First Timer Curly Hair Tarantula Enclosure

[Arilyna]

Hi! When I was ten, my parents bought me a rose hair tarantula. I had no idea what I was doing and she died in the first year. Fast forward fourteen years later and I’ve finally taken the plunge and am ready to try again. Of course I want to do this right, so any advice is welcomed!

On Valentine’s Day this year, I walked into the LPS in search of a tailless whip scorpion (they were out) and walked out with a curly hair tarantula. I’m leaning towards Leon/Leona for the name, but I am unsure of the sex right now. I’m assuming male for the time being. He’s about four inches across -I think, I’m terrible at estimates-

This is his enclosure. You can barely see him under the log on the right. That’s where he made it to yesterday and hasn’t moved since. It’s a five (or five and a half) gallon tank with Zilla Jungle Mix as the substrate at about 3” deep. I tried to find little togo sauce containers for the water dish but was unsuccessful, so it’s a Gatorade cap for now. I’ve read conflicting things about the humidity for this T. Should I just overflow the water dish or should I be misting the enclosure? Whichever one, how often? I’m also wondering if I have enough substrate in there to keep him safe from fall damage, I have more if needed. Our house generally sits around 72 F during the day and 70 F, is he comfortable at these temps? Can you have too small of hides or if he goes in there it should be fine? Anything else that’s wrong/could be done better, please let me know!
And of course, here’s pictures of the handsome little one:

And here he is while exploring that night:

Thanks guys!

 

[Dman]

Everthing with your set up is fine including temp. Dry sub is okay and overflow the water dish on that side and repeat after it dries out.

 

[viper69]

Everthing with your set up is fine including temp. Dry sub is okay and overflow the water dish on that side and repeat after it dries out.

This doesn't appear true at all based on the pics.

 

[Dman]

This doesn't appear true at all based on the pics.

What would you have her change? I think that is her question.

 

[viper69]

This is his enclosure. You can barely see him under the log on the right. That’s where he made it to yesterday and hasn’t moved since. It’s a five (or five and a half) gallon tank with Zilla Jungle Mix as the substrate at about 3” deep. I tried to find little togo sauce containers for the water dish but was unsuccessful, so it’s a Gatorade cap for now. I’ve read conflicting things about the humidity for this T. Should I just overflow the water dish or should I be misting the enclosure? Whichever one, how often? I’m also wondering if I have enough substrate in there to keep him safe from fall damage, I have more if needed. Our house generally sits around 72 F during the day and 70 F, is he comfortable at these temps? Can you have too small of hides or if he goes in there it should be fine? Anything else that’s wrong/could be done better, please let me know!
And of course, here’s pictures of the handsome little one:

And here he is while exploring that night:

Thanks guys!

Here's the deal, it's clear you have read a bit, but also clear you haven't read enough.

For a terrestrial T keep the sub to container top height no more than 1.5 DLS to minimize fall damage. At 1.5 DLS there shouldn't be any fall damage.

If that's screen, not sure if it is screen, it's not the best, their tarsal claws get stuck. Mind you at 1.5 DLS for sub to ceiling height this becomes less of a problem because the T will have its legs on the ground. In short we don't want your T hannging by its legs, this DOES happen. And for heavy bodied terrestrials a fall can be DEATH.

Water dish- small dishes are useless because they are shallow and evaporate fast. Why don't you get larger dish, that is deeper??????????????????

For all my Ts at 4" or more, I use ExoTerra Small dishes, DO NOT use the XS size. They are deep enough, hold about 30 mL of water.

Humidity- people that worry about humidity end up with dead Ts. There's zero need to worry about humidity for almost all species of ADULT Ts. This one included. I've never misted, nor overflowed the dish for the entire life of my AF albo.


The one thing you do need to worry about is this species packs on a lot of mass in their abdomen, esp females. I just posted about this somewhere else a few mins ago.

What would you have her change? I think that is her question.

See above, I was busy typing out the response, be patient.

 

[Dman]

I couldn't tell on the screen but it looks plastic and not woven. @viper69 is correct and if woven could be an issue. Nice catch on that...You are already aware of the water dish so correct that. Yes you could add some more sub to close the distance for falling but I really think it is fine currently. Welcome back to the hobby.

 

[Smotzer]

I’d agree with @viper69, if it was me I would just about double the amount of substrate in the enclosure, that way there’s no risk of fall damage. The rest he said is correct.

 

[viper69]

I couldn't tell on the screen but it looks plastic and not woven. @viper69 is correct and if woven could be an issue. Nice catch on that...You are already aware of the water dish so correct that. Yes you could add some more sub to close the distance for falling but I really think it is fine currently. Welcome back to the hobby.

Yeah I can't tell. I have a feeling the top is a sheet of thin metal with drilled holes from the maker, I've seen those, but could be wrong.

What gives you the impression the sub height is fine? I'm curious to read your logic on this.

 

[Smotzer]

What gives you the impression the sub height is fine? I'm curious to read your logic on this.

from my experience my T. albo has a very curious nature, and have seen it climbing up on the top of the enclosure. so for this tarantula I think you def need that extra sub.

 

[Dman]

Yeah I can't tell. I have a feeling the top is a sheet of thin metal with drilled holes from the maker, I've seen those, but could be wrong.

What gives you the impression the sub height is fine? I'm curious to read your logic on this.

I am not arguing about the sub height and agree that it is better to error on the side of caution. I'm just not overly concerned that the current set up is too much of a risk. The height really is not so excessive IMO.

 

[viper69]

from my experience my T. albo has a very curious nature, and have seen it climbing up on the top of the enclosure. so for this tarantula I think you def need that extra sub.

Yeah I know the owner does. I'm asking why the other person thinks it's a non-issue. Why a falling T is OK?

All my terrestrials have sought to climb, but cannot because of the height I give them. When you see legs up and through the slats, you know a convict is looking to escape.

I am not arguing about the sub height and agree that it is better to error on the side of caution. I'm just not overly concerned that the current set up is too much of a risk. The height really is not so excessive IMO.

Ohhh..I see now. In point of fact I am making an estimation. There's no good picture of that T against the glass for a true comparison. I'd rather go on side of caution, as the owner has more sub. But I see now... thanks


I'm pretty sure OP will have a T named SPLAT.

OP what is the distance of the lid from sub surface??

 

[Arilyna]

I'm pretty sure OP will have a T named SPLAT.

OP what is the distance of the lid from sub surface??

Its about seven inches. I’m about to add more substrate. Thanks for the response!

 

[viper69]

Its about seven inches. I’m about to add more substrate. Thanks for the response!

Yep too high.

 

[Arilyna]

Yep too high.

And with the last of that bag now I’m at about 5 1/2” distance between substrate and the top, which is indeed a screen.

 

[viper69]

As the distance is no more than 1.5 times the Diagonal Leg Span of your T it will be fine.

 

[Smotzer]

View attachment 334144

This looks a lot better