inch to gallon

hupababy83

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Messages
30
Hi, I am new here and can't find a good answer to my question.

Is there a size to gallon measurement with T's, like with fish? I mean like ever 1 inch of spider needs 1 gallon (or inch, foot, meter lol) I hope you understand what I'm saying. I want to make sure my T is in a properly sized environment before she comes home.

Thank you in advance for any replies.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
Not really a conversion, but here is something that might help:

Fossorial-

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top




Terrestrial-

1-2 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top



Arboreal-

1 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top
 

SentinelPokie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
43
Welcome

Ho welcome to arachnoboards so the answer to that will vary depending on your own preference and the spider so for a spider every inch of a T would be about 2x the length of it. Example I have a brachypelma boehmei that is cureently 2 inches and her cage measurements are 4x4x4 because it is a cube. Hope this helps man and once a again welcome to this wonderful forum and hobby


-AC;):D:):}
 

hupababy83

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Messages
30
Thank you all! I already have my species and preferable size picked out. I'm hoping to find a 5" female A. geniculata (oh god I hope I spelled it right this time!) A Brazilian white banded bird eater. Not the Brazilian white knee, lol first thing I learned was common names will mess you up fast. LOL
 

jebbewocky

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
909
What I go by, generally:
Dwarf T/sling: Vial
Small T (A.avicularia): 2.5 gallon.
Average T (B.smithi): 5 gallon.
Huge T(T.blondi): 20 gallon.

Very rough, and probably overkill, but, meh.
I had access to more 10 gallons, so I just use those. I can only keep so many, but they have nice big tanks, and the tanks were free. Plus, it's a bonus for nervous specimens--gives them more space to get away from me.
 

jebbewocky

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
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Oct 1, 2009
Messages
909
Thank you all! I already have my species and preferable size picked out. I'm hoping to find a 5" female A. geniculata (oh god I hope I spelled it right this time!) A Brazilian white banded bird eater. Not the Brazilian white knee, lol first thing I learned was common names will mess you up fast. LOL
Spelled it right this time.:D
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
Thank you all! I already have my species and preferable size picked out. I'm hoping to find a 5" female A. geniculata (oh god I hope I spelled it right this time!) A Brazilian white banded bird eater. Not the Brazilian white knee, lol first thing I learned was common names will mess you up fast. LOL
Brazilian white knee is also another common name for A. geniculata by the way.
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
5,357
Not really a conversion, but here is something that might help:

Fossorial-

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top




Terrestrial-

1-2 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top



Arboreal-

1 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top

Chris, where did you get these guidelines?
 

SentinelPokie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
43
Thank you all! I already have my species and preferable size picked out. I'm hoping to find a 5" female A. geniculata (oh god I hope I spelled it right this time!) A Brazilian white banded bird eater. Not the Brazilian white knee, lol first thing I learned was common names will mess you up fast. LOL

I reccomend a sling from paul becker at Pecenter USA hes an awesome dealer so check out his site has a few A geniculatas
 

Treynok

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
202
1.5x leg-span from the top for substrate. I agree with giving a good cushion in case of a fall and not having them fall too far. I believe TKG lists to give no less space to the top than that but I'd say one third full on a 10gal or 5.5 is enough.
 

Great Basin Ben

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
86
Not really a conversion, but here is something that might help:

Fossorial-

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top




Terrestrial-

1-2 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

1.5 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top



Arboreal-

1 times the tarantula's leg span in substrate depth

2 times the tarantula's leg span in enclosure width and length

2-3 times the tarantula's leg span from substrate to enclosure top
While this is a good starting point, this is in no way set in stone is it? Aside from the Tarantula not finding its food as easily, as long as there's enough substrate to provide protection against a catastrophic fall, is there any reason to NOT go bigger than these requirements?
 

jebbewocky

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
909
Preference, shelf space, and the fact that they don't seem to "need" it that much. I like giving my T's big tanks because IME, the use it--if nothing else, it's neat to see them web up a huge tank.
 

curiousme

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 11, 2008
Messages
1,661
While this is a good starting point, this is in no way set in stone is it? Aside from the Tarantula not finding its food as easily, as long as there's enough substrate to provide protection against a catastrophic fall, is there any reason to NOT go bigger than these requirements?
No, there's not. The T owner also takes the risk of not seeing their pet often if it is in a huge enclosure, but it won't hurt them. As long as you make sure it gets it food, can find its water and isn't in danger of injury from a fall, you are good to go. I would go with a legspan and a half of free space between the top of the substrate and the top of the enclosure for substrate depth though, saying 1/2 or 1/3 full is too general, as it should be a case by case basis decision.

Well, hold on..... if it is under 2" you really wouldn't want a 10 gallon, but it could be done in theory......the humidity would be hard to maintain though.
 

briarpatch10

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
67
Preference, shelf space, and the fact that they don't seem to "need" it that much. I like giving my T's big tanks because IME, the use it--if nothing else, it's neat to see them web up a huge tank.
couldn't agree more about watching them web up a tank but ...theres always a but, I have seen my T's in all 4 corners of their tanks walking around "exploring" I think and its just my opinion that they like having room to walk around. If you had 8 legs wouldnt you like to walk around?
 

jebbewocky

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
909
couldn't agree more about watching them web up a tank but ...theres always a but, I have seen my T's in all 4 corners of their tanks walking around "exploring" I think and its just my opinion that they like having room to walk around. If you had 8 legs wouldnt you like to walk around?
I would, definently, but tarantulas aren't 8-legged people.
IME--if granted, they seem to use the extra space occasionally, but do not seem stressed or put out by a more minimal cage.
 

Stan Schultz

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
1,677
I'm pretty sure its in the Tarantula keepers guide.
Now that you mention it I quote directly from the manuscript. For terrestrial (fossorial) tarantulas, beginning on page 130 -

Sizing It Up. The width of an older immature or adult tarantula's cage should be at least double the tarantula's maximum leg span, and the length, at least double the width, or an equivalent floor area. Thus, a circular, hexagonal or octagonal cage should be at least three times as wide as the tarantula's leg span. ...

... Care must be taken that the cage is not too large, however. This, like many other aspects of tarantula care, is an unexpected statement because the concern is normally that the cage given a pet is too small. However, tarantulas are characteristically sedentary creatures, living within the confines of a burrow and rarely venturing more than one or two leg spans from that burrow. ... They, therefore, do not require excessively large cages. ...

.. There are several good reasons for using a modest sized cage for your pet tarantula.

■ Too large a cage is a waste of resources on the keeper's part. Instead, acquire two smaller cages so you can keep another tarantula.

■ An average tarantula seems lost in the excessive floor space in the larger cages. Indeed, in extreme cases tarantulas have been known to pace endlessly, presumably in an effort to find "home".

■ The tarantula's food (usually house crickets) tends to become lost in excessively large cages, and the crickets die of starvation or old age before they can be eaten.

■ Such large cages cease to be merely cages, becoming habitats, vivariums or terrariums instead. ...

■ Too tall a cage poses a significant danger to the tarantula, a topic we shall discuss below. ...

... When choosing a cage for your tarantula, one dimension, the height, is critical. As with most other spiders, most terrestrial tarantulas can climb smooth surfaces but, unlike other spiders, aren't very good at it. Thus, they will often attempt to climb the walls of their cages and will frequently fall in doing so. It is wise not to give a tarantula too tall a cage lest it injure or kill itself in such a fall.

Breene and O'Brien (1998) suggest a good rule for estimating an acceptable height for a tarantula cage. These authors amend that rule slightly by urging that the distance between the top of the substrate and the top of the cage should not exceed the extended leg span of the tarantula. This rule gains critical significance with older individuals and with the larger kinds that are easily injured in falls because of their greater bulk.

For many cages, reducing the overhead distance may be accomplished by adding more substrate. A thick layer of substrate may also allow the tarantula to burrow, an added bonus if this is desired. Otherwise, the enthusiast should move the pet into a shallower container. ...

There is also a minimum allowable height, for the tarantula must have room to roll over and then right itself when it molts. Thus, the minimum distance between the substrate and the cover should probably not be less than about one-third the tarantula's leg span. ...


Given a choice, sightly larger is better than smaller except that you should be very careful not to violate the height rule, especially with larger or older tarantulas.

The recommendations for arboreal tarantulas begin on page 246 but do not lend themselves readily to global quoting here. Sorry. If you need recommendations for arboreal tarantulas perhaps you should begin a separate thread.

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, however, these are only guidelines and are not etched in stone. Neither are the tarantula police going to raid your home and incarcerate you for violating them. Get as close to the recommendations as you can without going bankrupt or spending the rest of your life looking for the perfect cage.

I hope this helps. Best of luck.
 
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