Discontinuing Exo-Terra for Sterilite- Is My Enclosure Okay?

ZimZum

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Nov 5, 2020
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54
Good Evening,

I am currently working on slowly phasing out all of my 12x12x12 Exo-Terra terrariums for sterilite tubs for all of my terrestrial tarantulas. The amount of modifications I’ve had to conduct on the Exo-Terras have made it impractical for use, and I find that a customized Sterilite tub offers far more ventilation.

My only fear is that now I’ve made my cross-ventilation holes far too large. I intend to house my juvenile Grammostola pulchra in this enclosure, so I imagine the excessive ventilation will not be detrimental to its health.

Are there risks I am unaware of for making my ventilation holes too big?

Thanks.

-Jason
 

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spideyspinneret78

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As long as the holes are larger than the spider's carapace and it can't get out, I don't see a problem. I think it'll appreciate the substrate depth.
 

DaveM

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As long as the holes are larger than the spider's carapace
My esteemed colleague means as long as the holes are *not* larger than the carapace. Even someone so well-regarded and knowledgeable as @spideyspinneret78 is condemned to make an occasional typo like the rest of us, but heed his wise advice.

These look good. One very minor preference of mine, depending on the size of the spider, is that I might leave the hide just a little bit more buried, with a slightly smaller starter burrow entrance that the spider can dig out to preferred size and shape.
Given how hard it is to know whether that kind of thing matters at all, I've performed a few experiments over the years with two hides in enclosures: one mostly buried, one with a big exposed entrance. My sample size hasn't been large enough to be definitive, but the spiders always eventually settled into the hides that they dug out themselves. Perhaps it's easier, or comes more naturally, for the spider to enlarge a burrow entrance than to narrow one down.
 

spideyspinneret78

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My esteemed colleague means as long as the holes are *not* larger than the carapace. Even someone so well-regarded and knowledgeable as @spideyspinneret78 is condemned to make an occasional typo like the rest of us, but heed his wise advice.

These look good. One very minor preference of mine, depending on the size of the spider, is that I might leave the hide just a little bit more buried, with a slightly smaller starter burrow entrance that the spider can dig out to preferred size and shape.
Given how hard it is to know whether that kind of thing matters at all, I've performed a few experiments over the years with two hides in enclosures: one mostly buried, one with a big exposed entrance. My sample size hasn't been large enough to be definitive, but the spiders always eventually settled into the hides that they dug out themselves. Perhaps it's easier, or comes more naturally, for the spider to enlarge a burrow entrance than to narrow one down.
Thanks! I didn't notice that!
 

ZimZum

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My esteemed colleague means as long as the holes are *not* larger than the carapace. Even someone so well-regarded and knowledgeable as @spideyspinneret78 is condemned to make an occasional typo like the rest of us, but heed his wise advice.

These look good. One very minor preference of mine, depending on the size of the spider, is that I might leave the hide just a little bit more buried, with a slightly smaller starter burrow entrance that the spider can dig out to preferred size and shape.
Given how hard it is to know whether that kind of thing matters at all, I've performed a few experiments over the years with two hides in enclosures: one mostly buried, one with a big exposed entrance. My sample size hasn't been large enough to be definitive, but the spiders always eventually settled into the hides that they dug out themselves. Perhaps it's easier, or comes more naturally, for the spider to enlarge a burrow entrance than to narrow one down.
That’s very interesting. I will be trying that out. I have ample time to experiment because I don’t intend to rehouse until my G. pulchra makes itself visible again.
 

Smotzer

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One very minor preference of mine, depending on the size of the spider, is that I might leave the hide just a little bit more buried, with a slightly smaller starter burrow entrance that the spider can dig out to preferred size and shape.
Yes I concur I have found this to be true and helps them settle in a bit faster!
 

Introvertebrate

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Good Evening,

I am currently working on slowly phasing out all of my 12x12x12 Exo-Terra terrariums for sterilite tubs for all of my terrestrial tarantulas. The amount of modifications I’ve had to conduct on the Exo-Terras have made it impractical for use, and I find that a customized Sterilite tub offers far more ventilation.

My only fear is that now I’ve made my cross-ventilation holes far too large. I intend to house my juvenile Grammostola pulchra in this enclosure, so I imagine the excessive ventilation will not be detrimental to its health.

Are there risks I am unaware of for making my ventilation holes too big?

Thanks.

-Jason
So you'll be giving away those Exo-Terras, right? ;)
 

cold blood

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A pulchra actually doesnt require much ventilation at all, this should be the least of your concerns with this species.

People see all the hype revolving around ventilation for avics or other arboreals and mistakenly think it applies to all species. Terrestrials kept predominantly dry dont need much.

The size of the vent holes is a great thing for feeding......I do the same and just drop food through the holes near the ts so I dont have to disturb them by opening the top......when I use superworms, I just hold them and wait for the t to come grab it from me....this way I dont need to crush heads or fish out something not eaten, if they dont want it, I just pull it out and move it to the next enclosure.
 

DustyD

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I have also seen my few Ts prefer smaller openings for their new dens. I wonder if it is for the same reason that when I rehouse them they tend to climb the walls and stay there awhile. My thought is that they don’t know if danger is down there or in a wide hole and are taking precautions.

I also early on tried cork bark rounds at various depths, but my terrestrial Ts didn’t want that. It appears they wanted digging space.

Another observation: my G. pulchra slings seem to dig shallower hides as compared to my G. rosea which dig vaulted caverns in their enclosures. A very small sample though.
 

The Snark

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My esteemed colleague means as long as the holes are *not* larger than the carapace. Even someone so well-regarded and knowledgeable as @spideyspinneret78 is condemned to make an occasional typo like the rest of us, but heed his wise advice.
"How absolute the knave is! We must speak by the card else equivocation will undo us!" -Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Given how hard it is to know whether that kind of thing matters at all, I've performed a few experiments over the years with two hides in enclosures: one mostly buried, one with a big exposed entrance.
Always employ comparative analysis rather than arbitrarily assuming one always knows perfectly what is correct - which, when dealing with animals each with their own quirks and preferences, is akin to chasing your own shadow.
 

DaveM

ArachnoOneCanReach
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"How absolute the knave is! We must speak by the card else equivocation will undo us!" -Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Always employ comparative analysis rather than arbitrarily assuming one always knows perfectly what is correct - which, when dealing with animals each with their own quirks and preferences, is akin to chasing your own shadow.
The Snark doth protest too much, methinks.

"The truth of it is, that a man in much business must either make himself a knave, or else the world will make him a fool..." -Abraham Cowley

I hear the distant jangle of a probing statement, a prod to provoke complexity out of a simple question. Let us not speak by the card, but amplify the cacophony in riposte with cross-cultural mishmash. A lousy demi-derrière haiku will do.

Not Chasing Shadows
These boxes are fine.
If the holes are not too big.
They will hold spiders.
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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I hear the distant jangle of a probing statement, a prod to provoke complexity out of a simple question.
I prefer Aleister Crowley: Balance every thought with its opposition. Because the marriage of them is the destruction of illusion.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Dec 8, 2006
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Good Evening,

I am currently working on slowly phasing out all of my 12x12x12 Exo-Terra terrariums for sterilite tubs for all of my terrestrial tarantulas. The amount of modifications I’ve had to conduct on the Exo-Terras have made it impractical for use, and I find that a customized Sterilite tub offers far more ventilation.

My only fear is that now I’ve made my cross-ventilation holes far too large. I intend to house my juvenile Grammostola pulchra in this enclosure, so I imagine the excessive ventilation will not be detrimental to its health.

Are there risks I am unaware of for making my ventilation holes too big?

Thanks.

-Jason
Exo-Terras are a commercial product based on home-made glass designs used in Europe by tons and tons of people for many decades including the breeders that supply both the EU and the USA with slings

They provide fine level of ventilation for both arboreal and terrestrial esp NW terrestrials which have low level of oxygen requirements
 
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