Is it ok to house Powder orange isopods with a Honduran curly hair tarantula.

[Gillianthomas]

I have 6 powdered orange isopods in an enclosure that I'm planning on putting my juvenile Honduran curly hair tarantula in here soon. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be putting my T in harms way.

 

[Spoodfood]

I have heard of isopods harming molting tarantulas.

 

[Gillianthomas]

I have heard of isopods harming molting tarantulas.

I've heard that also but I've also heard that it doesn't always happen. I just want to make sure my T is safe and that I can have a clean up crew also that won't harm my T

 

[NMTs]

I have 6 powdered orange isopods in an enclosure that I'm planning on putting my juvenile Honduran curly hair tarantula in here soon. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be putting my T in harms way.

If you value the isopods, you should keep them in a separate enclosure. The T will try to eat them, and might manage to eat a couple, but more likely it'll just kill them because they're annoying.

 

[BoyFromLA]

I’d keep them separate. You do not need any of so called ‘clean up crews’ in Tliltocatl albopilosus enclosure.

 

[Gillianthomas]

If you value the isopods, you should keep them in a separate enclosure. The T will try to eat them, and might manage to eat a couple, but more likely it'll just kill them because they're annoying.

So only springtails to keep the mold and stuff down?

I’d keep them separate. You do not need any of so called ‘clean up crews’ in Tliltocatl albopilosus enclosure.

Is it because they are not that messy?

 

[NMTs]

So only springtails to keep the mold and stuff down?

T. albo enclosure shouldn't be moist enough for mold to be an issue. Most of the sub should be dry with a water dish and a small corner near the dish slightly moist.

 

[Gillianthomas]

T. albo enclosure shouldn't be moist enough for mold to be an issue. Most of the sub should be dry with a water dish and a small corner near the dish slightly moist.

Oh ok thank you. I'm new and only had mine for almost 3 weeks now and she/he spent the last two weeks in the morning process and now is a fuzzy curly hair. First pick is in mid molt and second is Saturday when it molted.

 

[Spoodfood]

I've heard that also but I've also heard that it doesn't always happen. I just want to make sure my T is safe and that I can have a clean up crew also that won't harm my T

If it doesn’t ~~always~~ happen, that means it sometimes ~~does~~ happen. If you’re concerned about the safety of your spider, you can mitigate the risk this could pose simply by not putting them in. So the question that should have been asked, considering you already knew it was a risk, would be, “is it worth the risk?” Or “how often does it happen?” There is no solid answer to either of those questions, one being subjective and the other anecdotal. In my personal opinion, there’s no need to have isopods in the enclosure, making the risk not worth it.

In enclosures that are kept moist, I haven’t heard problems with springtails. However, they aren’t necessary.

 

[Gillianthomas]

If it doesn’t ~~always~~ happen, that means it sometimes ~~does~~ happen. If you’re concerned about the safety of your spider, you can mitigate the risk this could pose simply by not putting them in. So the question that should have been asked, considering you already knew it was a risk, would be, “is it worth the risk?” Or “how often does it happen?” There is no solid answer to either of those questions, one being subjective and the other anecdotal. In my personal opinion, there’s no need to have isopods in the enclosure, making the risk not worth it.

In enclosures that are kept moist, I haven’t heard problems with springtails. However, they aren’t necessary.

Thank you. I'll take the isopods out of the enclosure when I'm ready to move my T in.

 

[viper69]

So only springtails to keep the mold and stuff down?

iso- snack food

You only have mold due to husbandry- change that you won’t need them

 

[Gillianthomas]

iso- snack food

You only have mold due to husbandry- change that you won’t need them

I don't have mold yet I'm just asking questions to prevent it from happening.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I don't have mold yet I'm just asking questions to prevent it from happening.

Mould is one of the most unnecessarily panicked about things in the hobby, it's unsightly more than anything else, the only types fungi that are a real threat to your tarantula you will probably never encounter as a keeper.

In regards to mould prevention, you can basically think of it like the fire triangle diagram, moulds generally need three things in order to become established, those are stagnant air, moisture, and a food source. Removing any one of these should prevent them from cropping up in enclosures (or they will die off fairly quickly if they have already).

The thread below is a good read if you've not checked it already.

All you need to know about mold

Well, I made a similar post about mites and it seemed quite popular, and since questions about mold pop up again and again I thought maybe I can shed some light on this topic, too. The thing is: with mites it was easy. They are harmless, period. With mold it’s not that easy, because there are...

arachnoboards.com

 

[viper69]

I don't have mold yet I'm just asking questions to prevent it from happening.

Ah! Keep good ventilation and don’t keep things moist. And mold is overrated, I spot pick poop out etc to minimize growth. Haven’t felt with mold in eons.

 

[Smotzer]

There’s no need to have isopods in a tarantula enclosure in general. Mold is not a problem or something one needs to worry about. Keeep the isopods and T seperate and it will be much easier.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I've never used isopods or springtails, I never needed them.

I don't know about bio-active enclosures if they help or not I have no clue, never done bio-active.