criter keepers

[Spider-Man v2.0]

Since thears no offtopic, and no whear to realy place this. ill just throw it in hear since i got a turatula in it..
so, how exacly do u keep humidity up in kriter keepers?

this is the small short plastic kinde, about a foot in length, and 6 inches in width, about 4-5 inches tall.
it has the air slits on the side, and i think thats the big problem with keeping the humidity.
i allso i have noticed, atleast for me, the smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep humidity, i have a hard time with my 5 gallion and the lil one with the front opening doors.

 

[cheetah13mo]

What species are you keeping in it?

 

[PinkLady]

All depends on what type of T you are housing in your KK to whether it needs a fair amount of humidity or not. I find taping half of the lid ( with the sticky side up of course ) helps with humidity.

 

[Brian S]

so, how exacly do u keep humidity up in kriter keepers?

You dont and that is why I dont like using them. If you need to keep a humid environment go and get a plastic Sterlite Shoe Box and drill holes around the side. That will restrict ventilation thus keeping it humid.

 

[Libertykeeper]

All depends on what type of T you are housing in your KK to whether it needs a fair amount of humidity or not. I find taping half of the lid ( with the sticky side up of course ) helps with humidity.

.

I have some success with maintaining relatively steady humidity in the same fashion, but its largely dependant on your ambient humidity, in consideration of application of water (misting substrate, etc).

 

[Libertykeeper]

You dont and that is why I dont like using them. If you need to keep a humid environment go and get a plastic Sterlite Shoe Box and drill holes around the side. That will restrict ventilation thus keeping it humid.

However, Brian S. has a very valid point. Especially with very humidity sensitive species, it depends on what you are keeping.

 

[Spider-Man v2.0]

its a small pink toe *the kind that has the red on the abdomin*

 

[bkirchner81]

.
.
well then- that T does need some humidity for it to be most comfortable (even though some will chime in that it or any other T does not)

You could place the KK in a shallow dish/plate and keep water in that for evaporation or search " tropicaire humidifier " in this forum...

another option is to put a "rock bowl" or some other type of water bowl in the KK and buy an air pump (pref. a silent one) and run a tube to an air stone in the water bowl- the bubbles will humidify quite well....

 

[kitty_b]

i keep small pink toes (various species) in kritter keepers with a small petri dish of water on an inch of peat moss substrate. i mist their cages every few days.

this works fine for me, and provides plenty of ventilation without the worry of mold. then again, i'm not sure what the ambient humidity is here in NC.

 

[cheetah13mo]

its a small pink toe *the kind that has the red on the abdomin*

If it's so small that it still has the red on it's rump, I would keep it in a vial or a jar until it gets to 2 or 3 inches. If it's smaller than 2 or 3 inches, the tarantula might be able to escape. If it's a sling or a juvinile, don't put it in the keeper yet. Plus the vial or jar will hold the humidity better which is better for young T's.

 

[PhoenixHippie]

Critter Cage

I have 3 Critter Cages and like them. These are not the plastic boxes, they are glass fish tanks that are not rated for water so they are much cheaper - about $15 at Petco for a 5 gallon size. You will need the screen top for about $8. They are a step above the Kritter Keepers. You can buy a small hydrometer in pet stores to measure your humidity. They cost about $6 and are usually sold for reptiles. I find I can tailor the cage to just about any level of humidity I want with that guage after some experience with it. For higher humidity use a larger diameter water dish (but not too deep, or put small stones in the dish) and mist the substrate. Peat moss holds a huge amount of moisture. I provide 2-3 differing substrates for my Ts, an area that is mostly peat moss, and then a sandy area. To raise the humidity - use more peat moss and to lower it, use less and don't mist it so much. Look up recommended temperatures and humidity for your species. It's not that critical - basically Low, Medium or High. The recommended levels for my Chacos for example, are 65- 85 deg. F and 40-80% humidity. Don't get things so wet that you grow mold and stuff. The cage has a fully screened top that you can partially block off, but you really don't need to do that and you do want some ventilation. The water dishes I use now are saucers meant for under small flower pots - they are about 3.5 inch diameter. I got them at Home Depot. Make sure that you get glazed ones so the water doesn't soak through the dish. I'm convinced that Ts like to have elbow room and the 5 gal cage is ideal for all but the largest Ts. Good Luck.

 

[Spider-Man v2.0]

im sick of spending so much on hoseing and big cages that take up too much room.
the pink toes not so small that it can escape. hears a pic of the same kind from swifts http://www.swiftinverts.com/pix/AMIN2.JPG
cep miens a bit darker.

 

[Code Monkey]

As Brian said, you don't keep up humidity in these types of enclosures. And while I don't put much stock in humidity, my recommendation to anybody who wants to increase ambient humidity is to increase the humidity in the invert room. Some sort of swamp cooler, atomiser, evaporation wheel, fish tank (I got one in my spider room) is going to be more effective and more economical than any attempt to regulate tank by tank once your collection gets into the double digits.

My boss picked up a couple of atomiser type humidifiers at the thrift store for $5 each and we used them to boost ambient humidity to match outdoors when measuring spider web stickiness in our research.

 

[Spider-Man v2.0]

what kinda humidifiers are thay*for 5 $*?? ill have to look into some.
maby one of those windo things or something.

 

[green_bottle_04]

I have 3 Critter Cages and like them. These are not the plastic boxes, they are glass fish tanks that are not rated for water so they are much cheaper - about $15 at Petco for a 5 gallon size. You will need the screen top for about $8. QUOTE]

or you could go to petsmart and get a 10 gal. for $9.95. they DO hold water, but that doesnt matter. you just get more bang for the buck...especially if you are housing a bigger spider.

 

[Code Monkey]

what kinda humidifiers are thay*for 5 $*?? ill have to look into some.

It's the sort of area humidifiers that you buy new for $30-$50 at Wal-Mart or similar place.

 

[Amanda]

Since thears no offtopic...

Have you signed up for the Watering Hole yet? It's under Group Memberships in your User CP.