Harpactira dictator for new addition?

Depro900

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 27, 2014
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15
What are your guys thoughts on this species for those who have owned one? How are they any feedback? Im thinking of getting one for a new addition or a Encyocratella olivacea but still un-decided. Are they similar in care I presume?
 

Arachnomaniac19

Arachnolord
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Aug 23, 2014
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652
I keep mine dry with a water dish. He oddly never tried to make a burrow and he never used a hide even though it was provided. They're kind of odd little dudes. Personally I'd say go for the E. olivacea.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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What are your guys thoughts on this species for those who have owned one? How are they any feedback? Im thinking of getting one for a new addition or a Encyocratella olivacea but still un-decided. Are they similar in care I presume?
No, they are not similar in care. E. olicacea needs at least a semi-arboreal setup and they like to web - a lot. Therefore they need anchor points. They also live in a rain forrest high up a mountain in Tanzania, so they definitely like a little moisture.
Basically:

H. dictator: terrestrial, dry
E. olivacea: arboreal, moist

I only have the E. olivacea. They are related to Heteroscodra maculata and Stromatopelma calceatum (or so the taxonomists say) and I can confirm that they are really fast and flighty.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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No, they are not similar in care. E. olicacea needs at least a semi-arboreal setup and they like to web - a lot. Therefore they need anchor points. They also live in a rain forrest high up a mountain in Tanzania, so they definitely like a little moisture.
Basically:

H. dictator: terrestrial, dry
E. olivacea: arboreal, moist

I only have the E. olivacea. They are related to Heteroscodra maculata and Stromatopelma calceatum (or so the taxonomists say) and I can confirm that they are really fast and flighty.
How do you handle humidity for an arboreal species without restricting ventilation, boina?
 

boina

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How do you handle humidity for an arboreal species without restricting ventilation, boina?
Personally I've no problems with humidity since I live in a generally humid area. I keep the substrate moist and that's it. Ambient humidity is practically always above 60% around here, so a little moist substrate does the rest. You would need to ask someone from a more arid area about this.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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Personally I've no problems with humidity since I live in a generally humid area. I keep the substrate moist and that's it. Ambient humidity is practically always above 60% around here, so a little moist substrate does the rest. You would need to ask someone from a more arid area about this.
Damn, at least you comprehend the problem, i think.
 

Lucashank

Arachnosquire
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Mar 8, 2017
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Damn, at least you comprehend the problem, i think.
I'm from an arid area. I'm in Lake Havasu, AZ. Today is 14% humidity, but I'm not really near the lake ;)
For my humid species (all of my tarantulas) I always start off with moist substrate, afterwards, I pour water into a corner of the enclosure. This does well at keeping the substrate moist. In my enclosures with moss, plants, and such, I will mist once or twice a day to ensure my epiphytic plants get sufficient nutrients.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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I'm from an arid area. I'm in Lake Havasu, AZ. Today is 14% humidity, but I'm not really near the lake ;)
For my humid species (all of my tarantulas) I always start off with moist substrate, afterwards, I pour water into a corner of the enclosure. This does well at keeping the substrate moist. In my enclosures with moss, plants, and such, I will mist once or twice a day to ensure my epiphytic plants get sufficient nutrients.
Yeah, i guess the real issue with the arboreal species is, is that it seems a lot of them do need high humidity, and you are limited by some vertical height.
What i am saying is that i believe in a lot of terrestrial/burrowing set ups, theyre on the substrate level which is where that evaporation is occurring, but with a tall enclosure it can dissipate quickly.
So i am kind of skeptical as to how you can truly maintain a high humidity, high ventilation environment, as if it dissipates quickly, it doesnt really matter if that "momentary" evaporation occurs.
It would be interesting if arboreal tarantulas were much more resilient to drying out because they would have to deal with a lot of cross wind type movement being high up in the trees.
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
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Mar 24, 2017
Messages
356
Yeah, i guess the real issue with the arboreal species is, is that it seems a lot of them do need high humidity, and you are limited by some vertical height.
What i am saying is that i believe in a lot of terrestrial/burrowing set ups, theyre on the substrate level which is where that evaporation is occurring, but with a tall enclosure it can dissipate quickly.
So i am kind of skeptical as to how you can truly maintain a high humidity, high ventilation environment, as if it dissipates quickly, it doesnt really matter if that "momentary" evaporation occurs.
It would be interesting if arboreal tarantulas were much more resilient to drying out because they would have to deal with a lot of cross wind type movement being high up in the trees.
Evaporation occurs at ground level outside, too. It doesnt dissipate, it rises, condenses, and forms clouds. The difference here being that it shouldnt condensate on the enclosure. But it will still rise to the top. Ventilation only prevents it from becoming OVERLY humid amd stuffy. So thats not really a concern, although i can see how it may be interpreted as one.
 

BishopiMaster

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Evaporation occurs at ground level outside, too. It doesnt dissipate, it rises, condenses, and forms clouds. The difference here being that it shouldnt condensate on the enclosure. But it will still rise to the top. Ventilation only prevents it from becoming OVERLY humid amd stuffy. So thats not really a concern, although i can see how it may be interpreted as one.
Yeah im going to have to disagree with you here, im sure that the cloud formation process is much more complex than that. Ive actually taken measurements at one point with a fluke
Hygrometer, an actual instrument such that i use for my job. Because i was concerned that my crested geckos cage, which has a massive amount of ventilation, but does have moist substrate, i can tell you that it was significantly lower, than my cages with much less ventilation, the humidity does not stay in the air forever. Now, im not drawing a linear relationship here, but i am curious. Youre essentially saying it doesnt matter the area around which an area of dirt evaporates, that i can have a flowet pot planted with dirt and it will evaporate and shoot up in a straight line in my living room, and be held motionless. Also, if you state that ventilation prevents it from getting overly humid, then you are acknowledging it does have an effect. Why can we use ventilation to prevent things from getting overly humid as you say, but then not have ventilation reduce humidity?
 

JoshDM020

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Yeah im going to have to disagree with you here, im sure that the cloud formation process is much more complex than that. Ive actually taken measurements at one point with a fluke
Hygrometer, an actual instrument such that i use for my job. Because i was concerned that my crested geckos cage, which has a massive amount of ventilation, but does have moist substrate, i can tell you that it was significantly lower, than my cages with much less ventilation, the humidity does not stay in the air forever. Now, im not drawing a linear relationship here, but i am curious. Youre essentially saying it doesnt matter the area around which an area of dirt evaporates, that i can have a flowet pot planted with dirt and it will evaporate and shoot up in a straight line in my living room, and be held motionless. Also, if you state that ventilation prevents it from getting overly humid, then you are acknowledging it does have an effect. Why can we use ventilation to prevent things from getting overly humid as you say, but then not have ventilation reduce humidity?
It does reduce humidity in the enclosure by allowing it to escape. And i was a little under specific, i apologize, i meant that, in an enclosure, the humidity will rise, and it will excape through the ventilation, and it will dry out. It will DISPERSE as it rises (spread through the air, thats how it gets through the ventilation) and will be seemingly low based on the amount of air, but it wont just disappear. It just disperses and escapes. But it does rise, as i said. It does disperse quickly, depending on the environment the keeper lives in (i.e. arizona, the sahara, etc.) But in others (i.e. arkansas, the amazon, etc.) it is actually very slow. I havent had a waterdish get below half-full in the roughly two months since acquiring my A. avicularia, which is a species that needs a good balance of both, because the natural external humidity is so high in arkansas, that evaporation is slower. Really, all of this information varies, in speed at least, by location.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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It does reduce humidity in the enclosure by allowing it to escape. And i was a little under specific, i apologize, i meant that, in an enclosure, the humidity will rise, and it will excape through the ventilation, and it will dry out. It will DISPERSE as it rises (spread through the air, thats how it gets through the ventilation) and will be seemingly low based on the amount of air, but it wont just disappear. It just disperses and escapes. But it does rise, as i said. It does disperse quickly, depending on the environment the keeper lives in (i.e. arizona, the sahara, etc.) But in others (i.e. arkansas, the amazon, etc.) it is actually very slow. I havent had a waterdish get below half-full in the roughly two months since acquiring my A. avicularia, which is a species that needs a good balance of both, because the natural external humidity is so high in arkansas, that evaporation is slower. Really, all of this information varies, in speed at least, by location.
Yeah the bottom line for me, regardless of how it happens is that it does reduce the humidity. So the challenge is, how do you maintain high humidity in a very high ventilation cage.
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
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Yeah the bottom line for me, regardless of how it happens is that it does reduce the humidity. So the challenge is, how do you maintain high humidity in a very high ventilation cage.
Just gotta water the sub more frequently. Whats cool about these guys is, while they have their natural preferences, they can survive and thrive with alternative conditions. If you cant get the humidity to the right levels, so long as its not too far off (i.e. desert conditions for a jungle species) it'll be fine. Not enough humidity is much less severe for these guys than too much. Most people on here will tell you to not even worry about that number because of this. But i get the feeling thats not what you want to hear, so really all you can do is add more water to the sub more frequently. Just not too much.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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Just gotta water the sub more frequently. Whats cool about these guys is, while they have their natural preferences, they can survive and thrive with alternative conditions. If you cant get the humidity to the right levels, so long as its not too far off (i.e. desert conditions for a jungle species) it'll be fine. Not enough humidity is much less severe for these guys than too much. Most people on here will tell you to not even worry about that number because of this. But i get the feeling thats not what you want to hear, so really all you can do is add more water to the sub more frequently. Just not too much.
See, it makes sense that they would be resilient, because they would have to deal with a lot of cross airflow up in the trees, which is a cause for inverts to dry out as they molt. What I am saying though is, by watering the substrate more frequently, you aren't changing the rate of evaporation by adding more, I think that was the whole story with the avics based on members of this board, they were keeping them too humid, without cross ventilation, and then "figured out" that more cross ventilation, and ventilation in general, was the key, which leads to less humidity.
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
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See, it makes sense that they would be resilient, because they would have to deal with a lot of cross airflow up in the trees, which is a cause for inverts to dry out as they molt. What I am saying though is, by watering the substrate more frequently, you aren't changing the rate of evaporation by adding more, I think that was the whole story with the avics based on members of this board, they were keeping them too humid, without cross ventilation, and then "figured out" that more cross ventilation, and ventilation in general, was the key, which leads to less humidity.
It doesnt change the rate but it does change the amount of time it takes for all of it to evaporate. More water=more time for it to evaporate. Puddles dry up faster than ponds, for an example.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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It doesnt change the rate but it does change the amount of time it takes for all of it to evaporate. More water=more time for it to evaporate. Puddles dry up faster than ponds, for an example.
they do, but the evaporation is the real kicker to humidity, and you cannot increase the rate of evaporation to offset all that extra ventilation by simply adding more water, because you do not change the rate of evaporation. I think it is more likely that arboreal tarantulas are simply more resilient due to airflow point above, and that we're not actually keeping them very humid.
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
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Jul 2, 2016
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Yeah, i guess the real issue with the arboreal species is, is that it seems a lot of them do need high humidity, and you are limited by some vertical height.
What i am saying is that i believe in a lot of terrestrial/burrowing set ups, theyre on the substrate level which is where that evaporation is occurring, but with a tall enclosure it can dissipate quickly.
So i am kind of skeptical as to how you can truly maintain a high humidity, high ventilation environment, as if it dissipates quickly, it doesnt really matter if that "momentary" evaporation occurs.
It would be interesting if arboreal tarantulas were much more resilient to drying out because they would have to deal with a lot of cross wind type movement being high up in the trees.
What arboreal species are you referring to? I don't think most arboreals need "high" humidity, with that said, maintaining set humidity levels is not necessary, that's why we don't use digital hygrometers. You kinda need to eye it, if you get my meaning. Eventually you will know what's good and whats not, just make sure they have access to water, and that there are reasonable amounts of moisture in the substrate (depending on species). More ventilation doesn't necessarily mean the humidity will be lost faster, depends on the outside room and how humid your environment is as @boina mentioned, depending on where you live this will be drastically different. Not sure why you didn't see the value in that...
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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What arboreal species are you referring to? I don't think most arboreals need "high" humidity, with that said, maintaining set humidity levels is not necessary, that's why we don't use digital hygrometers. You kinda need to eye it, if you get my meaning. Eventually you will know what's good and whats not, just make sure they have access to water, and that there are reasonable amounts of moisture in the substrate (depending on species). More ventilation doesn't necessarily mean the humidity will be lost faster, depends on the outside room and how humid your environment is as @boina mentioned, depending on where you live this will be drastically different. Not sure why you didn't see the value in that...
I dont use hygrometers per say, i just happened to use an instrument to confirm a thought i had. I am referring to arboreal species which fall under high humidity requirements. I mean, i do think in all cases more ventilation will lead to faster losses of humidity, unless youre using like a sauna for arguments sake or greenhouse or something. I can agree with you that if the room itself is humid, then the extra ventilation does not matter.
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
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Mar 21, 2012
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I have both, and what boina has said is correct. I keep my Encyocratella olivacea mostly arboreal with some extra dirt for them to make curtains (but really they just web a LOT) and with higher humidity. I keep the Harpactira dictator on dry substrate deep enough for burrowing. I love both, but they're very different. The dictator are a creamy sort of champagne color, and the olivacea are a black and orangish combo. Either one will be great.
 
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