My Desert Set Up For My Tarantula

Jeff23

Jeff23

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Can prey burrow in this type of sand (worms, roaches, crickets)? It sounds like that might possibly be another plus for it.
 
mistertim

mistertim

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Jeff23 said:
Can prey burrow in this type of sand (worms, roaches, crickets)? It sounds like that might possibly be another plus for it.
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Probably depends on the prey. I'd imagine superworms being able to burrow into sand incredibly quickly.
 
Andrea82

Andrea82

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Exoskeleton Invertebrates said:
Most adults in captivity B. smithi don't even burrow, more and likely they just make a big pile of mess. The question you have to ask yourself why in the wild they burrow so much vs captivity? Direct sunlight, predators, snow, cold, wind, rain etc. these are just a few things that in captivity our spiders don't have to deal with than if they were outside.

Regardless wether is eco earth, vermiculite etc. hideouts should always be provided to be used as a retreat. Enclosures that are not extremely big also helps them feel secure.
In my opinion is most tarantula keepers are told to use a certain substrate, enclosures etc. not willing to explore other options, so any other ideas is prohibited. I'm old school so I'm simply going back in time using a substrate that has been done for years before the tarantula pet trade expanded. Believe me if I felt that it would injure my tarantula in any way shape or form I wouldn't be using white silica sand. Some people like to mix it with other types of sand from Petco etc. I personally like the looks of some of the orange looking sand, however I find that type of sand a bit too fine, I prefer the white silica sand by itself.
Why don't I just let all my t's wonder around my back yard lol. The same reason we use coco husk, moss, vermiculite, or what ever else we want to use. I'm sure many of us aren't using the earths natural dirt for our tarantulas as substrate. That is because we don't want to, we like how artificial substrate looks, and there is no harm to that specific species from it. You decorate your tarantulas or let them wander your yard if you wish and I will decorate mine how ever I want. The question your asking is like why don't we have a real live tree in our home for our arboreal tarantulas? We provide for our beautiful pets the best possible environment by other people's experiences and recommendations. It works for me but it may not work for someone else. We have that option to choose.
If I'm guessing correctly here you probably have either slings for some very young juveniles, most tarantulas but not all will seek some sort of object to burrow under. In my 28 years I've never had an adult Brachypelma species burrow, they excavate move dirt around in a pile of nothing most of the time but it's not like the Pelinobius muticus that really burrows as adults.
I answer your question on a different comment by someone else.
I've heard that story so many times but not once have I ever had an issue.
I agree with the fine sand I'm not a big fan of it. White silica sand is not a fine powder like some of the other from Petco.
I think is a great idea of what your using. As I stated before I use white silica sand cause it has worked well for me in the past. Would I try what you've done with your chalcodes? Sure I would if I ever get around to it.
I've kept Brachypelma smithi 1" and up long ago in white silica sand, I would still do it if I ever get around too. The problem is I would never recommend it to someone that doesn't have the slightest clue on when the tarantula is going to molt. At 1" inch your risking your spider to have a bad molt cause the lack of humidity. When it's time for your little baby sling to molt you're going to have to set it up in a humidity environment, so unless your an advance tarantula keeper and you know what your doing your sling will do fine in your care.

If you noticed from one of my photos I had a glass top made specially for my aquarium, the glass top is the purpose for the water in the water dish not to evaporate quickly and will hold a little bit of humidity in the air not necessarily on the substrate.
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I think this is one of those projects only experienced people should undertake, since you clearly need some more insight and understanding into tarantula keeping.
I don't think this set up is wrong, but it isn't something a first time owner should use.
 
gypsy cola

gypsy cola

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Andrea82 said:
I think this is one of those projects only experienced people should undertake, since you clearly need some more insight and understanding into tarantula keeping.
I don't think this set up is wrong, but it isn't something a first time owner should use.
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He has been in this hobby 19 years. He knows what he is doing.
 
gypsy cola

gypsy cola

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So I was able to see this set up in person. Pictures does not do it justice. It looks really really really nice. I will be doing a similar set up waaaay down the road.

When I saw this T, it was perfectly "happy". Nice and fat, no signs on stress.

We learn new things in this hobby when we experiment. Tarantulas in captivity do not have the same conditions in the wild. Weather, sunlight, night/day cycle, elevation, or need to hide from predators. The enclosure of a tarantula cage is in itself its burrow.
 
Andrea82

Andrea82

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="gypsy cola, post: 2572158, member: 82637"]He has been in this hobby 19 years. He knows what he is doing.
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Yes, i know, I didn't mean Jose, I was talking about new keepers! I thought that was perfectly clear. No one can mistake Jose for a newbie:D
 
JoeRossi

JoeRossi

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Andrea82 said:
Yes, i know, I didn't mean Jose, I was talking about new keepers! I thought that was perfectly clear. No one can mistake Jose for a newbie:D
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I can lol he looks like a pinche newbie to me...
 
gypsy cola

gypsy cola

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Tremors 5 was really really really bad. Not bad in a good way like the rest of the Tremors franchise but unredeemable. Jamie Kennedy was soooo horrific and annoying...
 
Exoskeleton Invertebrates

Exoskeleton Invertebrates

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vespers said:
Those "peanut replica" hides are terrible, they sell them in the small animal/rodent section at Petco. They look like an inverted scrotum.
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Terrible? You make it sound like if the tarantula really cares what type of hide she's in for the most part they will use a hide when and if they feel the need.
 
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