Are We Keeping Tarantulas Correctly?

[Predacons5]

I've observed that certain Phormictopus species or Pamphobeteus species are both wanderers and bulldozers.

Some of the big-time wanderers I've seen in my collection tend to not be heavy into the bulldozing.

 

[JonoAndHisTs]

Was in the middle of writing this and accidently hit post!
Bare with me as this may take a while to write....

EDIT: And I just realised as I'm writing this post my comparison was dumb and not sure where I was going with this thought.

I was going to compare how royal pythons used to be kept (eg, small RUB, one hide and water dish) to how we currently keep tarantulas, (eg, one hide, water dish, small enclosure).

My point being that royals were thought of as boring or lazy snakes because they didn't do anything but people are turning towards larger enclosures with lots of hiding spots and cover and are now seeing a much more active snake. Similarly, many T species are considered pet rocks and this could be due to how we keep them. I realised this was a bad comparison before I started writing and realised even more how this was a dumb comparison during writing...

I give my Tarantulas pretty decent sized enclosures enough to roam and stretch if they want but they either just web up a corner or burrow deep in their substrate, depending on the species.
My GBB juvi just webbed up the top of the substrate and just chills there.
While my B. vagans is just diggin away in her new enclosure lol

 

[toan]

to breed certain species of tarantulas, I keep the female in an over-sized tank for a while and introduce the male in the opposite side. I rarely see the females venture past their little corners.

 

[Flashback]

It's cool to read about the behavior of everyone's T's.

I only have 1 (A. Chalcaodes) & it's all over the enclosure. She goes into her hide every now & then, but then the next time I see her she's out. Constantly in a different areas, just sitting there. She's caught food all over the enclosure & spends 90% of the time (at least we I see her out in the open)

 

[KevinLovett86]

All my knowledge from keeping animals in things come from my years of fish keeping, and fish need space. My first T arrived yesterday and the dealer said I can just keep it in the cup he included, but I felt bad for the little guy.
This gives space to stretch out if he wants, awesomely shaped leaf to hide, and some dirt to dig.
I know bugs don’t get bored because they don’t reason or think about things, but I do.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Yeah maybe I termed that wrong. What about Are we keeping tarantulas the best way we can? Although that is also subjective. We could provide our Ts with a day/night and seasonal cycle of light and temps. We could create a misting system to simulate rain, take soil from their natural habitats for substrate, the list is endless. Depends on how we define good husbandry, eg long life = good husbandry or natural environment = good husbandry. In the wild Ts are killed off by predators, extreme temps and extreme rainfalls I assume. So maybe good husbandry is as close to natural as possible but without the dangers that come along with it. We could mimic natural temps and rainfall but dial it back so it isn't a risk.

The above is completely unrealistic of course. No one is going to go through that much effort for a T but it's interesting to think about. Plus I think we should be open to new ideas on husbandry and not write everything off straight away. I do see that here quite a bit, where someone will include some nice decorations in their enclosure and another user will comment on how unnecessary the decor is

After studying two wild populations of A. hentzi for many years and scrutinizing as many videos of tarantulas in the wild as I can find, then applying some of what I noticed to my own tarantulas, recreating natural conditions to observe more natural behavior doesn't require recreating an ecosystem. When it comes to terrestrial species, most construct burrows under objects in a clay soil. In captivity, I have managed to set up species of Brachypelma, Aphonopelma, Grammostola, and Theraphosa- to name a few- in a way where they stop climbing around their enclosures and live like the fossorial species they are in nature. The behavior mimics the natural behavior in that they build and expand a pre-made burrow underneath a partially buried block of something (I use yoga blocks and florist foam blocks) and stay hidden during the day and leave their burrows at night. When disturbed, these tarantulas run back to the burrows. There is no climbing the walls of the cage, no chronic shifting of the substrate, etc. All of which are signs of discontent in captive tarantulas.

The only aspect of nature that could be beneficial to observing natural behavior in tarantulas is reproducing the seasons for those species that come from temperate climate zones. For 14 of my 20 year tarantula keeping "career", my tarantulas were kept in a room of a well insulated building with a constant temperature of about 70-75 degrees F. They were basically kept in an environment I was comfortable in. It wasn't until the past 6 years where I moved into an old poorly insulated building that I noticed a remarkable change in my tarantulas. During the winter months, my tarantulas became less active and remained in their burrows more while in the summer months, they started eating more, stayed outside of the burrows, and molted at about the same time every year. Usually in June or July when the temperature in my spider room can reach around 85 degrees F.

In my opinion, the idea that to see natural behavior in tarantulas by trying to reproduce nature in a glass or plastic box is not only futile but unnecessary. Tarantulas are simple creatures that adapt to a wide range of conditions as long as their basic need to stay hidden are catered too. In my experience, that would be providing some kind of structure in the enclosure to burrow under. I wish I could comment more on arboreal tarantulas, but I have too limited of experience with them. However, if I were to experiment with the arboreals, I would first provide a large diameter cork tube in the middle of a tall enclosure, provide ample ventilation, and provide some source of humidity as opposed to a completely dry enclosure which is common practice. I would do this based on the observation from videos of them in nature inhabiting cavities in tree trunks that have a much larger diameter in relation to their leg span.

On the idea that tarantulas are pet rocks because the enclosures they are kept in are too small though... Tarantulas by nature are sedentary not because of where or how they live, but because of their rudimentary metabolic functions. Compared to a snake, tarantulas just can't be as physically active. The circulatory system and respiratory system of a spider does not allow for quick and efficient gas exchange to their body's tissues therefore activity has to be kept to a minimum. A snake though has large lungs, a closed circulatory system consisting of a network of arteries and veins, etc. which allows for more aerobic activity.

What's interesting to me is how keepers accept a large amount of activity from their tarantulas as normal behavior. Again, tarantulas are sedentary and a large amount of physical activity is a sign of discontent with their environment. In nature, immature and female tarantulas wander around with no burrow in sight due to what is only assumed to be a displacement from their original home burrow. Something would have happened at some point to make the burrow, or hiding spot, of a wild tarantula pick up and start moving around in the open. The same behavior in captivity is manifested in chronic wall climbing and "bulldozing" the substrate. In arboreals, discontent could be seen as sitting on the floor of its enclosure or making the so-called "dirt curtains."

 

[viper69]

Yes, we are. Mine have received rave reviews in Better Enclosures and Gardens.

I like your style!

We could create a misting system to simulate rain, take soil from their natural habitats for substrate, the list is endles

Some people do use misting systems with success.

Native substrate--- when you find a CHEAP way to get me soil from various parts of South America, and the Far East, let us all know.

After studying two wild populations of A. hentzi for many years and scrutinizing as many videos of tarantulas in the wild as I can find, then applying some of what I noticed to my own tarantulas, recreating natural conditions to observe more natural behavior doesn't require recreating an ecosystem. When it comes to terrestrial species, most construct burrows under objects in a clay soil. In captivity, I have managed to set up species of Brachypelma, Aphonopelma, Grammostola, and Theraphosa- to name a few- in a way where they stop climbing around their enclosures and live like the fossorial species they are in nature. The behavior mimics the natural behavior in that they build and expand a pre-made burrow underneath a partially buried block of something (I use yoga blocks and florist foam blocks) and stay hidden during the day and leave their burrows at night. When disturbed, these tarantulas run back to the burrows. There is no climbing the walls of the cage, no chronic shifting of the substrate, etc. All of which are signs of discontent in captive tarantulas.

The only aspect of nature that could be beneficial to observing natural behavior in tarantulas is reproducing the seasons for those species that come from temperate climate zones. For 14 of my 20 year tarantula keeping "career", my tarantulas were kept in a room of a well insulated building with a constant temperature of about 70-75 degrees F. They were basically kept in an environment I was comfortable in. It wasn't until the past 6 years where I moved into an old poorly insulated building that I noticed a remarkable change in my tarantulas. During the winter months, my tarantulas became less active and remained in their burrows more while in the summer months, they started eating more, stayed outside of the burrows, and molted at about the same time every year. Usually in June or July when the temperature in my spider room can reach around 85 degrees F.

In my opinion, the idea that to see natural behavior in tarantulas by trying to reproduce nature in a glass or plastic box is not only futile but unnecessary. Tarantulas are simple creatures that adapt to a wide range of conditions as long as their basic need to stay hidden are catered too. In my experience, that would be providing some kind of structure in the enclosure to burrow under. I wish I could comment more on arboreal tarantulas, but I have too limited of experience with them. However, if I were to experiment with the arboreals, I would first provide a large diameter cork tube in the middle of a tall enclosure, provide ample ventilation, and provide some source of humidity as opposed to a completely dry enclosure which is common practice. I would do this based on the observation from videos of them in nature inhabiting cavities in tree trunks that have a much larger diameter in relation to their leg span.

On the idea that tarantulas are pet rocks because the enclosures they are kept in are too small though... Tarantulas by nature are sedentary not because of where or how they live, but because of their rudimentary metabolic functions. Compared to a snake, tarantulas just can't be as physically active. The circulatory system and respiratory system of a spider does not allow for quick and efficient gas exchange to their body's tissues therefore activity has to be kept to a minimum. A snake though has large lungs, a closed circulatory system consisting of a network of arteries and veins, etc. which allows for more aerobic activity.

What's interesting to me is how keepers accept a large amount of activity from their tarantulas as normal behavior. Again, tarantulas are sedentary and a large amount of physical activity is a sign of discontent with their environment. In nature, immature and female tarantulas wander around with no burrow in sight due to what is only assumed to be a displacement from their original home burrow. Something would have happened at some point to make the burrow, or hiding spot, of a wild tarantula pick up and start moving around in the open. The same behavior in captivity is manifested in chronic wall climbing and "bulldozing" the substrate. In arboreals, discontent could be seen as sitting on the floor of its enclosure or making the so-called "dirt curtains."

You raise an interesting point on gas exchange. Do you know then if spiders, such as Salticidae have more efficient gas exchange than tarantulas?

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

You raise an interesting point on gas exchange. Do you know then if spiders, such as Salticidae have more efficient gas exchange than tarantulas?

The Salticidae would have a more efficient respiratory system than tarantulas since the Araneomorphae posses tracheal tubes instead of two pairs of book lungs the mygales posses. I would have to fact check myself later, but I believe the Migidae is the only mygale family that possesses tracheal tubes instead of book lungs.

 

[Predacons5]

What's interesting to me is how keepers accept a large amount of activity from their tarantulas as normal behavior. Again, tarantulas are sedentary and a large amount of physical activity is a sign of discontent with their environment. In nature, immature and female tarantulas wander around with no burrow in sight due to what is only assumed to be a displacement from their original home burrow. Something would have happened at some point to make the burrow, or hiding spot, of a wild tarantula pick up and start moving around in the open. The same behavior in captivity is manifested in chronic wall climbing and "bulldozing" the substrate. In arboreals, discontent could be seen as sitting on the floor of its enclosure or making the so-called "dirt curtains."

I'm not so sure I agree that high levels of activity necessarily equates to discontent. I believe that in some cases it could be, especially when they look like they are extremely high strung. However, when they already have burrows or hides established and those burrows have not been compromised in any way, but they still occasionally come out, I'm not so sure that's necessarily a sign of discontent. Particularly when they just casually walk up the side of the enclosure and just hang out. It could be that they are plenty content with the territories they have established, but they may be hungry, or it could be something else - who knows. I do not find that the T's are always hiding. It's true, a large part of their time is spent hiding, but not all the time. I've seen that they do occasionally hang outside of their hides or burrows or wander, especially towards the evening hours. Sometimes the Pokies and the Pseudhapalopus want out of their holes. I just saw one of my Pokies just hanging outside of its stump and doing its thing.

Photos of the Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica were taken on Saturday, 6/22/2019 at 12:42 am (forgive the not-so-great cellphone photos). This T mostly hides out during the day, and occasionally will come out and hug the outside of the cork stump at random times throughout the day.

 

[MBArachnids]

some dirt to dig.

Just something random. I have never in all my years seen a T enclosure with so many pebbles in Is this normal to anyone else???

 

[KevinLovett86]

Just something random. I have never in all my years seen a T enclosure with so many pebbles in Is this normal to anyone else???

I took it from a kiddy play pit, I reckoned if it’s safe for them, it’s safe for my T. And I liked the colour

 

[Predacons5]

Here’re 2 Megaphobema robustum slings just chilling outside of their caves. I just took these photos Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 8:56 am PST. It is common for them to come out. They have holes. They do hide in them, but sometimes they randomly come out.

I don’t know how many people do this with their Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, but I’ve had no issues keeping these with fine sand as substrate in their enclosures.