A polite rant

[Enn49]

@Mr. P Very similar to dog and one of my cats this morning.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Lots of sins can be forgiven if you start with a sling and grow with your spider. Seriously, a 5" L klugi is by far more of a handful then a small 1" H pulchripes or M balfouri sling.

The number one overlooked thing is having a high quality purpose built professionally built enclosure. A good enclosure is clear or mostly clear, has see though lids or bonded screens and can be opened only slightly to feed and need not be opened at all just to add water.

This means one that you didn't build it yourself out of dollar store or Walmart trinkets. Opaque enclosures and lids can mean a real nasty surprise. Yes I'm aware that they're common. So are escapes and bite reports.

Since I use decent enclosures, I haven't really had any horrible things happen. Even my pokie, Patrick my P striata is a perfect little angel within his vertical tall 2 gallon Terra Blue professional enclosure. The measurements are 4x8x8 for that.

Jamie's has wonderful affordable juvenile enclosures. ExoTerra makes precisely the perfect arboreal enclosure ever.

Bonus pic P sp machala !!

 

[Enn49]

@Whitelightning777 I sorry but I can't agree with you when you say " ExoTerra makes precisely the perfect arboreal enclosure ever." as one major fault is the doors open outwards leaving a gap where the hinges are all the way to the top and we all know that Pokies in particular tend to run around the top. The containers I use for most of my larger arboreal Ts are a much better design having a door that slides upwards leaving no escape route at the top but easy access for feeding, cleaning and watering low down. They have just a strip of course mesh on the top so hold humidity where required far better than ExoTerras.

 

[siuoll]

This post is for new hobbyists. I'm Waylon, I've been keeping tarantulas for 8 years or so. I've learned many things about them, but I'm by no means an expert. There are people in this forum with FAR more knowledge than I. I can only speak from my own experiences keeping all kinds of tarantulas. Consider me the average keeper. There's my disclaimer
If you come into this hobby wanting an obt, a poeci, or another of the "hotter" old world species, I have some advice I'd like to share.
If you're an intelligent adult, and don't have an irrational fear of spiders, then do your research. Watch videos, read blogs, posts, etc, until you've learned all the info you can on that species, and buy the damned spider! If you go on a forum and say "hi, I'm new to tarantulas, and I'm getting a poeci!" You will be inundated with discouraging comments, and on one particular forum, flayed alive and salted. Many of these comments will be from people just repeating what has been beaten into them by the dissaproving masses, who don't even have practical experience with the species in question. Read. Research. Watch videos, they're very important tools for learning.
(I often think that this fearful attitude is brought to this hobby by arachnophobes who use tarantulas to cure their illness. Perhaps not phobics, but just people who keep animals they fear? Dunno, but it pisses me off.)
Now, if you DO fear spiders, and close interactions with them, then perhaps the "ladder system" IS right for you. Get a Brachypelma or something to start with. Personally, I like them better than poecis, hell, better than ANY old world spider..yes, I mean it.
Anyways, what I'm saying is do your thing, don't be discouraged by dire warnings from the fearful. All the info you need, to keep any tarantula available in this hobby, is at your fingertips. Oh, one more thing. Learn the proper names of spiders. It's very important to do so. Don't buy a "Chaco golden knee" buy a Grammastola pulchripes. Identification is very important, in every instance of reading about, speaking about, posting about, and especially buying tarantulas. Besides, some guy selling imports doesn't deserve the honor of naming these beauties. Naturalists and taxonomists that discover them do!
I hope this helps some of you. Don't fear these gorgeous creatures, but by all means respect them. If not..well, I always enjoy a good bite report. Lmao.

Not an expert but that/this is a good speech. Deserves a commend and respect

 

[Whitelightning777]

ExoTerra nano can be opened at the top by turning 2 tabs and lifting of the screen or from the side using the door. Since the lighting hood they make isn't really good for tarantulas, there's nothing in the way.

If and when my pokie gets to big, I'm putting him into a Nano, but never plan on using the side door, just the top.

The ventilation is excellent with these & some arboreal species really depends on that.

I keep my pokie in a Terra Blue professional enclosure, which only opens at the top and is secured with a reptilock.

The thing I like about the Nano is that you can open it both ways depending on how your tarantula tends to behave.

 

[Enn49]

That gap you speak of enn is defo a hindrance, my dehanni found its way out through said gap like a bullet hehe new underwear was required

I found out the hard way too, with my first T, the OBT. The morning after she arrived my son opened the door to take a photo and she ran, straight out of the gap. Luckily she ran round onto the back and was easily caught.
My P. metallica sits with 2 or 3 feet on the door, if she was in an ExoTerra she'd be away but because I have her in a terrarium with a guillotine type door I can slide it up enough to do maintenance or feed and all she does is to shuffle her feet and stays there.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I haven't noticed any gap on mine and my Versicolor doesn't even go near that part of the enclosure. I'll look again.

The gap might be a defect.

 

[Enn49]

I haven't noticed any gap on mine and my Versicolor doesn't even go near that part of the enclosure. I'll look again.

The gap might be a defect.

The gap is a defect, a defect in design. It's the same on all ExoTerras with the hinged doors.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Yikes!!

How come they don't all escape?

 

[Enn49]

Yikes!!

How come they don't all escape?

Because most of us are careful.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I looked at my ExoTerra nano and tested the gaps.


The side of the door that opens will barely about a piece of paper folded once.

The hinged side only admitted a single piece.

Thin cardboard didn't fit at all.

Other types larger in size might be looser because they are intended for larger animals such as geckos or poison dart frogs.

There's no way my C versicolor gets through that.

 

[Enn49]

I looked at my ExoTerra nano and tested the gaps.


The side of the door that opens will barely about a piece of paper folded once.

View attachment 29163

The hinged side only admitted a single piece.

View attachment 29164

Thin cardboard didn't fit at all.

View attachment 29165

Other types larger in size might be looser because they are intended for larger animals such as geckos or poison dart frogs.

There's no way my C versicolor gets through that.

Try that again with the door open but please mind you don't lose your T in the process.

 

[Enn49]

This video shows how I can open my P.metallica's door when she's in her favourite spot without fear of her escaping. Thank goodness for guillotine doors.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I agree with the exo terra gap. It's never been a problem for me. I knock on my pokies tanks and they all hide. The exo tanks can easily be fixed with a trip to the auto parts store and a couple dollars for some window channel.

 

[Enn49]

@Arachnoclown Sadly that won't work with my P. met. she's got no fear at all so a tap on the glass would have no reaction.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Try that again with the door open but please mind you don't lose your T in the process.

If the door is already open, anything can rocket out that way. Usually I take the top off to get my Versicolor because she's tong fed---totally spoiled!!

My pokie is in a Terra Blue professional enclosure, that only opens at the top, but would probably do just fine in a nano, which is bigger.

My pokie Patrick is in the corner where the flash is. He ignores any maintenance, cleaning etc, but I move very smooth and slow.

 

[Arachnoclown]

@Arachnoclown Sadly that won't work with my P. met. she's got no fear at all so a tap on the glass would have no reaction.

I have well behaved pokies...

 

[Whitelightning777]

Actually, that's a good thing. My pokie is very calm and pretty much ignores everything. A GENTLE nudge from the tip of the handle of a paint brush will get him to slowly walk to the bottom where it ignores me once again.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

All I can add here is that all spiders are cowards

Except for that one OBT that one time…

 

[MassExodus]

Except for that one OBT that one time…

Ehehehe!