Tarantulas in captivity : the mythbusters !

Vorax29

Arachnopeon
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Jan 27, 2017
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23
@Andrea82 : Nope! In the wild, they have MANY predators! in captivity, they don't!
I mist some of my "desert" species a little bit, and they live very well; but all my other tarantulas have a waterdish, i'm not the one who said it's a myth, even if I think in some areas, they DON'T have water !!
I also mist only for the spiderlings and i wait for them to be about 4cm legspan before I put a little waterdish.

Anyway, it's "funny" to see all these reactions!
That was not what I expected, but I often forget people's reaction on the internet... :)
I can see people still think some things are really necessary and give arguments, even if other people don't do the same with success (and this is my personal definition of a myth!).

@boina : My most "big" problem is the language, if we speak in my native language (french) I would be able to write everything I'm thinking about, and in english, i can not... :/
 

Nephila Edulis

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"Whistling tarantula bites require a hospital visit" and "the tarantula will escape and infest your house with babies"
 

Nephila Edulis

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Water dishes are a bit of an odd topic. Yes there are Ts who require less water than others and there are those who do require more water and higher humidity. I always have water dishes because they're easy to use, but for more arid species I use a smaller water dish than what I would use for a species that lives in tropical rainforests. Also misting desert species too heavily (especially mature males) can trigger a breeding response if the heat is right
 

Andrea82

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@Andrea82 : Nope! In the wild, they have MANY predators! in captivity, they don't!
I mist some of my "desert" species a little bit, and they live very well; but all my other tarantulas have a waterdish, i'm not the one who said it's a myth, even if I think in some areas, they DON'T have water !!
I also mist only for the spiderlings and i wait for them to be about 4cm legspan before I put a little waterdish.

Anyway, it's "funny" to see all these reactions!
That was not what I expected, but I often forget people's reaction on the internet... :)
I can see people still think some things are really necessary and give arguments, even if other people don't do the same with success (and this is my personal definition of a myth!).

@boina : My most "big" problem is the language, if we speak in my native language (french) I would be able to write everything I'm thinking about, and in english, i can not... :/
What are you saying 'NOPE' to? You're basically saying the same as I do, about the predators. So why the nope?
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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@Andrea82 :
That was not what I expected, but I often forget people's reaction on the internet... :)
I can see people still think some things are really necessary and give arguments, even if other people don't do the same with success (and this is my personal definition of a myth!).

@boina : My most "big" problem is the language, if we speak in my native language (french) I would be able to write everything I'm thinking about, and in english, i can not... :/
What, it is funny that people disagree? Why? What's wrong about disagreeing? And no one even disagreed really, people just added some caveats to your argument. I certainly didn't disagree with you, I just thought you didn't get the full picture, but for some reason you thought I disagreed... strange.

Who said small enclosures and water dishes are necessary? No one did! People said they are easy to use and convenient and reduce the probability of mistakes and generally a good idea, but no one said they are necessary. NO ONE denied that it is possible to raise and keep tarantulas in a big enclosure without a water dish but people said they wouldn't do it because it's more difficult and may go wrong. So why is this "people's reaction on the internet"? Because they have a different opinion than you?

Maybe there really is a language barrier here, and a rather large one.
 

Trenor

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Jan 28, 2016
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But there is a "rule" telling tarantulas don't need real plants...
They don't need real plants. They can live with or without them. That is a preference.

I can see people still think some things are really necessary and give arguments, even if other people don't do the same with success (and this is my personal definition of a myth!).
You not talking about a myth then. You're talking about a preferences.

The size of the enclosure to use is a preference. To use a water dish or not is a preference. To use live plants or not is a preference. Heat mats are dangerous. (They can be and I don't even use them for the reptiles they were designed for. Still it's a preference.) To mist or not is a preference. To use a screen top or not is a preference.

On all of these I weigh the pros and cons to decide what I think is best for the tarantula in my care.

These are myths:
there was a myth going around that tarantulas couldn't drink from a water dish, but that you had to leave a sponge in the water for them to get moisture from.
My tarantula has DKS

Even more myths:
Columbus discovered America. He never set foot in America and the natives there were better for it. He was a crap bag of a human being.
Shaving will cause more facial hair to grow. (It will only thicken and darken the facial hair you have.)
Sugar makes kids hyper.


The "This is how they live in the wild" argument is bogus IMO. Do you keep each enclosure the same temps they would have in the wild? (Most keep the room at an acceptable temp regardless of what temps the T would experience where is from.) Do you mimic the seasons they have in the wild? Do you give them several feet deep and wide of substrate like they might have in the wild? (Them staying deep down in burrows during the day, where the temps are consistent and lower, is likely how they avoid so much water loss in very dry areas so the moisture from food would be enough to keep them hydrated.) Do you use native plants from their area or are just live plants good? Do you only feed things they would eat in their area? The answer to all those questions is likely no. You add you keeper preferences to how you want to keep your Ts (just like everyone else) regardless of how they would live in the wild. We can't do all these things so we put some "These things work consistently for most Ts" rule of thumb statements out to help people not kill their first few Ts. After that, I expect keepers to figure out what works best for their areas and environment. Things that work for me in NC might not work as well for someone up north (where they have to run more heat) or in AZ where it is really dry. I've never had to mist and I mainly think it's due to the humidifiers in my house because of my sinus issues. My T room is a lot hotter than most people's house temps and my Ts might drink a lot more because of it. (I've seen of 60% of my Ts drink from their dishes at some point) If your Ts are in your comfortable bedroom they might not need to drink as often due to the temp being consistently moderate.

A lot of these are Rules of Thumb to help people get started with things that work. After that it's your preference how to proceed.

PS: I keep forgetting that not everyone is a native US English speaker so for anyone who does know what Rule of Thumb means. rule of thumb: a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory.
 
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Python

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The simple thing is just to say that waterbowls are not necessary under the right conditions but are used to simplify the process. It seems that this is the commonly accepted idea. If that is the case, I think everyone can agree on that. It may be the complicated explanations that cause the confusion
 

Trenor

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The simple thing is just to say that waterbowls are not necessary under the right conditions but are used to simplify the process. It seems that this is the commonly accepted idea. If that is the case, I think everyone can agree on that. It may be the complicated explanations that cause the confusion
If we said this about most of the preferences then it would be more accurate. People will often quote these as if they are the only way to keep a tarantula and that's not true. They are often the easiest way that is likely to cause less problems but by no means the only way.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Oh btw, old good Jon3800 should be mentioned since this thread is "Mythbuster" :angelic:

:troll:
 

Andrea82

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It seems like OP isn't as interested in myths, than he is to show his preferences are the best, and anything that doesn't suit his husbandry is a myth...
 

Chris LXXIX

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Not from my experience
Yeah, well, ok. Ok. But if an Australian Theraphosidae bites you, one moment, a visit to Hospital (despite what they can do, despite the fact isn't a potentially lethal scenario) isn't a completely garbage advice, uh :)
 

bryverine

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@Trenor : I understand!
Something I didn't mention is the fact I don't have MANY spiders, so of course, it's easier for me to check everything each day! If I had 250 spiders, i'm not sure I'll have "large" enclosures... But I was talking simply about the fact even a baby tarantula is able to fin its food :)

@ Rittdk01 : Yop! I was waiting for someone talk about the waterdish. I think this is not necessary too! There is one in one of my 2 pictures because the monster is about to molt, so since some weeks for the humidity, I've put it!
But yes, in the wild, tarantulas don't have waterdish with clean new water every day :p
I've anyways hated that "in the wild" statement. This isn't the wild, we don't want our Ts to struggle or die. Plus it's a lot easier not to be concerned with watering my Ts daily. I think I check on them twice a week or so.

You ever see what the humidity is in Brazil? I bet if you made an enclosure that moist with an avic in it, it wouldn't last too long. :p
 

Nephila Edulis

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Yeah, well, ok. Ok. But if an Australian Theraphosidae bites you, one moment, a visit to Hospital (despite what they can do, despite the fact isn't a potentially lethal scenario) isn't a completely garbage advice, uh :)
Actually it's great advice. But unless you're allergic or have some other bad reaction to bites and stings from invertebrates it's really just pain and swelling.
 

Leila

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Feb 7, 2017
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Shaving will cause more facial hair to grow. (It will only thicken and darken the facial hair you have.)
This is not the case with women...most women, I guess. If shaven, most females' facial hair will not undergo an increase in thickness nor darkness. Lol! :angelic:

(Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood AND lend some facial hair knowledge to my AB pals! :bucktooth:)

:rofl:
 
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basin79

ArachnoGod
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This is not the case with women...most women, I guess. If shaven, most females will not experience an increase in thickness nor darkness of facial hair. Lol! :angelic:

(Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood AND lend some facial hair knowledge to my AB pals! :bucktooth:)

:rofl:
Got to disagree. I'm a lady and had a bit of top lip fluff. Shaved it once and boom!!!





(that was this year's mothers day card to my ma).
 

ThisMeansWAR

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"Tarantulas don't use their water dishes." #GWDD2017

Photo by Thomas Hagen used with permission.

18216520_10154310734286431_8497202893395400591_o.jpg
 
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