Humidity all over the place

checkmate

Arachnoknight
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Jan 15, 2013
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188
I have an adult enclosure from Jamie's and coco fiber substrate (bagged, not a brick). I set up the enclosure about a week and a half ago: substrate, bark, moss, silk plants, rock dish with water. Wanted to see how the enclosure held up for a week or so before putting a T in there (beginner here).

The temps in the enclosure are pretty consistent: high 60s when I wake up around 5AM, mid 70s when I get home from work around 7PM. The humidity is all over the place though depending on how I orientate the enclosure in on the shelf. Holes left/right, I get humidity in the 50s-60s. Holes front/back, I get 99% humidity. Never in between.

Is the substrate supposed to be dried out before putting in the enclosure? I can see that the bottom half is a "moist" brown color and the top half is a "dry" brown. No mold that I can see. Since I already laid out the substrate in the enclosure, should I leave the top open and let it all dry out? I have another enclosure that isn't set up yet and don't want to put in the substrate if I need to dry it first.

I live in Long Beach, CA (about 5 miles from the ocean). I usually have a tower fan on in the room on the days I have my dogs.
 

Venom1080

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dont follow humidity gauges!! they suck and will lead you way off. what species are you getting? thats all we need to know to help you. i set up cages rarely more than a few hours in advance. if youre using any artificial heating besides a space heater, get rid of it. again, dont bother with temp or humidity gauges, those are used for herps, not arachnids.
good choice in substrate btw.
 

G. pulchra

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What are you using to measure the humidity, if it's one of those cheap stick on gauges then it's likely not accurate.

The dryness of the substrate is going to be dependent on the tarantula that you keep. Please do some research here on the specific one your going to purchase before bringing it home.
 

Jeff23

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I have noticed that all of Jamie's coco fiber arrives moist. Perhaps this is because she sells so much of it. I would make sure it dries out a lot more before putting an arid T species in there.

EDIT* It may be okay if you put a T that likes some moisture.
 
Last edited:

cold blood

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:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

Don't measure humidity...throw away the POS hygrometer...just step back and look at the grief its already caused you. Useless device for t keeping..ts don't require number specific humidity.....stupid care sheets.:yuck:
 

Trenor

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What type of tarantula are you looking to put in the enclosure? usually coco fiber substrate is pretty damp when it comes out of the bag. Some species can deal with that while it dries out. For other species you might have to dry it out some.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Take your time for telling us which kind of Theraphosidae you are looking for, in the meantime, Christ... High Five for those amazing French Bulldogs of your pic. I miss mine, they are by far one of the most loyal, sweet flatulist artists and devoted to their masters dogs ever :-/
 

cold blood

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High Five for those amazing French Bulldogs of your pic. I miss mine, they are by far one of the most loyal, sweet flatulist artists and devoted to their masters dogs ever :-/
I agree, frenchies are pretty cool.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Fashion...HA!!!
Yeah man... I mean, listen to this: I live in a pretty little (maybe compared to U.S standards) but quite rich, old, and famous Northern Italian Lombardy city. When I bought 'Hooch' (named after that movie with Tom Hanks) my/our male French Bulldog, son of Attila, Italian champion, no one owned those here. Was '91, in Milano, two years before jumping into T's.

Just for a vile, mere, lack of fantasy & uneducation here no one had and appreciated that wonderful breed. He was the best friend someone could ask, loyal, strong (pretty strong for their size) and sweet. He loved my bro in particular, even if he loved everyone. Now today seems that everyone here own those, especially those that, today adults, were annoying brats back then when we walked with him. I'm happy, because French Bulldog is a wonderful breed, but sad to view those threated like 'choosy' dogs... they have a great "wild" soul that needs to be cultivated, IMO.

Still I remember the day he died, at 12. He felt the blow of Death, therefore he wanted to cheer everyone before collapsing on the parquet.

Just like Khagyr, the Mastino Napoletano that my parents owned long before when we were brats (I remember him, however) and Diana, a female common dog, he's always in our hearts. I'm no longer into dogs in any way since he died :-s
 

checkmate

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
188
dont follow humidity gauges!! they suck and will lead you way off. what species are you getting? thats all we need to know to help you. i set up cages rarely more than a few hours in advance. if youre using any artificial heating besides a space heater, get rid of it. again, dont bother with temp or humidity gauges, those are used for herps, not arachnids. good choice in substrate btw.
I'll be getting two: one for the Adult enclosure and one for the XL enclosure. I planned on putting a 2" B. auratum in the Adult enclosure and a 4" LP in the XL. I'm not using any artificial heating now but I guess if it gets too cold, I might have to set something up like a space heater that will be away from my dogs.

What are you using to measure the humidity, if it's one of those cheap stick on gauges then it's likely not accurate. The dryness of the substrate is going to be dependent on the tarantula that you keep. Please do some research here on the specific one your going to purchase before bringing it home.
I bought some $5 gauge from Jamie (I don't see it on the website now but it was under Supplies --> Husbandry).

I have noticed that all of Jamie's coco fiber arrives moist. Perhaps this is because she sells so much of it. I would make sure it dries out a lot more before putting an arid T species in there.
EDIT* It may be okay if you put a T that likes some moisture.
Yes, even in the enclosure I can see some condensation in the substrate air pockets next to the sides. The bags I just ordered had some condensation in it. It's not so moist that it can be squeezed into a clump and retain its shape though.

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
Don't measure humidity...throw away the POS hygrometer...just step back and look at the grief its already caused you. Useless device for t keeping..ts don't require number specific humidity.....stupid care sheets.:yuck:
Okay, will do. One of my dogs gets a really dry nose (have to use Aquaphor on it) so I wanted to get a general idea of the humidity.

What type of tarantula are you looking to put in the enclosure? usually coco fiber substrate is pretty damp when it comes out of the bag. Some species can deal with that while it dries out. For other species you might have to dry it out some.
2" B. auratum in the Adult enclosure and a 4" LP in the XL enclosure.

Take your time for telling us which kind of Theraphosidae you are looking for, in the meantime, Christ... High Five for those amazing French Bulldogs of your pic. I miss mine, they are by far one of the most loyal, sweet flatulist artists and devoted to their masters dogs ever :-/
They're awesome and keep me entertained all the time. The brindle one is Peppermint and the blue is Lucy-fur.

Yeah man... I mean, listen to this: I live in a pretty little (maybe compared to U.S standards) but quite rich, old, and famous Northern Italian Lombardy city. When I bought 'Hooch' (named after that movie with Tom Hanks) my/our male French Bulldog, son of Attila, Italian champion, no one owned those here. Was '91, in Milano, two years before jumping into T's.

Just for a vile, mere, lack of fantasy & uneducation here no one had and appreciated that wonderful breed. He was the best friend someone could ask, loyal, strong (pretty strong for their size) and sweet. He loved my bro in particular, even if he loved everyone. Now today seems that everyone here own those, especially those that, today adults, were annoying brats back then when we walked with him. I'm happy, because French Bulldog is a wonderful breed, but sad to view those threated like 'choosy' dogs... they have a great "wild" soul that needs to be cultivated, IMO.

Still I remember the day he died, at 12. He felt the blow of Death, therefore he wanted to cheer everyone before collapsing on the parquet.

Just like Khagyr, the Mastino Napoletano that my parents owned long before when we were brats (I remember him, however) and Diana, a female common dog, he's always in our hearts. I'm no longer into dogs in any way since he died :-s
I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't know what I'll do when mine pass.
 

Venom1080

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I'll be getting two: one for the Adult enclosure and one for the XL enclosure. I planned on putting a 2" B. auratum in the Adult enclosure and a 4" LP in the XL. I'm not using any artificial heating now but I guess if it gets too cold, I might have to set something up like a space heater that will be away from my dogs.
I bought some $5 gauge from Jamie (I don't see it on the website now but it was under Supplies --> Husbandry).
.
yeah, dump the gauges. theyre beyond useless for arid/semi arid species. overflow the LP water dish a couple times a week and youre good.
 

mistertim

Arachnobaron
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Sep 4, 2015
Messages
548
Those are some pretty big enclosures for those size tarantulas. I have a couple of Jamie's large enclosures and IIRC they're 8x8x14 or something. For a 2" tarantula that's enormous.
 

checkmate

Arachnoknight
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Jan 15, 2013
Messages
188
yeah, dump the gauges. theyre beyond useless for arid/semi arid species. overflow the LP water dish a couple times a week and youre good.
Okay, will do. Thank you. I tend to err on the side of caution for a lot of things.

Those are some pretty big enclosures for those size tarantulas. I have a couple of Jamie's large enclosures and IIRC they're 8x8x14 or something. For a 2" tarantula that's enormous.
Yes, the Adult is 8x8x14 inches and the XL is 12x12x24 inches. I just went with the recommended sizes on her T's page.
B. auratum: Can fit in a Terrestrial Juvenile Enclosure however, it will outgrow it quickly. An Adult Complete Terrestrial is a little on the large side but has plenty of growing room. An Adult Complete Terrestrial can be this tarantula permanent enclosure."
LP: Adult Complete Terrestrial or XL. The XL can be a permanent enclosure for the LP female."
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
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Okay, will do. Thank you. I tend to err on the side of caution for a lot of things.


Yes, the Adult is 8x8x14 inches and the XL is 12x12x24 inches. I just went with the recommended sizes on her T's page.
B. auratum: Can fit in a Terrestrial Juvenile Enclosure however, it will outgrow it quickly. An Adult Complete Terrestrial is a little on the large side but has plenty of growing room. An Adult Complete Terrestrial can be this tarantula permanent enclosure."
LP: Adult Complete Terrestrial or XL. The XL can be a permanent enclosure for the LP female."
I would get a enclosure that's in between those sizes and use that till it's bigger. There are a lot of enclosures you can make for cheap that would fit that size range.
 

mistertim

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Messages
548
Okay, will do. Thank you. I tend to err on the side of caution for a lot of things.


Yes, the Adult is 8x8x14 inches and the XL is 12x12x24 inches. I just went with the recommended sizes on her T's page.
B. auratum: Can fit in a Terrestrial Juvenile Enclosure however, it will outgrow it quickly. An Adult Complete Terrestrial is a little on the large side but has plenty of growing room. An Adult Complete Terrestrial can be this tarantula permanent enclosure."
LP: Adult Complete Terrestrial or XL. The XL can be a permanent enclosure for the LP female."
Yeah her size recommendations can be a bit...gratuitous IMO. But anyway...I agree that an adult LP would certainly be ok in one of her XL enclosures but with a 4 inch one it would be absolutely dwarfed by its enclosure (its about 6x its DLS). What it will likely do is pick one smaller area of the enclosure and stay there until it gets bigger. Same with the smaller one in the regular Adult enclosure.

The large enclosures themselves aren't necessarily "bad" for the tarantulas (they do have pretty large "enclosures" in the wild, after all) but there are a couple of things to take note of. For one, in order to reduce stress you should make sure you put plenty of places to hide in each so that that the small (relative to the enclosure) tarantula can pick and choose where it feels comfortable to set up camp. If there's just one hide and it doesn't feel safe there it could end up very stressed and wander all over, or just curl/bunch up in a corner...and that's really sad to see. The other is that, with a large enclosure relative to a smaller tarantula, you could run into issues with your T finding prey. If you drop a cricket in the enclosure and it just runs to the opposite end and hides then it's quite possible that they will never cross paths and you'll either end up never knowing if the prey was eaten or not. This can be bad as it could die and attract bacteria, etc. You might end up just having to drop in prey near your tarantula and watch for a while to see if it eats it. If not, take it out.

Again, not necessarily "bad" for the tarantula. There are just some things to take into consideration.
 

checkmate

Arachnoknight
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Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
188
I would get a enclosure that's in between those sizes and use that till it's bigger. There are a lot of enclosures you can make for cheap that would fit that size range.
Yeah her size recommendations can be a bit...gratuitous IMO. But anyway...I agree that an adult LP would certainly be ok in one of her XL enclosures but with a 4 inch one it would be absolutely dwarfed by its enclosure (its about 6x its DLS). What it will likely do is pick one smaller area of the enclosure and stay there until it gets bigger. Same with the smaller one in the regular Adult enclosure.
The large enclosures themselves aren't necessarily "bad" for the tarantulas (they do have pretty large "enclosures" in the wild, after all) but there are a couple of things to take note of. For one, in order to reduce stress you should make sure you put plenty of places to hide in each so that that the small (relative to the enclosure) tarantula can pick and choose where it feels comfortable to set up camp. If there's just one hide and it doesn't feel safe there it could end up very stressed and wander all over, or just curl/bunch up in a corner...and that's really sad to see. The other is that, with a large enclosure relative to a smaller tarantula, you could run into issues with your T finding prey. If you drop a cricket in the enclosure and it just runs to the opposite end and hides then it's quite possible that they will never cross paths and you'll either end up never knowing if the prey was eaten or not. This can be bad as it could die and attract bacteria, etc. You might end up just having to drop in prey near your tarantula and watch for a while to see if it eats it. If not, take it out.
Again, not necessarily "bad" for the tarantula. There are just some things to take into consideration.
Okay, so the 4" LP is good with the XL enclosure. The 2" B. auratum is a bit too small for the Adult enclosure but can use it later after it increases in size. I was also thinking about a B. Smithi for the Adult enclosure. Thank you everyone for your input.
 

mistertim

Arachnobaron
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Sep 4, 2015
Messages
548
Okay, so the 4" LP is good with the XL enclosure. The 2" B. auratum is a bit too small for the Adult enclosure but can use it later after it increases in size. I was also thinking about a B. Smithi for the Adult enclosure. Thank you everyone for your input.
That could work, but that XL is still gonna be pretty huge for a 4" tarantula. LPs grow pretty fast though, IIRC so I suppose it could work. Brachys tend to grow slower so yeah that 2" is gonna be too small for the Adult enclosure. You could just put that kid in a small to medium KK or something until it gains a couple more inches then transfer it.
 

bryverine

Arachnoangel
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Apr 18, 2012
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890
What are you using to measure the humidity, if it's one of those cheap stick on gauges then it's likely not accurate.
Don't measure humidity...throw away the POS hygrometer...just step back and look at the grief its already caused you.
I'll take these a step further and add that I lost an Avic using a calibrated, to the nearest 0.1% humidity, hygrometer.

It turns out that it's not as simple as putting a gauge in the enclosure. An enclosure will produce a gradient of moist air so unless you have several floating gauges it's hard to nail the real average humidity in an enclosure.

As noted above though, humidity by the numbers kill Ts. Stagnant humidity is stifling.
 
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