Is there a benefit to keeping Ts in such small enclosures?

[LD67]

From keeping slings in tiny deli cups to keeping bigger Ts in shoebox sized plastic containers, I don't get it. Is there a benefit, or is it me who's doing something wrong. I have my sling in a medium sized tupperware container with plenty of room, and my pink toe is in a 12x12x18 habitat. Any thoughts?

 

[Oreo]

I find keeping slings in smaller delis/enclosures allows the spider to find prey more easily. If it's a tiny sling, it makes tracking them down and keeping an eye on their growth easier as well. If you only have a few Ts, having a large decorative exo terra is no biggie. Once you have a collection, let us know how that goes.

 

[basin79]

The way I understand it and I could well be wrong but females won't stray too far from their burrow if they don't have to. Basically if you fed them at the front of their burrow or in it they'd never leave it. Leaving a burrow opens them up to predation.

 

[LD67]

Good points. With my sling, I give it a dead or wounded cricket. I leave it next to its little water bowl, where it likes to hang out. The pink toe is an explorer.

 

[Devin B]

Ive read that T's will get stressed out from large spaces. Im not %100 certain about this however.

 

[Venom1080]

whys there so little cover near the top of the cage? Avics spend pretty much all their time at the top of the cage, having so little cover and anchor points there is stressful. whats with the gauge? Lastly, that cage is way overkill for Avics.

 

[LD67]

I'm sure they WILL get stressed out in large spaces, if there's nowhere to hide.
I'm still going to add more to the habitat. She tends to like hanging out closer to the ground, though. The gauge is just a thermometer. She goes all over the habitat, so if it's overkill, she doesn't know it.

 

[Venom1080]

I'm sure they WILL get stressed out in large spaces, if there's nowhere to hide.
I'm still going to add more to the habitat. She tends to like hanging out closer to the ground, though. The gauge is just a thermometer. She goes all over the habitat, so if it's overkill, she doesn't know it.

never had a Avic that made a hide anywhere near the ground. my 4 all prefer to build a web at the absolute top of their cages, even if theres not as many webbing points. i dont know why you wouldnt finish the cage before putting the spider in, makes no sense.
i meant overkill as waste of space. a cage that big is probably stressful for a avic that size. (3"?) i would use that for a adult P rufilata, not a A avic. (at least without a dense canopy)
thermometers are nice for knowing the temp in your room, but not much else.

 

[LD67]

If she shows signs of stress, I'll be sure to give her a margarita to sip on. The thermometer came with it, so there it is.

 

[Venom1080]

If she shows signs of stress, I'll be sure to give her a margarita to sip on. The thermometer came with it, so there it is.

pfft, whatever man, your spider.

 

[basin79]

I would imagine your lass tends to stay around the bottom as she doesn't like the bright light at the top.

I have both my pokies in that size of enclosure. They're a great size. My H.Mac and Cyriopagopus sp Hati Hati are in 12x8x8 and seem fine too.

Maybe get her a cork bark tube? It'll give her somewhere dark to go if you angle it to the side away from the light.

 

[Abyss]

Ive read that T's will get stressed out from large spaces. Im not %100 certain about this however.

Yea Every once of that has almost got to be BS (the theory that too large of an enclosure is stressful) with the exception of an improperly setup enclosure.

Too much space is a really bad thing an prob is really stressful if its the wrong setup but if correct, the T has no concept of how large the "free roaming area" actually is so i believe enclosure size makes 0 dif if the setup is correct for the species

 

[Abyss]

From keeping slings in tiny deli cups to keeping bigger Ts in shoebox sized plastic containers, I don't get it. Is there a benefit, or is it me who's doing something wrong. I have my sling in a medium sized tupperware container with plenty of room, and my pink toe is in a 12x12x18 habitat. Any thoughts?

View attachment 227450

In my humble opinion, theres a few things wrong w/ that setup at a glance.
I will look closer if needed just let me know.
1) lack of anchor points
2) light at top
3) not near enough hiding spots
4) focus on "decorating the top 1/2 of the enclosure to make it feel safe/secure with lots of hiding spots an anchor points for webbing.

Best if luck

 

[basin79]

Yea Every once of that has almost got to be BS (the theory that too large of an enclosure is stressful) with the exception of an improperly setup enclosure.

Too much space is a really bad thing an prob is really stressful if its the wrong setup but if correct, the T has no concept of how large the "free roaming area" actually is so i believe enclosure size makes 0 dif if the setup is correct for the species

But would a room sized properly set up enclosure give them a better quality of life? They'd more than likely set up home and if fed around it wouldn't move so much. What a larger properly set up enclosure would do though is allow the T to set up home in an ideal place for it regarding temp etc.

 

[ledzeppelin]

I don't think that Ts need a lot of space, but I can offer in my opinion quite a valid argument for allowing large enclosures.. I personally use normal sized enclosures, but lets just say that somebody would consider a 30"by30" enclosure. And lets say that this enclosure is of safe height for a tarantula. Even though this is massive, tarantulas in the wild would basically have the whole forest and this one has 30 by 30. Why would the captive T be more stressed than the one in the wild? and what evidence is there to support that Ts are stressed in large enclosures? Why wouldn't the T just keep to the hide it made or is provided with? Just like in the wild? With a large enclosure the T is in no way forced to wander lost around the whole thing.. If it wants it can easily just stick to the safest place it finds..

Again, I'm just raising questions here, I'm not trying to piss anybody off

 

[Rittdk01]

I have my big pink toe in an exo terra a couple sizes smaller than yours. She has loads of anchor points to web, but chose the back right corner. That whole back fake rock is perfect for them to climb on and web up. I don't like too much junk in the enclosurebecause they usually don't do much w it and the feeders hide in it. The big pink toe uses maybe six square inches of the enclosure lol.

I do find that my most active tarantulas are my LP and T Stirmi, which also have the biggest enclosures....hmmmm

 

[Venom1080]

large enclosures are okay, if set up right like @Abyss said. that cage isnt set up right however.
tarantulas in the wild dont just die because they have all the world as a cage, they set up a burrow or make a web tunnel in the trees, and only use a small area around that. thats why alot of keepers use small cages, the spiders simply dont need more space. large cages can look really nice if they are set up right and you have the space. a cage could technically be as large as you want.

 

[basin79]

I don't think that Ts need a lot of space, but I can offer in my opinion quite a valid argument for allowing large enclosures.. I personally use normal sized enclosures, but lets just say that somebody would consider a 30"by30" enclosure. And lets say that this enclosure is of safe height for a tarantula. Even though this is massive, tarantulas in the wild would basically have the whole forest and this one has 30 by 30. Why would the captive T be more stressed than the one in the wild? and what evidence is there to support that Ts are stressed in large enclosures? Why wouldn't the T just keep to the hide it made or is provided with? Just like in the wild? With a large enclosure the T is in no way forced to wander lost around the whole thing.. If it wants it can easily just stick to the safest place it finds..

Again, I'm just raising questions here, I'm not trying to piss anybody off

Good point. Ignoring the stress factor though would a T be any worse off in a smaller enclosure if all it's needs where met? Shelter, food and water. Like I typed earlier it's much safer for a T if it doesn't leave it's burrow. If it had no need to do then it wouldn't.

 

[ledzeppelin]

Good point. Ignoring the stress factor though would a T be any worse off in a smaller enclosure if all it's needs where met? Shelter, food and water. Like I typed earlier it's much safer for a T if it doesn't leave it's burrow. If it had no need to do then it wouldn't.

Nah mate, I'm not saying that having a smaller enclosure is worse for the T.. I'm just saying that if safety requirements are met, then larger enclosures are not worse

 

[basin79]

Nah mate, I'm not saying that having a smaller enclosure is worse for the T.. I'm just saying that if safety requirements are met, then larger enclosures are not worse

Yeah I know. I was just asking the question.