It finally happened

Abyss

Arachnoknight
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Apr 15, 2016
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281
i now finally see why some of you say you dislike the foam backgrounds in the exo terras.
I have heard the tale of your T's ripping the foam to little pieces but have never experienced it until now.
I thought it was a myth, a fairy tale told to scare new hobbiests into using the "equipment" you thought best but then it happened.......

My 0.1 P. metallica is chewing a nice hole in the foam in the top right of the enclosure smh. Every morning shes in her hide like "Hi daddy, i didnt do anything bad" yet the foam debris pile grows each passing night.

Now that i have seen it, i am jumping on baord an admitting that while i love the enclosures, i will be doing a mild rehouse an dunping the foam background lol, lets see her chew through the glass haha
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
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Mar 21, 2012
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I make my own backgrounds for exos. I tear out the ones they come with, then use great stuff and gorilla glue to do my own thing.
 

Poec54

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I've got some that give their cork slabs a workout, and they have dozens of little pieces of cork all over their cage. A P cancerides even chewed two holes thru it's thick cork slab. Foam in a tarantula cage? Ha.
 

Andy00

Arachnoknight
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Feb 4, 2016
Messages
153
I'm pretty sure zoo med makes cork bark background tiles. You could just replace it with one of those if they have the right size at a local exotic pet store or any pet store.
 

Abyss

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 15, 2016
Messages
281
The shelving is aginst a wall sonits not like i need a background anyway really. I just liked the foam ones that came with em an never had a T do this till this little girl arrived haha
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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I don't even know what a "foam" is (this due to my English) nor why there's that need for backgrounds of all sorts inside an enclosure :-s
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
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Mar 21, 2012
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What do the backgrounds you make look like???
I'll post some pics. I don't have any on my phone, so you'll have to wait a bit, sorry. I started making them when I kept dart frogs.
 

edesign

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I don't even know what a "foam" is (this due to my English) nor why there's that need for backgrounds of all sorts inside an enclosure :-s
I'm pretty sure zoo med makes cork bark background tiles. You could just replace it with one of those if they have the right size at a local exotic pet store or any pet store.
I do this on some of mine (pokies). Looks good imho especially with certain dorsal patterns and colors, almost disappear, do if you're not sure what you're looking for according to visitors lol. And yeah, they sell them in sizes meant to fit right in. I find that using aquarium grade silicone and running a bead down the edges helps keep prey from hiding. If you can get substrate to stick to it while wet it hides it well.

I have an A. avicularia and a T. gigas in some Exos too but no background. Allows you to get more creative. Creates a different look since there's no delineator along the tank edges.
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
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Mar 21, 2012
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Chris, there isn't a "need" for it, but it makes the enclosure prettier in my opinion, and gives the spider a more secure background to hide against instead of clear glass. It's like a fancy way of blocking the light, and more natural for them to climb on than just glass.

You can put pretty much whatever you want to into your background. I've got some with cork tiles flat against the back, one with a cork tube hide built into the background, some with moss and chunks of bark and charcoal and some with just peat or coco fiber. Here are a few older pics. Pardon the tiny butts. Both the LV and the ornata were freshly molted. 144.JPG 211.JPG

I have an exo I'm planning to make a background for sometime this weekend. Maybe I'll film it for you.
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
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Should definitely film and post that video! Great looking enclosures!
Thank you. The LV has moved up in the world since then. She's in a 12x12x18" now, and I don't have any live plants. I miss them, but I don't have an outlet nearby so my lighting is down for the time being.
 

edesign

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Hers a couple I did a few months ago for an ornata and a regalis. Both seem pretty happy. IMG_20160322_183509~3.jpg

Works well with their camouflage too.

IMG_20160706_222853.jpg
 

cold blood

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I don't even know what a "foam" is (this due to my English) nor why there's that need for backgrounds of all sorts inside an enclosure :-s
I don't get the background thing either...to me its just ridiculousness. Put wood in for them to climb on....just like they would naturally.

Google foam dude, I can guarantee that you know what it is.:D
 

Chris LXXIX

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I don't get the background thing either...to me its just ridiculousness. Put wood in for them to climb on....just like they would naturally.

Google foam dude, I can guarantee that you know what it is.:D
I searched for that word of course, and IMO makes no sense at all for me. 'foam' is 'schiuma' in Italian, and I fail to realize how that stuff could fit, or benefit, into a Theraphosidae enclosure.

The BG thing is aesthetic only, I knew that obviously. Again, no sense for me. Provide fake leaves, more cork, give to arboreals a bit "more" of substrate nonetheless, not crappy "jungle" BG image lol.
 

edesign

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The BG thing is aesthetic only, I knew that obviously. Again, no sense for me. Provide fake leaves, more cork, give to arboreals a bit "more" of substrate nonetheless, not crappy "jungle" BG image lol.
We're not talking about a piece of paper with leaves as imagery. It's not for aesthetics only, see below about why it's not ridiculous.

I don't get the background thing either...to me its just ridiculousness. Put wood in for them to climb on....just like they would naturally.
Did I miss something and someone mentioned using a photo for a bg? Afaik we're talking about wood or other kinds of bg's besides photos or foam.

What do you think cork bark tile is? Wood. That takes up an entire vertical pane. Kinda like a large tree trunk. Crazy.

Nothing ridiculous about providing a more natural climbing surface than glass. Nothing ridiculous about observing a camouflaged T. Nothing ridiculous about providing a surface for feeders to climb on in an arboreal enclosure (I'd say about 90% of the feedings in my tanks with backgrounds occur on said background, not the cork tube where the spider resides). Nothing ridiculous about providing something better to look at than the wall behind the tank. And you can still add wood and leaves throughout the rest of the tank to your heart's content.

I'd never say it's ridiculous just not my preferred method in some instances. I never used cork tile bg's in the past (or any bg) but I'm digging using it for pokies. Not sure I'd do it for Avics or Tappies or terrestrials. Depends on the spider. Like I said, personally, I have arboreal tanks with and without backgrounds. Both have their perks. I like seeing my pokies blending in as best they can.

Old style ("old school" is the usual term) is fine...sometimes. We used to use misting for providing humidity too. I don't see many people advocating that these days ;) Oddly enough, a lot of people were using cork bg's over ten years ago too. How far back before "old style" applies? 20 years? 30?
 

cold blood

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I was referring to foam backgrounds...I thought that was obvious.

Providing nothing but glass to climb on...lol, do you think I have enclosures designed by pet co??? Providing wood to climb on is the most basic part of an arboreal set up. You think they can't be camouflaged unless they have a background...lmao. They can and do blend in just fine on wood within the enclosure, a background is far from a necessity.
 
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