- Messages
- 12
Alright, I know I'm new here, but I would like to contribute pictures of my enclosure for my Heteroscodra maculata aka Togo Starburst Baboon or Ornamental Baboon. This is an arboreal spider as an adult, but as a spiderling it starts off as a terrestrial spider, spending a large portion of time underground.
I got my enclosure from Jamie's Tarantula, and I got the adult enclosure. This was a very bad mistake. Not because it's a bad enclosure, it's just not meant for quarter inch slings. Not at all. They are almost small enough to slip right out of the enclosure's air holes, so do not make that mistake. The Jamie's provides enclosures for all size spiders and enclosures for both terrestrial and arboreal, so doesn't hesitate to check them out. I honestly thought they were very affordable too if you don't get all the supplies added. Just get the enclosure and get all the supplies on your own. You can find better deals on things like substrate, aquarium supplies, tree bark, etc at Foster & Smith and a few others places. Foster & Smith is a good place for a lot of things, so check them out too.
Anyways, on with the enclosure. Due to the fact the spiderling starts off terrestrial, I do like having this enclosures. It gives her an expansive environment to share with her prey. I have a couple inches of substrate to give her enough room to dig, but not so much to where it interferes with how much she can climb. At her tiny size, she doesn't need it much bigger for height. Spiders do fall, and it could be a fatal fall. This was a $55 spider after shipping and handling, so I don't want to lose it to something that small.
I got a couple pieces of wood. I took the hollow log and dug it in the corner to make a pre-made burrow. This was successful for the first 10 seconds of putting her into her enclosure. She has not used it and made her own. Maybe it's too big with her, but it is a good way to set up an enclosure for spiders who like to burrow.
My other piece of wood, I put on the opposite side of the aquarium to give her some room to move and make webs between the two. I added the little plant to go over it, until I noticed that the leaves were pushed up on the air holes which made an excellent cricket escape. Do not make this mistake
She has set up a burrow in the corner, and has not really come out since. She has dug a few burrows all the way to the bottom, but they look abandoned. I took a picture of it for you guys, and will be sharing it in the post. I added the water dish into a corner and use that for my main humidity control. I added rocks into the dish to prevent drowning of crickets and slings alike. It's nearly 100% effective of keeping your crickets from drowning.
I added a small lid to be a dish for cricket food. I use fish food to feed my crickets, and they love it. They grow crazy fast with it too. It's really good and cheap stuff for crickets. It doesn't go bad either. I prefer beta food because it has a little more stuff in it that probably would benefit a cricket.
Anyways, I let most of the moisture dry out on my enclosure and mist it lightly every now and again. I put my hand in there to check out temp and humidity. I keep a small electric heater on the outside of the cage. My enclosure does not recommend any internal heaters, nor would I. Keep a small electric heater at least 36 inches away from your enclosure, and have it preferably on the lowest setting. You only want to increase the temperature in there by a little bit, not cook a tarantula. You should barely feel the heat from the heater against the closest wall of the enclosure.
Well, with that being said, here is some pictures. I will upload more as I find out more about this species and what they seem to like and what techniques seem to work best. I am always open to hearing more and new ways to help raise my specimen.
I got my enclosure from Jamie's Tarantula, and I got the adult enclosure. This was a very bad mistake. Not because it's a bad enclosure, it's just not meant for quarter inch slings. Not at all. They are almost small enough to slip right out of the enclosure's air holes, so do not make that mistake. The Jamie's provides enclosures for all size spiders and enclosures for both terrestrial and arboreal, so doesn't hesitate to check them out. I honestly thought they were very affordable too if you don't get all the supplies added. Just get the enclosure and get all the supplies on your own. You can find better deals on things like substrate, aquarium supplies, tree bark, etc at Foster & Smith and a few others places. Foster & Smith is a good place for a lot of things, so check them out too.
Anyways, on with the enclosure. Due to the fact the spiderling starts off terrestrial, I do like having this enclosures. It gives her an expansive environment to share with her prey. I have a couple inches of substrate to give her enough room to dig, but not so much to where it interferes with how much she can climb. At her tiny size, she doesn't need it much bigger for height. Spiders do fall, and it could be a fatal fall. This was a $55 spider after shipping and handling, so I don't want to lose it to something that small.
I got a couple pieces of wood. I took the hollow log and dug it in the corner to make a pre-made burrow. This was successful for the first 10 seconds of putting her into her enclosure. She has not used it and made her own. Maybe it's too big with her, but it is a good way to set up an enclosure for spiders who like to burrow.
My other piece of wood, I put on the opposite side of the aquarium to give her some room to move and make webs between the two. I added the little plant to go over it, until I noticed that the leaves were pushed up on the air holes which made an excellent cricket escape. Do not make this mistake
She has set up a burrow in the corner, and has not really come out since. She has dug a few burrows all the way to the bottom, but they look abandoned. I took a picture of it for you guys, and will be sharing it in the post. I added the water dish into a corner and use that for my main humidity control. I added rocks into the dish to prevent drowning of crickets and slings alike. It's nearly 100% effective of keeping your crickets from drowning.
I added a small lid to be a dish for cricket food. I use fish food to feed my crickets, and they love it. They grow crazy fast with it too. It's really good and cheap stuff for crickets. It doesn't go bad either. I prefer beta food because it has a little more stuff in it that probably would benefit a cricket.
Anyways, I let most of the moisture dry out on my enclosure and mist it lightly every now and again. I put my hand in there to check out temp and humidity. I keep a small electric heater on the outside of the cage. My enclosure does not recommend any internal heaters, nor would I. Keep a small electric heater at least 36 inches away from your enclosure, and have it preferably on the lowest setting. You only want to increase the temperature in there by a little bit, not cook a tarantula. You should barely feel the heat from the heater against the closest wall of the enclosure.
Well, with that being said, here is some pictures. I will upload more as I find out more about this species and what they seem to like and what techniques seem to work best. I am always open to hearing more and new ways to help raise my specimen.
