humidity

[yz125racr10]

What should the humidity be for a pink zebra?

 

[nemesis6sic6]

Hi

hey yz125racr10 keep it at 70- 75 % humidity and 70-80 degrees any ways have a nice day pink zebras rock!
geo

 

[Code Monkey]

No, keep it at whatever your room is unless it happens to be completely xeric (< 15% RH).

I'm not convinced that any T need RH above 25-35%.

Word to the wise: anyone who starts off their humidity advice citing RH > 60 doesn't know what they're talking about when it comes to humidity and Ts.

 

[Jesse607]

I agree with code monkey, I have not gone out of my way to adjust the humidity for my T's, and in the four years I have been keeping them, I have had no molting problems or deaths. That includes my "pink zebra beauties". However I do not have any moisture sensitive species. The indoor relative humidity where I am is between 35 and 55 percent.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by jezzy607
However I do not have any moisture sensitive species. The indoor relative humidity where I am is between 35 and 55 percent.

There are two things to keep in mind with "moisture dependent" species.

One, they all burrow to some degree. If you keep the substrate slightly moist, they can find whatever humidity it is they actually want without you doing anything more than flooding the waterbowl 2x a week.

Two, many so-called moisture dependent species aren't. T. blondi, believed by many to need nigh swamp-like conditions, is actually kept bone-dry by many experienced keepers with no detrimental effects.

Regardless, the key point is that if water is available and tropical burrowers are given slightly moist substrate you will never have to do a thing about ambient humidity.

 

[D-Man]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
No, keep it at whatever your room is unless it happens to be completely xeric (< 15% RH).

I'm not convinced that any T need RH above 25-35%.

Code- I don't agree with you on this one. I did some testing with this and found that my A. chalcodes could not hang with ambient humidity of 35-40% - it was literally hanging above or on the water dish for hours each day until I raised humidity to 60%. It went back to it's hide at that point. So, at least with this T, 25-35% just does not cut it.

I was screwing around with my A. avic and humidity, but he molted into a male, so I scrapped the testing. I would not be able to attribute the differences in behavior between the humidity or new male activities.

Dario

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by D-Man
Code- I don't agree with you on this one. I did some testing with this and found that my A. chalcodes could not hang with ambient humidity of 35-40% - it was literally hanging above or on the water dish for hours each day until I raised humidity to 60%. It went back to it's hide at that point. So, at least with this T, 25-35% just does not cut it.

I'm going to guess 3 things: It was a wild caught juve/adult. It didn't have sufficient substrate to burrow. You didn't give it several months before throwing in the towel and raising humidity. If I'm wrong on any of those points, feel free to correct me.

There is also a world of difference between what a T might choose and what it needs. I focus on the 'need' side of things instead of trying to make sure that every T feels as though I love it like it's the only spider in the world

 

[Weapon-X]

re

what about haplopelmas ? what i do is like code says, i fisrt get the substrate to where its moist enough, then i jus over fill the water dish when i fill it to keep humidity up, otherwise the soil becomes muddy, since at room temp of about 70-75 the water in the substrate dos'nt seem to evaporate very fast at all, actualy rather slowly and if i start misting it becomes a mess--Jeff

 

[D-Man]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
I'm going to guess 3 things: It was a wild caught juve/adult. It didn't have sufficient substrate to burrow. You didn't give it several months before throwing in the towel and raising humidity. If I'm wrong on any of those points, feel free to correct me.

There is also a world of difference between what a T might choose and what it needs. I focus on the 'need' side of things instead of trying to make sure that every T feels as though I love it like it's the only spider in the world

Code-

1. I bought it from Goldenphoenixexotica in March - so, yes, it was probably wc by Darrin.
2. It has over 5" of substrate - It's about 3" now and needs a deeper substrate.
3. I only waited a couple of weeks before raising the humidity - I felt this hanging over the water dish behavior, after humidity fell, signaled a *need* for higher humidity - it didn't do that prior.

I find much of what is documented and perpetuated by books and boards to be questionable - it's all mostly conjecture, anyway. This is my 1st year with T's so I have much to learn and I want to test many things about these fascinating bugs - but, please, don't lump me in with the "spiders are cuddly and need love" bunch - I'm with you on the need-side, I just want to find out what those parameters are.

Dario

 

[Valael]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
Two, many so-called moisture dependent species aren't. T. blondi, believed by many to need nigh swamp-like conditions, is actually kept bone-dry by many experienced keepers with no detrimental effects.

What about all of the reported T. Blondi deaths / molt complications?



I'm not trying to argue, I'm honestly curious -- I really want a T. Blondi but hesitate because I've always had difficulties keeping the humidity high enough.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Valael
What about all of the reported T. Blondi deaths / molt complications?

Exactly, what about them?

Keeping them in swamp like conditions doesn't prevent the deaths/complications, so what does humidity have to do with it at all?

My personal opinion is that the majority of moult problems come from too rapid growth. Now, that is pure conjecture on my part, but I base it on the fact that I've never worried about humidity and the only bad moult I've experienced was a sling that arrived right as it was beginning to moult. Seems to me the people having the bad moults are the ones going to all the trouble to power feed, raise temps, etc.

T. blondi is a unique case because it has as far as I know the most rapid growth of any T out there. You powerfeed that thing and if there's anything to my conjecture, you're bound to wind up with a new skin a few sizes too big to moult easily in many cases.

 

[jper26]

Just out of curiosity how can a T adapt too much lower humidity and a emporer scorpion cant? I keep my Cobalt at 75-80 humidity like care sheets say.

 

[Botar]

The growth factor is an interesting angle, but my experiences with T. blondi lead me to believe humidity is of importance. I don't keep them in swamp-like conditions, but I dampen the substate and let the top layer dry out before repeating. This way, the lower layer stays damp and the T can regulate the humidity on its own. Much like the conditions I would assume it would find in the wild.

I know my results are anecdotal as opposed to scientific, but that has been my experience.

Botar