Am I the only one who thinks T's need some space?

[Death999]

Sorry if I insult anyone, and I'm not going to point anyone out

but seriously I have a problem with a lot of T keepers putting T's in such small enclosures. it just bothers me how many people have T's with like no room to move around.

It really seems like people care more about having the T's they want than having a nice home for them. Oooo thats a good price for that spider eh I'll just put it in a 6 inch pretzel container even though the T is 4 inches big.

or I see someone buys a sling and won't rehouse it until they can't close the lid on it anymore. just because the T is alive doesn't mean its happy

All my T's have at least a gallon of space per inch in legspan

doesw anyone out there agree with me?

 

[flamesbane]

Sorry if I insult anyone, and I'm not going to point anyone out

but seriously I have a problem with a lot of T keepers putting T's in such small enclosures. it just bothers me how many people have T's with like no room to move around.

It really seems like people care more about having the T's they want than having a nice home for them. Oooo thats a good price for that spider eh I'll just put it in a 6 inch pretzel container even though the T is 4 inches big.

or I see someone buys a sling and won't rehouse it until they can't close the lid on it anymore. just because the T is alive doesn't mean its happy

All my T's have at least a gallon of space per inch in legspan

doesw anyone out there agree with me?

Have you ever kept slings? A 1" sling would be lost in a 1 gallon enclosure. It helps to have them in a smaller space for maintenance, feeding, ect. Additionally tarantulas are ambush predators, they sit in one spot and wait for food to come to them. I have several adult tarantulas in 10 gallon tanks and they sit in one spot all the time. Also, tarantulas don't have human emotions, so you can't really say that a tarantula is "sad" or "happy". It all boils down to providing their needs, which can easily done in a small space. I do occasionally see pics on here where I think people are overdoing it a bit, but all in all tarantulas don't need that much space.

 

[Weird_Arachnid]

Yes, I agree with you!

From what I've read and heard, A LOT of space can stress them out and makes it harder for them to hunt/feed.

Though I must admit, I like for them to have enough space to roam as they please. I just won't go all out and give my GBB a 30 gallon long tank. Thats just too big.

 

[Scorpendra]

Tarantulas don't require all that much space, usually. Once they've settled in their nest/burrow, the rest of the enclosure's space is pretty much superfluous. A mature male will wander around a large area, but will burn out all his remaining energy doing so and die before he can be bred (if you happened to be planning on that). It's usually recommended that adults have 5-10 gallon tanks, but a spiderling being in a large tank is just a pain for the keeper.

Who exactly does what you're describing? Are you sure you're not confusing a permanent enclosure with something a show dealer put it in for transport?

 

[xhexdx]

All my T's have at least a gallon of space per inch in legspan

So wait...you have a 10" blondi in a 10-gallon, and a 1" sling in a 1-gallon?

Something seems a bit...wrong...with that analogy.

Tarantulas don't need that much space. They come out to hunt at night, yes, but they get along just fine in smaller enclosures.

No, this doesn't mean you keep 4" spiders in deli cups like they have at reptile shows, although I do see keepers with large quantities of spiders keep them in smaller containers.

I get what you're saying to a degree, but you're feeling emotion towards these animals that have (generally speaking) very basic brain functions and very basic needs.

 

[mitchrobot]

ive bred and had female Ts lay sacs and raise them successfully in 1-2 gallon jars/containers. and im talking like 4-6" females...
now, im not saying a 1gallon jar is super ideal...but obviously it is plenty room for the spider to do what it does and be unhindered or stressed out. IMO. the 1" per gallon thing is way off IMO (a common 'rule' in fish keeping that is also very very wrong). a 1" c.elegans doesnt need a 1 gallon jar...a half gallong, or smaller really would be fine. i had a female hatch a sac in a vial, mind you it was a very large vial, but nothing near a 1/2-1gallon.

would they be "happier", or healthier in a bigger cage...i doubt it. it probably wouldnt hurt in most cases, if thats what you wan to do with your bugs, feel free, but i see no problem housing them in non 1"/gallon sized containers.

and when you have like a trillion spiders, housing becomes much easier in smaller containers. i have a few large females in 10gallon tanks (t.'gayana', xenesthis, big grammies, and pamphos) and these spiders rarely use the whole of the tank. usually they hand out in a nice deep burrow....they would probably be fine in a tank half that size. now smaller girls (6" and under) IMO wouldnt use a tank 6gallons or bigger. im not saying pack em in, obviously give them room to dig, put around, web, whatever, but i dont think they *need* super big tanks consider how active and adventurous most Ts are...

im not saying cram them in a container they cant move around it, but they dont need an enormous amount of room to thrive.

 

[BCscorp]

I think there are people who value having the spider more than giving it adequate space.
I think in an ideal situation tarantulas have food come to their burrow or close to it and dont have to go far, so small is ok in that respect.
That being said, I feel bad seeing any creature that doesn't have enough room to even turn around comfortably.
Ive raised a few slings to (sub)adulthood in 5 gallon enclosures just to be the opposite of "too much space for slings" argument. I adapted how I fed them and they are fine then and now as sub adults.

Overall, if the tarantula is well fed, hydrated and lives to its full life expectancy regardless of enclosure size, that is more important imo.

 

[Death999]

woah woah woah

I think it's absolutely rediculous for someone to say that a lot of space will stress them out

so are you saying all tarantulas in the wild are extremely stressed out because the world is so big? come on really

ok though my gallon per inch thing may be off that was kind of a quick thaught to genrealize how much space I give em. maybe its more like whatever seems adequet

The T. Blondi reference was good:clap: I think a 10 inch T.Blondi should have like at least a 15 gal

 

[mitchrobot]

i wouldnt say too much space would stress them out, if you want to put your slings in huge cages feel free, i personally just think its something of a waste of space. i think a lot of Ts really just like in a small pocket/hole most of their lives...i dont think most use all that room on the outside world, wandering around and being out and about too much i would think would make them easy prey fro the many things that eat them.

but again that just my opinion, your animals, do what you want with em. you ever try to find a c.elegans sling in a 2oz container? needle in a hay stack. and a 2oz container isnt big. i house based on size and need of space.

its hard to make any generalized rule for cage size.

maybe its more like whatever seems adequet

^^^more along the right track. although what seems adequate to some one might not always be the same for another.

also, not all spiders use space the same, i would give a 6" OBT waaaaayyyy more room than a 6" rosea for example.

 

[xjak3yx]

so are you saying all tarantulas in the wild are extremely stressed out because the world is so big? come on really

totally agree:
i think when people read that Ts get stressed out from a lot of space this is aimed towards beginners which put a T in a big tank with just some soil (as ive seen them sold in shops). if a T has a large tank but decor to hide and find a 'home' in the tank to be confortable its much more acceptable.

 

[xhexdx]

totally agree:
i think when people read that Ts get stressed out from a lot of space this is aimed towards beginners which put a T in a big tank with just some soil (as ive seen them sold in shops). if a T has a large tank but decor to hide and find a 'home' in the tank to be confortable its much more acceptable.

Once it finds that 'home', how much of the space is it actually utilizing?

Not much.

Point is, no, tarantulas don't get stressed because of how big the world is. Tarantulas also don't have any idea how big the world is in order for them to stress over it, so the analogy is ridiculous in itself.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

Using bigger containers is a waste of space and money really. If you place a 4" spider in a 10 gallon, you're gonna fill that tank with substrate. Typically, the more room a container has, the taller it will be, therefore needing more substrate and more money to buy the substrate. I keep 3 of my 6 spiders in sterilite containers, they have plenty of space to roam and I don't have to put in 6" of substrate because 2" is adequate for the terrestrials. My Avic that I have in sterilite sits in a tube web of leaves all day, and the spot that it stays at is only about a tenth the size of the whole container. The other three that I have in aquariums are a 5" G. pulchripes in a 5 gallon, 4" G. rosea in a 2 1/2 gallon and a 6" LP in a 10 gallon. But using the aquariums has caused me to use way more substrate then if I just use sterilite.

T's don't need as much space as you think they do. Just get some sterilite, its not deep, and it provides plenty of room. One of my rosea's is in a sterilite container, with about 2" of substrate. The container is about 12" wide and 6" tall and about 6" wide on the ends. Plenty of room.

 

[WARPIG]

Hey Death, do you keep slings in 1 gal tubs? If so how in the world do they find their food?

PIG-

 

[Moltar]

This is a pretty common misconception among less experienced keepers and those wholly uninitiated to the arachnid thing. They really just don't need that much space. Truth, I swear.

I've heard it said that a female terrestrial/fossorial tarantula can live her entire life without ever leaving the area of a few square feet around her burrow. This is provided of course that she isn't compelled to relocate due to weather or a shortage of food/water. From what I've seen in my 4-ish years of keeping this is probably correct.

 

[Hobo]

I think it's absolutely rediculous for someone to say that a lot of space will stress them out

A lot of inadequate space perhaps. It will just keep wandering until it finds a good place to settle.

so are you saying all tarantulas in the wild are extremely stressed out because the world is so big? come on really

No. In the wild, I'm guessing they typically stay in their burrows/tubewebs unless they decide to move on or are uprooted. I would then expect them to wander until they find another suitable place to set up shop. But generally, they probably take up very little space.

What happens if they are kept in a big enclosure with no suitable place to stay? I've found they keep wandering until they've webbed everything and they seemingly treat the whole entire thing like a giant burrow they can't escape out of. I've had to redo my smithi, rosea and chromatus enclosures (they're fairly large enclosures) until they found a hide to their liking. Now, they are always inside it, at the mouth, or at the waterdish - not a lot of space used... and some have areas they have yet to set foot on. They can definitely do with less space...

ok though my gallon per inch thing may be off that was kind of a quick thaught to genrealize how much space I give em. maybe its more like whatever seems adequet

Right. Adequate, IMO, would be a hide/burrow, and a small piece of ground to go out on (room for some water too, of course). Typically, that's not a lot of room. A lot of my 5"+ spiders routinely use about the same amount of room as a 2.5 gallon tank, give or take. I'm not sure if you would consider that too small.

I'm thinking you are confusing those delicups you see spiders in at shows with actual enclosures, as someone has already mentioned. I don't think anyone should keep them in something the same size as their legspan as a permanent home.... though I've no doubt they could survive in such conditions for a good, long while.

 

[NikiP]

I have my 2 G. pulchripes that are about 3" in shoe box sized containers. They have a hide & water dish on one half. I've yet to see them doing anything in the other half.

My 3" P. murinus is in a 1gal container that's built tall. He's utilized all the space up & down.

The 4" Avic. sp. has a 2.5gal tank. She only took up about a 6"x5" space by the door on the floor for her molting web. I've changed it up since she molted & put fake plants in there so we'll see if she utilizes much of that.

 

[briarpatch10]

I keep all of the adults 4-6" in a 10 gal tank....l.p. in a 20 and slings in the small clear tupperware type bowls... I like looking at them all the time so this is what works for me!!

 

[SentinelPokie]

Weird

Seriously no offense dude but that method/theory is kind of stupid. A tarantulas vision isn't that far so it doesnt really care. Also putting a 1 inch sling in a gallon is crazy it, cant catch food and you cant find it. lastly a tarantula doesnt move aout a lot, even at night, because ive documented it before at night. Look at a b smithi it wont really move around at all!!!

 

[elportoed]

Some people think that tarantulas have feelings and thoughts like human. One of my coworkers keeps a 10 yo, 6in+ B smithi in a 20 gal tank with heat lamps going on 24/7/365. And yet he said he hardly sees her because she always stays inside her coconut half shell hide. But he insists that he'd rather give her the option to roam. Reason for the heat, since the species is from Mexico, it must be kept warm at all time, basically the spider gets no season change, she's constantly living in 80+ temp (and higher in summer). No matter what I said about the heat, he wouldn't do anything about it. He always says 'It's my spider'.

I'm totally guilty of cramping as many tarantulas in the smaller space, and mostly at room temp. I only add food and water. Most my tarantulas are healthy and fat. I have been keeping ts with the size up to 3.5 in the 4.25 in diameter deli cups. In most cases, they would refuse to leave the 'homes' when I leave the lids open, or even when I tried to rehome them.

I keep the larger ones, mostly Brachy and Grammostola, in the sterile shoeboxes. And they don't even use half of the volume. Most will either stay inside or on top of the hides. And for pokies, the larger females are kept in 1 gal jar. And they only occupy one corner of the jar. A P rufilata female stays in one spot for the last month.

I keep A avics in the container store 4x4x7 vertical boxes. They even produced eggsacs for me. I don't believe a stressed out tarantulas probably won't lay a sac, but again, I'm just a hobbyist, not an expert.

 

[jebbewocky]

I gave my LP juvie a 20 gallon--I figured she'd end up growing into it, and while a 20 gallon is probably too big, I think a 10 gallon is too small. *shrug*

I've also got an OBT, and a P.cambridgei sling in enclosures that are a little bigger than many would use given their size--but with the speed of those spiders I like giving them some extra room--it makes it easier for me to do maintenance. Plus, I don't like re-housing, so I usually give the T's room to grow. And I'm a bit clumsy--bigger tanks are easier for me.

Beyond that, it's personal preference. *shrug*