Fake plants V.S. Real plants

[Neoza]

Hey. I usually use gake plants because the change of getting mites is little and they dont rot. But sometimes i read that real plants are better. What do you guys think?

 

[dredrickt]

If I use plants, I use fake plants. My focus is to keep the tarantula alive and healthy, I could care less about the plants.

 

[Poec54]

Plastic plants are so much easier. They always stay green. What often comes about is a choice of what's best for the spider (light, water, temps, etc) vs what's best for the plants.

 

[Neoza]

Ok i never had worried about it but i was reading a thread and someone said: ' i saw a tarantula in a petshop sitting in a cage without water and it had even fake plants!' So I thought it maybe wasnt good. But thank you for replys!!

 

[sandybanjo]

I'm using fake plants with mine, and I agree with the previous posts. And, for hiding places, I use either cork bark tubes or half a plastic cup, covered with substrate and fake plants. The spider is the focus.....

 

[Poec54]

Ok i never had worried about it but i was reading a thread and someone said: ' i saw a tarantula in a petshop sitting in a cage without water and it had even fake plants!' So I thought it maybe wasnt good. But thank you for replys!!

Most plants need more light than spiders care for. They also may need moister soil than the spider would want. It's best to master spider-care first before complicating it. It's not really a success if the plants thrive and the spider dies.

 

[Neoza]

Offcourse the T is most important. I dont care about the plant at all! Its in function for the care of the T im asking it

 

[KDiiX]

Most plants need more light than spiders care for. They also may need moister soil than the spider would want. It's best to master spider-care first before complicating it. It's not really a success if the plants thrive and the spider dies.

Even though a tarantula don't cares for the light as the plant do, light is a natural and everywhere existing source of life. It helps humans, pets and plants to regulate a day and night rhythm. So the light is needed won't harm your animal absolut not. It might have even a more natural rhythm.
Many plants exist, which need more or less light, moister or drier Substrate. Fact is everywhere spiders exist real plants exist too. So you could always find at least one plant that fits in the environment of the tarantula. Actually if you get informed a plant can't complicate any spider care. Of course you can't put a plant needing much humidity in a desert environment, but if you choose the correct sort of plant it won't make any additional care.

Someone sad he doesn't use real plants because of the chance of mites. Well mites are extremely specialised on the food. Meaning a mite with is attracted by a plant won't harm the plant and other way round. But actually I don't even heard that somebody ever had any problems with mites because of plants. If you have isopods or comparable insects that help keep a good micro biotope all plants and animals will profit. The nature is a big cycle of living together with many species living in symbiotic relations. So the goal of keeping animals in a "cage" shouldn't be to keep it alive. That's just the minimum...The goal should be to create a biotope that works almost for itself, where you only have to mist and feed from time to time.

Fake plants are often made in Asia and i don't wanna sound racistic but it's no secret that such things are produced as cheap as possible. For that it's not unusual poisoning materials are used. Parents often don't give toys made there their children because the fear the children can put it into their mouth. And now you wanna put a spider into a glass cage with one of this probably poisoning materials? Not every material that is unhealthy or causes cancer with humans is automatically harmful for spiders too, but the chances exist and because of the much smaller body of the spider a much less concentration of harmful material might be very harmful for your spider. I know there's probably no scientific study that proof this, but I'm more than sure no scientific study exist that proof that all fake plants are 100% harmless to the spiders. So its always a matter of if you willing to risk the tarantulas life for an undecorative piece of plastic instead of getting some informations and set it up with real plants that might even look awesome in the enclosure.

Btw fake plants look fake. If you like fake looking why don't you get fake spider? Than You don't have to care about fake plants ;-)

 

[cold blood]

Even though a tarantula don't cares for the light as the plant do, light is a natural and everywhere existing source of life. It helps humans, pets and plants to regulate a day and night rhythm. So the light is needed won't harm your animal absolut not. It might have even a more natural rhythm.
Many plants exist, which need more or less light, moister or drier Substrate. Fact is everywhere spiders exist real plants exist too. So you could always find at least one plant that fits in the environment of the tarantula. Actually if you get informed a plant can't complicate any spider care. Of course you can't put a plant needing much humidity in a desert environment, but if you choose the correct sort of plant it won't make any additional care.

Someone sad he doesn't use real plants because of the chance of mites. Well mites are extremely specialised on the food. Meaning a mite with is attracted by a plant won't harm the plant and other way round. But actually I don't even heard that somebody ever had any problems with mites because of plants. If you have isopods or comparable insects that help keep a good micro biotope all plants and animals will profit. The nature is a big cycle of living together with many species living in symbiotic relations. So the goal of keeping animals in a "cage" shouldn't be to keep it alive. That's just the minimum...The goal should be to create a biotope that works almost for itself, where you only have to mist and feed from time to time.

Fake plants are often made in Asia and i don't wanna sound racistic but it's no secret that such things are produced as cheap as possible. For that it's not unusual poisoning materials are used. Parents often don't give toys made there their children because the fear the children can put it into their mouth. And now you wanna put a spider into a glass cage with one of this probably poisoning materials? Not every material that is unhealthy or causes cancer with humans is automatically harmful for spiders too, but the chances exist and because of the much smaller body of the spider a much less concentration of harmful material might be very harmful for your spider. I know there's probably no scientific study that proof this, but I'm more than sure no scientific study exist that proof that all fake plants are 100% harmless to the spiders. So its always a matter of if you willing to risk the tarantulas life for an undecorative piece of plastic instead of getting some informations and set it up with real plants that might even look awesome in the enclosure.

Btw fake plants look fake. If you like fake looking why don't you get fake spider? Than You don't have to care about fake plants ;-)

Ok, where to start on that...Light is of little need to a t, they are after all, nocturnal and are most active when there is no light. Will it cause harm, no, it won't, but it can cause the t to spend more time hiding. I and many others have kept t's in total darkness for extended periods of time (years) without issue.

I agree on your goal, but in captivity they are kept in enclosures, not the open air of outside, therefore its beneficial to do things that may not be as natural, to produce more closely nature, we also try to keep them in optimal natural conditions, which they rarely actually have in the wild. Adding plants can work, no doubt, but it can make things difficult with many individuals, despite your beliefs otherwise....T's can tear them up, dig them up causing constant planting or pruning work. The added humidity that a live plant offers is increased a by the fact that its in an enclosed area, which is far more apt to hold humidity unnaturally well than outside, which can be too much for many species. I think live plants generally do best with "swamp dwellers", even then some will still redecorate too often.

Your argument that plants exist in the wild with them is flawed....so are predators, thunderstorms, monsoons, high winds, droughts...a perfect reproduction of their natural environment is neither possible or advisable.

Many people use fake plants, I have never heard of a t suffering for it, even when they manipulate them. I have heard of many that were frustrated by the over-complications associated with live plants. If done correctly, fake plants can look quite good, live plant good, maybe not, but still pretty good and they keep things simple and easier. It may work beautifully with some, but not nearly as well with many others.

 

[friendttyy]

I'm using fake plants with mine, and I agree with the previous posts. And, for hiding places, I use either cork bark tubes or half a plastic cup, covered with substrate and fake plants. The spider is the focus.....

What I realised with almost ALL the petshops is that NONE of the tarantulas they have has water. They have fancy decor but NEVER have water.

 

[Neoza]

What I realised with almost ALL the petshops is that NONE of the tarantulas they have has water. They have fancy decor but NEVER have water.

indeed!! The pet shop wants this: fancy looking tarantulas in nice enclosures! But cheap! And no much work! that makes me somtomes depressed