Tarantulas ..especially balfouri..in a wooden Vivarium?

[TabbyCat]

Hi all, new here but not to tarantulas, I keep all mine in glass terrariums.. chalcodes, Grammostola etc, T.klassi, etc but would really like a feature enclosure with balfouri, was wondering if anyone had tried these or indeed other fairly dry living Ts in a normal wooden ( plastic coated furniture board type) reptile vivarium, does the moisture finally affect wood? Or if you mist and keep water in a bowl or even within another bowl so you can create a damp area could this work? Or has anyone used a viv and lined it with Perspex? Just wondering as I could use a bank of these wooden ones but maybe it’s easier to stick to glass. I keep all mine on show so would like to build a display of them and show them off in their enclosures.
Have an urge to get large enclosure for a serious balfouri display
Thank you for any thoughts.

 

[DaveM]

Any contact between moisture and wood is a bad idea and will cause problems (mold, mildew, swelling, damage, etc.) over time. The plastic-coated furniture board of which you speak is probably melamine laminate over MDF or particleboard? Melamine itself is totally waterproof, but often water will find a way to seep around cracks/holes/imperfections in the laminate and get into the wood beneath, which is a big problem. I like your idea of lining a wood display case with acrylic/Perspex, glued and sealed on every edge, or better would be to use cut glass (again sealed so that no moisture can contact the wood).

 

[viper69]

Any contact between moisture and wood is a bad idea and will cause problems (mold, mildew, swelling, damage, etc.) over time. The plastic-coated furniture board of which you speak is probably melamine laminate over MDF or particleboard? Melamine itself is totally waterproof, but often water will find a way to seep around cracks/holes/imperfections in the laminate and get into the wood beneath, which is a big problem. I like your idea of lining a wood display case with acrylic/Perspex, glued and sealed on every edge, or better would be to use cut glass (again sealed so that no moisture can contact the wood).

Whoa look who is back

 

[NMTs]

I would avoid using wood if the enclosure was for a species that required moist substrate. Lucky for you, balfouri do not require moist substrate, so in that regard a wooden enclosure could work fine for them. I've not kept any T's in wooden boxes, but I've seen plenty of other people that have and there's really no issue with it - especially if you use something made out of particle board with a veneer on it. That would be nice and smooth, and easy to clean up, and shouldn't present any hazards to your T's. Just make sure the ventilation is sufficient and go for it!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I’ve never used wood because you can’t see through wood. I suppose it could work for dry species.

 

[Kada]

Hi all, new here but not to tarantulas, I keep all mine in glass terrariums.. chalcodes, Grammostola etc, T.klassi, etc but would really like a feature enclosure with balfouri, was wondering if anyone had tried these or indeed other fairly dry living Ts in a normal wooden ( plastic coated furniture board type) reptile vivarium, does the moisture finally affect wood? Or if you mist and keep water in a bowl or even within another bowl so you can create a damp area could this work? Or has anyone used a viv and lined it with Perspex? Just wondering as I could use a bank of these wooden ones but maybe it’s easier to stick to glass. I keep all mine on show so would like to build a display of them and show them off in their enclosures.
Have an urge to get large enclosure for a serious balfouri display
Thank you for any thoughts.

Back in the day we used thick plastic laminate (same as for counter tops) om top of plywood. siliconed the joints. we made hundreds of vivariums with this method with great results including many species of frog and moisture loving invertebrates. It worked quite well. But note that it is essentially a plastic vivarium, with wood as the structural component. So they weren't so decorative. We even made a number of paludariums and aquariums this way, was absolutely fine as far as water not penetrating.

If using just raw furniture, I would use fiberglass/epoxy type resins to seal it. And let it cure outsiders for a good while

 

[Dry Desert]

Hi all, new here but not to tarantulas, I keep all mine in glass terrariums.. chalcodes, Grammostola etc, T.klassi, etc but would really like a feature enclosure with balfouri, was wondering if anyone had tried these or indeed other fairly dry living Ts in a normal wooden ( plastic coated furniture board type) reptile vivarium, does the moisture finally affect wood? Or if you mist and keep water in a bowl or even within another bowl so you can create a damp area could this work? Or has anyone used a viv and lined it with Perspex? Just wondering as I could use a bank of these wooden ones but maybe it’s easier to stick to glass. I keep all mine on show so would like to build a display of them and show them off in their enclosures.
Have an urge to get large enclosure for a serious balfouri display
Thank you for any thoughts.

Wooden vivariums would be fine, and having only glass opening front the inhabitants would not feel so exposed and will be out more.

All you need to do is thoroughly seal all joints with aquarium grade silicone, make sure its aquarium grade and not one that has mold inhibitors in.

Make sure that the silicone is pressed well into the joint and is of decent width.

This is all reptile and amphibian keepers do that use wooden enclosures.

If you want deep substrate silicone a piece of acrylic across the front, behind the door runners then you can have deep sub. without it spilling out every time you open the front

 

[TabbyCat]

Hello, thank you all for your perspectives and experiences using wooden vivs, it’s given me a lot of food for thought, @Dry Desert what you said was so right I was like oh yes of course!! reptile keepers DO use nothing but, so I do think with some sensible alterations and waterproofing, keeping drier species and sensible drinking water management i think maybe I can! ,
off to ashford tarantula show at the end of jan so have my eye on stocking up on balfouri if I can.
thank you ALL again!!! Will post outcome! Much appreciated