Enclosure size for adult G. Pulchra

[0viWan]

Hey guys,

since I am trying to do some planning for the future in terms of enclosures I am wondering about your opinions about the appropriate enclosure size for adult G. Pulchras (guess we are calculating with a DLS of about 6''). I am working with the metric system so any values, which are easily convertable would be much appreciated.

Thx

 

[fcat]

How big is your G pulchra now? My answer will depend on time for new enclosures to be invented

General rule of thumb: using the Ts leg span as a multiplier, you want around 2x on the shortest side, and 3x on the longer side. If you use a cube I would aim for closer to 3x. Those are just rough estimates. You want room for a hide, a water dish, and space to ambush prey.

The most important dimension will be height, and how much ceiling space is left after you put in a hefty amount of substrate. A fall would be catastrophic for that tarantula, and they love to explore. And escape. Some people say a max 2x fall space, I only give mine about 1x, anything more than 1.5x makes my palms sweat. The reason for that is because they love to climb the lid, and a fall from dead center would be heard from across the room.

 

[Wolfram1]

i go by this formula for terrestrials:
4xdls clutter free floor space minimum, you can always go larger

 

[0viWan]

How big is your G pulchra now? My answer will depend on time for new enclosures to be invented

I have four G. Pulchras. Largest one will likely molt soon, then be at like 2.5'' DLS and due for a rehouse. I do realize the whole G. Pulchra glacial growth thing but in my mind their growth rate is fast enough to not be slacking on proper enclosure planning and preparation ^^

If I remember correctly I can recall Tom Moran in one of his podcasts talk about moving Ts into their forever home at 3'' DLS (which might not really apply to G. Pulchras and such).

I also have a few other terrestrials, all of them at sling to juvenile stage so I feel like I need to lay out a plan on when to move each sling/juvie to an appropriate enclosure or their final home. Up to this point I have been randomly acquiring enclosures by feel, which obviously is not an efficient way to go about this. I would like to use proper acrylic enclosures at some point and those are not going to be cheap enough to buy randomly

 

[viper69]

Hey guys,

since I am trying to do some planning for the future in terms of enclosures I am wondering about your opinions about the appropriate enclosure size for adult G. Pulchras (guess we are calculating with a DLS of about 6''). I am working with the metric system so any values, which are easily convertable would be much appreciated.

Thx

For area, you could keep it in a ExoTerra BreederBox Large. I have species that are 6" in those, no issues.