Has anyone her ever provided TOO GOOD of a habitat for your Tarantula?

[LV-426]

How do I go about removing the boluses from the burrow, or when there's enough, will she push them out? I watched her OM NOM NOM on the crickets, so I know she ate them, but I do not see any food waste anywhere outside of her newly created burrow...

what I have learned in my 3 weeks of owning Ts is: the T knows whats best for it, let it take care its business. clean it when u see it

 

[baltazar]

great tank! its really cool when people make their tanks look like thay pulled out a plot of land out of a rainforest:clap:

 

[Great Basin Ben]

what I have learned in my 3 weeks of owning Ts is: the T knows whats best for it, let it take care its business. clean it when u see it

This is pretty much what I had figured. On top of the fact that I live in one of the driest climates in the country, my coco substrate has been dried out completely, in a 350 degree oven (TWICE!). I don't see too much moisture ever being a problem, and as such, can hopefully expect to see less vermin. At least hopefully.:razz: I'm sure when there's too much debris in her burrow, she knows how to push it out...

 

[AmbushArachnids]

This is pretty much what I had figured. On top of the fact that I live in one of the driest climates in the country, my coco substrate has been dried out completely, in a 350 degree oven (TWICE!). I don't see too much moisture ever being a problem, and as such, can hopefully expect to see less vermin. At least hopefully.:razz: I'm sure when there's too much debris in her burrow, she knows how to push it out...

I wouldnt cook the sub on that high of a temperature. I have done some experimenting and ended up burning some coco fiber at 300 deg. 220 is about as high as you should go. The cookie sheet will just get way to hot. Of course if it worked for you more power to ya.

They can be as hard or easy as you want them to be, but IMO they are pretty easy. All of our adult enclosures are planted and we have never had parasites, or troublesome pests. If you consider pruning and watering to be hard, then yes I guess you could call them hard....... We hope to have more variety of plants once we get some more youngins grown up and then perhaps we will have to worry over humidity and misters, but I wouldn't call that hard either. :?

If you wash your plants well and keep boluses out it can and will work fine. But the first photos i seen from that huge enclosure it would be very difficult to remove everything. Once something does get introduced via feeders or plant hitchhikers (crickets are notourious for having bad mites) it would be hard to get rid of. We all know moisture is a perfect medium for an infestation. Isopods would take care of any pest before they get out of hand. With an enclosure that big it just makes sense to add some. If you can go into your yard and get some why not? It will save you money on expensive preditory mites if things went down hill. Just my 2 cents.

 

[curiousme]

If you wash your plants well

I promise I am not trying to be a smart arse, but what do you mean by washing your plants well? Are you thinking pesticides, or fertilizers?

and keep boluses out it can and will work fine. But the first photos i seen from that huge enclosure it would be very difficult to remove everything. Once something does get introduced via feeders or plant hitchhikers (crickets are notourious for having bad mites) it would be hard to get rid of. We all know moisture is a perfect medium for an infestation. Isopods would take care of any pest before they get out of hand. With an enclosure that big it just makes sense to add some. If you can go into your yard and get some why not? It will save you money on expensive preditory mites if things went down hill. Just my 2 cents.

Agreed

The tank that I posted has a very healthy isopod population and we only feed B. lateralis (roaches), so we do not have the cricket worry.(and that actually didn't cross my mind either) A tank like that would most definitely need a cleaning crew, so a large and healthy isopod population would be advisable, if not a must.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

I promise I am not trying to be a smart arse, but what do you mean by washing your plants well? Are you thinking pesticides, or fertilizers?

Well pesticides are a concern too, But if there they are from a place (lets say a wild plant) that isnt treated with them there could be unwanted bugs that are on them. And No worries I didnt think you were being a smart arse.

 

[curiousme]

Well pesticides are a concern too, But if there they are from a place (lets say a wild plant) that isnt treated with them there could be unwanted bugs that are on them. And No worries I didnt think you were being a smart arse.

We rinse off our plants if we get them from Walmart, or the one instance we collected from the wild. So, once again we are in agreement.

Washing seemed to imply soap and that was what made me stutter and stop to ask. Anyway I typed it out, it seemed like I was being a smart arse and not truly asking a curious question. Figured the only way to prevent it was to state that I wasn't. Glad it wasn't taken that way.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

We rinse off our plants if we get them from Walmart, or the one instance we collected from the wild. So, once again we are in agreement.

Washing seemed to imply soap and that was what made me stutter and stop to ask. Anyway I typed it out, it seemed like I was being a smart arse and not truly asking a curious question. Figured the only way to prevent it was to state that I wasn't. Glad it wasn't taken that way.

Oh. :? I meant "rinse"

 

[Bill S]

Washing seemed to imply soap and that was what made me stutter and stop to ask.

Actually, a light spray of mild detergent solution is an excellent way to kill unwanted bugs on the plant. Just be sure to rinse it all off. If you really want to avoid introducing unwanted hitchhikers with your plants, consider using cuttings instead of potted plants. And having once upon a time worked in a nursery that specialized in tropical plants - I can pretty much guarantee that the soil your potted plant comes in is saturated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. The place where I worked conrolled insect pests by periodically "bombing" the greenhouses with nicotine. You want to make very sure any such residue is removed from the leaves of a plant before you place it in your cage. And simple rinsing with water probably won't be enough.

 

[curiousme]

Actually, a light spray of mild detergent solution is an excellent way to kill unwanted bugs on the plant. Just be sure to rinse it all off. If you really want to avoid introducing unwanted hitchhikers with your plants, consider using cuttings instead of potted plants. And having once upon a time worked in a nursery that specialized in tropical plants - I can pretty much guarantee that the soil your potted plant comes in is saturated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. The place where I worked conrolled insect pests by periodically "bombing" the greenhouses with nicotine. You want to make very sure any such residue is removed from the leaves of a plant before you place it in your cage. And simple rinsing with water probably won't be enough.

I(Mr. Gone might not have been) was unaware you could use a mild detergent on plants. Truthfully, Mr. Gone is the plant man, so he re-pots any plant we purchase in his own mixture of soil. I know the basics, but I turn and ask him for specifics. We do use cuttings of pothos and wandering jew.

 

[Bill S]

I(Mr. Gone might not have been) was unaware you could use a mild detergent on plants.

You can use mild soaps on SOME plants - but avoid cleaning agents that contain harsh chemicals. And dilute to appropriate levels. Leaves with hard smooth surfaces will generally be more tolerant than delicate fuzzy leaves. If in doubt, try just one or two leaves and watch for a few days for effects.

 

[MadTitan]

I like naturalistic enclosures, but I also think that not always a "happy" (I just can't find the accurate words in english, so I use "happy" knowing that a tarantula can't be happy) T is a hidden T.

I have seen a lot of T's that "feel very comfortable" in their enclosures and stay all the day out of their burrows. If they get disturbed by any movement, they run and get hide, but they "prefer" to stay out of their burrow (or "showing" their legs) in order to have a wider range of sensitivity to feel prey's motion, I think. So, I think it depends mostly on the spider, not on the enclosure (always that it provides conditions such as enough substrate to allow burrowing, hiding places, etc.).

Don't want to start an argument, those are just my thoughts.

This is definitely something to keep in mind. A high fear animal will hide itself into injury, sickness or even death. A tarantula in it's burrow probably feels safer - and that's good; stress is a killer - but that doesn't mean all it's needs are being met, or met optimally.

That said, I've definitely gotten the impression that some of the habitats I've set up have made for a happier tarantula than others.

 

[aquaArachnid]

That's an interesting perspective. It makes sense that a tarantula might come out further from its burrow if it feels more secure (¿seguridad en lugar de felizidad?), and insecurity may make it hide more. Lots of things might make it feel insecure, but human interaction/attention might be top of the list in captivity.

Very true Bill.. But aren't there also some T's that are considered to be social and some that would rather be anti-social? Like with my rosea, she likes to be out in the open and wanders around her cage and my obt prefers to stay in her web. After reading the post before yours I started thinking maybe the obt is uncomfortable in the 10 gallon I have her in..?

 

[Bill S]

Very true Bill.. But aren't there also some T's that are considered to be social and some that would rather be anti-social? Like with my rosea, she likes to be out in the open and wanders around her cage and my obt prefers to stay in her web.

"Social" is something very different to whether tarantulas wander. But a quick answer to both issues is that yes, some species of spiders (I'll expand it beyond tarantulas) are much more social than others. And some species of tarantulas are more apt to wander in the open than others.

Follow-up edit, due to an interuption while writing the first part of the message:
"Anti-social" tends to be used to describe abnormal people or animals that would under normal conditions be social. But getting back to "social" when used with spiders - there are several different levels of social behavior in different species of spiders. In some there is maternal care of the babies but intolerance of adults. In some (such as the black widow) the female does not provide care to the babies but allows adult males to share a web with her. (And also tolerates some other species of spiders sharing the web.) At the real social end of the spectrum are spiders that have large multigenerational colonies of individuals that cooperatively capture prey.

As for those tarantulas that show more or less tendency to remain hidden in their burrow or wander away from the burrow - there are many postings scattered through this board about "pet holes" that go for months at a time without being seen, and other species that seem to never burrow. The OBTs I've kept seem to stay close to their hiding places and will run for them in a moment if threatened - but they do come out and wander when they are comfortable (or hungry).