# Techniques to stop terrestrial tarantulas from climbing on the (tall) walls in a naturalistic setup



## DrUlreich (Aug 2, 2015)

I recently bought a new terrarium to move my G.Pulchra in, the dimensions are 45*45*45 (Exo Terra). I'm going to use at least 10 cm of substrate so the height will be a maximum of 35 cm.
The terrarium is too tall for me to feel comfortable having it climbing the walls, so I want to set up the cage in a way that hinders it from climbing the walls. I'm going for a naturalistic looking terrarium (no live plants though) so I'm thinking that hanging plants would hinder/discourage climbing (he/she loves climbing during the evening/night). I was also thinking that having a thin stripe of water (simulating a water edge) along the front of the terrarium would be a nice hinder, as I obviously doesn't want to cover the front with plants or other stuff that would hinder the my view.

Have any of you guys had success with a setup that hinders/discourage the T from climbing the walls? I wouldn't mind the climbing if I knew it would be safe and wouldn't risk falling to its death, so any solutions who addresses that instead are also welcome.
Any thoughts about having a ''water edge'' at the front? Any experiences with it?

As this is my first shot at a more naturalistic terrarium any ideas, thoughts, pictures and experiences with your own setups are welcomed with open arms, as I haven't found any good videos of others setup (just keep in mind my main problem/question)

PS. does anyone have any good photos of the habitat they live in? I can't seem to find any pictures of them, showing where/how they live in the wild. It would really help me making a terrarium replicating its natural habitat. All I can currently rely on, is my distant knowledge of Brazil/Uruguay as a Norwegian :/


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## Beary Strange (Aug 2, 2015)

http://gpulchra.blogspot.com/p/biology-and-ecology.html?m=1
That link provides info on their habitat. 

As far as the enclosure, I don't think a gigantic Exo-Terra is really appropriate for a terrestrial--they're tall and have a very short space in which to add substrate, it's a recipe for a bad fall. What you could do is build up the front with a piece of acrylic attached from the inside, allowing you room to add more substrate. But I'm not sure I think the plant idea will work honestly. Terrestrials love to shred, relocate and bury plants and other decor--I would not put it past one to yank down even suspended plants.

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## magneto (Aug 2, 2015)

In order to have the kind of river or moat that you are describing you would have to block the ventilation below the doors in the front anyway so the acrylic sheath inside the front that was suggested might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone. As for the climbing if the spider is unhappy with the living conditions, it will climb, if it's a mature male, it will climb, and sometimes you just get a very active spider that for no apparent reason, will climb.

But a moat would make a fall a LITTLE less dangerous though. Just keep in mind that the cross ventilation in an exo terra is non existent, and if you want to have water in contact with the substrate, you need cross ventilation to avoid mold.

PS: Ser du er Særping :tongue:
I tilfelle du ikke har gjort det før,  om du vil feste en akrylplate slik som nevnt ovenfor, bruk Tec7, fås kjøpt i de fleste byggevarehandler. Er fri for giftstoffer og herder under vann :wink:

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## Poec54 (Aug 2, 2015)

Water around the edge?  It's going to be in something hard (plastic, ceramic, etc) and be an additional falling hazard.  You're putting a terrestrial in a cage for arboreals; you're going to have problems.  Terrestrial cages have low sides and a lot of floor space.  That's one reason your spider is climbing: inappropriate cage.  And then you're coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas to compensate for it.  Pulchras have fat bodies and short legs, they're clumsy and fall easily; they shouldn't be in a cage with tall sides.  Get a low, long cage.

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## Arachnomaniac19 (Aug 2, 2015)

You would have a better chance, for your T's safety, just to pick up an Avic for that tank. No need to take risks like that IMO.


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## DrUlreich (Aug 2, 2015)

@Belle Fury Thanks a lot for the link. You are definitively right about the Exo Terra, it was one of my main concerns when I bought it, sadly my local pet shop hadn't much else to offer. Adding a new front piece will help reduce the height and I will look into it.

@magneto Yeah, I have had problems with mold before, if I end up with a water edge, I will probably use rocks or something at the edge to avoid it. 
Hva slags butikk får man kjøpt akrylglass?

@Poec54 Water AROUND the cage wasn't my crazy idea, that was your crazy idea. I was talking about having ONE side (the front). And how will having water separated from the substrate with something hard add another hazard? The point is it won't climb (and risk falling) if there is water that separates the tarantula from the wall (or at least that is what I'm hoping for). 
And what do you mean by ''Terrestrial cages have low sides and a lot of floor space. That's one reason your spider is climbing: inappropriate cage.'' It isn't in an inappropriate cage. Not sure if you have missed it or not, but I'm currently at the first stages of setting up the new cage. The cage is completely empty and my T is still in its old, low cage. The reason it can climb in its current cage is because it digs up the substrate and starts to climb on the cleared off area. (Perhaps he/she is suicidal?) As the rest of your post is based off on a misunderstanding (sorry if I didn't made it obvious enough for you in my post, English isn't my native language :/)I'm not sure what more there is to say. Though I just want to put it out: in my honest opinion, you can't buy an inappropriate cage (if we are only speaking about size) as long as the cage isn't too small. Most Ts in the wild have the opportunity climb, but some choose not to. I would say that in a cage it’s  guaranteed a way to stop a terrestrial tarantula from climbing, if it currently isn't any known way to stop them, it will most certainly be discovered a way to stop it. It all boils down to the setup. Give a T a small area with blank walls and you give it no reason to not climb the walls.
I’m sorry if you don’t like it that I try find some crazy ideas to make sure my T doesn’t get injured. Unless there is some overwhelming statistics that shows that it will most likely fall and die, I won’t buy another cage. At least I don’t ignore the issue and instead tries to find a solution, which is why I went to this forum. Stating something every T owner should know doesn’t really help me 

@Arachnomaniac19 I probably would if I lived alone, had more space and didn't have a budget to go by. I can't really afford spending a lot of money on multiple Ts right before I'm moving out to study.


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## edgeofthefreak (Aug 2, 2015)

DrUlreich said:


> I recently bought a new terrarium...


Are you able to return your Small/Wide for the Small/Low? That one gives much less height, so much less substrate needed for bulk, but still gives the large amount of floor space.

Also, is your pulchra already full grown?


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## Poec54 (Aug 2, 2015)

Arachnomaniac19 said:


> You would have a better chance, for your T's safety, just to pick up an Avic for that tank.


If it has adequate cross ventilation for an Avic, which may or may not be the case.


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## Storm76 (Aug 2, 2015)

I've noticed many people over here in Europe prefer the Exoterras, or any kind of glas terrarium - funny about that is many use arboreal enclosures for all their terrestrials and it's always the "My spider never fell, it's  bogus and just to scare the uninformed" answer when you talk to them. Sure, a 5" B. smithi will totally survive falling from 30cm to the hard ground that is plastered with wood and a hide if lucky. I'll never understand why people see the need to take that risk?! Sure, it's probably unlikely to happen but again - why take the risk? Terrestrial enclosures for terrestrial tarantulas - period!

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## Ultum4Spiderz (Aug 3, 2015)

Get a long cage, and keep dirt level so T cannot fall farther then its legspan , issue solved, no sharp cage deco either!!! Think your T does not to want to end up impailed on cage deco.:biggrin: I added a thick layer of moss to any T that climbs a lot.. and deeper substrate. thick layer of moss  was all it took and my Ts stopped climbing....


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## Arachnomaniac19 (Aug 3, 2015)

Poec54 said:


> If it has adequate cross ventilation for an Avic, which may or may not be the case.


It should be fine. I've been using one with my A.metallica for quite a while now.


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## DrUlreich (Aug 4, 2015)

No it's not fully grown, it will be 2 years old in a few months. I got the cage under special circumstances and for roughly 65$ off, I didn't want to buy such a tall cage but the shop didn't sell anything that had the preferred height. I'm not planning to move it to the new cage before the other cage becomes too small for it, but since I wanted to try something new I would prefer to have time on my side so I can do it properly.

---------- Post added 08-04-2015 at 04:58 PM ----------




Storm76 said:


> I've noticed many people over here in Europe prefer the Exoterras, or any kind of glas terrarium - funny about that is many use arboreal enclosures for all their terrestrials and it's always the "My spider never fell, it's  bogus and just to scare the uninformed" answer when you talk to them. Sure, a 5" B. smithi will totally survive falling from 30cm to the hard ground that is plastered with wood and a hide if lucky. I'll never understand why people see the need to take that risk?! Sure, it's probably unlikely to happen but again - why take the risk? Terrestrial enclosures for terrestrial tarantulas - period!


I would assume the case was different in Germany, but here in Norway it isn't really teeming with Reptile shops. Perhaps in our capital (which is our only ''decently large'' city in the country, but the local pet shop in a 50k city, the best they can offer is either ‘Exo Terra or plastic boxes. I have never seen any other brand than Exo Terra in any pet shop in Norway to be honest.


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## Poec54 (Aug 4, 2015)

DrUlreich said:


> I would assume the case was different in Germany, but here in Norway it isn't really teeming with Reptile shops. Perhaps in our capital (which is our only ''decently large'' city in the country, but the local pet shop in a 50k city, the best they can offer is either ‘Exo Terra or plastic boxes. I have never seen any other brand than Exo Terra in any pet shop in Norway to be honest.



It's not hard to make your own, then you don't have to settle for sizes that don't work for your spiders.


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## DrUlreich (Aug 4, 2015)

Poec54 said:


> It's not hard to make your own, then you don't have to settle for sizes that don't work for your spiders.


I was thinking about it, but I would assume it would cost more and I’d rather not risk messing it up. Got enough work with building my own speakers + 2 amplifiers, in addition school is starting up.


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## lalberts9310 (Aug 4, 2015)

Well, like already said, an exo-terra is not appropriate for a terrestrial. Now you have to think about it, what's more important to you? The safety of your T? Get a terrarium with a lot of ground space and little height, with a lid that can be locked or secured so the T doesn't push it open with its legs. Fill the enclosure more than halfway with dry substrate (at least the legspan of the T from the top of enclosure to the surface of the substrate). Substrate that are too damp can cause grammies to climb. Also, provide a water dish and a appropriate hide (if you want to go natural, get a cork bark tube hide for it, chances are low that it will create burrows when it's mature), keep these objects away from the sides, you can add fake plants around the hide, I personally wouldn't hang them against the sides since that might also cause your T to start climbing the sides. Use soft plastic zoo med type of plants, silk plants have dyes and usually fragrances which is not great. Also, no hard objects. Or objects with sharp points. Remember that most terrestrials will also climb the sides of the enclosure when they are unfamiliar with they surroundings, give it time to acclimate. But I would really really suggest you put something else in that exo-terra and move the T to a appropriate and safer enclosure suited for ITS needs. Otherwise you'll wake up to a T with a ruptured abdomen.

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## Beary Strange (Aug 4, 2015)

I know they're not as attractive as a glass tank, but why not use Sterilite/Rubbermaid (or the equivalent where you are)? You can get rather clear ones and it's so much easier to control the height and ventilation with those.

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## magneto (Aug 4, 2015)

Belle Fury said:


> I know they're not as attractive as a glass tank, but why not use Sterilite/Rubbermaid (or the equivalent where you are)? You can get rather clear ones and it's so much easier to control the height and ventilation with those.


I'm from the same country as the OP. (About a 40 minute drive away actually. Small world). We have the equivalent of those here but I have never seen one that is clear enough that I would use it as an enclosure. And there is such a thing as estethics too. To me they are simply too ugly. Better to build one.


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## NTslinger (Aug 5, 2015)

I don't know if it would work, but maybe a few strips of teflon tape to form a very thick band could be used to discourage climbing. I've heard of people using it for their climbing roach bins. 
I would be hesitant to use it, but it's a thought that came to my mind. It will probably detract from the visual appeal of your enclosure and may eliminate your ability to see into the enclosure. Even worse, it may make falling even more likely if a tarantula manages to get past it. Overall, I think it would be cheaper, more attractive, and safer just to use a typical terrestrial habitat filled with enough substrate for terrestrial species. Good luck!


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## cold blood (Aug 5, 2015)

DrUlreich said:


> I would assume the case was different in Germany, but here in Norway it isn't really teeming with Reptile shops. Perhaps in our capital (which is our only ''decently large'' city in the country, but the local pet shop in a 50k city, the best they can offer is either ‘Exo Terra or plastic boxes. I have never seen any other brand than Exo Terra in any pet shop in Norway to be honest.


Its too bad you don't have the internet there...otherwise you could simply buy them online:wink:


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## AphonopelmaTX (Aug 5, 2015)

I think this thread is trying to solve a symptom of a bigger issue.  A Grammostola pulchra that climbs excessively day or night is not housed appropriately. Fossorial tarantulas like G. pulchra are not built for climbing and one that does so excessively is one that is trying to find a more suitable area to settle in.  What we see in captivity as a "tarantula that likes to climb" is the equivalent of a female or immature in nature wandering about. No fossorial tarantula likes to climb and will only do so in nature to escape a disturbance.  As an example, there is a picture somewhere out there on the internet of a Brachypelma albopilosum taking up residence in a tree to escape a flood. 

Sure, they will do so occasionally in captivity as they explore the boundaries of their captive environment, but the key word is excessive.  Like others here I don't recommend a ground to ceiling height of 35 cm.  That's far too much height for any fossorial species as a fall could be devastating.  I think housing this G. pulchra needs to be reconsidered from the ground up (pun intended) to solve the issue of it's frequent climbing.

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## DrUlreich (Aug 5, 2015)

cold blood said:


> Its too bad you don't have the internet there...otherwise you could simply buy them online:wink:


Yeah, it's really though to live without internet... 

The thing is, I have never seen any other brand than Exo Terra on Youtube (or on the internet in general) except for anonymous plastic boxes. I have just assumed (my mistake) that Exo Terra is the dominant brand on the market :/

---------- Post added 08-05-2015 at 05:33 PM ----------




AphonopelmaTX said:


> I think this thread is trying to solve a symptom of a bigger issue.  A Grammostola pulchra that climbs excessively day or night is not housed appropriately. Fossorial tarantulas like G. pulchra are not built for climbing and one that does so excessively is one that is trying to find a more suitable area to settle in.  What we see in captivity as a "tarantula that likes to climb" is the equivalent of a female or immature in nature wandering about. No fossorial tarantula likes to climb and will only do so in nature to escape a disturbance.  As an example, there is a picture somewhere out there on the internet of a Brachypelma albopilosum taking up residence in a tree to escape a flood.
> 
> Sure, they will do so occasionally in captivity as they explore the boundaries of their captive environment, but the key word is excessive.  Like others here I don't recommend a ground to ceiling height of 35 cm.  That's far too much height for any fossorial species as a fall could be devastating.  I think housing this G. pulchra needs to be reconsidered from the ground up (pun intended) to solve the issue of it's frequent climbing.


The T is currently in a 20*20*20 enclosure with the height no more than its leg span. It was settled, but then it dug too deep and ended up with collapsing its burrow, it never settled down in its new burrow. I've been thinking to buy one those caves you can buy in the pet shop (so can't collapse it anymore) as the burrow has collapsed 3 times with 2 different substrates (in 2 different enclosures). I might move it to the new enclosure sooner than I was planning.


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## Chris LXXIX (Aug 5, 2015)

Why you guys doesn't buy, for terrestrial T's, "Dragon" fauna box "Flat" (Germany) ? They are cheap (here those cost less than 19 Euro) good looking, full ventilated, easy to open and, last but not least, have only 15 cm of height, so almost zero risks for a terrestrial T in the unlucky case if a fall happens.
IMO those are perfect for house adult terrestrial T's (well, maybe not for a giant _Theraphosa_ sp.) all of mine terrestrial T's are housed in those.
Size: 36.5 X 22 X 15 (height) cm


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## cold blood (Aug 5, 2015)

Dr, are you packing the substrate down?  If not, you should be....Burrow collapses should be rare and not much of a concern when they do occur.


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