First T, the Enclosure

[KieraKittie]

I never thought I would like a spider, but I fell for one and took it home from work. She is a Rose hair, This is the current enclosure I have set up for her. I did a lot of reading before I brought her home with a Scorpion for my fiancee.

This is a temporary Enclosure, I feel bad having her get used to it only to move her one last time, but I did not know after I got her, that my fiancee ordered me a 12 x2 x12 Exo Tarra terrarium for her from the web for Christmas. Hope that does not freak her out to much.

ANYWHO, the lava rock is flat on the ground, so is the small lava rock it is proped up against to make the small cave, the small water dish has some left over aquarium gravel in it to save crickets and her from drowning. I did put a backing on the aquarium after I made the video, to keep the light reflecting from the mirror down.

Tips, ideas, suggestions or am I missing anything? Thanks!

 

[DalilahBlue]

Beautiful T!

 

[Nada]

Hi, welcome to this amazing hobby.
A few things about the enclosure. 1) devided tanks are not good for Ts they will get over or uder , or between the partition.
2) Height is very dangerous for a terrestrial T(especially if you have a screen top), a fall could easily kill your T. I like to leave about 5" between the surface of the substrate, and the top of the enclosure. In effect, Exo-Terras aren't great enclosures for terrestrial Ts.
Your tarantula is beautiful, and welcome again.

 

[KieraKittie]

The divide in the tank goes all the way to the screen topper, literally rubs against it as I slide it on and off, its also cut so it touches glass to glass. I was worried of her climbing over so we special made it with my boss's husbands help. But I do see the concern with it which is why the fiancee ordered me the terrarium. The Terrarium is not taller than the 10 Gallon she is in, though I do plan to keep the bedding high, up to the doors and lots of crawly spaces. But that does get me thinking of other ways to keep her safe, maybe I should add more bedding in the aquarium she is in now and perhap, besides just thick bedding, I can rig up some extra plants when the other tank gets here.

Thanks for the welcome and advice! Really not sure why I like this spider so much, growing up I was an arachnophobia like my father, but after befriending one WAY cute furry jumpy house spider, it seems to have cured that over the years. Such interesting little creatures!

 

[Nada]

Don't under-estimate a Ts ability to wriggle through the tiniest of spaces.
The only issue I have with the ExoTerra, is that you can only get the Substrate so high.
Is the scorpion on the other side of that partician? If so what kind? Imperator?

 

[KieraKittie]

Yea its an Emperor, he shows in the video a bit, small little guy, another reason we made the divider wedge glass to glass. Its held in by being wedged but we also used a safe form of sticky tack to make sure it wont move. The original Idea was to use Aquarium sealant to seal it in, but that's when the fiancee told me he ordered me the Terrarium and we decided against it so I can take it out to give him the tank for his scorpion when the other one arrives.

 

[Nada]

Ok, that brings up another issue. P.Imps and Roseies have completely different care requirements. P.imps like humidity, Rosies like it dry. They need to be seperated.

 

[KieraKittie]

Gotcha, Well the other enclosure should be here any day now, honestly thought it would be here by now, I read on many forums about keeping the humidity up on Rosies also? like MANY webpages, like..Those two of a few.. Though they also say Under tank heat pads, and I just read on here under tank is a bad idea.

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/invertebrates/-/rose-hair-tarantula
http://www.tarantulaguide.com/pet-tarantula-cage-and-habitat/

 

[Nada]

Yeah, you'll see a lot of conflicting info on a rosie. Fact is, they come from a desert. a water bowl is all the humidity you need other-wise they should be kept dry, as should most grammostola species.

 

[KieraKittie]

That's excellent to know really. I do remember reading webpages saying they come from the desert then wondering on the humid requirement. But I figured I suppose there are oasis in the desert, perhaps they chill there? lol

 

[Atx13]

Hello, and welcome! glad to see you got a G. Rosea you can interact with, lol.

 

[Bast]

Here's a great link about humidity and such: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/Humidity.html Stan is very well known in the Tarantula community; he Co-Authored Tarantula Keeper's Guide with his late wife Margaret. Take a browse around those pages, lots of great information!

 

[KieraKittie]

Thanks for the linkage, been reading through them since lastnight. Lots of interesting information for sure!

 

[Bast]

No problem I just picked up the Tarantula Keeper's Guide...such an awesome book

 

[harleyqueen]

I never thought I would like a spider, but I fell for one and took it home from work. She is a Rose hair, This is the current enclosure I have set up for her. I did a lot of reading before I brought her home with a Scorpion for my fiancee.

This is a temporary Enclosure, I feel bad having her get used to it only to move her one last time, but I did not know after I got her, that my fiancee ordered me a 12 x2 x12 Exo Tarra terrarium for her from the web for Christmas. Hope that does not freak her out to much.

ANYWHO, the lava rock is flat on the ground, so is the small lava rock it is proped up against to make the small cave, the small water dish has some left over aquarium gravel in it to save crickets and her from drowning. I did put a backing on the aquarium after I made the video, to keep the light reflecting from the mirror down.

Tips, ideas, suggestions or am I missing anything? Thanks!

I never thought I would like a spider, but I fell for one and took it home from work. She is a Rose hair, This is the current enclosure I have set up for her. I did a lot of reading before I brought her home with a Scorpion for my fiancee.

This is a temporary Enclosure, I feel bad having her get used to it only to move her one last time, but I did not know after I got her, that my fiancee ordered me a 12 x2 x12 Exo Tarra terrarium for her from the web for Christmas. Hope that does not freak her out to much.

ANYWHO, the lava rock is flat on the ground, so is the small lava rock it is proped up against to make the small cave, the small water dish has some left over aquarium gravel in it to save crickets and her from drowning. I did put a backing on the aquarium after I made the video, to keep the light reflecting from the mirror down.

Tips, ideas, suggestions or am I missing anything? Thanks!

ah this spider is such a poser, she must know she is gorgeous!

 

[TareLee]

I love your new T! I just got my first T too ! They actually remind me a lot of each other!!!

 

[KieraKittie]

Hehe thanks, so far we get along pretty well, I need to get some new pictures of her new enclosure up and of her as well of course. Waiting for my darn camera to come back from the repair place. Never thought I would like spiders so much but she is one cool arachnid!

 

[Mad cat lady]

The divide in the tank goes all the way to the screen topper, literally rubs against it as I slide it on and off, its also cut so it touches glass to glass. I was worried of her climbing over so we special made it with my boss's husbands help. But I do see the concern with it which is why the fiancee ordered me the terrarium. The Terrarium is not taller than the 10 Gallon she is in, though I do plan to keep the bedding high, up to the doors and lots of crawly spaces. But that does get me thinking of other ways to keep her safe, maybe I should add more bedding in the aquarium she is in now and perhap, besides just thick bedding, I can rig up some extra plants when the other tank gets here.

Thanks for the welcome and advice! Really not sure why I like this spider so much, growing up I was an arachnophobia like my father, but after befriending one WAY cute furry jumpy house spider, it seems to have cured that over the years. Such interesting little creatures!

Your spider is lovely! My husband has always been terrified of spiders but he got me one like yours for Christmas but he's ok with her but he won't handle her

 

[Pawandinverts]

Nice T and it cage is very cool!

 

[KieraKittie]

Thanks and Thank you, I am actually waiting for Olympus to mail me back my camera so I can get a new picture of her new enclosure. It is so much nicer now. She is in a 12 x 12 x12 Exo Tarra terrarium, the substraight is all the way up to the doors, about 5 1/2 inches deep,

((Don't let the Exo Tarra pictures fool you, you can really get it almost half bedding, half movable space, the air vents up front connect to a bar behind it that only opens on the very top and not straight through))

I planted a pothos Ivy inside, she has a small cave I positioned with her lava rocks that are mostly buried now, I only "half" started the cave for her, she will have to dig the rest if she wants to make it a home. She is still kinda mad at me for messing with her home, she really hates when I move something. So it will take a few days before she starts exploring a bit more and I am sure, before I see her digging again. I have a small, USB port, 3 LED light bar I keep on in the corner when I am in the room, the computer room stays very dim as it is, and a little light lets me see what she is up too. These are not bright leds mind you, very soft glow. ANYWHO, I just finished it about a day ago, and really look forward to showing pictures.. if.. Olympus will ever give me back my camera they have had it since Jan 16th *impatient!*