Any reason for a spider to avoid a hide?

[Blue25]

I'm still stuck with the humidity and tems the OP mentioned. 65F temps - I find that a bit low for permanent temperature. As a nighttime low it's perfectly fine, but I wouldn't keep most tarantulas at that temp long term. Then humidity - 60-75%. What do you do to reach that humidity and how and where do you measure? Depending on these question there may be too much moisture in that cage. I have an ambient humidity of 60-80% around here, so I keep my B. albopilosum on dry sub, but if you need to moisten the sub substantially to reach that humidity or soak the enclosure that may be too much. Humidity directly over a moist substrate is a lot higher than 5" up, so if you measure higher up humidity can be as high as 95% from evaporation where your tarantula sits on the moist sub. Humidity also gets trapped under a hide when the sub is moist.

Because of all of those whens and ifs humidity numbers are completely meaningless, as others have stated before. You can keep your B. albopilosum on dry or partly moist substrate, but don't soak it just to reach some artificial and incorrect humidity numbers.



I don't think you have thought this through. In the wild they don't encounter slippery glass walls. In the wild they live deep in burrows to hide from predators and only climb under dire circumstances. In the wild they climb and fall and die and that's it. There are really too many storys of tarantulas that fell and ruptured their abdomen around.

The humidity is measured toward the top of the tank. The sub is put in moist to dry and its slowly drying out completely. I don't soak or mist the tank at all, I know this species likes it on the dry side. that's just the ambient humidity within the tank within the area I have it.

Also from everything that I have seen those temps are fine and that using any other heating method such as a lamp or pad is worse for your spider then having it at a cooler temp. The only thing that I have seen people mention on here from having their spider at lower temps is that the metabolism slows and the spider may act a little sluggish, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[boina]

The humidity is measured toward the top of the tank. The sub is put in moist to dry and its slowly drying out completely. I don't soak or mist the tank at all, I know this species likes it on the dry side. that's just the ambient humidity within the tank within the area I have it.

Also from everything that I have seen those temps are fine and that using any other heating method such as a lamp or pad is worse for your spider then having it at a cooler temp. The only thing that I have seen people mention on here from having their spider at lower temps is that the metabolism slows and the spider may act a little sluggish, correct me if I'm wrong.

A little sluggish is not conductive for molting without trouble. Too slow a metabolism may leed to digestive problems, meaning the spider may stop feeding after a (possible long) while. 65F is generally cited as the lowest possible temp for a T, so you may be fine - or you may not. We don't know all that much about it since no real experiments have been done what temps a tarantula will confortably survive long term. I like to err on the side of caution. You are in Kansas if your profile is right? To get to 65F you need an AC, right? How about just changing the setting?

 

[Blue25]

A little sluggish is not conductive for molting without trouble. Too slow a metabolism may leed to digestive problems, meaning the ooo spider may stop feeding after a (possible long) while. 65F is generally cited as the lowest possible temp for a T, so you may be fine - or you may not. We don't know all that much about it since no real experiments have been done what temps a tarantula will confortably survive long term. I like to err on the side of caution. You are in Kansas if your profile is right? To get to 65F you need an AC, right? How about just changing the setting?

It is advised to keep them out of direct light and direct airflow if I'm not mistaken, and the only are of my house where i can guarantee it wont be in sun and or wind is in my basement which stays between 65 and 70 year round no matter the thermostat temp. Not all of us can dedicate an entire room to our spiders and telling my family I need to make the house 5 degrees warmer for my spider isn't going to fly.

 

[JoshDM020]

It is advised to keep them out of direct light and direct airflow if I'm not mistaken, and the only are of my house where i can guarantee it wont be in sun and or wind is in my basement which stays between 65 and 70 year round no matter the thermostat temp. Not all of us can dedicate an entire room to our spiders and telling my family I need to make the house 5 degrees warmer for my spider isn't going to fly.

Getting very sassy with all of this good advice from people with much more experience than you... you asked for help (maybe not on this specifically, but the issue asked about was resolved, and changes should be made), we're attempting to give it to you. Not because we have to, but because we WANT you to be able to care for your spider so it doesnt die. The temp could greatly effect your spider. There are ways to fix it without lamps or pads. And you can even USE pads if you know how to do it.
Without pads, you can buy a space heater. Turn it to 70/80 range, and place it a couple feet from the enclosures. Now only the room you keep them in is effected. If you have them in a closet like i do, you can run the cord under the door and close it in the closet with them, leaving the rest of the room uneffected. If you do this, keep it set at about 70/75 otherwise it could get a little toasty in there.
Ive seen some interesting ways pads have been rigged up for use. @CyclingSam uses one in a micro climate (i watch your YT channel), he has it wrapped around a glass cup (i think). Its a small one, but you can probably size it up if you needed more heat.
I believe ive also read that putting them on the SIDES of tanks instead of the bottoms makes them considerably safer. I may be wrong on that one, and hopefully someone will correct me if i am.
I hope these suggestions help. I personally use the space heater in the closet, and it works great.

 

[Moakmeister]

Wait, wait, wait. Your tarantula never goes in its hide and is always sitting outside... and you have a PROBLEM with that?

 

[Stig]

Wait, wait, wait. Your tarantula never goes in its hide and is always sitting outside... and you have a PROBLEM with that?

hahaha my Juv. G.Pulchra went into it's new home, said " sod you keeper see you in 3 month" havn't seen it in about a week it has burrowed...has taken a dubia though, it's up for another one on feed day tomorrow, so I will see..

 

[Blue25]

Getting very sassy with all of this good advice from people with much more experience than you... you asked for help (maybe not on this specifically, but the issue asked about was resolved, and changes should be made), we're attempting to give it to you. Not because we have to, but because we WANT you to be able to care for your spider so it doesnt die. The temp could greatly effect your spider. There are ways to fix it without lamps or pads. And you can even USE pads if you know how to do it.
Without pads, you can buy a space heater. Turn it to 70/80 range, and place it a couple feet from the enclosures. Now only the room you keep them in is effected. If you have them in a closet like i do, you can run the cord under the door and close it in the closet with them, leaving the rest of the room uneffected. If you do this, keep it set at about 70/75 otherwise it could get a little toasty in there.
Ive seen some interesting ways pads have been rigged up for use. @CyclingSam uses one in a micro climate (i watch your YT channel), he has it wrapped around a glass cup (i think). Its a small one, but you can probably size it up if you needed more heat.
I believe ive also read that putting them on the SIDES of tanks instead of the bottoms makes them considerably safer. I may be wrong on that one, and hopefully someone will correct me if i am.
I hope these suggestions help. I personally use the space heater in the closet, and it works great.

Im sorry if my message came across wrong I was not trying to be sassy or have any negative connotation just was merely replying to what was said before... and im sorry for the tone.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

hahaha my Juv. G.Pulchra went into it's new home, said " sod you keeper see you in 3 month" havn't seen it in about a week it has burrowed...has taken a dubia though, it's up for another one on feed day tomorrow, so I will see..

That's cute, I've never seen my E. cyanognathus apart from when rehousing

 

[viper69]

Hey everyone, my B. albopilosum doesn't go in her/his hide anymore... I got it a couple weeks ago and have it in a 12x12x12 exo terra enclosure. Coconut fiber as the sub. Humidity stays between 60-75 and the temp stays around 65.

I have noticed that it likes to hang out anywhere BUT the hide I got for it. Its a wooden hide I got from a reptile shop and its more then big enough for the spider. Its still a juvenile about 2-3 inches atm. I made sure that the sub was also dug out to offer a little more height. It would go in there at the start when I first got it but now it avoids it... any ideas as to why?

Also it seems to want to eat every time a cricket is near the cage... do I assume that the pet shop didn't feed them often and continue to almost power feed it or back off to a few a week?

There's no issue here, just enjoy your T. No one knows why a T does it what does by and large.

I have a T that has a great hide and only stays on top of it. so what.... Just enjoy.

 

[viator80]

I've never been a fan of the nano conversions. It's such a good looking enclosure to jack up by modding and laying it on it's side. I much prefer getting a nice clear shoe box to setup for it. Save that nano for an arboreal for the next tarantula.


The problem is the harder enclosure furniture we put in increases the damage from a fall over just landing on the ground. Add to that glass sides (which is a lot smoother then the rock ledges or scrub brush branches in the wild) greatly increase the chances of a fall making it much higher then in the wild. Finally, tarantulas die from all kinds of things in the wild. I know that's how nature works and there are chances of a fall death in the wild. Even so, I'd rather not put more risk to my pet tarantulas just because the risks exists in the wild too.

I do tend to give my Ts higher substrate to enclosure top space compared to what a lot of people state but I try to ensure it's not a long fall (should they fall). I'd recommend getting a enclosure that is better suited to a terrestrial tarantula (I use modified clear shoe boxes) and then looking for a nice beginner arboreal for that upright enclosure.

My current favorite enclosures for terrestrials.

I know this is a really old thread, but I came across this and I got an enclosure like this recently and I’m
Wondering how you go about securing the lid so they cant escape? Thanks!