Suggestions for desert Ts???

[PhilMcWonder]

Okay guys! I found this awesome rib cage hide at one of my local petstores!
I think it would look amazing in a desert or arid styled terrarium!
I would like a suggestion for easy tarantulas that would feel at home in that kind of terrarium. And maybe a few tips on how you guys set up your desert.

Who out there has a desert terrarium? How do you have it set up? And most importantly, What are good desert tarantulas for beginners?

 

[Tenebrarius]

sand is not good for Ts

 

[Minty]

Pretty much any Brachypelma, kept on bone dry coco fibre (not sand) will be fine. You could use a couple of smooth pebbles or leaf litter to make it look a bit more naturalistic.

Don’t, don’t, don’t... put a cactus in the enclosure.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

I’ll second Brachypelma sp. Brachypelma boehmei and albiceps are my favourites. Don’t use straight sand, dry coco fibre or even dry potting soil mixed with sand would work

 

[EulersK]

A. chalcodes

End of thread. That is the end all, be all of desert tarantulas. Provide a hide and water dish, and that's all you need. They'll largely stick to their burrow, but will often come out and explore. They are not a burrowing species, but appreciate slightly deep substrate to buldoze.

I see Aphonopelma spp. out in the wild, and I literally live in the Mojave desert. Seriously, go with this species. You can't go wrong.

0.1 A. chalcodes

• EulersK
• May 3, 2017
• 7

One of the OG's of my collection, love this girl

 

[antinous]

Okay guys! I found this awesome rib cage hide at one of my local petstores!
I think it would look amazing in a desert or arid styled terrarium!
I would like a suggestion for easy tarantulas that would feel at home in that kind of terrarium. And maybe a few tips on how you guys set up your desert.

Who out there has a desert terrarium? How do you have it set up? And most importantly, What are good desert tarantulas for beginners?

I’d be very hesitant to put in a rib cage hide, one little fall on it and there goes your spider. And just use dry cocofiber/topsoil/etc. no sand, unless it’s mixed into another sub,as somebody mentioned. Brachypelma emilia, B. hamorii, any of the US Aphonopelma species, etc. Lots of ventilation to make sure everything stay dry.

 

[Hardus nameous]

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens come from a desert in Venezuela. There used to be a video of their habitat on YouTube.
It showed them making homes at the bases of trees and shrubs, but I don't remember seeing any living in any ribcages.

 

[8LeggedLair]

Okay guys! I found this awesome rib cage hide at one of my local petstores!
I think it would look amazing in a desert or arid styled terrarium!
I would like a suggestion for easy tarantulas that would feel at home in that kind of terrarium. And maybe a few tips on how you guys set up your desert.

Who out there has a desert terrarium? How do you have it set up? And most importantly, What are good desert tarantulas for beginners?

Brachypelma’s but not in sand as others have said...or Apohonopelma’s

I would hold off until you get more experience if you’d want an OW.
I keep my M.Balfouri in excavator clay desert sand mix with coco fiber coir... probably the same consistency as what she would have in the Wild minus the rocks.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Pretty sure @Exoskeleton Invertebrates has kept various arid species on silica sand without issue.

I'll see if I can dig up the thread.

Edit: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/sand-for-b-smithi-substrate.287365/

 

[8LeggedLair]

Pretty sure @Exoskeleton Invertebrates has kept various arid species on silica sand without issue.

I'll see if I can dig up the thread.

Edit: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/sand-for-b-smithi-substrate.287365/

Interesting...

 

[Theneil]

As usual, the 'rosehair' complex has bee over looked... i believe they are around the outskirts of the atacama (spelling?) desert.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

sand is not good for Ts

Really? I didnt know that. What do you recommend?

 

[antinous]

Really? I didnt know that. What do you recommend?

Sand can be used, I thought it would have to be mixed, but I guess I was wrong. After reading the thread @The Grym Reaper posted, if you do choose to go with a desert/arid species such as B. smithi, A. hentzi, etc. white silica sand would work. Narrow down what species you want first and then choose a sub.

 

[Theneil]

Really? I didnt know that. What do you recommend?

Most people recomend, Topsoil, peat, cocofiber, or some combination of the three. As an additive, i believe vermiculite, sand and excavator clay are common. I think most people also use essentially the same substrate mix for every species. No need to switch everything for each one.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

Don’t, don’t, don’t... put a cactus in the enclosure.

Wasn't planning in it. The first thought that crossed my mind was my Tarantula would get injured or impaled on a cactus spike ...noooooo cactus... no ser...

Sand can be used, I thought it would have to be mixed, but I guess I was wrong. After reading the thread @The Grym Reaper posted, if you do choose to go with a desert/arid species such as B. smithi, A. hentzi, etc. white silica sand would work. Narrow down what species you want first and then choose a sub.

Okay so a sand-blend would be best? What is wrong with just sand though? Bad for burrowing or something?

A. chalcodes

0.1 A. chalcodes

• EulersK
• May 3, 2017
• 7

One of the OG's of my collection, love this girl

I love it!

 

[Theneil]

Okay so a sand-blend would be best? What is wrong with just sand though? Bad for burrowing or something?

i haven't ever used sand, but i believe there are two main issues with it.

1. As you mentioned. it is a but to unstable to burrow in.

2. Sand is EXTREMELY abrasive and the typically large abdomen of the NW terestrials can actually develop injuries from dragging on it constantly.

 

[antinous]

Okay so a sand-blend would be best? What is wrong with just sand though? Bad for burrowing or something?

Read through the thread that was posted, it’ll give you more info

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Obviously it wouldn't hold a burrow so that would rule out any NW terrestrial that likes to dig (no using it for my A. chalcodes as she's currently a pet hole), the main reason I wouldn't use it is because it'd make the enclosures weigh a tonne (if you needed to reduce the height then you could fill the bottom with styrofoam and then have a shallow layer of silica sand on top).

You could put a GBB in a desert setup with sand and it wouldn't hurt (I know "hurr durr, in da wild" isn't a great argument but they literally live in a sandy environment), the substrate is pretty much just there to hold the anchor points in place and they'd just web everything over anyway.

 

[viper69]

What are good desert tarantulas for beginners?

Species in your own country would be excellent, assuming you live in USA.

 

[Tenebrarius]

Really? I didnt know that. What do you recommend?

a sand based maybe for a desert T that has been mentioned, sand is pure trash for burrowing if it's just pure sand. honestly just stick to coco fiber its simple, easy, and cheap.