Is my setup ok?

apoohneicie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
11
I am getting an avic avic and an avic urtican and I want to make sure their setup is okay before they arrive. I have one Exo Terra terrarium 18” x 18” x 18”. I also have a Kritter Keeper 14.5" x 8.8" x 9.8". I have cork bark for them to crawl on and am using organic potting soil. I have undertank heaters and am going to mist to keep humidity up. Is it overkill to have a sponge or water-gel for them to drink? I also am planning on putting in some decorative plants or maybe some moss. Should I use a lamp instead of the undertank. I have so many little doubts. I hope I can make them a comfortable, healthy, stress-free and happy home. Thanks for any help you can offer an avi newb. (Only had gram roseas before...totally different habitat). :?
 

missourimom

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
2
I am getting an avic avic and an avic urtican and I want to make sure their setup is okay before they arrive. I have one Exo Terra terrarium 18” x 18” x 18”. I also have a Kritter Keeper 14.5" x 8.8" x 9.8". I have cork bark for them to crawl on and am using organic potting soil. I have undertank heaters and am going to mist to keep humidity up. Is it overkill to have a sponge or water-gel for them to drink? I also am planning on putting in some decorative plants or maybe some moss. Should I use a lamp instead of the undertank. I have so many little doubts. I hope I can make them a comfortable, healthy, stress-free and happy home. Thanks for any help you can offer an avi newb. (Only had gram roseas before...totally different habitat). :?
where did u get yr avi if i may ask???? trying to locate a vendor that has the avi im lookin for??? and the inclosure sounds fine i do know however i believe they are moisture dependent, so moisture should be a plus and tank or cage should be tall....thanks and good luck i hope all turns out great for u and the avi's...
 

kimmikat687

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
8
Is my tank ok?

Undertank heaters are extremely bad, because your T can't feel heat, and it can kill them very easily...I recommend trying to heat your entire room.
 

hassman789

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
576
I definatly think you shouldn't use a lamp, and undertank heaters are somewhat controversial. Others here may tell you to put it on the side of the tank (I'm not really sure where you should put it) and a regular water dish is ok, no water gel and no sponge, they can drink water without killing themselves and spongebes are breeding grounds for bacteria.

Oh +1 for the post above. It would be better to heat the entire room.
 

apoohneicie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
11
where did u get yr avi if i may ask???? trying to locate a vendor that has the avi im lookin for??? and the inclosure sounds fine i do know however i believe they are moisture dependent, so moisture should be a plus and tank or cage should be tall....thanks and good luck i hope all turns out great for u and the avi's...
I bought them from patrick86 on the boards in the buy/sell/trade section.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=202092

He has great feedback, awesome prices and is super nice! :D
 

newspidermom

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Messages
57
Sounds good to me, but pics always help...lol One REAL important thing. NO SPONGES OR WATER GELS!!! Sponges will become full of bacteria. Just a simple clean shallow water dish is good. Most use a lid that is a little smaller than the size of the spider. It is debated where to place the water dish in an arboreal set-up...up high or down at the bottom. I have had many say it doesn't really matter cause the spider will find it just fine. Alot of arboreals do not seem to be big drinkers anyway. They get most of their moisture from the higher humidity levels. Undertank heating is ok for arboreals...so is heat overhead. Whatever works to maintain a 75 -85 degree temps and misting enough to get humidy of a good 70 - 80. Misting the sides of the enclosure every few days usually is enough. More or less as needed. Just make sure you also have enough ventilation to prevent mold. That's the tricky part. You'll be tweaking things for awhile until you find the perfect combo of heat and humidity. An ideal set-up would be if you could heat a small room with a humidifier to make a whole room environment. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Good luck!!
 

apoohneicie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
11
Whew, my instincts were ok for the most part. I must say I use an undertank heater for my snake and I haven't had any ill effects. I was going to depend on misting for humidity but just wanted to make sure it was enough. I will keep a sharp eye on my temp and humidity to make sure everyone is happy. I think around 80 degrees and about 75% humidity is supposed to be right. I just don't want to do something dumb and harm my new kids, I'd never forgive myself. :(
 

peterock44

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Messages
42
for the size spiders he has listed, your gonna want something alot smaller for your slings. an 18x18x18 is friggin huge for a 1 inch spider. try hobby lobby for some of the clear plastic cubes. once they grow up a bit im sure one of them will love all the room that exo terra has, but untill then it is overkill and could possibly stress out your sling due to having too much space, and a very large area to try and find its food and water
 

Slimdean

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
28
agreed

yup, learned that lesson today when I got in my h.incei. I went out the other day and wasn't thinking about now, but later and got a nice sterlite and spent all night making holes and such. then i woke up to the door bell, got my slings and well reality check happened. needless to say, i went to the dollar store and got some nice cheap tupperware thingies and poked holes in them and put him and my two other editions in separate containers, but in the main container. Like Tarantulaheros setup in his vid where he shows his slings off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQhEqZf5J0
 

gmrpnk21

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
319
for the size spiders he has listed, your gonna want something alot smaller for your slings. an 18x18x18 is friggin huge for a 1 inch spider. try hobby lobby for some of the clear plastic cubes. once they grow up a bit im sure one of them will love all the room that exo terra has, but untill then it is overkill and could possibly stress out your sling due to having too much space, and a very large area to try and find its food and water
This is my setup for my tiny versicolor slings I got today. I went to bed bath and beyond and bought a couple glass spice jars and put Spaghnum moss at the bottom to hold in moisture. Oh yeah, instead of using the Shaker top it made small holes in the screw on top to keep humidity up. I will post pics later, but I can tell you that within an hour one of them had already started building a web.
 

NikiP

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
539
I am getting an avic avic and an avic urtican and I want to make sure their setup is okay before they arrive. I have one Exo Terra terrarium 18” x 18” x 18”. I also have a Kritter Keeper 14.5" x 8.8" x 9.8". I have cork bark for them to crawl on and am using organic potting soil. I have undertank heaters and am going to mist to keep humidity up. Is it overkill to have a sponge or water-gel for them to drink? I also am planning on putting in some decorative plants or maybe some moss. Should I use a lamp instead of the undertank. I have so many little doubts. I hope I can make them a comfortable, healthy, stress-free and happy home. Thanks for any help you can offer an avi newb. (Only had gram roseas before...totally different habitat). :?
As others have stated. Both those tanks are over kill :) Go put a penny in each one & you'll see what we mean. I have a 6" MF P. cambridgei in a 12x12x18 & I that's still overkill!

Hobby lobby/Michael's has cubes that a lot of people use. You can also purchase nice inexpensive containers from The Container Store.

I'm also in NC & you don't need need heaters unless you keep your house cold. If you are comfy, the Ts probably are also. Keep in mind tarantula's aren't snake & don't need to regulate their temps in the same manner. Adults might be fine with a heater on one side or a low light that doesn't emit much heat, but slings won't. They can go downhill fast before you might realize something is wrong.
 
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