"The Dark Den" Good Influence?

[goonius]

I'm sorry to steal that little joy from you, but also wouldn't want to see your tarantulas die like his did.

We use a little plastic vial to deliver the food really close to our tarantulas or their lair. Or a paintbrush to guide prey to the lair if it goes the wrong way. The tongs present a problem because they are not soft and the tarantulas will break their fangs. We don't always catch ours eating, but we do often. We also try really hard to design enclosures that give us inside views of their hiding places from certain angles. Hopefully you can design some clever ways to still have that interaction with them.

 

[Spoodfood]

Re: the discussion on cheese poof containers, I've always been kind of personally opposed to them (ie. not a judgement of others, I just don't personally like the aesthetic). I guess I'm an enclosure snob. I like super-clear acrylic or glass, 90-degree angles and straight sides versus rounded shapes that warp views. I'd build enclosures out of museum glass if I had the skill to do it.

Recently we've branched out to other mygalomorphs, and I have a particular interest in native species. Before we bought our new Sphodros abotti & rufipes from a seller next state over, I researched ideal enclosures. The Sphodros need 5" moist substrate and at least 3-4" of bark for their pursewebs. I was ready to shell out some money for something that looked really nice, but in the dimensions I needed, sans front-opening because that wouldn't allow for deep enough sub, there was nothing. I could have built enclosures from scratch, but knowing my own limitations, I ended up buying 3 huge containers of cheese poofs because they were the only thing I could find in the right size. There just wasn't anything else. They definitely have their place, and aside from the aesthetic and an inability to get good pictures, they are quite functional, and the spiders in them seem very content. Save for sling enclosures, they are the cheapest ones we own.

I’m one of the types of people who do both. I raise slings in deli cups, sometimes in Jamie’s acrylics and such, same with juveniles. And once they are sexed out as adults, I keep males in the tub like enclosures, and splurge on getting my females into nicer ones. My hope with the males of course is to send them out to breed, so I don’t spend a whole lot of money on their setup but I also provide them with what they need. I don’t think it matters what type of enclosure you use, it’s all personal preference. If you want to use an acrylic enclosure or exo terra, go for it. But I don’t think that using a specific brand or type of enclosure actually makes a difference in the quality of life of the Ts.

 

[Matt Man]

everything is risk/ reward, and you will find within this group high levels of risk avoidance. You will also find less dead Ts

 

[rock]

Rubber tipped tweezers ftw, I also tend to toss the prey to spiders I’m trying to feed rather than hold it in front of them. Most of the time I just drop the prey into the enclosure and enjoy the hunt

 

[Matt Man]

the only animal I tong feed is my male Leopard gecko, and that is simply because he ain't the brightest bulb on the tree

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Is tong feeding bad? I enjoy tong feeding because it lets me get a good view of some of my very reclusive tarantulas, also it’s the closest I can get to interacting with them. If it’s bad then I’ll stop but whats bad about it?

Two things:

Extremely rarely, the tarantula can break its fangs or otherwise injure itself on the tongs themselves.

Much more commonly however, the tarantula can run up the tongs and onto you which can result in you being tagged or you injuring/killing the tarantula (either because it then takes a swan dive and goes splat or because you panic and drop/fling it).

 

[LucN]

Tong feeding, keeping arboreals in unmodded Exo Terras, also seems pretty fond of reality reversal like describing simple stuff as "faffing around" while unnecessarily complicating stuff and then describing it as "not too extravagant".

Valid points. The need to make most enclosures bioactive seems unnecessary. It seems to work for him, so it's cool.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Is tong feeding bad? I enjoy tong feeding because it lets me get a good view of some of my very reclusive tarantulas, also it’s the closest I can get to interacting with them. If it’s bad then I’ll stop but whats bad about it?

Not good. When I first started out I almost got bit because of it. My P. cambridgei was so excited by the cricket that she sprinted up the tongs trying to bite at my fingers (just very, very food motivated). Could've been an even worse situation if it were an OW species. Thankfully I didn't get bit and never did it again after that.

 

[viper69]

@Wolfram1 Martin does show species I’ve not seen before. I think he does a decent job generally speaking.

the only animal I tong feed is my male Leopard gecko, and that is simply because he ain't the brightest bulb on the tree

man, mine were always sharp for such little guys.

 

[Matt Man]

@Wolfram1 Martin does show species I’ve not seen before. I think he does a decent job generally speaking.

man, mine were always sharp for such little guys.

My female is a clever girl, my male is either really dumb, or just likes being fed. Once my female is fully mature I'm gonna breed them. My male is a SHTCB and my female is Tremper Blood so I should make some cool Blood Tangerines.
I'm gonna add a Tremper Albino female so I can produce sunglows

 

[Spoodfood]

@Wolfram1 Martin does show species I’ve not seen before. I think he does a decent job generally speaking.



man, mine were always sharp for such little guys.

Martin from the Birdspidersch? I really like him. I think he does a great job and puts in a lot of effort to show species all around the world in their natural environment.

 

[ThatsUnpossible]

Tong feeding, keeping arboreals in unmodded Exo Terras, also seems pretty fond of reality reversal like describing simple stuff as "faffing around" while unnecessarily complicating stuff and then describing it as "not too extravagant".

All the above, plus he talks way too much and (one of my pet peeves) he keeps saying “literally” for no reason, which drives me nuts.

He does have some beautiful spiders, though. I enjoyed his GBB mating video (apart from the yapping), then I watched his T seladonia mating and felt a bit sad for the female, she seemed stressed at being taken out of her home, but it ended with a successful mating. I think he’s more entertainment than education and still prefer Tom for how-to’s.

 

[Wolfram1]

plus he talks way too much

, what would you habe him rather do?

 

[ThatsUnpossible]

T

, what would you habe him rather do?

Talk less. Not use “literally’ as a verbal comma. Have you watched his GBB mating vid? The first few minutes are him telling you what you’re about to watch, then the running commentary throughout. It’s a great video, well worth watching for the T’s behaviour. Perhaps it doesn’t bother other people, just me?

 

[WolleWolf]

Dave from Dave´s Little Beasties is the most skilled keeper on YT by far. He has many successes with pairing so many different species. Tom is good but Dave surpasses him easily. I like both though. Cant stand Exotic Lair!

 

[JonnyTorch]

Dave from Dave´s Little Beasties is the most skilled keeper on YT by far. He has many successes with pairing so many different species. Tom is good but Dave surpasses him easily. I like both though. Cant stand Exotic Lair!

I would kindly disagree. Although I like Tom and Dave, I watch Tom way more. The reason being is that Tom actually expresses into detail his experience with each species. Dave says things like "just remain calm and everything will be alright, easy does it," while Tom says things like "This is what I've noticed happens if you ___, or if you forget to do this, then ___, and you really don't want to do this or else ___."

The details are good to have. I'm not saying either is better or more experienced, but I will say I believe Toms YouTube is better in itself because of the detail that is put out there, not just general husbandry advice.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Tom's a teacher isn't he? It shows.

 

[starlight_kitsune]

Tom's a teacher isn't he? It shows.

Yep. I forget what grades/subjects though.

 

[Wolfram1]

Yea, it does.

I do think it is silly to compare them as they each have a focus on different topics. I will have to say though that Dave's content is often more in line with what interests me and how i like to do things. As much as a like Tom, and especially the podcast. Dave seems like the definition of a "breeder", rambling on and on (they both do ) and yet you get so much information just from watching the things he does. I do not always agree with his explanations but his footage allows you to draw your own conclusions. Toms footage is often much more limited when it comes to the behavioural side of things. He is more like the epitome of safety.

 

[ChaniLB520]

Tom's a teacher isn't he? It shows.

He is! I love Tom's content, overall. I like Dave's Little Beasties too but I do agree that he talks too much. I tend to have a hard time watching more than a couple of his videos at one time because of how long they drag on. Also, no one has mentioned it yet but i do question his use of material from outside, such as moss, directly in his enclosures without any form of heat treatment. What are others' thoughts on this? I suppose if he lives in a fairly natural area without a lot of pesticide or chemical applications, it probably isn't that risky, but I'd still be very worried about the potential for parasites, etc.