What are your thoughts re: misting

[Poolnymph]

OK, so I've been told so far that Eric (my B. boehemi), only needs to be misted once a week......is this really sufficient? I live in a part of South Africa that is quite dry, and ok, Eric is a dessert T, but his soil looks dry after about a day.....at the same time, I don't want him thinking he is now living in a swamp......
What's your opinion about how often a boehemi should be misted?
BTW - I do have a little water bowl in for him....

Thanks Peaches - your thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[sick4x4]

2x a week if its really hot...or if it looks like its going into a molt..most of the moisture he needs is in the food items you give him..thats why its a good practice to hydrate them before offering them to ur t....other then that its personal preference:}

 

[Niloticus]

I mist some of my smaller spiders every couple of days. Otherwise, I use a suitable water dish. I usually prefer not to do both.

Niloticus

 

[Spider-man 2]

No need to mist. Just provide a full water dish at all times and he will be happy happy little hair kicking bastard.

 

[pinkfoot]

I think this might just depend on where in the country you are, particularly during the winter, but unless you're in Joburg or the Karoo, you'll be fine to either mist or use a water dish.

You've noted the species is desert originated, and thus will take a large portion of its hydration from the prey.
Of course if Eric is still a spiderling, he will need misting

Where are you in SA? Check out www.tarantulas.co.za for local is lekker help!

 

[Poolnymph]

Thanks everyone!

Eric is still a sling, so he'll need misting still.

Pinkfoot, I'm from Klerksdorp (NW) (about 2 hours from Joeys), so ja, we get pretty dry up here

Hey, Hey PF, I didn't even know we had SA Forums for T's...I'm usually on the reptile ones:worship: !....talk about being silly:8o Where in Joey's are you?

As a matter of interest, what kind of setup do you have for your T's - apparently, they don't need heating pads here.....:?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Eric is still a sling, so he'll need misting still.

*My* Eric (or should I say boehmei?) is a sling too and I don't mist. I drip some water on his vermiculte once or twice a week and he/she doesn't have a water dish and has done fine for over a year now. Up where I live the humidity gets pretty low too, especially during winter. Are the feeders well hydrated I'd not worry besides the occasional substrate spot moisturing.

 

[Poolnymph]

Thanks Cirith! I just had to giggle though - we both have boehemi Eric's:worship: ! It will be quite interesting to see if our Eric's will remain such or become Erica's!
The feeders are well hydrated, but sometimes the temp's here still soar to the point where they just keel over.....so I'll at the very least leave the water bowl in for Eric.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Thanks Cirith! I just had to giggle though - we both have boehemi Eric's:worship: ! It will be quite interesting to see if our Eric's will remain such or become Erica's!
The feeders are well hydrated, but sometimes the temp's here still soar to the point where they just keel over.....so I'll at the very least leave the water bowl in for Eric.

Nah I'm sorry, I was just messing with the name We both have boehmei slings though But I wouldn't mind calling mine Eric if it turned out to be a male (which I'm not so certain of though, hehe)

 

[Poolnymph]

Nah I'm sorry, I was just messing with the name We both have boehmei slings though But I wouldn't mind calling mine Eric if it turned out to be a male (which I'm not so certain of though, hehe)

My brother chose the name...after the half hamster from one of the Monty Python movies But you're welcome to call your boehemi sling Eric too if you like - I'm not weird about stuff like that.....I can tell my you nic, you're a Lord of the Rings fan....I have two african grey parrots...Gollum and Gandalf and a leo Geck called Gimli:}

 

[TheDarkFinder]

Eric is a dessert T,

Very few brachyphelmas are desert tarantulas.

Brachypelma boehmei
Temp:26-28C
Rainfall:1300mm

With over 1300mm of rain. A wet/dry season you could not call it a desert. Unless you are refering to the universal "desert" then ok they are from the desert.

 

[pinkfoot]

DF - I know you are researching this so I'll defer to you, but are there any species that are true desert species? (250mm / 10" annual rainfall)

This info from www.alcwin.org/Dictionary_Of_Geology_Description-302-D. and Wikipedia.

 

[TheDarkFinder]

true desert species? (250mm / 10" annual rainfall)
www.alcwin.org/Dictionary_Of_Geology_Description-302-D. and Wikipedia.

This is a tough question. Off the top of my head, yes, most North American Aphonopelma sp. are deserts species. But This is where it becomes a problem. See, a true desert, ie antarcticia or Sahara, are massive and arid.

Most places ie Atacama desert, Somama desert, Mojave desert, Kiliheria desert, are not really deserts.

Somama and kiliheria deserts gets over 200 mm and therefor are not deserts. Most Aphonopelma sp live in these places, not the kiliheria for example only .

Places like the mojave are deserts in the fact that they get less then 200mm, but they have runoff and shallow bedrock, where water from lakes, snowpack, higher elevation runs, usually underground into these areas. So the issue is not rainfall but water table. The local water table can supply even water, year round, into the system.

This water table pools in the underground bed rock and makes what we call oasis. Local vegation suck up the water. Tarantulas and other desert life, use the roots and surrounding pools to dig their home. The roots of the plants suck up moisture. This wicking action saturate the soil up to 100%, even if the water table is 30-100 feet below the tree.

So in places Atacama, ie home of the rosie, does not recieve any noticable rainfall. But water is common enough for humans to survive. The humidity is quite high when the fog banks roll off the pacific. Mountian lakes and snow levels create oasis which life huddles around.

The biggest issue is that tarantulas are predators. The simple fact that they eat prey means that they are going to have to be around vegagation. Plants have to have water, desert species are not easy eaten. So tarantulas can only really exist around water sources.

Even GBBS build tunnels around plant roots. Which increase the humidity.

Rainfall is one factor tempature is another.

If you have 100% humidity at 15C, but if you raise the air temperature to 35C you drop the humidity to 50%.

Just by diging down 1 meter you can drop the temperature by that much. So a dry 15% on the surface, could be 65% in the bottom of the tunnel, this does not include the water that is naturally in the soil, only air humidity from a temperature drop.

So, to answer the question about "true" desert species, yes they exist, but only in there natural nich. Near water sources, 30 to 100 cm down. Tarantula spend most of their time waiting for food to drop in, and therefor must live where food is common enough to sustain life.


There is alot of people that aruge humidity is overated, I disagree with this, but they do have some valiladate points. But the minute we think a molt has gone wrong we say increase the humidity.

The one thing to remember is that locallity of the people. If a person says that they never cared about humidity and never had a bad molt but comes from florida then you can add it up. They are in a high humidity already. If a person increases temp then they need to start to worry about humidity. If a person increase ventalation, they need to increase humditiy. But do a search humidity has been pound into the ground.
thedarkfinder

 

[Brian S]

Very few brachyphelmas are desert tarantulas.

Brachypelma boehmei
Temp:26-28C
Rainfall:1300mm

With over 1300mm of rain. A wet/dry season you could not call it a desert. Unless you are refering to the universal "desert" then ok they are from the desert.

I would say he means what you are calling "universal desert" tarantula. Bottom line is that it can be kept on dry peat and a water dish. I have kept several xeric type tarantulas like that with no problems. A very small sling (less than 1 inch) can be kept slightly more humid though.
Even then, misting is mostly a waste of time IMO. With small slings a water dropper can be used to place a few drops on the web or substrate

 

[TheDarkFinder]

I would say he means what you are calling "universal desert" tarantula.

Not a good idea. A universal desert is any place that more water runs off or evaprates then stays above sealevel. almost everywhere is a desert in this case.

 

[Windchaser]

In my opinion misting is all but useless. If you are concerned about humidity levels the proper way to increase humidity levels is to get the water to the bottom of the substrate and let it slowly evaporate through the substrate over time. Spritzing some water at the surface will evaporate before it has any effect. There has been some discussions in the past regarding soaking enclosures periodically to get the moisture into the substrate.

 

[Brian S]

Not a good idea. A universal desert is any place that more water runs off or evaprates then stays above sealevel. almost everywhere is a desert in this case.

Still there are dryer habitats and tropical habitats and for the purpose of basic T keeping that is all you really need to know IMO. No need to make it more difficult than it needs to be. You are getting a little too technical here. Not meaning to argue but you know what I mean

 

[Poolnymph]

Well, this is very interesting - would it be advisable to keep the substrate for my boehemi, moist - at least at the bottom?:?

 

[IguanaMama]

In my opinion misting is all but useless. If you are concerned about humidity levels the proper way to increase humidity levels is to get the water to the bottom of the substrate and let it slowly evaporate through the substrate over time. Spritzing some water at the surface will evaporate before it has any effect. There has been some discussions in the past regarding soaking enclosures periodically to get the moisture into the substrate.

Good point Windchaser-- I use plastic amac cubes for all my slings and small juvies. I drill holes on top, middle and bottom. I heavily mist on one side, starting in the corner so that one side is damp, on side is dry. The water runs through to the bottom and drains--therefore no mud. I also keep a fake flower on the damp side to hold the humidity a little longer.

Darkfinder is making some very good points about whether humidity is indeed overrated. Even tarantula's from dry areas seek humidity through digging deep burrows near water spots. "Dessert" species will burrow near plant roots, etc. I am from a moderate climate, however in winter my home is heated with radiators, which are drying. While the tarantulas can do fine with dry substrate, I do not know (and please read I DO NOT KNOW) what is happening internally in the long run. It could be that some of their internal organs are slowly drying out and they might not be living as long a life span as they would if they had higher humidity. I look at any of my equipment or instruments that have diaphrams or transducers and I think what if they were to dry out in the long run.... That is also why I keep a bit of spahgnam moss in my enclosures. I guess the point I am trying to make is that I could drink a ton of water, but my nose will still be dry in the winter and I'll still get nose bleeds if my heat is going full blast, unless I run a humidifier.

 

[Brian S]

Well, this is very interesting - would it be advisable to keep the substrate for my boehemi, moist - at least at the bottom?:?

When in doubt, you can always keep 1 side slightly moist. However I keep my Brachypelmas bone dry