Humidity problem

peucetiaviridans

Arachnopeon
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Oct 1, 2023
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3
Hi,

I got my first T (Brazilian black I named Icarus [Icky for short]) a few months ago. Right now I think it's still considered a sling. I'm worried about the humidity in its enclosure. Icarus buried its water dish a few days ago (not sure if this is what did it), and the humidity climbed to 80%. It's since gone down to 78%. I've read that it's supposed to be 60-75% for this species. I'm thinking about getting a new enclosure that has more holes in it to help with the problem (I can't drill more holes in the current one since the plastic is brittle and already cracking a bit from the holes that were drilled before), but I'm not sure if a humidity difference of 3% is a huge problem or just a minor one. Any recommendations?
 

Liquifin

Laxow Legacy LLC
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G. pulchra do fine with dry substrate. It's not that hard to keep and are very hardy.
 

Dorifto

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First of all stop panicking, it's way worse than a bit of humidity spike.

Second, they came from a quite humid habitat, and keep in mind that nature it's not static, so when it rains, the humidity will be way more than that 80%...

Anything between high 50s to 80s are good humidity levels, but more important than this is the ventilation. Keep it well aerated and even higher numbers won't pose any risk to your T. Keep it poorly ventilated and it could lead to suffocation.

So stay calm and let the substrate to dry a bit. But please do not chase any specific numbers, and this comes from someone that defends the effects of the humidity in our Ts. Simply keep it between a tolerable range, nothing else.

From experience, keep it mainly on the drier side (soil) with some moist spots, as simple as that. Not excessively dry, neither excessively moist, both ends will make your T to enclose in it's burrow
 
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Smotzer

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panicking, it's way worse than a bit of humidity spike.
Yuuuup panicking is the worst anyone can do!
Plus spilling a water dish happens all the time and like Dorifto said it’s nothing compared to even a light rain.

Also OP if you have a sling it should be in an enclosure that would realistically be impossible to put a hygrometer in. It sounds like you have it way over-housed.
 

Dorifto

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Agree, some pics of the enclosure would be helpful for us to suggest better advices.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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Hi,

I got my first T (Brazilian black I named Icarus [Icky for short]) a few months ago. Right now I think it's still considered a sling. I'm worried about the humidity in its enclosure. Icarus buried its water dish a few days ago (not sure if this is what did it), and the humidity climbed to 80%. It's since gone down to 78%. I've read that it's supposed to be 60-75% for this species. I'm thinking about getting a new enclosure that has more holes in it to help with the problem (I can't drill more holes in the current one since the plastic is brittle and already cracking a bit from the holes that were drilled before), but I'm not sure if a humidity difference of 3% is a huge problem or just a minor one. Any recommendations?
This isn’t a species that needs wet substrate that’s about as far as humidity goes.
Those meters are irrelevant I had one but lost it . If you use them it’s more of a reference than being important like for reptiles /amphibians.
 

peucetiaviridans

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 1, 2023
Messages
3
First of all stop panicking, it's way worse than a bit of humidity spike.

Second, they came from a quite humid habitat, and keep in mind that nature it's not static, so when it rains, the humidity will be way more than that 80%...

Anything between high 50s to 80s are good humidity levels, but more important than this is the ventilation. Keep it well aerated and even higher numbers won't pose any risk to your T. Keep it poorly ventilated and it could lead to suffocation.

So stay calm and let the substrate to dry a bit. But please do not chase any specific numbers, and this comes from someone that defends the effects of the humidity in our Ts. Simply keep it between a tolerable range, nothing else.

From experience, keep it mainly on the drier side (soil) with some moist spots, as simple as that. Not excessively dry, neither excessively moist, both ends will make your T to enclose in it's burrow
I am a bit of a worrier haha. I do feel calmer after reading this though. I am working on getting an enclosure with better ventilation (it should be here soon).

Yuuuup panicking is the worst anyone can do!
Plus spilling a water dish happens all the time and like Dorifto said it’s nothing compared to even a light rain.

Also OP if you have a sling it should be in an enclosure that would realistically be impossible to put a hygrometer in. It sounds like you have it way over-housed.
Tts enclosure might be too big (though the hygrometer takes up a lot of space)? Also I'm not 100% sure that it still counts as a sling? It's molted twice if that helps.

Agree, some pics of the enclosure would be helpful for us to suggest better advices.
Pics attached :)

It'll get the big tank eventually, but not right away (for now I'm just using it to help with heating since my house gets below 60 degrees at night in the winter).

The little tank has some holes, but the problem is that a bunch of them are covered by dirt. The person who used this tank before me only used a thin layer of substrate.

(Btw, I only turn on the lamp when I need to see better.)

Also the amount of dirt looked normal before Icky redistributed it haha. I'm a bit worried there's too much of it now? But I'd feel bad messing up its house any more.

I am a bit of a worrier haha. I do feel calmer after reading this though. I am working on getting an enclosure with better ventilation (it should be here soon).
 

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Ultum4Spiderz

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Pics attached :)

It'll get the big tank eventually, but not right away (for now I'm just using it to help with heating since my house gets below 60 degrees at night in the winter).

The little tank has some holes, but the problem is that a bunch of them are covered by dirt. The person who used this tank before me only used a thin layer of substrate.

(Btw, I only turn on the lamp when I need to see better.)

Also the amount of dirt looked normal before Icky redistributed it haha. I'm a bit worried there's too much of it now? But I'd feel bad messing up its house any more.
Looks pretty good I tried using a water dish like that to corral super worms and now my spider sits in it.
 

Tbone192

Arachnobaron
Active Member
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
442
Hi,

I got my first T (Brazilian black I named Icarus [Icky for short]) a few months ago. Right now I think it's still considered a sling. I'm worried about the humidity in its enclosure. Icarus buried its water dish a few days ago (not sure if this is what did it), and the humidity climbed to 80%. It's since gone down to 78%. I've read that it's supposed to be 60-75% for this species. I'm thinking about getting a new enclosure that has more holes in it to help with the problem (I can't drill more holes in the current one since the plastic is brittle and already cracking a bit from the holes that were drilled before), but I'm not sure if a humidity difference of 3% is a huge problem or just a minor one. Any recommendations?
If you have a match or lighter, a pin, and some pliers you can heat the pin and poke holes without worrying about damaging the plastic further. I'd just add more ventilation holes and make sure you have multiple layers to create cross ventilation. Don't want mold growing.
 

Smotzer

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honestly get rid of the thermometer/hygrometer you don’t need it and it is a waste of space!
 

viper69

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Tts enclosure might be too big (though the hygrometer takes up a lot of space)? Also I'm not 100% sure that it still counts as a sling? It's molted twice if that helps.
Sling is a subjective term. You could call your adults slings if you want- no one cares
 

Smotzer

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My two Omothymus are technically still slings but,lol compared to other slings you would class these as sub adult. All the legs for days.
Yup and then I have a subadult Harpactirella thats about 1in hahah, definitely perspective!
 

Dorifto

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Hygrometers must be the #1 killers of tarantulas.
Nope, misinformation it's the #1.

They are a very helpful tool indeed.

Just because someone runs over someone with a car does not make the car more dangerous. The car per se it's harmless, but put it in the wrong hands and disasters may happen.

Instead of blaming on them, we should educate and teach new keepers how to use them properly. No one should follow them blindly, but instead, they could use them to have an aproximate idea about their enclosure's conditions, that's how they should be used.
 
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