How to calm down a human specimen?

[JuvenileHobbyist]

Jokes aside from the title i am rather stressed out, I'm totally new to the hobby and just bought everything i needed and I'm expecting everything (including the T) to come this week.
Now my head is filled with worries, if i messed up the enclosure, if I'm not to well in formed on humidity or temperature in general and many other things.
Now i do love to delve fully into this hobby and give it all of my attention but I'm afraid of messing up and potentially harming one of those fuzzy creatures by my possible incompetence.

Is there any advice one of y'all could give me to calm myself a bit and perhaps to manage some of the more common mistakes that are made.
I would really like to see if I'm heading the right way with this and can give the T's a home they can feel comfortable in.

 

[Xharyel]

Hi, welcome to the hobby! What species did you get?

If I can give you one advice, it's to not overthink things. Care for Ts is pretty straightforward and easy. Just stick to the obvious practices (aka water dish always full, proper enclosure size, feeding based on abdomen size, crush mealworms/dubia heads to avoid burrowing, remove uneaten prey after 24 hours, etc.).
Really, once you experience it yourself you'll be thinking why you were so worried in the first place.
Do your research on the specific species, know if it is terrestrial, arboreal, moisture dependent or not, etc. and plan accordingly (more or less substrate, more height with vertical cork bark/slab/tube, anchor points, etc.).

Just relax, do proper research and enjoy your T! Do not bother with temperature (as long as you don't live in extreme conditions) and humidity (it doesn't matter, instead, moisture of the sub is more important).
If you have any specific questions that may not have been answered on the boards, you can always ask here and people will be happy to help.

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

I've got a Grammostola Pulchra coming up and it's about 5 Centimeters, and a relative of a friend of mine is trying to hook me up with 2 Brachypelma Hamorii's as she apparently couldn't take care of them properly (which in turn worried me more of course)
Me being the friendly animal lover said yes pretty much straight up, even though I'm still new.

I'm doing plenty of research on species i'm getting but new things like this always brings me a lot of discomfort.
I live in The Netherland so humidity shouldn't be to much of an issue, as for the mentioned planning i've got the mealworms coming up, water dish, cork bark as well and regular coco fiber.
I've got a plastic enclosure that's 24x16x12 (LxWxH) i've put 4 rows of holes each 2 MM on the front side and on the lid at upper back, i'm planning on placing the enclosures next to each other.

I'm not really sure what anchor points are though.

 

[Smotzer]

if I'm not to well in formed on humidity or temperature in general and many other things.

Completely forget the term humidity it is 100% not important to keeping tarantulas. They are not humidity dependent they are moisture dependent, some dry, some slightly moist.
temperature you really don’t need to worry about this either, normal house temperatures are fine, 90% of the time there is zero need for supplemental heat , if you’re comfortable they are comfortable.

if i messed up the enclosure

Well post a picture of the set ups and dimensions if you have them and what species they are for what size DLS they species are supposed to be, and we will make sure they are set up correctly.

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

I gave the dimensions i do still have to set up the enclosure for everything that has to go inside but if the dimensions and air holes are correct i can start working on that.

 

[The Spider House]

Regarding care needs:

1. Enclosures
These should be size appropriate not too big and not too small. For the terrestrial species, length is more important than height, for arboreal species, height is more appropriate. I have had best results when the substrate is coco fibre (coir). This should be kept mostly dry for most species with a more slightly moist area no bigger than say 25% of the surface so the spider has the option. I usually put the open water dish that is also needed in the 'damp' area.

One of the most important things to understand is that cross ventilation is better than holes in the top of an enclosure. For this reason, plastic storage boxes are often better than the more expensive glass vivariums.

2. Food
Live Food is always best as they are hunters. The size of prey (whether that be crickets, meal worms, locusts, roaches etc) should ideally not be larger than the size of the abdomen of the spider. It therefore stands to reason that as the spider grows, as does the size of the prey. Spiderlings will often eat twice a week but I feed my juveniles and adults once a week so as not to cause weight/health issues (e.g. if the abdomen is too big on a large spider, it can drag and become injured) If you cannot find live food small enough for the spiderlings, you can cut up the prey into pieces and they will scavenge.

3. Heating and humidity
Right off the bat, just remember that probably 99% of all spiders available are captive bred, so even though the species may have originated from Mexico for example, there is no need to replicate the conditions found in that country. In my 32 years of looking after tarantulas I have observed best results when temperatures are about 21 to 23°c and you should always try to make that the room temperature rather than using heat mats or heat rocks which in my opinion are completely wrong for spiders as they can burn themselves and the extra heat often causes the humidity levels to drop which in turn can cause moulting problems. More of that later.

If you do use a heater of any description, if you have a cold room for example, this should be thermostatically controlled and temperatures monitored daily. I have seen stories of whole collections being lost due to overheating. If you must use them, heat mats should only ever be mounted vertically and never cover more than 50% of the surface of the tank/enclosure.

For most species humidity around 60 to 70% is fine (which is typically UKs average) so as long as you have an open water dish and a more damp area as described earlier, you should be ok and would only need to light mist once a week if needed.

4. Water
Water dishes has already been mentioned a few times. Many keepers use distilled water or bottled water but I find that cooled down boiled water is absolutely fine for both topping up the water dish and misting. The process of boiling removes any chemicals from tap water as does the fact it has been stood overnight to cool. Any spare water from the kettle just goes in the sprayer. Sorted.

5. Listen to other keepers
Care sheets are garbage, there is nothing like listening to what others have to say and looking at their spiders for real pictures of individual species (rather than edited photos in google) so you have already done one of my first piece of advice to anyone new to the hobby, joining a forum like this Other forums do exist as does Facebook, Youtubers and other social media outlets so you have plenty of choice and will soon see which forum has the best, reliable and friendliest members (I.e. this one).

Sorry for such a long reply but I have tried to cover all the needs as best I can. Any advice provided is based on my own personal experience, it works very well for me and I have successfully collected, bred and nurtured spiders for over 32 years.

I hope this helped. Best wishes, "The Spider House"

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

Oh that's really informative yea, as I'm reading through some things here i do notice that humidity just is something i shouldn't pay to much attention too, this all does calm me down a fair bit as it looks like i have everything right so far, now i just hope it really is the case.
Here in The Netherlands the summers can be quite extreme due to how high the humidity is here, it often reaches far up to the 36 degrees mid summer and it could feel like 45 degrees. I currently don't have an effective way of cooling my room so could that cause an issue?

 

[cold blood]

. I currently don't have an effective way of cooling my room so could that cause an issue?

nope, they handle high temps just fine.....temp ranges for most ts is quite wide....for the kinds you are looking at, temps can be just about anything from 60f to the mid 90s.....temp, like humidity, is a total non-issue as long as you live in a house.

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

I think i should note that I'm talking about Celsius, in Fahrenheit the given temperatures would be 96 - 113F.
Thanks for the advice though, this is giving me a far more comfortable feeling then before i made this thread. If all goes right I'd love to post some pics and updates sometimes.

 

[The Spider House]

I think i should note that I'm talking about Celsius, in Fahrenheit the given temperatures would be 96 - 113F.
Thanks for the advice though, this is giving me a far more comfortable feeling then before i made this thread. If all goes right I'd love to post some pics and updates sometimes.

And we would love to see those pics too. There is a really good media section broken down into species

 

[Craig73]

And measurements of the enclosure clarification would help since we have no idea if you use inches, cm, mm, your dogs tail, etc.

And welcome to the site.

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

And measurements of the enclosure clarification would help since we have no idea if you use inches, cm, mm, your dogs tail, etc.

And welcome to the site.

Sorry about that, the dimensions are in Centimeters

 

[Edan bandoot]

Oh that's really informative yea, as I'm reading through some things here i do notice that humidity just is something i shouldn't pay to much attention too, this all does calm me down a fair bit as it looks like i have everything right so far, now i just hope it really is the case.
Here in The Netherlands the summers can be quite extreme due to how high the humidity is here, it often reaches far up to the 36 degrees mid summer and it could feel like 45 degrees. I currently don't have an effective way of cooling my room so could that cause an issue?

You'll need to find a way to cool your room

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

You'll need to find a way to cool your room

Do you have a recommendation for this matter?

 

[Edan bandoot]

Do you have a recommendation for this matter?

Ac?

 

[l4nsky]

Completely forget the term humidity it is 100% not important to keeping tarantulas. They are not humidity dependent they are moisture dependent, some dry, some slightly moist.

This isn't true, it's actually very important to all species. Soil moisture produces humidity, therefore since soil moisture is important, humidity is too. What isn't important is the specific RH value (ex 85% humidity). Chasing exact numbers is virtually impossible due to all of the mitigating factors involved in RH values (not just the moisture levels effect RH, both temp and ventilation play key roles as well). What is important vis a vis RH levels is keeping them in a certain range (animals aren't exposed to constant humidity, it always fluctuates based on temperature and wind) and you control that by controlling the substrate's moisture level. Humidity in and of itself is a rather complex topic. I've been meaning to do a thread on it for awhile and it'll probably happen this week.

@JuvenileHobbyist, does your house get up to 36 C? Also, both species you've listed are great, hardy beginner tarantulas, so don't stress too much. Post pics of your enclosure and we'll be able to offer much more help.

 

[Smotzer]

This isn't true, it's actually very important to all species. Soil moisture produces humidity, therefore since soil moisture is important, humidity is too. What isn't important is the specific RH value (ex 85% humidity). Chasing exact numbers is virtually impossible due to all of the mitigating factors involved in RH values (not just the moisture levels effect RH, both temp and ventilation play key roles as well). What is important vis a vis RH levels is keeping them in a certain range (animals aren't exposed to constant humidity, it always fluctuates based on temperature and wind) and you control that by controlling the substrate's moisture level. Humidity in and of itself is a rather complex topic. I've been meaning to do a thread on it for awhile and it'll probably happen this week.

I disagree, for reasons I won’t address in this thread. Humidity is a by product, there is zero reason it even needs to be a thought in this hobby. You can’t keep moisture loving T’s in bone dry enclosures and just mist.....

and while there is debate on this topic that I would be willing to have, in a beginner thread, stating that it IS important only serves to complicate things for the new comer. There is zero reason they need to even think about humidity at this point.

 

[JuvenileHobbyist]

Ac?

Ac never helped me to cool off properly but if its enough for a T then I'll do so.

@JuvenileHobbyist, does your house get up to 36 C? Also, both species you've listed are great, hardy beginner tarantulas, so don't stress too much. Post pics of your enclosure and we'll be able to offer much more help.

In the summer it can reach up to about 32C In my room, i can tackle it a bit with a sun screen and curtains but the humidity is the real pain when it comes to how hot it is. as for the pictures, I'll do that once I'm home.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Ac never helped me to cool off properly but if its enough for a T then I'll do so.

How warm does it get in your house?

Oops you just answered that

 

[cold blood]

This isn't true, it's actually very important to all species. Soil moisture produces humidity, therefore since soil moisture is important, humidity is too. What isn't important is the specific RH value (ex 85% humidity). Chasing exact numbers is virtually impossible due to all of the mitigating factors involved in RH values (not just the moisture levels effect RH, both temp and ventilation play key roles as well). What is important vis a vis RH levels is keeping them in a certain range (animals aren't exposed to constant humidity, it always fluctuates based on temperature and wind) and you control that by controlling the substrate's moisture level. Humidity in and of itself is a rather complex topic. I've been meaning to do a thread on it for awhile and it'll probably happen this week.

@JuvenileHobbyist, does your house get up to 36 C? Also, both species you've listed are great, hardy beginner tarantulas, so don't stress too much. Post pics of your enclosure and we'll be able to offer much more help.

you just over complicated t keeping for a new keeper.