A Few Questions

Cas S

Arachnoknight
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Apr 22, 2018
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250
So I'll be getting a few tarantulas soon, 2 Caribena versicolors, 1 Harpactira pulchripes, and 1 Kochiana brunnipes, and just wanted to be sure I'm doing things correctly.

First I wanna make sure Im getting the care right. As I understand, I should keep the K. brunnipes damp for its whole life, and keep the C. versicolors and H. pulchripes damp as slings but keep them dry, with some watering but not a lot, when they are juveniles and adults, and also give the versicolor tons of cross ventilation.

I also have a few questions about how to make the versicolor enclosure, the slings are half an inch and I am planning on putting them into 32oz deli cups with some cork and fake plants, but I feel like that might be a bit too large, also I have some cork bark and fake plants that Id like to use but they where used in my old GBB enclosures so theyre probably covered in urticating setae, is there any way to wash them off, or do I not need to worry about that in the first place? And lastly I know they need lots of holes in the side of the enclosure for cross ventilation, but should I put holes in the top too?
 

Pepper

Arachnosquire
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Mar 27, 2018
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131
H pulchripes, as an old world, is quite defensive and its venom is medically significant. If these are to be your first Ts, and if you havent already ordered them, maybe wait a bit and get your husbandry down before getting an "advanced" spider?

Are you getting these all as slings?

Too much dampness is not chill. I have a small water bowl, like a bottle lid, in with all of my juveniles and adults, and just slightly overflow that for my Versicolor every week, for my H pulchripes i fill it up but dont overflow, especially if i see the sub is dark with moisture. Dont have a K brunnipes but i would probably keep it way drier than swampy. For slings, i use a straw and a water bottle (putting my finger on one end of the straw to pick up a small amount of water) to keep the sub a little wet, like 1 or 2 straw-2/3s-full per week. They can suck the water out of the substrate. But your care could be different, i live in humid Kentucky.

32 oz deli cups are imo too wide and shallow for an arboreal, even a sling. i keep my slings in 4 oz ramekins or pill bottle sized vials: https://www.reptilesupplyco.com/who...vial-40-dram.html?search_query=vial&results=9
Urticating setae can't affect other spiders, or else we'd have to change out all of our setups every couple months. You can rinse it off in the sink after you pull webs and dirt off if you want. I would definitely pull the webs and dirt off, but rinsing is not a huge priority.

Yes to holes in the top, Avicularias and their relatives need a lot of ventilation, and it really cant hurt. Plus that could help the sub dry out faster in the event you do overwater
 

moricollins

Arachno search engine
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You don't want the substrate DAMP for the versicolor. You want it no more than SLIGHTLY damp, and you'll need to give it a water dish.

32oz cups are perfect for arboreal slings, depending how big the sling is going to be. You'll want ventilation all around the cup (I'd put 3 rows of holes in, one near the top, one near the middle and one just above the substrate), and holes in the lid as well.

I would rinse the cork bark off.
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
H pulchripes, as an old world, is quite defensive and its venom is medically significant. If these are to be your first Ts, and if you havent already ordered them, maybe wait a bit and get your husbandry down before getting an "advanced" spider?
I already have 2 GBBs and 1 Ornithoctonus aureotibialis

Are you getting these all as slings?
yes

Too much dampness is not chill. I have a small water bowl, like a bottle lid, in with all of my juveniles and adults, and just slightly overflow that for my Versicolor every week, for my H pulchripes i fill it up but dont overflow, especially if i see the sub is dark with moisture. Dont have a K brunnipes but i would probably keep it way drier than swampy. For slings, i use a straw and a water bottle (putting my finger on one end of the straw to pick up a small amount of water) to keep the sub a little wet, like 1 or 2 straw-2/3s-full per week. They can suck the water out of the substrate. But your care could be different, i live in humid Kentucky.
I guess I could have worded that better, I meant damp as in kind of wet, as I thought just saying wet would imply it having to much water. The straw tip sounds really cool though, thanks for telling me about it. Ive heard that slings generally like it more wet so I'll probably use the straw method to lightly wet down one corner of the enclosure about once a week or less, depending on how wet the soil already is. Also I'll probably add a water dish anyways just in case they get thirsty, so I probably wont need to use the straws a lot anyways.

32 oz deli cups are imo too wide and shallow for an arboreal, even a sling. i keep my slings in 4 oz ramekins or pill bottle sized vials: https://www.reptilesupplyco.com/who...vial-40-dram.html?search_query=vial&results=9
Are you thinking of the 16 oz one? The one I have is more tall than wide, but maybe im calling it the wrong name, it measures about 3.5" wide at the base and 4.5" wide at the top and 5.5" tall.

Urticating setae can't affect other spiders, or else we'd have to change out all of our setups every couple months. You can rinse it off in the sink after you pull webs and dirt off if you want. I would definitely pull the webs and dirt off, but rinsing is not a huge priority.
Ok thanks, I'll definitely take all the webs and substrate off, and I'll probably wash it too.

Yes to holes in the top, Avicularias and their relatives need a lot of ventilation, and it really cant hurt. Plus that could help the sub dry out faster in the event you do overwater
Good point, thanks.



You don't want the substrate DAMP for the versicolor. You want it no more than SLIGHTLY damp, and you'll need to give it a water dish.
Yeah I probably should have used a different word lol, what you said is about what I was thinking, and I will definitely give them water dishes.

32oz cups are perfect for arboreal slings, depending how big the sling is going to be. You'll want ventilation all around the cup (I'd put 3 rows of holes in, one near the top, one near the middle and one just above the substrate), and holes in the lid as well.
It would be for a 0.5" sling, and Ill use that vent pattern, thanks.

I would rinse the cork bark off.
Alright, thanks!
 

Pepper

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Mar 27, 2018
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Are you thinking of the 16 oz one? The one I have is more tall than wide, but maybe im calling it the wrong name, it measures about 3.5" wide at the base and 4.5" wide at the top and 5.5" tall.
Yep youre right
 

Pepper

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Why would that be bad? I thought those where perfect for arboreals.
No i was thinking of the smaller shallow 16oz. I personally dont use deli cups, its hard to get the lid off without disturbing the spider. But lots of people do use them
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
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Apr 22, 2018
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No i was thinking of the smaller shallow 16oz. I personally dont use deli cups, its hard to get the lid off without disturbing the spider. But lots of people do use them
Oh ok, I already had these 2 laying around so thats why Im using them. I also found a salt container that would work well, but I only have one and I think it would be outgrown pretty quickly.
 

Cas S

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Apr 22, 2018
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Ok I have a couple more questions,

I have decided to use smaller containers for the C. versicolors, but they where used to keep salt, which I've heard is not good for spiders, and the second container had a grinder on top of it so I used the lid from a vitamin container as a lid because it fits. Are these bad for tarantula and is there any certain way I need to clean this to make sure they're gone?
 

Pepper

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Its hard to picture what youre talking about because everyone has access to slightly different products, but if you wash everything like you would anything else (and wipe dry to get rid of hard-water marks on clear plastic) you should be fine. I have used bulk black peppercorn containers before.
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
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Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
Its hard to picture what youre talking about because everyone has access to slightly different products, but if you wash everything like you would anything else (and wipe dry to get rid of hard-water marks on clear plastic) you should be fine. I have used bulk black peppercorn containers before.
Ok so like just soap and water? I wanna be extra careful because apparently salt can kill spiders.
 

Pepper

Arachnosquire
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Mar 27, 2018
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Im no expert, but i think after washing it like dishes any remaining tiny tiny salt particles would be harmless
 

wesker12

Arachnobaron
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Jun 13, 2011
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Salt is aqueous as hell (dissolves in water) and can be washed out very easily, just soak it water and rinse it out a couple of times, you'll be fine. As for black pepper use soap and water and you should be fine. Black pepper does have some pesticide attributes so I'd be a bit warier with it but if you rinse it with hot soapy water you should be fine in my opinion.
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
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Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
Ok thanks, I might make a thread with pictures of the finished enclosure

Ok before I create a thread with my versicolor enclosure and how I made it, I want to make sure I get the ventilation right

First, I think Im going to do 2 sections of ventilation, one at the bottom with one or 2 rows of holes and one at the top with 2 or 3 rows of holes. Also should I do this on 2 or 3 sides?
(brown is substrate, yellow is bottom row of holes, green is top row of holes)
20200803_192802.jpg




Secondly I wanna know how I should make the ventilation in the top of the enclosure. I can poke hills in the lid, in the horizontal part of the clear plastic, or both
(red is holes on the lid and black is holes on the plastic)
20200803_193748.jpg
 

wesker12

Arachnobaron
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Get all 3 layers of holes, both on sides and top. Cross ventilation is key.
 
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