Thoughts about Habistat glass enclosures

[RichUK]

I'd be interested on people's thoughts on that lid. Here in the UK I'm struggling to find larger enclosures that aren't of the exo-terra style. I could retrofit acrylic if push came to shove but I'd rather find an off the shelf solution. Whilst my current enclosures are fine at the moment I have a Brazilian Whiteknee arriving this week and whilst she's only small now I need to think ahead so I can plan a larger enclosure for her for when she's fully grown.

I did put together an order for some Tarantula Cribs enclosures but the postage was prohibitively expensive (> $300 for the order I was placing).

 

[CreamSicle]

Hey! I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Habistat glass terrarium. I'm thinking of getting one for my first tarantula, but I'm having trouble deciding between Grammostola pulchripes, Tliltocatl vagans, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, or Tliltocatl albopilosus. It would be really cool to have matching enclosures for my terrestrial/fossorial buddies. I also want to move my AFS into a new terrarium because his current one is too big and starting to show its age. He's been buried for months, I caught a quick glimpse of him about a month and a half ago, and he appeared larger. I also found his shed, so I know he molted. But now, he is back in his permanent burrow... Tracking his eating habits has been a challenge, so I introduced a small colony of porcellio pruinosus into his enclosure, hoping he'll hunt them down. A smaller enclosure may be a better fit for him. I haven't found many reviews for the Habistat terrarium, though. I'm a bit concerned about the mesh lid because I've heard that tarantulas can get stuck in it. On the other hand, I've seen videos of keepers like Dave's Little Beasties using Exo Terra enclosures with mesh lids and not encountering any issues. I'd love to hear your thoughts and personal experiences with both the Habistat and Exo Terra enclosures. Thanks a bunch!

I see a lot of people commenting about the mesh and personally I’ve never really had a problem with tanks like that before, I won’t say they’re wrong cause everyone’s spider is different but the one I have in a tank with mesh is an aboreal species, I put plenty of clutter inside so they never feel the need to climb super high, they tend to climb the glass but don’t really “fall down”, and they’ve made a web up in some of the fake leaves I used.

 

[jrh3]

I see a lot of people commenting about the mesh and personally I’ve never really had a problem with tanks like that before, I won’t say they’re wrong cause everyone’s spider is different but the one I have in a tank with mesh is an aboreal species, I put plenty of clutter inside so they never feel the need to climb super high, they tend to climb the glass but don’t really “fall down”, and they’ve made a web up in some of the fake leaves I used.

The problem is the woven mesh can move and allow the claws to get stuck under the wire. If it is expanded metal, you should be good. There are a few members that say they have issues with expanded metal, but I never have.

You can also retrofit them like this... Stainless steel perforated sheets for DIY lid for Exo-terra | Arachnoboards

I use this on all my glass enclosures for a few years now and never had an issue.

As for enclosures I use Exo-Terra Nano tall for all arboreal and fossorial species. I recently discovered Zilla has a front opening 8"x10"x15" That I will use from here on out with my larger species.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

The problem is the woven mesh can move and allow the claws to get stuck under the wire. If it is expanded metal, you should be good. There are a few members that say they have issues with expanded metal, but I never have.

You can also retrofit them like this... Stainless steel perforated sheets for DIY lid for Exo-terra | Arachnoboards

I use this on all my glass enclosures for a few years now and never had an issue.

As for enclosures I use Exo-Terra Nano tall for all arboreal and fossorial species. I recently discovered Zilla has a front opening 8"x10"x15" That I will use from here on out with my larger species.

My Zilla mesh lids seem they don’t get stuck but the ones sold at pet supplies my rosea got stuck on once when she was still around . 🥲 it must depend on the pattern and the mesh.