Keeping Aphonopelma moist

[viper69]

It's actually funny you say that, I just watched a documentary about the evolution of animals in Chernobyl. It's not exactly fish to tarantulas but frogs in Chernobyl exposed to radiation rapidly evolved to become immune to radiation. Once a species of bright green frogs are now jet black. Their biology has evolved to produce extreme amounts of melanin that protects them from radiation.

They underwent evolution that should have taken hundreds or thousands of years.

I remember that! Really wild stuff

I’ve know about this t species far longer than it’s been in the hobby recently- but man it was rare to see them to buy. Now you can at times, cost is too much though.

 

[A guy]

Here's another excerpt from the aforementioned email, which details my history with the genus starting in late 2022.

@A guy, you might even notice a reference to a DM we had a little over a year ago discussing our experiments with the genus thus far at the time .



LPT: click on forum quotes in order to expand them and fully read lol.

Now, send me a PM and let's talk about me importing some of the species you have lol

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

This post gives me something to think about. I have 3 A. mooreae spiderlings I acquired in July 2019 from the first import to the USA and here it is about 6 years later and all three are only about an inch long. They are still a uniform grey-blue color with no hint of the bright greens and oranges. I've been giving them water and food on an as-needed basis, not keeping them damp and not feeding them so much they get super fat. When I got them they were super tiny with the typical newborn pinkish-tan coloration and have been molting about once a year since I got them. Maybe now I will try ramping up the water content in the soil and start feeding them more often to see if that jump starts their growth. At this rate I will be an old man before they reach maturity.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

No, the idea is the dry conditions that the hobby is keeping them in is not optimal, they're surviving, not thriving.

I keep mine dry , maybe I should try overflowing the water dish ?

 

[A guy]

I keep mine dry , maybe I should try overflowing the water dish ?

Like mentioned before, the typical overflowing of the water dish isn't enough.

 

[l4nsky]

Like mentioned before, the typical overflowing of the water dish isn't enough.

Also important to note is that ventilation needs to be addressed in tandem with increased soil moisture if you're planning on following these experiments yourself.

Increasing substrate moisture without having atleast some substrate level cross ventilation AND some top ventilation will not produce these results. In fact, it will likely produce a dead spider.

 

[viper69]

I keep mine dry , maybe I should try overflowing the water dish ?

You have nothing to lose by following what op did

 

[Ratmosphere]

Definitely going to try this out. Game changer!

 

[Moakmeister]

Wow... I'm flabbergasted. I came in here fully expecting no science, just guessing, from some dude (or a guy lol) asking if he could just disregard all the established practices and keep this desert-dwelling species wrong. And I find a successful experiment that actually shows that it's better to give them lots of humidity.

This makes me wonder if we should keep all dry species wetter than we thought.

 

[A guy]

This makes me wonder if we should keep all dry species wetter than we thought.

Give it a shot but as mentioned above, give them lots of ventilation on top and a lot on substrate level

 

[Moakmeister]

Give it a shot but as mentioned above, give them lots of ventilation on top and a lot on substrate level

I think having a ton of airholes is super important for all tank pets. I just like the idea of a lot of fresh air moving through there regardless of how wet or dry they need to be, so I'm good there.

 

[l4nsky]

Wow... I'm flabbergasted. I came in here fully expecting no science, just guessing, from some dude (or a guy lol) asking if he could just disregard all the established practices and keep this desert-dwelling species wrong. And I find a successful experiment that actually shows that it's better to give them lots of humidity.

This makes me wonder if we should keep all dry species wetter than we thought.

Lol there are still MANY logical fallacies towards the care of these animals in captivity which still need to addressed.

Can you think of ANY other ectothermic animal (meaning cold blooded, meaning their activity levels, visibility, and health are tied directly to the external air temperature) from a lowland rainforest (which has the MOST stable year round parameters of any terrestrial environment, always hot and humid) where the common husbandry advice is temperature doesn't matter, if you're fine they're fine?!

I'll wait.....

 

[Moakmeister]

Lol there are still MANY logical fallacies towards the care of these animals in captivity which still need to addressed.

Can you think of ANY other ectothermic animal (meaning cold blooded, meaning their activity levels, visibility, and health are tied directly to the external air temperature) from a lowland rainforest (which has the MOST stable year round parameters of any terrestrial environment, always hot and humid) where the common husbandry advice is temperature doesn't matter, if you're fine they're fine?!

I'll wait.....

Nope, I've always thought that was a bit strange. Humans are definitely comfortable in cooler environments than cold blooded animals. I use a heat mat on the side of my scorpion's tank and a heat lamp above my beetles' tank. I don't use extra heating for my Ts but if I ever get more living space I may try and figure something out.

 

[Glorfindel]

proper ventilation is crucial for maintaining a healthy environment

 

[A guy]

Lol there are still MANY logical fallacies towards the care of these animals in captivity which still need to addressed.

Can you think of ANY other ectothermic animal (meaning cold blooded, meaning their activity levels, visibility, and health are tied directly to the external air temperature) from a lowland rainforest (which has the MOST stable year round parameters of any terrestrial environment, always hot and humid) where the common husbandry advice is temperature doesn't matter, if you're fine they're fine?!

I'll wait.....

I think we should build them highways and give them electric cars to save them energy in hunting.