already been said a thousand times but worth repeating...

mikeymo

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
176
all you experienced tarantula keepers know the importance of keeping a water dish in your Ts tank (assuming the T is at least a couple inches big) but it's worth reminding all those new to the hobby that a water dish is a MUST.

My Rose Hair is my most hydrophobic tarantula. she throws a tiny fit every time i overfill her water dish even by a squirt. However, she just molted this afternoon and spent the entire morning sitting INSIDE her water dish, preparing herself for the molt.

I'm glad to report that it was a successful molt, but it just goes to show you that no matter how "dry" a tarantula might like it, you still need to keep a water source present.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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Dec 17, 2006
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yes they must have water as with out it and it can be very stressful for the - t - and before the lynch mob get on the case just look at all good - t - books --------- phil:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 

tmanjim

Arachnodemon
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Nov 24, 2004
Messages
671
Help me out then. I have a 3 inch P. Irminia and a 5 inch P Cambridgei. Both are in round KK's and there literally is no room for a water dish. I mist every other day. They look comfy and are eating. If I need a water dish, what can I do besides rehouse. And no I don't have enough room to glue one, but I guess I could shop for an odd shaped one to fit in there. Is misting enough????
 

Alakdan

Arachnoangel
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Jan 24, 2006
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tmanjim,

Use plastic bottle caps.

mikeymo,

I'm not disagreeing with you. But I'd like to point out that there are instances when a waterdish may be of no use.

I've successfully raised the following Ts without a waterdish.

C. cyanopubesence
N. chromatus
C. guangxiensis
C. huahini
C. fasciatum
N. chromatus
B. albopilosum

I initially provided one, but they all ended unused. The T either submerged it in the substrate or has completely covered it with webbing. No matter how many times I retrieve it, the same thing happens. I decided to just stop using the dish. Otherwise, the substrate will end up soaked in water.

They are all doing fine. I mist one side of the enclosure twice a week. I guess they don't get dehydrated that much because it is naturally humid here in the tropics.

But I did observe my B. boehmi sit on top of the waterdish prior to a molt.

So I guess careful observation of your specimen is necessary to make proper adjustments.

Here's the N. chromatus without the waterdish, but kept in a moist substrate 5 inches deep.


Here's the B. boehmi on top of the waterdish. This is an old picture. It is much bigger now.
 

138

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
288
Help me out then. I have a 3 inch P. Irminia and a 5 inch P Cambridgei. Both are in round KK's and there literally is no room for a water dish. I mist every other day. They look comfy and are eating. If I need a water dish, what can I do besides rehouse. And no I don't have enough room to glue one, but I guess I could shop for an odd shaped one to fit in there. Is misting enough????
how big are the KK's?? there's no room for say a cap from a Gatorade bottle??
 

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
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Jul 7, 2005
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3,203
Help me out then. I have a 3 inch P. Irminia and a 5 inch P Cambridgei. Both are in round KK's and there literally is no room for a water dish. I mist every other day. They look comfy and are eating. If I need a water dish, what can I do besides rehouse. And no I don't have enough room to glue one, but I guess I could shop for an odd shaped one to fit in there. Is misting enough????
Show us pics of your container. All of my spiders are in KKs (not the round ones) and I have water dishes in with them.

Most slings don't need water dishes. I point out my B. albopilosum as an exception to the rule, it almost died of dehydration after a lengthy premoult. I usually give them water dishes when they break the three inch barrier, or in special cases like the B. albopilosum.
 

138

Arachnoknight
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Oct 2, 2004
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Most slings don't need water dishes.
true. although i have 3/4" and 1" slings that do drink out of chapstick caps or tattooing ink caps. my 3/4" T. plumipes used it's chapstick cap water dish to moult. {D

they know where the water is.
 

Nitibus

Arachnodemon
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Feb 7, 2007
Messages
728
During postmoult my C. cyanopubesence sucked up half it's water dish in a day and a half ! Thirsty fella ! I'd rather he has it and doesn't need it, then need it and doesn't have it ...
 

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
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Sep 28, 2004
Messages
1,017
This is yet another ongoing debate! I keep water dishes in with all my T's, no matter how small. I have seen them all drink, and a lot of them eat over them, for some reason I can't figure out!
 

mandolin101

Arachnosquire
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Mar 9, 2007
Messages
62
I agree that a water dish is a must for any T large enough to have one. I recently went hunting for a week, leaving my sister, who is new to keeping T's, to care for her A. seemani by herself for the first time since she got it. When I returned from the trip, the spider was lethargic and non-responsive to the point of being near death. My sister had not refilled the water dish, because the T was sitting in it, and she didnt want to drown it. I filled the dish about 1/8th of an inch full, and within an hour the T had returned to normal behavior. I am far from an expert, but I could find no other explaination for the event than dehydration. The T shows no signs of being near a molt. My sister claims to have misted the tank twice during my absence. The only conclusion I can draw is that a water dish is critical to the health of a T, and that misting is not enough.
 

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
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You are right- dehydration causes horrid things to happen to every living thing as they slowly die-that's why I'd rather take the time to find an appropriate sized dish for all mine than risk dehydration. I don't care if they are so small I have to refill them every day or two. I've had small slings that were stuck in their molts, and these were the first molts they had in my care-I concluded that may have been lack of water,no breeder gives them bowls-and started giving them all dishes. All subsequent molts have gone well....it may be coincidence,
but I don't think so.
 

dukegarda

Arachnobaron
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Mar 22, 2007
Messages
497
That's funny, my rosea molted overnight as well, except she's on the opposite end of the tank from her water dish. Grats on the successful molt. Mine was flawless as well.
 

tmanjim

Arachnodemon
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Nov 24, 2004
Messages
671
I am at work, but I will try to get a pic up when I get home.
 

TheDarkFinder

Arachnoangel
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Dec 18, 2004
Messages
923
Lets see here, 23 years of keeping tarantulas, have right now 734 tarantulas in my care. 230 are in the permanent collection. I have lost maybe 10 to unknown reasons.

I never give a dish to them. The only way they get a dish is that they come to me in less then great condition and need to get them healthy. After they are healthy and not breeding, no dish and no problems. I do not even mist, I just keep proper humidity and I am fine.
 

mikeymo

Arachnoknight
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Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
176
Lets see here, 23 years of keeping tarantulas, have right now 734 tarantulas in my care. 230 are in the permanent collection. I have lost maybe 10 to unknown reasons.

I never give a dish to them. The only way they get a dish is that they come to me in less then great condition and need to get them healthy. After they are healthy and not breeding, no dish and no problems. I do not even mist, I just keep proper humidity and I am fine.
well for those of us who just have a few Ts (and not, as i would imagine, entire wings of our homes regulated to suit their humidity needs) a water dish is probably a good idea
 

galeogirl

Arachnoprince
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Aug 15, 2002
Messages
1,198
One of my OBTs is a dish-tipper of the highest order, when I had a dish in with her, I could hear her tip it over late at night after every refill. Her burrow was collapsing and I was worried about pests in her substrate since she kept soaking it, so I removed her dish and switched to misting. She's done fine that way for years.
 

Alice

Arachnoangel
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Sep 29, 2006
Messages
976
i keep a water dish in all my bigger enclosures. slings just get misting. i've never lost a sling to dehydration and only ever one to a bad molt (he molted only 3-4 days after i got him). so a water dish is a fine thing ime, but by no means necessary for all ts.

my breeder for example keeps around 100 adult breeders (pokies and avics mainly) without a water dish, and they all do fine. regular misting seems to be enough for most arboreals.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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Dec 17, 2006
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hi arboreals mist --- terrestrial a water dish -- it works for me :) ;) -- phil
 

DrAce

Arachnodemon
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Feb 22, 2007
Messages
764
I would always put a water dish in, just on the safe side. If I had an OBT which tipped it over, I'd take it out. But the default setting would be the inclusion of a water dish.

And well done, Phil. That was a good, useful contribution!

(and there's plenty of free speech here... we're entitled to write back with our own free speech when we want to, however. That's what free speech is.)
 
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