Couple of T-Stirmi Questions

[Derbarbarian]

Hey guys,

I have a couple of quick questions regarding my female T-Stirmi, this is the first T-Stirmi that I've owned, the tarantulas I had when I was younger were a red knee and a striped knee so the care was a bit different. With that out of the way, to the questions! To the T-Stirmi owners out there, where do you keep the humidity in your enclosures? From what I've read people say to keep it at 80% but I've also read that it's fine keep it at 60-65%, so I just wanted to see where you guys keep the humidity levels in your enclosures. The other question I had, how much substrate do you have in your enclosures? For the substrate I mixed a big bag of repti-soil and a bag forest floor cypress mulch into a big 10 gallon bucket and thoroughly mixed them together, I put down about 2 or so inches of gravel/aquarium pebbles then I put about 5-6 inches of the substrate on top of that. I know that the goliaths are burrowing tarantula's but she hasn't burrowed at all, she just lives in the big cut away log that I put in her enclosure, so I'm not sure if I should add some additional substrate? Or just let her continue doing what she's doing? My second to last question, how big of a water dish do you use? I improvised a dish by using a decent sized lid from a container that I cleaned thoroughly, it holds about 10-12 tablespoons of water, so it's not small, but it's certainly not large, so I wasn't quite sure how big it really needed to be. I generally empty her water dish and refill it 2x a day or more if it gets substrate material in it. I've seen her crouched down in the lid so I think it's doing an ok job, but I'm just not sure if I should potentially get something a bit bigger. My last question, how long do you leave food in the cage before pulling it out? I've talked to a few tarantula owners who will drop a couple of crickets in their enclosure once or twice a week, and they'll leave them in there until the spider eats them. At the same time, I've been told that's not necessarily a good thing to do. So I'm just a bit curious how long you leave the food in there before you decide to pull them out and try feeding them in an additional few days. I've noticed that sometimes my T-Stirmi will pounce on the crickets almost immediately other times I'll still see one or two of them a few hours later, my biggest concern would be one of the crickets attacking my Stirmi. As always I really appreciate any info/input you guys can share with me!

 

[m0lsx]

Get the whole concept of an imagined % out of your mind when it comes to humidity. I had several unused thermostats & hygrometers of mixed brands & all designed for tarantula enclosures etc. Sitting all together, in my lounge for several months & the readings were all different. A £5, £10, or even £20+ hygrometer is no more than 10% accurate at best. So I saw differences of over 10 degrees & 15- 20% in humidity, despite them all sitting inches from each other.

Think husbandry. Nature does not create humidity in isolation. Natural conditions in nature cause a certain level of humidity & that is what we should be doing. Get the substrate right & the humidity level will follow.

For species like the stirmi, I keep my substrate moist. In other words, not dry & not wet. I use springtails to keep mould issues at bay & then feed the springtails dried yeast weekly, to give them some mold to eat & thus thrive on. I also try to use slightly larger & deeper water containers in my larger T's enclosures. This again naturally keeps humidity levels up. My 8.5 inch plus stirmi & LP (Lasiodora parahybana.) Both have 6 inch by 3 inch by 2 inch deep kitchen tubs as water containers in their enclosures.

Currently, none of my stirmi's, apophysis or blondi's have any live plants in. But I did have some that did & if a plant can live, then the humidity levels are correct for your T too. So, too wet or too dry & the plants & T will not thrive.

Depending upon the size of the Stirmi, I generally have about 4 inches of substrate. As normally, Theraphosa are not big earth movers. But I do try to offer an arched bark with some substrate burrowed from below it. Thus giving a covered area that has slightly higher humidity. And on my bioacive enclosures I covered the bark with moss & kept that moist. & alive. Again raising the humidity levels naturally.

If you want to keep a track of your humidity levels, then buy one of those plant pot moisture level gauges. I find they are great for lively old world arboreal enclosures, as I can keep an eye on the substrate moisture level at the bottom of a top opening enclosure, even in a well webbed one, where the substrate is obscured from my vision & all with my fingers out of harms way. I over watered a couple of arboreal enclosures & find that keeping substrate off the end stop & on moist. Stops me over wetting the substrate, but keeps the levels comfortable for my humidity loving T's.

 

[m0lsx]

I forgot to say. If you ever want to put plants in your stirmi enclosure. Don't forget that the plants & the bedding medium need to be chemical free (organically grown.)

Theraphosa's not being big substrate movers make a good species to have live plants in with. Also don't forget plants either need plenty of sunlight or a growing light added to the enclosure. I used a blue/red led growing light, which I brought off Amazon for about £15 to £20 & then switched it on for a few hours each day.

 

[Derbarbarian]

Get the whole concept of an imagined % out of your mind when it comes to humidity. I had several unused thermostats & hygrometers of mixed brands & all designed for tarantula enclosures etc. Sitting all together, in my lounge for several months & the readings were all different. A £5, £10, or even £20+ hygrometer is no more than 10% accurate at best. So I saw differences of over 10 degrees & 15- 20% in humidity, despite them all sitting inches from each other.

Think husbandry. Nature does not create humidity in isolation. Natural conditions in nature cause a certain level of humidity & that is what we should be doing. Get the substrate right & the humidity level will follow.

For species like the stirmi, I keep my substrate moist. In other words, not dry & not wet. I use springtails to keep mould issues at bay & then feed the springtails dried yeast weekly, to give them some mold to eat & thus thrive on. I also try to use slightly larger & deeper water containers in my larger T's enclosures. This again naturally keeps humidity levels up. My 8.5 inch plus stirmi & LP (Lasiodora parahybana.) Both have 6 inch by 3 inch by 2 inch deep kitchen tubs as water containers in their enclosures.

Currently, none of my stirmi's, apophysis or blondi's have any live plants in. But I did have some that did & if a plant can live, then the humidity levels are correct for your T too. So, too wet or too dry & the plants & T will not thrive.

Depending upon the size of the Stirmi, I generally have about 4 inches of substrate. As normally, Theraphosa are not big earth movers. But I do try to offer an arched bark with some substrate burrowed from below it. Thus giving a covered area that has slightly higher humidity. And on my bioacive enclosures I covered the bark with moss & kept that moist. & alive. Again raising the humidity levels naturally.

If you want to keep a track of your humidity levels, then buy one of those plant pot moisture level gauges. I find they are great for lively old world arboreal enclosures, as I can keep an eye on the substrate moisture level at the bottom of a top opening enclosure, even in a well webbed one, where the substrate is obscured from my vision & all with my fingers out of harms way. I over watered a couple of arboreal enclosures & find that keeping substrate off the end stop & on moist. Stops me over wetting the substrate, but keeps the levels comfortable for my humidity loving T's.

Thanks for the info man, I appreciate it! I actually had one of those moisture meters, but it broke a while ago so I have a small one that you can stick to the side of the cage but as you mentioned they're not overly accurate/precise so I definitely want to get a new one. Being in Seattle the humidity is generally pretty high, it's usually around 55-60%. I'll definitely look at the springtails as that's actually a good idea! As far as the substrate goes, as I mentioned I have about 5-6" right now, she spends most of her time under her log that I put in for her, I actually dug down about 2 or so inches and placed the log in there with the back end of it filled in/pressed up against the side of the cage, so she has a quasi-burrow as it is. My only other question was regarding the feeders, as I mentioned I'll usually drop 2 crickets in every 4-5 days. She doesn't always go right after them, so I'm not sure if I should pull them out after a few hours if she hasn't eaten them, or just leave them in there until she does. When I've left them in there they don't seem to bother her, obviously when she molts I'll make sure that she doesn't have anything in there for a few days since she's vulnerable at that point, but outside of that I'm not sure whether to pull them out after a few hours if she doesn't eat them or just leave them in there and let her eat them when she's ready. I'm actually switching over to ****roaches as I have a friend who raises them and they're way easier to keep alive than crickets they're also quite a bit bigger so I image one of those a week would be more than enough for her. Anyways as always I really appreciate any input you can share!

 

[m0lsx]

I have a small one that you can stick to the side of the cage but as you mentioned they're not overly accurate/precise so I definitely want to get a new one.

The humidity gauges are useless & encourage the ridiculous concept of humidity as a concept to be achieved. Not as something which naturally happens at the correct level, when the husbandry is correct.

Forget measuring humidity %, it's a pointless exercise & misses the most important factor. Husbandry. Get the care of your T right & the humidity level will automatically be correct for it.

Humidity as a percentage is like trying to make your car go faster, or more efficently by fitting a new gauge to it. Get the maintenance correct & your car, or the humidity in your T's enclosure will be at it's optimum. Stick a new gauge in either & all you are going is adding a gauge of unknown accuracy & of no real help.