Planted Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (GBB) Terrarium

[GrimReaper]

New to tarantulas but have always wanted a GBB. I was wondering about adding aloe/desert plants would be a good idea for making my Exo Terra 12x12x18 terrarium look more natural.
I would only be watering the plants at most once per week but I am not sure if that would make the enclosure too humid for the T.
Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Honestly, I like and appreciate the thought that you have put into your project. The substrate needs to be dry for your Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings and spiders. Substrate may need to be deep and you will need to Water the enclosures so that the moisture is sub-surface. If you are able to keep surface moisture levels low, then your spiders will not be stressed and you should be successful in your endeavors.

Realize that humidity is not something that you need to chase when keeping Tarantulas, substrate moisture levels are more prevalent.

I look forward to reading more about your project.

Things to look out for:

Slings hanging out near vent holes.
Slings staying off of substrate, not exploring enclosure.
Slings not feeding or becoming finicky eaters.
Slings not webbing or existing webbing deteriorating and not being maintained.

These factors are warning signs that all is not well and that your substrate is too moist. If you do not see these signs then all should be well.

 

[GrimReaper]

WOW. That was really helpful. I am unsure when I will be able to get a GBB but I might as well set up the enclosure for now. As soon as I get one you will be the first to know.
Your tips are beyond helpful.

 

[KaroKoenig]

(Disclaimer: The following is told from about 1 year experience with a subadult GBB in an enclosure with two succulents. It went mostly well, with some caveats)

Short answer is "Yes, it can be done", with quite a few "however"s. There are some things to consider:

- Plants: Nothing spiky, pointy or sharp - of course.

- Size: Keep 'em small. A large plant to a GBB is just a huge elevated anchor point - an invitation to web it over and make life hard for the plant.

- Placement: Here's where you need to do some thinking before you put your spider in. And here's where I think you will run into problems with that enclosure. Floor space of 12 x 12 is not that much (and yours is a tad high as well). GBBs web a lot. The trick is to place the plants somewhat away from the area where the spider is most likely to construct her den. That way, they won't get webbed over as much. Meaning: all the roots, twigs and stuff in the back, and the plants in a more open area in the front (together wit the water dish). No idea if that can be done with that tiny floor space. I have my GBB (14 cm dls) in a 30 x 40 x 30 cm (~ 12 x 16 x 12 '') glass terrarium, double sliding door at the front. In hindsight - watching her behaviour, I would have gone for at least 16 x 16 '' floor space.

-Humidity: I would not be concerned about significantly raising the humidity in the enclosure by adding a small succulent or two. Most need a ridiculously low amount of water and are adapted not to evaporate much of it. I killed one of my succulents in the enclosure by actually overwatering it. Half a shotglass of water every week was too much. Go figure... The fact is: I lost one plant due to inexperience, and have one small plant left, but that one's doing well enough, it seems.

- Substrate: Forget coco fibre, it totally sucks as substrate for most plants, and for succulents especially. Way too fluffy to support a plant that's not really growing strong roots. What you need is something with a good amount of clay in it. In my GBB's substrate, I had a significant amount of coco fibre mixed in, and in hindsight, I would have used way less, or none at all. The plants can't find stable ground, and therefore would be prone to just fall over when the spider climbs them. See also above under "Keep 'em small".
Also, you will have to let the terrarium run for a few weeks at least before you introduce the spider.

- So, here's the thing: You can plant something into your GBB's enclosure, but it most likely won't be the central "looker" - more like a nice touch. And it needs to be done in a way such as not to interfere with the spider's needs and well-being.

If you ask me now, after a year of experience, if I would do it again, I would say: Yes, absolutely. But differently. Larger floor space enclosure (that one more for the sake of the spider than the plants), less or no coco fibre, less watering. I am pretty confident about the "Yes", because I used the experience when setting up the new enclosure for my B. hamorii (also arid). That one's running for a few months now, and spider and plants do very well.

By the way... the GBB is doing very well. She has a beautifully webbed central den under a thick root in the back, with 4-5 exits, and she's a super relaxed specimen, eating well, molting successfully, never any sign of stress or defensiveness. She has made that enclosure her own (that's why I do not consider rehousing her into something bigger at the moment). The remaining plant lives in peace with her .

 

[Chroma Trigger]

Building a terrarium is a really fun part about the hobby, but for a heavy webbing species like the GBB, I prefer to use fake plants. There are very realistic ones in the market - especially Aloe and desert like plants - without any humidity requirement.

I agree with the other two answers and it is possible to provide a hide that your T is going to use, but at the end of the day it's impossible to control what the T is going to do with the space provided. Tom Moran has a very nice picture (click me) of how extensive the webbing of a mature GBB can get. It's basically a snow field. A good friend and breeder tried to set up a bioactive GBB terra, but the plants died due to the thickness to the webbing that didn't let enough light in. I wouldn't want to constantly destroy the webbing (home) of my GBB, just to keep the terrarium decoration from dying.

I would recommend to set up a bioactive terra for more moisture loving species. Personally I am eyeballing my juvenile A. geniculata, as she keeps flipping the water dish and soaking her substrate. An A. geniculata also wouldn't cover the terra in webbing, although it might bulldoze everything

 

[cold blood]

Live plants,will directly conflict with the needs of the GBB.

Live plants will not provide a better place for the t to live, they would be 100% for you and not the t.

Tall enclosures should be used with arboreals, never with terrestrial species.

 

[viper69]

Can live plants be used - sure

Typically they are more trouble than they are worth, they often become covered in webbing and often die.

I’ve raised many GBBs and never bothered because I didn’t want to deal with webbed plants or plants dug up.

 

[KaroKoenig]

I’ve raised many GBBs and never bothered because I didn’t want to deal with webbed plants or plants dug up.

There's no 'fair enuff' button among the likes, so this gets a simple 'like'.

 

[viper69]

There's no 'fair enuff' button among the likes, so this gets a simple 'like'.

Yeah that would be a good icon for this point.

 

[purplephilia]

Tom Moran has a very nice picture (click me) of how extensive the webbing of a mature GBB can get. It's basically a snow field.

Speaking of Tom Moran, he did a bioactive for his GBB. GBB review starts at 6:45:

 

[fried rice]

The gbb will just make webs all over the plants and they will die, and watering the plants will make the substrate too wet.

 

[Smotzer]

I thought about doing this, but it’s just Not the right species to do this with. That being said it probably could be done. My GBB webs over everything so it’s just not worth it to even bother putting in line plants in it cause I won’t even be able to see them in a short amount of time. I think plastic plants are better than live for a GBB

 

[Chroma Trigger]

Speaking of Tom Moran, he did a bioactive for his GBB. GBB review starts at 6:45:

Interesting vid, thanks for the share! The plants seem to be quite resilient, but from the sound of it, he wouldn't make another bioactive terra for a GBB. And it's understandable. The plants are a really nice decoration and almost wasted, when they are eventually covered up. Man, I love those webbing little GBBs...

 

[Chebe6886]

Def not the ideal species for this. For the reason many others have stated. The one that sticks out to me is the webbing of a GBB. It would simply cover everything and mess with em too much

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Yeah, I just wouldn't bother, two things that really shouldn't go together are bioactive setups and heavy webbing arid species.

Also, the enclosure you mentioned is unsuitable for anything other than large arboreal species.

 

[GrimReaper]

(Disclaimer: The following is told from about 1 year experience with a subadult GBB in an enclosure with two succulents. It went mostly well, with some caveats)

Short answer is "Yes, it can be done", with quite a few "however"s. There are some things to consider:

- Plants: Nothing spiky, pointy or sharp - of course.

- Size: Keep 'em small. A large plant to a GBB is just a huge elevated anchor point - an invitation to web it over and make life hard for the plant.

- Placement: Here's where you need to do some thinking before you put your spider in. And here's where I think you will run into problems with that enclosure. Floor space of 12 x 12 is not that much (and yours is a tad high as well). GBBs web a lot. The trick is to place the plants somewhat away from the area where the spider is most likely to construct her den. That way, they won't get webbed over as much. Meaning: all the roots, twigs and stuff in the back, and the plants in a more open area in the front (together wit the water dish). No idea if that can be done with that tiny floor space. I have my GBB (14 cm dls) in a 30 x 40 x 30 cm (~ 12 x 16 x 12 '') glass terrarium, double sliding door at the front. In hindsight - watching her behaviour, I would have gone for at least 16 x 16 '' floor space.

-Humidity: I would not be concerned about significantly raising the humidity in the enclosure by adding a small succulent or two. Most need a ridiculously low amount of water and are adapted not to evaporate much of it. I killed one of my succulents in the enclosure by actually overwatering it. Half a shotglass of water every week was too much. Go figure... The fact is: I lost one plant due to inexperience, and have one small plant left, but that one's doing well enough, it seems.

- Substrate: Forget coco fibre, it totally sucks as substrate for most plants, and for succulents especially. Way too fluffy to support a plant that's not really growing strong roots. What you need is something with a good amount of clay in it. In my GBB's substrate, I had a significant amount of coco fibre mixed in, and in hindsight, I would have used way less, or none at all. The plants can't find stable ground, and therefore would be prone to just fall over when the spider climbs them. See also above under "Keep 'em small".
Also, you will have to let the terrarium run for a few weeks at least before you introduce the spider.

- So, here's the thing: You can plant something into your GBB's enclosure, but it most likely won't be the central "looker" - more like a nice touch. And it needs to be done in a way such as not to interfere with the spider's needs and well-being.

If you ask me now, after a year of experience, if I would do it again, I would say: Yes, absolutely. But differently. Larger floor space enclosure (that one more for the sake of the spider than the plants), less or no coco fibre, less watering. I am pretty confident about the "Yes", because I used the experience when setting up the new enclosure for my B. hamorii (also arid). That one's running for a few months now, and spider and plants do very well.

By the way... the GBB is doing very well. She has a beautifully webbed central den under a thick root in the back, with 4-5 exits, and she's a super relaxed specimen, eating well, molting successfully, never any sign of stress or defensiveness. She has made that enclosure her own (that's why I do not consider rehousing her into something bigger at the moment). The remaining plant lives in peace with her .

Thanks so much for your input. I'm glad someone has done this before with success. I will definitely follow your instructions for plant size but unfortunately I am unable to increase floor size.

Building a terrarium is a really fun part about the hobby, but for a heavy webbing species like the GBB, I prefer to use fake plants. There are very realistic ones in the market - especially Aloe and desert like plants - without any humidity requirement.

I agree with the other two answers and it is possible to provide a hide that your T is going to use, but at the end of the day it's impossible to control what the T is going to do with the space provided. Tom Moran has a very nice picture (click me) of how extensive the webbing of a mature GBB can get. It's basically a snow field. A good friend and breeder tried to set up a bioactive GBB terra, but the plants died due to the thickness to the webbing that didn't let enough light in. I wouldn't want to constantly destroy the webbing (home) of my GBB, just to keep the terrarium decoration from dying.

I would recommend to set up a bioactive terra for more moisture loving species. Personally I am eyeballing my juvenile A. geniculata, as she keeps flipping the water dish and soaking her substrate. An A. geniculata also wouldn't cover the terra in webbing, although it might bulldoze everything

You bring up an interesting yet saddening point. I really want an arboreal display T and GBB fits the profile. Any recommendations on very active/display beginner arboreal species?

Speaking of Tom Moran, he did a bioactive for his GBB. GBB review starts at 6:45:

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who responded. I think I will be going with fake plants as much as it disappoints me. If anyone has a recommendation for very active, arboreal beginner species with which I may include live plants please let me know.

Live plants,will directly conflict with the needs of the GBB.

Live plants will not provide a better place for the t to live, they would be 100% for you and not the t.

Tall enclosures should be used with arboreals, never with terrestrial species.

I read somewhere that GBB are almost fully arboreal with large enough enclosure, even though some say they are semi-arboreal. I want my T to be as happy as possible so I will not add live plants but is 12x12x18 really a problem?

 

[Chroma Trigger]

You bring up an interesting yet saddening point. I really want an arboreal display T and GBB fits the profile. Any recommendations on very active/display beginner arboreal species?

A GBB is a solid choice for a beginner, but it's NOT an arboreal species. Please don't see this is a critique towards you, because it's easy to find pictures and videos of "opportunistically arboreal" GBBs. In the wild they make their webs at the base of bushes and don't live in trees. In captivity they use what they have and often web up to the top of enclosures, if there are enough anchor points. Their physique is not arboreal though and they are rather heavy bodied, making a potential fall often lethal (ruptured abdomen). An A. avicularia for example is glued to a vertical surface almost all of the time and sticks to it. Semi arboreal is a nonsense term, but sadly commonly used.

If you are looking at an arboreal T, I highly recommend a juvenile or adult A. avicularia (commonly known as the pink toe tarantula). Check out this Thread (click me) for some brilliant husbandry information on them. Alternatively there's also C. versicolor, but in my experience they tend to bolt more and are more skittish. Avics also come in different morphotypes (colors), but I am an all time fan of the black and pink combo. Plus they are readily available!

EDIT: Both A. avicularia and C. versicolor need to be kept dry and are not suited for bioactive terrariums! Psalmopoeus species tolerate more humidity, but are generally seen higher up on the "ladder" of experience. I personally would't recommend a Psalmopoeus to a newcomer to the hobby, as they can be lightning fast.

 

[cold blood]

I read somewhere that GBB are almost fully arboreal w

You are working with bad information....this species is terrestrial.