# Current arboreal setup concerns.. please help



## problemchildx (Sep 25, 2007)

When I got my P. irminia about 20 days ago, i had trouble getting her out of the carrier cage into the tank I currenly have. She was pretty much wrapped in a little tube web in the corner like a blanket. 

First of all, I am almost completely positive I don't have the ideal setup for this particular T. The terrarium I am using right now is 17" tall, 15" wide, and 36" long. As for the substrate, I'm not sure what exactly I bought.. But the guy said it would be fine. However, it appears to be bark chips.. I have been doing a lot of research and read somewhere to never use this as substrate. Plus when I blow on it, sometimes particles will fly up. I am especially worried about this when my T is eating, she will try to wrap the cricket, but some of the pieces of substrate will stick to the prey and herself.. 

Aside from these problems, I had heard a lot online about Cork bark, but had no idea what the hell this was until now. But before I could find out I bought some rock hard structure resembling a tree branch that is about 13" tall, and a little shelter that looks like a hollowed out log. So far, I have never seen her  climp on the tree, but she does hide in the crevices near the base sometimes. I have only seen her in the log once. 

The first light I bought to keep the place warm was more suited to an iguana or something..  but after about 5 days of using this, I realized that the temp was about 20 degrees too low. I've also found out that these spiders prefer dark anyway, so I now have a heat lamp, without any light. (BTW I also have a heat pad under the tank, on the side that the tree structure is, amazingly enough it is the portion of the tank that she almost always occupies.)

As for the water dish, it is all the way on the other side of the tank, and I have it stuffed with cotton balls and keep it filled, but it seems to dry up too quickly with the heat lamp. And now I am reading cotton is not recommended!  

One more thing to mention is I have placed a dinky strip thermometer on the back side of the cage, and I don't think the readings are always accurate.. Sometimes I fear the heatlamp is way too hot, because USUALLY the temp will read around 85, but i don't know if the heating pad is contributing to this reading or not. So for all I know, it could be 97 degrees in there.  

Finally, she has not made any shelter out of her own web and when she sleeps, her legs curl underneath her like she is ill. Is this normal?  One last thing I am worried about is the humidity level in the terrarium. I mist the substrate about 3 times a week, but it does not firm up. It is still flaky and just seems like dry wood chips.. (There is about 1 inch of substrate)

Please help with any suggestions to improve this setup. I am even considering a completely new enclosure, heat source,  decor, and substrate. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, as I want my pet to be completely happy and feel at home.

PS: She eats about 5 crickets a week currently, and her late night behavior seems normal.. (running around the glass walls of the cage trying to find an escape lol)


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## thedude (Sep 25, 2007)

she sounds stressed... really stressed, take the lamp off (it's drying out those cotton balls so guess whats happening to your t) replace the substrate with either peat moss/vemaculite or the bed a beast coconut mulch, dont use cotton balls (or a sponge) in the water dish they can get out of the water dish as long as it's not to deep but either way they just put the front of there body into th water , thats the basics i dont know to much about aboreal Ts so im sure some one can help you


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## bushbuster (Sep 25, 2007)

I'm no expert by any means, but everything you are doing is wrong. Too hot, too much food, too big of an enclosure, no no no on cotton balls, wrong substrate. Do everything exactly the opposite that you are doing, and you should be ok. How old and or big is your Tarantula?


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## problemchildx (Sep 25, 2007)

Yeah i know its all wrong haha..

Unconfirmed on the age, but she is about 4 inches long when her legs are mostly extended. The problem with turning the lamp off is that the thermometer soon drops down to the lowest reading, below 69.. So I don't want it too cold either. I definately need to go buy everything new, but these stupid petco and petsmart stores dont really seem to have anything specialized for tarantulas.. Thanks again for the help


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## bushbuster (Sep 25, 2007)

Well ya gotta improvise. I find a lot of stuff at hobby lobby. Plus, I get weird looks from old women when I'm tip toeing thru the doilys. Get you a way smaller tank, some coco fiber, a nice thick but shallow water dish with no sharp edges. I wouldn't worry too much about a heat source.


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## problemchildx (Sep 25, 2007)

A smaller tank would be great, but wouldn't it need to have more height than floorspace?


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## bushbuster (Sep 25, 2007)

Yeah, 5x5x10 high, that would work.


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## christin (Sep 25, 2007)

Is the thermometer stuck to the outside of the cage? I'm not sure how accurate those are, but I use a dial type thermometer. The temp will probibly be warmer if taken inside the cage. can you relocate her, are there areas of you house or room that's warmer? heat lamps and mats are so unpredictable, and dangerous. In the winter time I use a heat cord, you'd probibly have to look for it online. even then I only have the cord barely touching the cages and they stay around 75 degrees. plus they dont run up the ele. bill.


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## GailC (Sep 25, 2007)

Go to walmart and buy a 1 gallon plastic jar, burn or drill a bunch of small holes all over it and the lid. Add 2 inches of damp peat moss, put in a small piece of cork bark or some kind of flat natural wood (no pine or cedar). Hot glue a water bottle cap to the side about half way up the container for a water dish.

If you must use a heat light, make sure its not pointing directly on the cage as its way too drying. I use a small electric heater to keep my T room warm in the winter.


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## spartybassoon (Sep 25, 2007)

If you are worried about the T drowning in the water dish, it's probably too deep, but you can put a piece of slate of a large pebble in there so the T can climb out.  Temp should be fine unless it is getting below 65 F, but relocating to a warmer part of the house would be a good idea nonetheless.


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## Moltar (Sep 25, 2007)

Yep, waldo's got it right. Those clear plastic gallon size jars from wallyworls are great for t's. Drill or melt about 6-8 holes in the top and maybe 6 more in the sides of the jar around the top third of the jar. A neat trick for water dish is to get two identical small plastic condiment cups (like you get sides of salad dressing in) hotglue one to the side of the jar and then rest the other in it. That way it's easy to remove with tongs for cleaning/refilling. Plastic or silk leaves are nice too. They'll use them to hide behind and attach webbing to.

As for heat probably the best thing is a thermostatically controlled heat pad. It will dry the cage out less quickly than a lamp. Common advice w/ heatpads for terrestrials is to put it on the side NOT the bottom. I'm not sire if this holds true for arboreals, maybe someone else can offer advice on that? Really though, you should be able to find a place in your house that gets warm enough. I have my t's in a room that get's heavy afternoon sun. I close the ac vents and shut the door while i'm at work. Between the sun and the 2 computers in there it get's over 80 which is more than sufficient. Just keep it out of direct sunlight.

Good luck and have fun w/ it!


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## problemchildx (Sep 26, 2007)

Sadly, I went out and bought a lot of stuff before I could get all your posts. However I did find an exo-terra tank that was on sale for 50 bucks. I also got some of the coconut fiber and some moss, and set up pieces of driftwood on the back wall. Surprisingly, I had no trouble transferring her. I am certainly sure she likes it, because I can't see her without peeking through cracks.  

Thanks for all your suggestions though, I think I will definately use your setup for another T I get, Waldo.

Also, I am only using a heat pad but it is on the bottom of the tank.. But the new dial thermometer is reading about 79 and the hygrometer is at 80% so I think everything is looking good. 

This pic is kinda bad but hopefully you get the general idea.


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## mwh9 (Sep 26, 2007)

Sounds like you have it right now. I would still move the heat pad to the side of the tank. That way your T's can go over to it or move away from it as it wants to. If you don't have one, I would recommend one of the aquarium thermometers, the glass ones with the red mercury in them and a suction cup holder on them. These are usually more accurate and only cost a dollar or two. Sorry that so many of us didn't talk with you ahead of time.


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