oxygenous vs. easy humidity

[prey]

Obviously temp and diet affect growth/development. Has anyone ever noticed if higher ventilation (thus more adamant humidity control) results in quicker growth? I'm just wondering if spiderlings' growth can be unexpectedly slowed by their "thirving" in low air exchange environments. Not that I've ever had the means to monitor O2/CO2 levels in either scenario.

 

[cheetah13mo]

I've never heard of growth rate changes that can alter based on humidity. :? all though, humidity can hinder or help a molt.

 

[prey]

sorry

I should have specified. It's not so much humidity I'm curious about -- I'm wondering if it's possible that higher oxygen levels may promote growth. I've noticed it's necessary for people keeping boo-coo #'s of slings to keep ventilation down as to easily manage humidity. You want to only open 100's of vials as seldom as possible as to feed and "water". But is it possible O2 levels lower, & that CO2 levels rise in these environments more than may be possible/practical for the lesser hobbyist? One who's able to fool around with more holes in vials ("excess ventilation") and to humidify more often (only since they'd dry out sooner), thus making more oxygen available to an animal who's already scarcely able to breathe?
Granted, most captive animals either have enough oxygen to survive or not. But some arthropods are more forgiving, flexible, maleable etc. when it comes to diet and temps, particularly when one is trying to manipulate maturity rates. Is oxygen out of the equation? I know nothing. Just a thought. Clearly, asphyxiated bugs don't sell for 20 bucks a pop, I know.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I dont see ventalation being a factor, I mean over all it will be good for the health of a T but not the growth rate..............
In this hobby we "try" to duplicate their natural habitats with various degrees of sucess... Most species of Ts live in holes in the ground.... little is known about the importance of that in controlling its enviroment, and for those climbers obviously ventalation is a must when being kept in a home.
I guess what I am saying is unless you mean that poor ventalation will stunt species like avics from growing and or kill them then for all other cases I dont see vent or humitity being a huge factor in the growth of a T.

 

[Rizzolo]

have you ever seen a spider suffocate?

i have not seen a study of how much oxygen spiders consume, or how much CO2 they produce, but my gut feeling is that it is not enough to ever alter the O2/CO2 mix in their environments, unless they are totally sealed for quite a while. the problem with lack of ventilation is that it fosters the growth of nasty stuff.

 

[becca81]

In one of Sam Marshall's books it's pointed out that rainforest species need more oxygen and breathe at a faster rate than desert species.

For a rainforest species to have less oxygen - could that effect growth rate?

 

[cacoseraph]

i've kept a adult female L. hesperus black widow in a sealed ball jar for well over a month and she was fine.

i regularily ship bugs with no vent and they are fine. some are even sealed in plastic bags contoured to their bodies. i do this for larger species to maximize shock absorbtion and minimize dessication risks. all fine.

a fair portion of my bugs are in no vent cages and they are fine.

tarantulas expend/consume virtually no oxy when they are not moving... which *should* be most of the time.

while it is certainly possible increased oxy would make them grow faster i have a somewhat hard time believing they would retain the ability to speed grow while having the ability to use so little oxygen and be such relatively complex animals.

it would be a pretty sweet experiment, if possibly a bit ticklish to properly manage

edit:

actually, there are things like frogs and fish that can basically encyst themselves, so i suppose the range of oxygen utilization can be pretty dramatic even for pretty high animals. do an experiment

 

[bkirchner81]

.
.
I do know one thing here and it's that oxygen is truthfully a volatile, nasty, corrosive gas and I have read that it breaks down living cells and will shorten lifespans in high levels/quantities.

I am sure, though, that you aren't looking for ultra-high levels, but maybe a closer representation of their natural environment as opposed to a vial in your closet. -Which, like Becca81 says, would be quite a difference for a rainforest species.

Rainforest species rule...

 

[ShadowBlade]

Are you saying, increased oxygen levels, or increased ventilation?? Because due to the small amount of oxygen T's consume, I don't think have 100 slits for ventilation would increase the growth rate as opposed to 50. Because the air exchange through the slots is way faster then the T consumes, so any extra would be surperfluous.

Now, if we're talking about the difference between NO ventilation, and some ventilation in vials, then there'd be a difference.
I don't think oxygen would really be able to signifcantly speed up growth in T's, but I'm no expert.

 

[becca81]

Are you saying, increased oxygen levels, or increased ventilation?? Because due to the small amount of oxygen T's consume, I don't think have 100 slits for ventilation would increase the growth rate as opposed to 50. Because the air exchange through the slots is way faster then the T consumes, so any extra would be surperfluous.

Now, if we're talking about the difference between NO ventilation, and some ventilation in vials, then there'd be a difference.
I don't think oxygen would really be able to signifcantly speed up growth in T's, but I'm no expert.

If I am to understand the OP correctly, he's talking about increased O2 levels, not increased ventilation.

 

[ShadowBlade]

If I am to understand the OP correctly, he's talking about increased O2 levels, not increased ventilation.

Yes, but the post,

Has anyone ever noticed if higher ventilation (thus more adamant humidity control) results in quicker growth?

seemed to imply he thought increased ventilation would SUPPLY more O2.
Which it wouldn't really. I was just checking.

 

[prey]

originally

Originally I was talking about ventilation a.k.a atmospheric O2, and I do find it easy to believe it might not make much of a difference since T's just don't exchange that much gas very quickly.
But gently introducing O2 artificially as an experiment in the future isn't out of the question. I've already intended on doing it with cockroaches or other insects that used to get much larger millions of years ago. Some insects got sized down only because, as O2 levels on Earth lowered, they were unable to diffuse it throughout their gargantuan tissues. Since those buried, behemoth genes already exist, I'd like to see if I can selectively breed oddball, larger, throwback roaches until I have a large breed (dependent on elevated O2 long term). "Prehistoric" dragonflies would be the coolest, but boy what a terrarium that would have to be! Maybe I'll win lotto.