, by moisture dependent, you mean like damp soil?
I mean The fire leg, Pink toe and red leg requires higher humidity... I never make the soil damp tho.

Apologies for my English OwO'

Thank you cold blood!
Can you please explain why front doors lead to falls. Thankyou.

 

[krequiem]

Thanks again for those well appreciated advices!
Just to be clear, by moisture dependent, you mean like damp soil?
I mean The fire leg, Pink toe and red leg requires higher humidity... I never make the soil damp tho.

Apologies for my English OwO'

In general, humidity is a fairly useless number when it comes to tarantulas. What's important to them is whether the substrate is kept dry or not. The pink toe shouldn't have higher humidity or damp substrate. Keep it dry and have good ventilation. (Hence the exoterras being fine for them.) The Fire leg is presumably a B. boehmei, yes? It comes from dry scrubland and doesn't need high humidity or damp substrate either aside from the occasional overflow of the water dish. If the "Red Leg" is a B. emilia, you can keep it just like the boehmei.

And no need to apologize for the English. You're doing great.

 

[EtienneN]

Thanks again for those well appreciated advices!
Just to be clear, by moisture dependent, you mean like damp soil?
I mean The fire leg, Pink toe and red leg requires higher humidity... I never make the soil damp tho.

Apologies for my English OwO'

Yes. Damp soil. With tarantulas, they cannot absorb 'ambient humidity' in the air so misting the walls of the tank/cage is useless. Instead, to achieve moisture it is recommended to pour a few cups of water down the corners of the cage so that it will trickle into the lower layers of substrate and provide a nice distribution of moisture levels for the tarantula to choose to dig in. Humidity in the air can actually make the air stale and suffocate tarantulas like Pink Toes (Avicularia avicularia) so to avoid this we give them lots of ventilation holes so the moisture never gets too high.

In regards to why the front opening doors are poor choices for terrestrials it's because the height is too much between the the line of where you can fill it too without blocking the lower vent holes and the lid. If a terrestrial climbed up to the top corner and fell down it would likely die as a result of its fall. That's why it's recommended not to have more than 1.5 times the diagonal length of the tarantulas' leg span between the substrate and the ceiling of the cage. And since you can't easily just add more substrate (unless you only open it from the top, which is kind of tricky to do) it's difficult to make this less dangerous with the height it has.

 

[Mr1692]

That make's lots of sens thank you.

The spider is a boehmei indeed. I was wrong then.. Different sites says different things. Some say to mist the enclosure and to let it dry for this particular type.

I see now EtinneN why, thank you. I will make sure to secure the enclosure. She is still very small and never leaves the hide for the moment.
In fact they are all very small still beside my GBB which I had for 2 years.

Thanks again for the advice guys I really appreciate you taking the time!
I'm always trying to learn more about those awesome creatures and enjoy the conversations =D

 

[cold blood]

I mean The fire leg, Pink toe and red leg requires higher humidity... I never make the soil damp tho.

None have such requirements, in fact all of these should be simply kept dry with a water dish....

As said, humidity isnt a relevant term to keeping ts...any one or place pushing humidity requirements for any species should be immidiately called into question and not trusted.

 

[Mr1692]

Humidity for these species of tarantulas should be kept between 70 – 80%

Do you consider 70 to 80% humidity dry? Thanks.

 

[cold blood]

Humidity for these species of tarantulas should be kept between 70 – 80%

Do you consider 70 to 80% humidity dry? Thanks.

Do yourself a favor....stop reading care sheets....they are just flat out NOT accurate.

 

[EtienneN]

Humidity for these species of tarantulas should be kept between 70 – 80%

Do you consider 70 to 80% humidity dry? Thanks.

It's actually a myth that 'pink toe' tarantulas a.k.a. Avicularia avicularia need high humidity. They do fine with dry conditions as long as an adequate water dish with fresh clean free standing water is provided. Occasionally like once every couple weeks or so, I'll spray the web of mine so that it can drink the water drops if it wants to without coming down to the water dish.

 

[Mr1692]

Where should I get my care info's?
There's so many different T's with different needs... If care sheets are inaccurate, where should I read about them?
Thanks.

 

[Thekla]

Where should I get my care info's?
There's so many different T's with different needs... If care sheets are inaccurate, where should I read about them?
Thanks.

Here! And nowhere else!

For example: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

 

[Mr1692]

Thank you =)

 

[cold blood]

Where should I get my care info's?
There's so many different T's with different needs... If care sheets are inaccurate, where should I read about them?
Thanks.

This is a prime example of just how badly care sheets can mess up a new keepers perspective.

There are basically 3 ways to keep ts...dry, partially dry (or partially damp) and damp. Every t fits one of these 3...no t has specific needs, they all live outside where temps and humidity levels fluctuate greatly. Additionally, housing lies in 3 criteria as well, fossorial, terrestrial and arboreal....again, all ts fit these limited criteria

Care sheets are the bane of the hobby, easily as bad as pet stores, in fact, I would argue worse than pet stores.

Get your info from actual real world experienced keepers....that's why this forum is so popular, its full of wildly experienced people to guide you through your questions....accurately.

 

[Mr1692]

Thank you for your reply. While I’m at it can someone tell me if a 8x8x8 tank is ok for a 2inch Antille Pink toe? I know they need height but is it ok for now since it’s still small?

 

[Scoly]

Thank you for your reply. While I’m at it can someone tell me if a 8x8x8 tank is ok for a 2inch Antille Pink toe? I know they need height but is it ok for now since it’s still small?

That's a bit of a squeeze, so it would for a temporary measure, but by the next moult it will be way too small. For those sizes a tall plastic sweet jar is better: cheap, tall & narrow, easy to put side ventilation in; so really no point using anything else at this stage unless it's an arboreal glass viv you intend to keep it in for a while longer.

 

[Mr1692]

Thank you for the reply. I got her something bigger already =)