How do I raise the humidity in my Brachypelma smithi's terrarium?

jesstarantula<3

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No matter what I do the hygrometer reads a moderate 60% and nothing seems to be working. I looked up a few websites and they all say it should range anywhere from 65-80%. Help please!
 

Redneck

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No matter what I do the hygrometer reads a moderate 60% and nothing seems to be working. I looked up a few websites and they all say it should range anywhere from 65-80%. Help please!
You dont need to raise the humidity up in a B. smithi's enclosure.. They like it BONE DRY... They do NOT need 65-80% humidity..

Keep your smithi's substrate dry & add a water dish for him/her if she gets thirsty...
 

Anubis77

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You're in Florida. The humidity there is more than enough. Don't worry about trying to increase it. I'd worry more about keeping it down to avoid mold.
 

AmbushArachnids

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I agree with the above. B. Smithi actually live in florida now because of the pet trade. LOL they can be found outside. along with anything else that escapes from someones home.{D
 

Xian

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I agree with the above. B. Smithi actually live in florida now because of the pet trade. LOL they can be found outside. along with anything else that escapes from someones home.{D
They Do? Where?

To the OP, I agree with Redneck.:)
 

Redneck

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I agree with the above. B. Smithi actually live in florida now because of the pet trade. LOL they can be found outside. along with anything else that escapes from someones home.{D
What? Really? Are you certain your not thinking of the Brachypelma vagans?
I know they are there.. Never heard of the smithi living there now...
 

AmbushArachnids

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I remember reading it in the tarantula keepers guide. I very well could be mistaken. ill have to browse through it unless someone knows off the top of there head.
 

Redneck

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What? Really? Are you certain your not thinking of the Brachypelma vagans?
I know they are there.. Never heard of the smithi living there now...
I remember reading it in the tarantula keepers guide. I very well could be mistaken. ill have to browse through it unless someone knows off the top of there head.
I am pretty sure its the B. vagans that is living in Florida.. Not the smithi..
 

AmbushArachnids

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thanks for the correction. I was thinking i should release some B. smithi to cover my tracks but its ok i can handle being incorrect :p
 

Redneck

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thanks for the correction. I was thinking i should release some B. smithi to cover my tracks but its ok i can handle being incorrect :p
LoL.. I would say you can release some of the smithi my way.. But I hate the itch.. Im still itching from rehoming my almost 5" female.. No worries about that after Monday though.. :eek:
 

AmbushArachnids

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LoL.. I would say you can release some of the smithi my way.. But I hate the itch.. Im still itching from rehoming my almost 5" female.. No worries about that after Monday though.. :eek:
I havnt found that any hairs itch too bad. although my chest is itchy from my G. rosea. he loaded me with hairs as he was crawling on me.. Ill have to experiment with my T. Spinipes "burgundy" at least thats what the new name will be. It prob. depends where i get haired.. seems my hands dont react at all.
 

Cirith Ungol

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No matter what I do the hygrometer reads a moderate 60% and nothing seems to be working. I looked up a few websites and they all say it should range anywhere from 65-80%. Help please!
Adding to what ever everyone else has said, hygrometers are 99% of the time rather useless due to their inaccuracy. If you want to be sure that what you measure is correct, you have to buy a hygrometer that costs a few hundred bucks.
 

Motorkar

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Also 50-65% humidity is enough for B.smithi. Bone dry substrate, shallow dish of fresh water and a bit of mist the side of terarrium once a week(just a little!) and he/she will be fine and happy.
 

Redneck

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Also 50-65% humidity is enough for B.smithi. Bone dry substrate, shallow dish of fresh water and a bit of mist the side of terarrium once a week(just a little!) and he/she will be fine and happy.
I agree with everything but the misting of the enclosure.. As you already know.. They like it bone dry.. Right? OK.. What is the point in misting a B. smithi's enclosure?

IMO it is pointless... If there is no need to bring the humidity up... Just offer the spider a waterdish for its hydration..

Now.. I also want to note.. The only time I would wet the substrate of any dry loving sp. tarantula...is when they are slings that are to small for a water dish.. Any tarantula in my care that is 2" or smaller will get HALF of their substrate misted once maybe twice a week for hydration..

The reason I said the above is because the OP did not specify the size of the B. smithi in question..

If infact the smithi in question is above 2" they should get an appropriate sized water dish & no misting of the substrate..
 

Draiman

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They like it BONE DRY... They do NOT need 65-80% humidity..
Where did you get that information?

According to this paper:

Their natural habitat is in deciduous tropical forests in hilly southwestern Mexico, especially in Colima and Guerrero.
Deciduous tropical forests are far from bone dry. Contrary to popular belief, this species does not live in arid desert habitats.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Where did you get that information?

According to this paper:


Deciduous tropical forests are far from bone dry. Contrary to popular belief, this species does not live in arid desert habitats.
As pointed out by others and as should be quite clear by itself, the spider we have in our care doesn't live in the rain forest. It lives in a small, artificial environment that is very controlled. We take care of the spiders needs actively by giving it water and food. The spider does not have to rely on morning mist, mid day thunderstorms, there are no trees, vines, no streams, or what ever else. If we tried to simulate a tropical/rainforest in our tanks the spider would be dead within a few days I'm sure, because the thing we can simulate least of all is large area ventilation. So pointing at a paper that says [fill in what ever wet environment] and then taking only one element from that environment (wetness) and assuming it makes up for said environment is rather... silly.

What the spider needs most of all is internal hydration. I hope most people here understand that by now. When a T moults its not doing so successfully because it's laying in a puddle of water, but because it is lubricated between the two layers of exo that are separating. I've never misted anything but arboreals, and there only because that was their only way of drinking (from the walls.) I hope that says something.
 

Draiman

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As pointed out by others and as should be quite clear by itself, the spider we have in our care doesn't live in the rain forest. It lives in a small, artificial environment that is very controlled. We take care of the spiders needs actively by giving it water and food. The spider does not have to rely on morning mist, mid day thunderstorms, there are no trees, vines, no streams, or what ever else. If we tried to simulate a tropical/rainforest in our tanks the spider would be dead within a few days I'm sure, because the thing we can simulate least of all is large area ventilation. So pointing at a paper that says [fill in what ever wet environment] and then taking only one element from that environment (wetness) and assuming it makes up for said environment is rather... silly.
You don't seem to realise that, even after taking natural ventilation into account, the air in a tropical forest is CONSTANTLY humid? Your point about ventilation is moot, because in the spider's natural habitat, air circulation and ventilation are two processes that are constantly at work, and yet the humidity in the air remains high. Keepers should simulate their animals' natural habitat as accurately as they can; in this case, maintaining a relatively high level of humidity and at the same time providing a good amount of ventilation, which is very possible and easy to do in a high-ventilation enclosure (for instance a Kritter Keeper) with a large water dish (evaporation from the dish keeps humidity inside the enclosure stable) and moist (not wet) substrate.

Also, according to your theory, species that occur in tropical rainforests should be kept in dry conditions in captivity? Again, you don't realise that high humidity in the air helps keep moisture IN the spider's body (thus helping to keep it INTERNALLY hydrated), because of diffusion and osmosis. This is basic chemistry.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Fine. Do it your way. If it works, I'm happy for you.

For everybody else:
Dry is safe, dry works. Examples of the contrary as I've experienced it: If I have only a little constant moisture I get mould, and I've tried different subs and tanks that are ultra well ventilated (I promise!) If I have moist air and not enough air circulation in an arboreal tank, I have dead avics. In dry tanks they've been fine. (Learned this with the help of 7 dead versis and one survivor who made it to maturity in a dry tank)

Conditions here in this country: Very dry air, in winter (5 months) near 0% humidity.
 

Draiman

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For everybody else:
Dry is safe, dry works. Examples of the contrary as I've experienced it: If I have only a little constant moisture I get mould, and I've tried different subs and tanks that are ultra well ventilated (I promise!) If I have moist air and not enough air circulation in an arboreal tank, I have dead avics. In dry tanks they've been fine. (Learned this with the help of 7 dead versis and one survivor who made it to maturity in a dry tank)

Conditions here in this country: Very dry air, in winter (5 months) near 0% humidity.
For what it's worth; I don't have such problems here, and I live in a country 4 degrees north of the equator - humidity here is a constant 80% or higher and gets to 100% when it rains. I haven't had any of the issues you experienced.
 

Cirith Ungol

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For what it's worth; I don't have such problems here, and I live in a country 4 degrees north of the equator - humidity here is a constant 80% or higher and gets to 100% when it rains. I haven't had any of the issues you experienced.
Wow! And you still mist!?!?! :eek::? Why do you even bother?

MAYBE, just maybe that is exactly the problem with mould. Mould here might take every little chance to sprout if it finds a spot that's only a little more moist because it's usually pretty dry here. Maybe in your place the soil is already so empty of nourishment from other mould that you just don't get it there?

I don't know.

To be honest, sure is one thing - T's are a lot tougher than we give them credit for! There are so many environments that we humans throw them into and as long as they get fed, and have water and a decent enclosure, they make it. That, I think is the most important thing to remember, the resilience of the spiders themselves. If you now think about it, that we haven't seen any reports that lead us to believe that spiders that live close to the equator or close to the poles show any difference in behaviour, posture, preference in how they live in their tanks, then maybe this is a hint that they're not suffering, thus have no need to behave differently from one place on the globe to another. I'm not saying there is evidence, but to me it looks like an indicator.
 
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