i bought a tarantula from the pet shop the other day and it says its a cross between Lasiodora Parahybana and Lasiodora Difficilis.....now my question is how to care for it......i have the temperature in the tank at 68-70 degrees F and i'm not sure how to keep the humidity inside or how will i know if i have the right humidity.....and what to do to "up" the temperature that i already have....i have a heat pad underneath the tank already.....is sponge in the tank really not good idea? i am a new hobbyist....
cross between two spiders
- Thread starter ekram26
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Take the heatpad out from underneath the tank, put it in the back or on the side. When a tarantula wants to burrow, its so it can get down to cooler temperatures. Not to get hotter. Humidity should not really be a problem, I have never cared for a Lasiodora but I believe they like it on the dryer side. I believe the temperature will be just fine, basically just go by the rule that if you feel comfortable (not wearing a sweater) than your T will more than likely feel the same way. DO NOT USE A SPONGE! They collect germs, bacteria, and all sorts of not good things. Don't use woodchips, like the petstore probably told you to do. They are complete idiots and know NOTHING about spiders! Any information you got from them is more than likely wrong though there are a very small amount of stores that actually know a thing or two. Not trying to be mean, I'm just naturally an unpolite person 
lol
Post some pics up of what you got there for all of us to see!
Welcome to the boards, they are a great place to share your experiences and learn more about anything and everything! Lots of really cool people on here to get to know! Also, the classified are pretty SAWEET!!!
lolPost some pics up of what you got there for all of us to see!
Welcome to the boards, they are a great place to share your experiences and learn more about anything and everything! Lots of really cool people on here to get to know! Also, the classified are pretty SAWEET!!!
LV-426
Arachnobaron
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you should post some pics when you can of your hybrid tarantula when you get a chance. It would be interesting to see what a hybrid of Lasidoria looks like.
There's been discussion on this before, but the myth that burrows are always cooler is just that - a myth. Burrows are shelters, tend to be more temperature-stable than the exposed surface, but can be either cooler or warmer than the surface temperature. For example, where I live we are having morning temperatures right at the edge of freezing right now, and our local burrowing arachnids are dug in for protection against that cold, not trying to "get down to cooler temperatures". Burrows are buffers against extreme temperatures (either direction) and burrows in climates that have little temperature fluctuation (such as in the tropics) will be close in temperature to shaded surfaces in the area (unless they are in highly organic, compost rich soils, in which case they will be warmer).
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Close as many Lasiodora spp already are, I doubt anyone could tell much- except knowing the breeding info beforehand.
The TKG backs this up; so I'm in agreement.
thanks!!! oh yeah i have yet to take pictures when its out of its burrow......its kind of waaaaay inside the enclosure that i got which basically looks like a cave and he/she put up a wall so i can't or no one is allowed to see....thanks for the heat pad info!!!!
i bought it form a pet store and the container said its a cross between the two and i did some research and was surprised to know that they crossed 2 of the 3 largest in the world......ain't that awesome!!!! i have yet to take pictures!!!! i'm waiting for it to come out of its burrow!!!!
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Definitely not awesome. Hybridization is a no-no.
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Personally, I would keep this species of tarantula anywhere from the upper 60's to the upper 80's in temp, a good average temp being upper 70s. While it's dry in their native land this time of year, with little precipitation, don't let that fool you. The humidity levels rise up to 90% during the evening and drop down to 40% during the day where they live. You have your tarantula on the low end of its native habitat, which is fine. I'd keep it at 68F or above. I also would just provide a water dish and leave the tank dry otherwise, aside form maybe a light mist a few times a month, or simply keeping the water dish filled.
thanks phoenix!!! its good you mentioned misting and i was just thinking of asking that too...i'm in alberta that's why i'm worried of the temperature, especially now that its winter time....so misting a few times a month is not bad then? it pisses me off that its still in hiding....i had half of mine to lift the shelter and try to look at it and take some pictures but i'm afraid that i might disturb it or ruin the "wall" that it has created inside....but my hopes are hight that it will come out soon......thanks!!!
LV-426
Arachnobaron
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yeah its a no no but in this case whats done is done and the OP should be able to enjoy his T. In no way it should used in breeding, it wasnt asked to be born a hybrid.Definitely not awesome. Hybridization is a no-no.
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Let the irrational arguments begin. Get your hybrids here.Definitely not awesome. Hybridization is a no-no.
Offkillter
Arachnosquire
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I'd own one for ten bucks.As a general rule i might buy a hybrid but not with the intention to breed merely because I love tarantulas.
briarpatch10
Arachnosquire
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100% agree with that!
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You're welcome! I personally mist 3x a month, roughly every 10 days, at times simply filling the water-dish or overfilling it. I look at native conditions and mimic them somewhat. I have to average temps so that all ts are comfortable and at times I drop the temps for all of them down to anywhere from 66F to 76F (I've been doing that lately simply because it's cold here in Burns, Oregon), and they're just fine with that.
I know the anticipation you speak of, it drives me nuts too waiting for a T that's MIA!
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In answer to your other questions, No sponge (harbors bacteria), and no heating pad on the bottom. If anything place it on the side.
Chances of your t being a hybrid are questionable. If your t can produce viable offspring then it is not a hybrid. Hybrids cannot reproduce. Am I wrong on this ladies and gents?
Chances of your t being a hybrid are questionable. If your t can produce viable offspring then it is not a hybrid. Hybrids cannot reproduce. Am I wrong on this ladies and gents?
TKG is, as far as I'm concerned, the best guide out there for the hobbyist. I've also had the pleasure of meeting the author (Stan) and spending some time in the field with him, and he's a great guy. But he's a hobbyist, not a scientist, and he makes an occasional mistake. And this is one of them.
There's been research done on the difference between burrow temperatures and surface temperatures, and it all supports the idea that the ground is an insulator, not a heater or a cooler (with exceptions due to organic breakdown and geothermal events). But if you want to try a simple experiment at home that will get the idea across quickly and easily get an indoor/outdoor thermometer from a plant nursery or garden shop - the kind with a wire lead going to the sensor for the outside temps. If you can get one that records maximum and minimum temperatures, all the better. Put the "outdoor" lead down into an animal burrow - the deeper the better. Put the "indoor" portion on the surface of the ground, but shaded from the sun so you won't mess up your data. Compare temps both during the day and in the middle of the night. (This is where a max/min thermometer comes in handy.) You will find that the burrow temperature remains more constant - that in the daytime the burrow will be cooler than the surface on a mild sunny day, but warmer than the surface on a cold night.
On a larger scale, I deal with this on a regular basis. I work in caves, and spend time underground maybe three or four days a week. Caves are basically large burrows, and have pretty much the same properties that researchers have observed in burrows, but to a greater extent because of the greater depth. Cave temperatures will be the average of all surface temperatures over the course of many years. One I was in yesterday, for example, runs 70 degrees F all year. This morning, when our local temps were at about 30 degrees, that cave was 40 degrees warmer than the surface. By contrast, in late June when our local temperatures were up around 110 degrees, that cave was 40 degrees cooler than the surface.
Part of what I do in caves involves arachnids, and last week I collected a new species of blind cave spider from a cave. That spider would not have been able to survive if that "megaburrow" didn't stay significantly warmer than our local surface temperatures during the winter. (Or significantly cooler than the summer surface temps.)
k2power
Arachnoknight
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No, not all hybrids are incapable of prodcing nonviable offpsring. The definition of hybrid is essentially our "somewhat artificial" one as is our definition of species in many cases. Some crosses between species that are closely related may produce viable offspring while crosses between more distantly related species may not produce any offspring. It all depends on how closely related the different species may be with the general rule that species in a genus are usually closer in relation than among genera. Our knowledge keeps changing so our definitions do as well and some species in a genus may be split down the road as more taxonomic relationships are studied.