no hide = fatal?

[Panic]

are hides really important that if not given can cause death to a T? any reports of death because they were not given hides? and i also heard, T's given hides molt faster?

 

[Talkenlate04]

Not providing a hide could eventually cause death.

Hides are a place for the T to feel safe. Without it you could be keeping the T in a constant state of being stressed out and that could eventually kill your T. Some of my Ts you will turn the light on in the room and all you see is a flash of movement as they run to the hide. If there is no hide they are stuck running around looking for somewhere to hide that's not there. Does that sound pleasant?

Hides won't make a T molt any faster, but it does give them a place for them to feel safe while molting.

Hides in general are a good idea, even if you never see them use it, its still better to give them the option then to not.

 

[Panic]

i was thinking of removing the hide, cos it takes up too much space in their small tanks, removing it will provide a bigger space. besides, they don't use it. i had to ask this question just to be sure, i guess il just leave it be, or rehouse them to a bigger one.

talkenlate: how will i know if i really NEED to rehouse them? do i need to follow the basic rules of at least 3 times legspan in lenght, 2 times legspan in width and 1.5 times legspan in height? its too tiresome to rehouse all of them when they get bigger..

 

[Talkenlate04]

It is personal preference. I have kept adult T's in smaller setups with no problems at all. But if you only have a few and want to have those all in nice setups then go for it. I just know I could never put my whole collection in 10 gal containers. Id need a whole separate house if I did that. Ether way it's kinda up to you.

But for the smaller slings and Juvies if they are not able to stretch out after a molt then you need to move them up to a bigger setup.

 

[P. Novak]

I personally say hides are not necessary IF you keep their cages in the dark most of the time, like if you have a shelf put them in the back. I have a Paraphysa scrofa, 3 Grammostola rosea, Aphonopelma chalcodes, Ceratogyrus marshalli, and Aphonopelma seemanni all without hides. THey do fine. FIne as in 1 has molted, all have ate, 1 has been bred, 2 should lay sacs soon.

Of course, I also have Ts with hides. It really depends on what you like, the T really doesn't care. No debates please. I really don't care if you think a tarantula NEEDS a hide, cause I have proven that wrong with my keeping.

Oh and Ts with hides don't molt faster. Most of my Ts that have hides don't even molt in their hides.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Of course, I also have Ts with hides. It really depends on what you like, the T really doesn't care. No debates please. I really don't care if you think a tarantula NEEDS a hide, cause I have proven that wrong with my keeping.

You did not prove a thing, all you did by not providing a hide was have to turn the whole tank into a hide by keeping it dark all the time. So one way or another you have to provide a safe place for the T to feel secure in. Now if that's a hide or a dark closet, that's personal preference, but ether way to had to substitute lack of a hide by keeping the tank dark.

For those people that want something to display and have on a shelf in a room dark all the time is not an option. So you provide a hide so the T has somewhere to go during the day to "hide"

 

[P. Novak]

I don't keep my Ts in a dark room, they are in my room. When I need light there is light, when I don't there isn't. What I'm trying to say is that I don't keep them in the dark all the time. Sometimes they go the whole day with light, and yet they are still fine. They do the same thing as they would with a hide.

When I said "hide" I was referring to holes, pots, or something the T can hide itself into within an enclosure, but I know what you meant by yours.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I personally say hides are not necessary IF you keep their cages in the dark most of the time, like if you have a shelf put them in the back.

I don't keep my Ts in a dark room, they are in my room.

I'll agree to disagree. To each his and or her own.

 

[Merfolk]

My T blondi is my only T to use it.

Others fare well without, and when they need one, they build it. It starts with a silk tube, that quickly turns into a concrete tube due to the amount of dirt they add to id.

However, I always place a flat decorative item in enclosures so they have an immediate shelter against direct sunlight, it solved many problems and many used it as a startup base for their nest!

 

[Talkenlate04]

However, I always place a flat decorative item in enclosures so they have an immediate shelter against direct sunlight, it solved many problems and many used it as a startup base for their nest!

Be careful with having any tank in direct sunlight, it can heat it up much faster then you think, and even with a flat decoration they can hide under you still might nuke your T.

 

[rosehaired1979]

Most of my Ts don't have hides and they have lived grown and matured just fine.

 

[Stylopidae]

All of my tarantulas are kept in relatively small enclosures. In a smallish enclosure, the entire enclosure becomes it's burrow.

Some spiders will eventually dig their own hides. Any burrower is a good example. Avicularia will also construct a tube hide, as will poecilotheria.

I use hides for my aphonopelma, brachypelma, grammostola and lasiodora.

I assign hides as needed.

 

[Varden]

All of my T's are assigned hides in the beginning, and later I remove my hide if the T's decide they prefer making their own or that they're display T's, who seem to enjoy staying out in the open. For the record, with my T's anyway, G. rosea, A. seemanni, and A. chalcodes make really great display Ts. None of mine ever used their hides. I haven't had a P. scrofa, so I can't say with that one. And if the C. marshalli is anything like the bechuanicus and brachycephalus, it's probably webbed everything in site to make it's own special place and has no need of a hide.

 

[IdahoBiteyThing]

I like

All of my T's are assigned hides in the beginning, and later I remove my hide if the T's decide they prefer making their own or that they're display T's, who seem to enjoy staying out in the open. For the record, with my T's anyway, G. rosea, A. seemanni, and A. chalcodes make really great display Ts. None of mine ever used their hides. I haven't had a P. scrofa, so I can't say with that one. And if the C. marshalli is anything like the bechuanicus and brachycephalus, it's probably webbed everything in site to make it's own special place and has no need of a hide.

This approach makes a lot of sense to me; sure, T's are capable of living, maturing, breeding etc without hides, but an awful lot of them (esp. terrestrials) seem to prefer them. My G. rosea never leaves her hide except to drink/grab a roach, and my G. aureostriata hasn't left his hide in over 6 weeks (he'd better be molting, because it's webbed up tighter than a drum and I can't see inside). My P. scrofa freaks if I turn the light on, and uses either her burrow or her hide 75% of the time. B. smithi only uses hide to molt. The rest seem to not care for a hide at all; OBT lives on a silk mat high up in his fake plants (go figure), and my albopilosums burrow. I think letting the T decide where it's most comfortable makes sense.

 

[Pociemon]

My G. Rosea has a hide and never use it, but i keep it in there just in case. Both my T. Apophysis i only see at either might time or feeding time.

 

[G. pulchra]

I've found that if a hide is provided, most T's will use it. As a result, most of mine have them.

 

[lunixweb]

I will say one thing.. all T's in nature live in a hide, so if we want to keep them and make them to feel as in house we should provide them a hide, a place where they can feel secure or at least a deep substrate and they will be able to make their own.. (yeah maybe all the enclosure could be considered like a hide but I rather give them a hide) ;P

 

[Bigboy]

There isn't any reason not to offer a hide at first. If anything, just to try to make the cage like less of a jail cell and more like a home. But its true, some never use them and prefer to build one of their own. As Varden demonstrated, you come to learn who wants one and who doesn't.

 

[P. Novak]

I've found that if a hide is provided, most T's will use it. As a result, most of mine have them.

I use to think this as well, but after finding that most my Ts never use hides I've decided to use smaller containers with no hides.

 

[Merfolk]

My only pet hole is my P irminia, which I never see. My blondi ventures out many times. All the others give me sufficient visibility on average.

BTW, I was incorrect, should have said direct light, cause my KK's are quite sheltered from the actual sun light!!!