Is a "Too big" enclosure bad?

[tonyb24]

I mean, apart from wasting money... Is it bad for the T?
Especially high moisture depend ones?
Would it venture out more with like lots of covers and room and stuff?
I am really new... I dont got my T's yet tho... Im planning 2 builds.

 

[Tarantuland]

Yes, they can have a hard time finding food and will grow slower. Depending on what the set up is, larger enclosure usually means higher fall risk as well

 

[tonyb24]

Yes, they can have a hard time finding food and will grow slower. Depending on what the set up is, larger enclosure usually means higher fall risk as well

They will grow slower cuz they cant find the food? Cant I just tong feed? Sry, im a total noob... but ok, imma get smaller enclosures.

 

[Tarantuland]

They will grow slower cuz they cant find the food? Cant I just tong feed? Sry, im a total noob... but ok, imma get smaller enclosures.

Tong feeding tarantulas is not a good idea. Their fangs can break on the tongs, and they can also run up the tongs at you. Some guys with tons of experience in the hobby here did an experiment where they kept spiderlings in different sized cups and found that the ones in smaller areas grew faster. Honestly most tarantulas are gonna thrive in pretty simple enclosures. If you want to build something elaborate, I hear crested geckos are great for that.

 

[tonyb24]

Tong feeding tarantulas is not a good idea. Their fangs can break on the tongs, and they can also run up the tongs at you. Some guys with tons of experience in the hobby here did an experiment where they kept spiderlings in different sized cups and found that the ones in smaller areas grew faster. Honestly most tarantulas are gonna thrive in pretty simple enclosures. If you want to build something elaborate, I hear crested geckos are great for that.

Ok.. Thanks. I will get progressively large enclosers as it grows.
Elaborate was not my goal necessarily, I wanted bioactive.

 

[Jumbie Spider]

What size T you planning to get?

 

[Tarantuland]

Ok.. Thanks. I will get progressively large enclosers as it grows.
Elaborate was not my goal necessarily, I wanted bioactive.

If you search the forum you'll see more opinions, but most people don't really see a point in bioactive for tarantulas. The spiders don't really benefit from it, and it'll have to be a moisture dependent species. It's doable, but just do your research here and not on FB/Youtube etc

 

[Almadabes]

I wanted bioactive.

If you are new to keeping - I'd say focus on the spider first.

There's gonna be a lot of questions and some concern as you learn and also having to worry about plants, springtails, moisture, and mold.

Its just alot of fuss.

Bioactive's cool, but imo a better thing for adults and species that like a little moisture.

Edit: Well its Theraposa so a "good" genus for Bioactive - I still say a lot of hassle but maybe I'm just lazy.

 

[tonyb24]

What size T you planning to get?

I got male and female Theraphosa Apophysis. Male is 1.5 in, female is 2inch rn. I bought em, but they not shipped yet. I might ship some isopods with em too... But, idn, can those be danger to T?

 

[Xharyel]

I don't mind giving OW or fast growing species a slightly larger enclosure to avoid rehousing too much.
I wouldn't say that it's good or bad to have a large enclosure, it all comes down to what you put in it (aka proper set up with hide, good amount of sub to avoid deadly falls, etc.).
Of course, it shouldn't be excessively small (will feel unsafe, thus being more prone to threat pose, etc.) or big (the T won't "venture" as much as you'd hope for and it's basically a loss of space).

And if you still want to stick with a larger enclosure, you could always put in a cork slab or something as a "wall" to limit the floor space and just remove it once your T grows enough to warrant a rehouse. A few friends are doing this and it works perfectly fine.

 

[Tarantuland]

I got male and female Theraphosa Apophysis. Male is 1.5 in, female is 2inch rn. I bought em, but they not shipped yet. I might ship some isopods with em too... But, idn, can those be danger to T?

I'll be honest, I have 4 apophysis...they are not really beginner friendly species. They are lightning fast and have nasty urticating hairs. They do grow extremely fast though, so you can probably have them set up in something bigger in just a few months. Just be careful and do you more research on here by searching the forums. Since they are moisture dependent, you could do bioactive with these more than some other species, but I'd wait until theyre at least 3-4".

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Enclosures shouldn't be 'big' or 'not big': T's enclosures should be perfectly suitable for the species in question and for the parameters needed. Nothing else, all the rest belongs to the atavic T's care problems... Which is 'How to complicate easy things 101'.

There's always logic to use, no matter. I can Do It Myself a adult 0.1 H. gigas, P. muticus (or other obligate burrowers T's, I'm just throwing a couple of names) enclosure taller like a Roman fountain, with 80 inches of substrate inside. Providing that I could mantain the correct parameters, the spider would suffer? No, those miners would simply start to dig and then, bye bye. A tunnel in the middle of nowhere, just like in the wild.

But in the case of normal terrestrials, arboreals etc such gargantuan sizes (adapted, obviously, to a terrestrial/arboreal needs) would be simply crazy, useless, and... yep, even dangerous for the spider.

Why not using directly a tree (for the arboreal), then?

 

[Frogdaddy]

Bioactive is more complicated than just your average T set up. Learn how to actually take care of T's first. Get the basics down. Bioactive will only over complicate things and it's totally unnecessary.

 

[CarlixTomix]

There is usually this general opinion that big enclosures are bad.
And it's definitely bad, but not for your tarantula. It's bad for you: bad for monitoring, bad for feeding and bad for maintenance.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

I got male and female Theraphosa Apophysis. Male is 1.5 in, female is 2inch rn. I bought em, but they not shipped yet. I might ship some isopods with em too... But, idn, can those be danger to T?

I've heard they could be, while your T closes itself off and when it molts it may become dangerous. Also, there is really no point and know you said besides wasting money but I just want to let you know that many T's may either hide in their burrow or when they are out they just plop themselves on one spot and may literally sit there for eons. Also, for slings they'll feel much more comfortable in a small vial or small container (yours are too big for a vial)

 

[Chris LXXIX]

And it's definitely bad, but not for your tarantula. It's bad for you: bad for monitoring, bad for feeding and bad for maintenance.

No, it is, actually, pretty bad for T's as well because an helluva of keepers, in general, tend to be on the 'substrate Scrooge' side of things (as if vulgar dirt to place as substrate is priced like gold, now) therefore the risk of a climb & fall scenario is always behind the corner, with your average terrestrial. Combine this with the fact that, again, an helluva of keepers place kinda hardy and useless decor inside their enclosures (skulls and so forth)... Also, "you" aren't home H24 for check the spider and act, if needed.

 

[CarlixTomix]

That's a good point, but wouldn't that be bad husbandry?
Small enclosures are definitely easier to setup correctly, I couldn't agree more there.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

That's a good point, but wouldn't that be bad husbandry?

Keep in mind that, despite Arachnoboards being the most renowned international forum about arachnids (and not only) we have at hand, the 'explosion' of last years social networks and similar platforms created a bit of mess and confusion (to say the least). Obviously, you can find good info there as well, ain't saying that everything is necessarily crap.

There's a lot of keepers that, in those recent last months/years, started to keep T's via the 'help' of various YT videos, 'forging' their care based upon what they viewed, videos where certain T's related YouTubers (don't want to mention those now, besides, their names were already being made years ago, on various and specific threads), folks that had/may still have a certain credit even here, by many - used to house their obligate burrowers into enclosures where, the inches of substrate, were minimum. IMO often not even acceptable - I'm watching you and your P. muticus, DTG

Yet, due to those YouTubers being long time keepers and quite often succesfull breeders, they gained credibility - Which isn't wrong either, because they were/are pretty good at the 'how to', despite the IMO unacceptable 'substrate Scrooge' habit.
This may lead to the confusion I was talking above, plus, besides... There isn't a specific "rule" when it comes to substrate inches, aside the logical one, combined with the need of certain species, therefore, unfortunately, not always this (important) detail is considered as part of the "bad husbandry".

That's why. Probably.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

If you are new to keeping - I'd say focus on the spider first.

This. ^

With any new endeavor the KISS method reigns supreme.

 

[tonyb24]

Okay, so for Male 1.5 in, female 2inch T. Apophysis, would LxWxH of 8x8x8 be good? Its Exo-Terra nano, w/o mesh top its a light..

I was looking at something 8x8x6, but though 6in not might not be deep enough if I put 1in false botton, and like 3in substrate gives spider like 2in height..

The exo-terra 8x8x8 has a front door, so, i'd set em up like a sort of hill side I guess. I bought ALOT of substrate..