How do YOU store your monster collection of Ts???

[CodeWilster]

Not sure if a thread like this already exists, but anyway...The majority of my Ts are kept in nice glass display tanks with screen tops, mainly ranging from 2.5 to 10 gallons and some even larger. However, as my collection grows, I can no longer afford this type of enclosure for every spider, and also no longer have the adequate space. I will be keeping a few of my most impressive display tanks, but I would like to switch everything else over to something not so heavy, not so expensive, and not so space-consuming (preferably something stackable?). Eventually I will have a separate T room, but instead of having 50 $30 glass 5.5 gallon tanks on a specially built shelf, I would prefer something like tupperware and sterilite containers suffiecient for the spiders and that will take up half the space yet still look somewhat presentable.
I posted this simply to get some ideas. Pictures with short descriptions would be the most helpful IMO. So, all of you with a tarantula collection spilling over the triple-digits or more; what do you keep them in, where do you get what you use, how do YOU store your monster T collection???
Thanks in advance, and again, pictures seem to inspire me most effectively

 

[Kirk]

I posted this simply to get some ideas. Pictures with short descriptions would be the most helpful IMO. So, all of you with a tarantula collection spilling over the triple-digits or more; what do you keep them in, where do you get what you use, how do YOU store your monster T collection???

I keep all mine in a variety of sizes of stackable plastic containers offered by Superior Enterprise: http://superiorenterprise.com/.

 

[the_mask86]

you could try using exo-terra faunariums.

although i don't own 'monster' collections, but the few i have are all housed in these, and they perfectly fit your description. it looks awesome for one, is cheaper, lightweight and definitely stackable.

one of my friends who owns an exotic pet shop keeps his Ts this way too, that's where i learnt from.

 

[BrotherM213]

I usually make mine out of plexi-glass. you can make custom sizes, make them stackable, and make more cages off one sheet (depending on size you need) for the same price as one 10 gallon glass tank with a lid. and you don't have to worry about breaking glass. I think the other's suggestions would be great also.

 

[Sparky]

I'm just over 100 T's at the moment and those large enough not to live in a vial are in Kritter Keepers, but I only buy the ones with the dark green lids. Everything looks co-ordinated this way. Plus I like green.

 

[Bill S]

My collection isn't terribly large, and most of the spiders are immature. The smallest ones are in vials, the largest containers are a couple 20 gallon long tanks. In between are tarantulas housed in deli cups, a couple sizes of Kritter Keepers and a ten gallon tank.

When I built my house I designed it with a dedicated "reptile room". But I'm gradually trying to phase out of reptiles and switch over to arachnids. I've been able to move the largest reptiles to outdoor enclosures, and as the indoor population decreases I'll modify the room to accomodate tarantula cages. I'd like to be able to provide at least ten gallon tanks for most of the tarantulas (after they outgrow the vials and cups). Some of the larger spiders will get larger tanks, as will group set-ups.

Outdoor enclosures have been very good for the reptiles, and the greenhouse has been great for some of the native varieties of true spiders. But at this time I don't think I'll do that with tarantulas. But who knows? If the right situation presented itself, I might give it a thought.

 

[MizM]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=48951&highlight=tarantula+room

Everything you always wanted to know about enclosure but were afraid to ask!

 

[Arachnomaniak]

Luckily I was fortunate enough to have a wife that allowed me to build a nice big shop to keep everything in It filled up fast though!

Here are strategies that are both economical and space saving that have helped me out a lot!

For shelving, I use heavy duty black plastic shelving that can be purchased from Home Depot, Walmart and similar stores. They are great because they're not heavy, they're "modular" meaning that you can use the full 5 shelves or use them in combinations and they're easy to clean.

I use pill bottles of varying sizes for slings, these pill bottles are placed into Rubbermaid containers of various sizes to help keep them organized by family or species and also to make feeding easy as I can just grab a container, feed them all, them move onto the next one. Much easier to reorganize as well because you don't have to touch every pill bottle if you want to move the shelves etc.

For larger slings and juveniles, I use both medium and tall deli cups, tall for burrowers and arboreal, medium for regular terrestrials. I also found that some of our local dollar stores carry small Critter Keeper looking containers for $1 each and are most regularly available in the summer months.

As someone posted above, Superior Enterprises have a lot of great clear plastic containers and I use a lot of these for both regular homes, and display homes at the animal shows.

For the larger T's and other animals, I use a combination of Exo Terras, aquariums, Critter Keepers of various sizes and Rubbermaid containers ranging from the "shoebox" size to larger bins for roaches and crickets.

All of the above except for the aquariums stack nicely and are a real space saver! You definitely reach a point in the hobby where, as much as you'd like to have big fancy setups for each T, it's just not an option where funds and space are concerned!

I don't have any pics, but hopefully this helps give a visual!

Good luck!

 

[Nerri1029]

This pic taken in 07

I have many more but I love that shelving, lots of air movment.
I wind reptile heating rope in the metal shelves themselves for a more ambient heating effect.

Insulated the backs and sides and drape the palstic shelf covers in the front in the cold months.

 

[syndicate]

I dont really use any expensive tanks here.Check out superior enterprise,containerstore.com or even walmart and you can find some cheap solutions to house all your spiders nicely ;]
Heres some shots of my setup

hope that helps!
-Chris

 

[Warren Bautista]

Syndicate, your spider room is unnatural (in a good way). I mean, oh god that turns me on. Uh, I mean nice roomm you have there!:8o ;P

 

[Arachnomaniak]

I love the uniformity of the containers and labels Syndicate! Looks great!

 

[gambite]

When I can afford them, I use the Exo Terra plastic tanks, I think they are called Faunariums. They look just like Kritter Keepers, except they have black lids, the plastic is of higher quality, and they have a slight yellow tint to them. They also have more clips in the lids than the Kritter Keepers do, but the door on top does not stay open, which is really bothersome. When I cannot afford those, I use things like Gladware containers, and pretty much anything plastic and transparent that I can find.

Here are some pics of my setup. This is all in my bedroom, so there is no way I can keep it as clean as some of you other guys

Most of the burrowers:

The bulk of my collection:

Some of the really fun stuff! (H macs and OBT's, and a few others, the latter need new enclosures; those shoe boxes suck)

 

[pedipalps]

You guys have awesome set-up!

 

[IrishPolishman]

Gambite, i'm glad you posted your setups...it's much better represents what I have at the moment. I plan in the near future (after moving) to have a much more elaborate and organized setup.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

I keep small to medium sized adult T's (aswell as my pedes and scorps) in 6 qt steralite boxes. They work great.

 

[arrowhd]

This is my setup.

 

[Drachenjager]

These should work dandy

I Am thinking of these they are supposed to really protect anything you put in them and come out undamaged
http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-Of-6-Vacuum...ItemQQimsxZ20090114?IMSfp=TL090114121002r1708

 

[CodeWilster]

I dont really use any expensive tanks here.Check out superior enterprise,containerstore.com or even walmart and you can find some cheap solutions to house all your spiders nicely ;]
Heres some shots of my setup

hope that helps!
-Chris

Wow thanks for all of the replies everybody!!! I don't think I was completely clear before, but what I was getting at was the glass tanks I have are too pricey and take up too much space, and the deli cups are just too small and visually unappealing no matter what size. I have no problem housing what I currently have, but I will not buy another spider until I've found a cheaper yet still aesthetically appealing type of system for the T's. With the rate my collection is growing and all of the time and investments I've put into it, it's just simply not worth having a Eucratoscelus pachypus in a nice $20 5.5 gallon tank with a $12 screen when she'd be just as happy and can breed in a small $4 plastic bin from WM. Plus, when I order 10 more spiders bigger than her or my current slings grow up I don't need to any longer buy 5.5 and 10 gallon tanks for EACH of them.

When the construction is completed of my T room next to the house, I'm not going to have a displayed "zoo" like I do now, since Ts aren't exactly display animals. Especially with such a big collection and always having breeding projects going on, it's turning into a side-business rather than a walk-in bug [pet hole] museum.

After checking out everything, all of the great responses and cool pics, I have to say that Syndicate's setup is probably what I'm looking for. It looks very organized and proffessional, the jars and tanks all pretty closely match (although I'm not wanting nice display tanks anymore, I'm very anal and so 20 green 5 blue 11 orange kritter keepers and random yogurt and peanut butter jars just don't appeal to me Although I do admit that currently all of my "Pinktoes" are in "pink" KKs and a few others are color-coded lol).

So to Syndicate, I really like those larger wide-mouth clear jars with the white lids in particular. They look perfect for larger arboreals. I'd like to know where you got all of your containers as I'm finding it difficult to run into stuff like that anywhere right now. The site So.Ent. was out of the widemouth jars. I may end up going down the road with the sterilite plastic bins since they are so cheap, however they aren't perfectly clear and are wider on top than on bottom where a clear rectangular or round enclosure would work much better for storage, stacking, and looks, and are probably just as inexpensive. I think I'll just use the sterilites for roaches and crickets. Anyway thanks for all of the replies everybody, please keep em' coming!!!

 

[CodeWilster]

I Am thinking of these they are supposed to really protect anything you put in them and come out undamaged
http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-Of-6-Vacuum...ItemQQimsxZ20090114?IMSfp=TL090114121002r1708

Yeah those would work awesome :? lol