RepugnantOoze
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2016
- Messages
- 131
i mean besides trying to find where your tiny sling is and having more space on you shelves. what is the issue with having a to large enclosure?
By putting a spider in a too large enclosure, you're reducing the chance that it finds the feeder insect, which is not a good thing, especially with slings. T's also need a closed space to feel comfortable, so in a too big enclosure, it will prrobably stay in its hide more or burrow a lot, which can make keeping a Theraphosid less fun for some people.i mean besides trying to find where your tiny sling is and having more space on you shelves. what is the issue with having a to large enclosure?
Quite a few of my sling enclosures are over-sized. I do this to improve moisture control (since I travel on my job). The biggest problem is trying to get food to your small slings. To overcome this issue I feed often and I scatter the pre-kill cricket pieces in multiple places in the enclosure. Clean-up is more work as well. It works because the abdomens of my T's are nice and fat.i mean besides trying to find where your tiny sling is and having more space on you shelves. what is the issue with having a to large enclosure?
It isn't that the tarantula will starve. The problem is slings are most vulnerable to dying. You want your sling to at least reach juvenile stage as soon as possible. Over-sizing the enclosure will add delays in them finding food. My slings do wander around the full enclosure that is over-sized, but they don't do it non-stop. Sometimes a single cricket will be missed and then no longer desirable by the tarantula. That is why I scatter multiple pieces of pre-kill.how is there too much ground? as opposed to the earth?
If tarantulas can go months without eating I am sure they can make it to the other side of there enclosure before they starve.
Also, I mostly just drop food next to there hides and they snatch it up. Never had a problem. Especially now that I am using dubias.
It's very easy to avoid.
See @nicodimus22's post right above yours.If tarantulas can go months without eating I am sure they can make it to the other side of there enclosure before they starve.
Although I do not disagree with having a larger enclosure, I have always found that argument to be quite flawed.how is there too much ground? as opposed to the earth?
If tarantulas can go months without eating I am sure they can make it to the other side of there enclosure before they starve.
Also, I mostly just drop food next to there hides and they snatch it up. Never had a problem. Especially now that I am using dubias.
Well said.why dont we want to mimic wild? Because survival rates are abysmal in the wild...
I've never had an escaped tarantula with my over-sized enclosures. It is more about the size of the ventilation holes to me.It's very easy to avoid.
Do a quick search on the boards for "escaped tarantula" and see how often it's due to a large enclosure.
See @nicodimus22's post right above yours.
You'll find that many of us house growing spiders in large enclosures as to avoid frequent rehousings. That's perfectly fine. The issue comes when a keeper wants to put a 1" sling into their "forever home" like we've been seeing a lot of lately. There are many issues, all of which can be dismissed as easy to avoid.
I could go on, but you get the point. All of these are easy to avoid, but why create a laundry list of issues for yourself when proper housing would resolve all of them immediately?
- Large falls resulting in an injury
- High chance of escape
- Spider having trouble finding food/water
- Issues maintaining humidity
- Issues finding the spider
- Removing uneaten prey or even noticing it was uneaten
I agree with cold blood completely here, I often hear people say "it happens in the wild so it must be fine" when we keep animals in captivity they are in a completely different situation and we want them not to just survive but to thrive. Although I do keep my B. Smithi in a slightly oversized enclosure and it simply sticks to the side of it's enclosure closest to it's hide.why dont we want to mimic wild? Because survival rates are abysmal in the wild...with proper set up and care, captive ts have spectacular survival and growth rates comparatively.
We would like to mimic their natural habitat, though, for them to be thrive. Eg. temperature/humidity/terrainWell said.
Yeah but there are also things in their natural habitat that aren't great for them which we try our best to avoid. Height for example, in the wild terrestrial tarantulas probably have a few opportunities to climb and possibly fall and hurt themselfs but when keeping them in captivity we try avoid this. Not saying that too much floor space is bad just that a smaller enclosure has it's advantages.We would like to mimic their natural habitat, though, for them to be thrive. Eg. temperature/humidity/terrain