Cross ventilation for hmacs

[AntTheGreat]

Hey so I bought a terrarium for my female hmac that’s coming in on Wednesday but I was stupid and forgot to check if it had cross ventilation but it doesn’t. So how important is it to have cross ventilation for them because I heard they just need mild humidity not high humidity and I did see a couple of videos of people just having top ventilation instead of cross ventilation.

 

[DaveM]

What is the size of the spider you're getting (in diagonal leg span, if you know)? That's an important factor in determining how much moisture you'll need in the enclosure. Small slings need some moistened substrate, and adults can be kept fairly dry with water dishes glued in elevated positions (in part to keep the dishes from getting webbed over; this species often webs a lot starting down low). The size of the spider is also very important to know in order to select an enclosure of a suitable size. It often doesn't occur to people that too large of an enclosure can be a frustrating problem until after they've made that mistake.

I think this Zoo Med enclosure might have a woven screen mesh top that would need to be modified or replaced (which isn't difficult to do). The spider's tarsal claws can get stuck in woven screen mesh. You can replace the screen with acrylic cut to size that has ventilation holes drilled. You would glue the acrylic to the lid in place of the screen. A tarantula trapped and dangling by one leg caught in woven screen mesh is tragic and easily avoided. If the top does have woven screen mesh as I suspect, it must be replaced, no other option, but it's cheap and easy to do with just a quick trip to Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

You should ask care advice on these from @cold blood, because they're a particular favorite specialty of his, that he loves these above all other species. <-- Sorry, not true, I lied. He doesn't like them. I just wanted to poke at him to see what he would say, which is usually entertaining and informative. But I like this species, and many other people do too. You might have made a fine choice here, provided that you know how to handle fast arboreals. Have you kept many tarantulas before?

 

[AntTheGreat]

What is the size of the spider you're getting (in diagonal leg span, if you know)? That's an important factor in determining how much moisture you'll need in the enclosure. Small slings need some moistened substrate, and adults can be kept fairly dry with water dishes glued in elevated positions (in part to keep the dishes from getting webbed over; this species often webs a lot starting down low). The size of the spider is also very important to know in order to select an enclosure of a suitable size. It often doesn't occur to people that too large of an enclosure can be a frustrating problem until after they've made that mistake.

I think this Zoo Med enclosure might have a woven screen mesh top that would need to be modified or replaced (which isn't difficult to do). The spider's tarsal claws can get stuck in woven screen mesh. You can replace the screen with acrylic cut to size that has ventilation holes drilled. You would glue the acrylic to the lid in place of the screen. A tarantula trapped and dangling by one leg caught in woven screen mesh is tragic and easily avoided. If the top does have woven screen mesh as I suspect, it must be replaced, no other option, but it's cheap and easy to do with just a quick trip to Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

You should ask care advice on these from @cold blood, because they're a particular favorite specialty of his, that he loves these above all other species. <-- Sorry, not true, I lied. He doesn't like them. I just wanted to poke at him to see what he would say, which is usually entertaining and informative. But I like this species, and many other people do too. You might have made a fine choice here, provided that you know how to handle fast arboreals. Have you kept many tarantulas before?

My hmac is 2” female

 

[DaveM]

My hmac is 2” female

In that case, this 3 gallon enclosure is too big. Keep it for later. For now, it would be advisable to use a deli cup. A tall, quart-sized / 32 oz deli cup is big enough, and cheap or free. Drill holes for ventilation, and be happy that for now you have a perfect and inexpensive solution. You can use the 3 gallon tank later.

Welcome to Arachnoboards! Stick around here, post photos, ask more questions. People here can help you a great deal, especially important if you haven't kept many spiders at this level of difficulty before. There are tricks that make rehousing fast arboreals easier, for example. Save your spider and save yourself from learning things the hard way. This species is not one of the most difficult to keep, but they are on a different level than the fat desert scrubland teddy bears that are most recommendable for newcomers. Good luck, and enjoy!

 

[AntTheGreat]

In that case, this 3 gallon enclosure is too big. Keep it for later. For now, it would be advisable to use a deli cup. A tall, quart-sized / 32 oz deli cup is plenty big enough, and cheap or free. Drill holes for ventilation, and be happy that for now you have a perfect and inexpensive solution. You can use the 3 gallon tank later.

Welcome to Arachnoboards! Stick around here, post photos, ask more questions. People here can help you a great deal, especially important if you haven't kept many spiders at this level of difficulty before. There are tricks that make rehousing fast arboreals easier, for example. Save your spider and save yourself from learning things the hard way. This species is not one of the most difficult to keep, but they are on a different level than the fat desert scrubland teddy bears that are most recommendable for newcomers. Good luck, and enjoy!

Yeah I’ve have 2 male hmacs rn still pretty small n yeah I think I just might put her in the same container like I have for them from savemart. Also thank you and yeah I only had an Arizona blonde for awhile but once I saw the white colors on the hmac I had to get it. Lol

 

[DaveM]

Yeah I’ve have 2 male hmacs rn still pretty small n yeah I think I just might put her in the same container like I have for them from savemart. Also thank you and yeah I only had an Arizona blonde for awhile but once I saw the white colors on the hmac I had to get it. Lol

Oh, OK, great!
I didn't want to be rude, but I was hoping that this wasn't your first tarantula. Very glad that you've got some real experience going for you here. Good deal

 

[Andrew Clayton]

My hmac is 2” female

Yeah I’ve have 2 male hmacs rn still pretty small n yeah I think I just might put her in the same container like I have for them from savemart. Also thank you and yeah I only had an Arizona blonde for awhile but once I saw the white colors on the hmac I had to get it. Lol

Remember at 2" it's not gawna be white yet, here is a pic of my female when I got it at 2"

From you're 1st post it sounded like this was gawna be you're 1st Old world sorry didn't know you already had 2 and answers before I seen the post about you're 2 males. So added it in my edit

 

[viper69]

IME I didn’t have a large amount of ventilation as I would for an Avic