Humidity levels for arid species.

Delbert McClintock

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May 8, 2022
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At what size of a sling do I lay off of adding moisture to the substrate? A couple of my slings are arid species, such as a Chromatopelma cyanopubescens and a Brachypelma boehmei.
 

Mike V

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Sep 9, 2022
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I’m brand new to this so I’m not giving you advice just sharing my experience. I recently purchased a Chaco Golden Knee and a GBB. I water the substrate in my Chacos cage weekly but just one corner. My GBB hates it if I try to water the souls at all (even a corner with a hole the size of a pencil down to the bottom so lower layers get wet and keep humidity a little higher). So I stopped watering that one and just keep a cap (the size of a dime) full of water. As far as when to back off more, I can’t tell you.
Hopefully some people with experience will jump on here as I’m always looking to learn more as well.
 

NMTs

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I usually worry less about moist substrate once my slings are at or over 1" DLS. If you have water dishes in their enclosures (which you should so they can drink when needed), you can just moisten part of the substrate by overflowing the dish a little every 1-2 weeks, depending how quickly it evaporates. Humidity (moisture in the air) isn't as critical as having water to drink, so as long as you have that covered you should be fine. The water evaporating from the dish will provide adequate humidity for them.
 

Delbert McClintock

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Thanks everyone for your input. Yes, every one of my Ts has a water dish. I understand that slings require more humidity because they lack their waxy layer that they develop as they get older. I'm trying to find the right balance so I don't promote a bad molt or stress them out because their conditions aren't right. My ggb is about 3i" dls and my fire leg is about 1" dls.
 

viper69

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I’ve never been concerned about this for arid species because they live in arid climates. They have evolved to live in such areas.
 

Delbert McClintock

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May 8, 2022
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I’ve never been concerned about this for arid species because they live in arid climates. They have evolved to live in such areas.
This I understand, but do the slings of those species require more humidity? If so, when do I start to treat them more as an arid species?
 

Smotzer

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This I understand, but do the slings of those species require more humidity? If so, when do I start to treat them more as an arid species?
Done of them truly require ambient humidity to survive but at some life stages more arid species do still require moisture to live as all living beings do. Chromatopelma cyaneopubsecens I kept totally dry with a water dish from the very first instars and it did totally fine. The Brachypelma you can keep slightly moist until it reaches 1.5-2in DLS and can begin to keep it more dry but overflow the water dish occasionally. Even arid species live in climates that get periodical and seasonal moisture and rain and keeping everything even desert species totally dry and all time throughout their life does not make a whole lot of sense. Hope that helps.
 

Delbert McClintock

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May 8, 2022
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Done of them truly require ambient humidity to survive but at some life stages more arid species do still require moisture to live as all living beings do. Chromatopelma cyaneopubsecens I kept totally dry with a water dish from the very first instars and it did totally fine. The Brachypelma you can keep slightly moist until it reaches 1.5-2in DLS and can begin to keep it more dry but overflow the water dish occasionally. Even arid species live in climates that get periodical and seasonal moisture and rain and keeping everything even desert species totally dry and all time throughout their life does not make a whole lot of sense. Hope that helps.
Thank you for your advice. It did help clear things up for me.
 

Matt Man

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Jul 4, 2017
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have a water dish, fill it, be sloppy every third time and spill some into the substrate. I have kept both species listed in such conditions and have never had an issue. My boehmeis have had various sized bottle caps since they were about an inch.
 
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