Hapolopus coloratus suitable enclosure?

[DeeCeeJay]

Hallo forum!

I'm a newbie newb, wasn't even planning on getting into the tarantula hobby until one fell out of a bunch of bananas. I'm just getting into reptiles and praying mantis, so I was more than eager to look into tarantulas too, and now I think I'm hooked. I did as much research as I could before deciding if I was capable of keeping him, and I was surprised that their care is relatively simple!

That said, I'm struggling with enclosure sizes. I come from a background of fishkeeping where tank size is a fiercely debated topic, and an immediate point of consideration when it comes to what fish you keep. That may be why I'm struggling with tarantula enclosures; I'm used to tank size being given whenever I look up the basic care for a fish species, so now I feel like I'm a little in the weeds. I don't want to crowd my poor guy(s, in future), but I'm also concerned with having the space for these critters, so I don't want to get a, for example, 10 gallon tank when a smaller one will do/be more appropriate

To that end, this is the enclosure I'm currently keeping my hapolopus coloratus in. It's an Exo Terra Breeding Box, 30cm long by 20cm wide by 15cm tall. My little guy is roughly MAYBE 2cm legspan, and I'm not sure how old he is and if he's likely to continue growing. I don't see him much, but he's definitely made a little burrow under the piece of egg carton in the corner. I haven't seen him wandering around very much, but he has made webs here and there. He seems happy, in as far as I can tell.

I'm keeping him on coir with a handful of sand mixed in to maintain burrow integrity, keeping him humid, water dish, etc. I'm planning on getting some fake plants in there for him too. Not planning on handling him at all, so getting into the enclosure to do that isn't an issue. Care so far (feeding and water changing) has been really easy with the top hatch. I'm less concerned about seeing him all the time and more with making sure he's comfortable.

I'm just wondering if this is too large, in which case, what size would be more suitable? I can start smaller and work up to his 'forever enclosure' if needs be. If this is too big for him even long term, I guess I'll just have to rehome him and use this larger tank for another tarantula, sigh, woe is me.

Looking forward to any help or advice! Thank you kindly

 

[FishersSpiders]

Very thoughtful post. I have no experience with this species, personally, but some keepers will consider this enclosure to be too large for the size of the T.
That being said, some enclosures deemed too large by some may work perfectly fine.
It seems to me that you are doing a fine job so far. I would expect that T to grow significantly.
In my opinion, if the size of your current enclosure were to be cut in half, you'd still be looking good.

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Thank you for taking the time to comment, I appreciate it!

I don't want to freak him out, but also, I could use the larger enclosure for a larger T without spending too much more money, you know how it goes, lol

Thank you so much, I'm worrying a little

I might look for something smaller, for sure. Thank you again!

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I'm unfamiliar with care of this species as well, but I can speak to some generalities:

Egg carton tends to be a mould magnet, just so you know. It's generally better to stick with something a little more mould-resistant like cork bark.

The biggest problems with an oversized enclosure are that it makes it harder for you as the keeper to keep tabs on your animal, and it reduces prey-predator contact opportunities, which can mean they're not eating as much as you might prefer. Normally I would recommend adding substrate to reduce the potential fall height for a terrestrial tarantula, but since I believe this is a dwarf species, you may not need to worry about that so much - it's generally the heavier-bodied terrestrials that risk severe injury from falling.

 

[DeeCeeJay]

@Albireo Wulfbooper Thank you! I'll change that out asap

Yeah, I'm already having trouble seeing where he is. I watch to make sure he's eating, but I have noticed it takes a while until the cricket moves nearer. He is! Should I top up a little anyway? I may leave it until I find something a little smaller for him though, I'm just not sure how big he's going to get. Are we talking halopus columbia kleine or gros? lol.

Thank you kindly for the information, I appreciate that you took the time to answer