Can a habitat be too big?

[curly]

Hi...I'm new to the forum and am excited to be here! I own an adult curly hair, who is also named Curly. He/she has molted three times and is (what I assume to be) pretty much full grown. Right now I have it in a 10 gallon aquarium. I do have a 29 gallon tank available that I could move it to but I am wondering...do tarantulas appreciate larger enclosures with more room to explore around or is a smaller enclosure preferable? I don't want to provide curly with too much space but want him/her to be as happy as possible. What would you recommend? Moving Curly to the bigger tank or keeping the 10 gallon? Thank you so much for any advice!

 

[tarantulas118]

That truly depends. Tarantulas typically don’t “explore” for fun (of course there are exceptions) because in the wild if they did that then that equals the tarantula turning into a lovely sandwich for another animal. A 10 gallon is perfect for curly as with most tarantulas who reach the size that curly hairs grow to. Another thing to consider, is the 29 gallon lid on the side or the top cuase you’d want a lot of substrate and if the lid is on the side the that wouldn’t provide a lot of substrate for the Tarantula. The reason I’m saying this, tarantulas like to climb to the top of the enclosure when rehoused and if there isn’t enough substrate then tarantula could easily fall and get seriously injured or even worse die. As I said before your curly hair will be perfectly happy in a 10 gallon aquarium but really it’s all up to you. Hope this helps

 

[mrsoul1974]

I think a 10 gallon tank is more than enough. A 29 gallon I think would just make it tougher to find prey (or the other way around?), especially if the T is still growing.

 

[Arachnoclown]

My curlie occupies the area equal to a small shoe box for the last 15 years...the rest of the enclosure is a waste of space. She's in a 5 gallon tank.

 

[m0lsx]

Tarantulas are ambush predators. That is they sit & wait for the food to come to them. So the bigger the enclosure the less likelihood there is of the food that you provide passing them by.

 

[SpidersNPlantsNThings]

I know all Ts are different, and some are "pet holes" etc, and I'm not nearly as experienced as others on this board, but the G. Pulchripes I had was in a 10gal and used all of it's space. It would sit in different areas of the tank, move substrate all around the tank, etc. I would have actually done a larger tank with some cool plants if I had had a good place for it, and I think he would have utilized the space. If your T is currently exploring the whole tank, maybe it would appreciate more space, but it's also not going to hurt it to leave it in a 10gal.

 

[SullivanC]

You can maybe get away with putting your tarantula in a much bigger space than it is required but if you choose to do that you have to make sure height isnt tall in case if its terrestrial, give plenty of hides and water dishes if its big enough to have water dish but there will be some things you have to keep in your mind if you want to give it bigger enclosure than it actually needs.. If its fossorial it might be digging the substrate somewhere you cant manage to know where the spider is which will make the spider's job much harder to find the food same goes for terrestrials or arboreals you certainly can provide larger enclosure but it will make it very hard for spider to know where the food might be so the idea why most of us like giving them smaller enclosure is they are still comfortable with the space we provide at the same time we get to feed them easier because the enclosure is within their range they are able to find the food easy

 

[SullivanC]

I also want to add that if you add bigger space than the tarantula needs it will take it longer to settle in the enclosure so thats another problem with giving them bigger enclosure so even though it might be possible to keep them in a larger enclosure if certain conditions are met I still wouldn't recommend people to put them in bigger enclosures, its better to just put them into enclosure that is good for their size.

 

[SpidersNPlantsNThings]

As OP said, the T is an adult curly, so no need to speculate if it's fossorial, arboreal, etc, and it's needs in those situations, if we read the first post.
"You can maybe get away with putting your tarantula in a much bigger space than is required" Well you can Definitely put the T in a bigger space than is Required(a term in inself which implies the minimal space possible in this context). An adult curly isn't gonna die of space overload, that's for sure. It'll either not care, but be just fine, or explore the space, which it might "enjoy."

I really disagree with the idea of keeping a T in as small of an enclosure as it can survive in, but especially for a Terestrial or some of the semi-arboreal and arboreal species that don't just make a web hole and stay in it. If it were a "pet hole," sure, give it a tiny enclosure. It isn't going anywhere anyway. I feel like things like "So they can find their food" really means "I want to see them get their food as soon as I put it in the enclosure," which is for you, not the T, and things like "so they are comfortable with the space" or "better to just put them into enclosure that is good for their size" is based on the person's Feelings in many cases.

As nature intended, the "enclosure" is as far as the T wants to go. It isn't going to be harmed by a larger enclosure. Unsafe enclosures, sure, but more space isn't going to hurt them. So the only potential effect we can have is putting them in an enclosure smaller than is ideal for them. In a larger enclosure, they'll still get the food. It just might not be Right away like you want. They'll settle in just fine. They just might take longer to scope it all out and decide where to make their home base. How is that a "problem?" Because you wanted them to establish their home base right away? Maybe they'll even be "happier" in the end with an option of what works best for them rather than just being given one small spot that they just Have to use.

I think the simple answer to "Can a habitat be too big?" is no. But they also don't need to be huge. Some can be tiny. It just depends on the T.

*I misspoke earlier. My previous Ts were in a 20gal, not 10gal. Chilean Rose(G. Rosea) didn't explore as much, but did still make it's way around the tank. Chaco(G. Pulchripes) didn't use it's hide much and would regularly explore the enclosure and sometimes rearrange.As mentioned before, i

 

[SullivanC]

As OP said, the T is an adult curly, so no need to speculate if it's fossorial, arboreal, etc, and it's needs in those situations, if we read the first post.
"You can maybe get away with putting your tarantula in a much bigger space than is required" Well you can Definitely put the T in a bigger space than is Required(a term in inself which implies the minimal space possible in this context). An adult curly isn't gonna die of space overload, that's for sure. It'll either not care, but be just fine, or explore the space, which it might "enjoy."

I really disagree with the idea of keeping a T in as small of an enclosure as it can survive in, but especially for a Terestrial or some of the semi-arboreal and arboreal species that don't just make a web hole and stay in it. If it were a "pet hole," sure, give it a tiny enclosure. It isn't going anywhere anyway. I feel like things like "So they can find their food" really means "I want to see them get their food as soon as I put it in the enclosure," which is for you, not the T, and things like "so they are comfortable with the space" or "better to just put them into enclosure that is good for their size" is based on the person's Feelings in many cases.

As nature intended, the "enclosure" is as far as the T wants to go. It isn't going to be harmed by a larger enclosure. Unsafe enclosures, sure, but more space isn't going to hurt them. So the only potential effect we can have is putting them in an enclosure smaller than is ideal for them. In a larger enclosure, they'll still get the food. It just might not be Right away like you want. They'll settle in just fine. They just might take longer to scope it all out and decide where to make their home base. How is that a "problem?" Because you wanted them to establish their home base right away? Maybe they'll even be "happier" in the end with an option of what works best for them rather than just being given one small spot that they just Have to use.

I think the simple answer to "Can a habitat be too big?" is no. But they also don't need to be huge. Some can be tiny. It just depends on the T.

*I misspoke earlier. My previous Ts were in a 20gal, not 10gal. Chilean Rose(G. Rosea) didn't explore as much, but did still make it's way around the tank. Chaco(G. Pulchripes) didn't use it's hide much and would regularly explore the enclosure and sometimes rearrange.As mentioned before, i

Tarantulas dont have good eye sight so they cant see too far that is the reason why I said I wouldnt recommend it but of course if its something you want to do then its up to you.