how important is humidity for tarantulas?

[maudie]

(depending on the species) i know. but for a species that requires humidity, how important is it that the humidity temps are correct? and what can happen if they are not kept correct

 

[kormath]

Care guides are useless. Water dish is good for most. Moist substrate and water dish with occasional "rain" or overflowing of the dish for the more humid ones.

Keeping the humidity where the care guides say is a waste of effort.

 

[MassExodus]

Humidity is not constant, in fact its recommended to let your substrate dry out completely before adding moisture again. This does no harm, as long as you don't let a moisture dependent species go too long in a dry enclosure, with no water dish (which probably wouldn't hurt them much, its just not recommended..these spiders adapt, and most are forgiving if you slip up a little. There are a few touchy species, but most are pretty tough. If you live in a very dry area, humidity might be more of a concern, I don't have any experience with that though. Also, its much more important to slings, especially the moist sp slings. Hope this helped a little.

 

[MassExodus]

Which species are you referring to anyway? Ive heard people say lividus are very moisture dependent. I find them no different than any other moist sp, but i live in a semi humid area that can get extremely humid, and of course that changes the level in my room, regardless of doors and windows and a/c. So ambient temp/humidity have a part to play in it. Someone who lives in a desert may find a moist sp requires constant attention though. If you keep moist species too dry for too long, I imagine they will get sick or die stuck in a molt.

 

[maudie]

i was just asking like in general but i guess a few species im curious about would be Green bottle blue, Brazilian black, curly hair, chile rose (i apologize for not using the scientific names im still memorizing)

and big thansk to the previous comments

 

[Phil]

i was just asking like in general but i guess a few species im curious about would be Green bottle blue, Brazilian black, curly hair, chile rose (i apologize for not using the scientific names im still memorizing)

and big thansk to the previous comments

All of those listed tend to be on the drier side, GBB in my experience tend to shy away from too much moisture but having said that, they usually web over everything including the substrate which I suppose makes them self regulating anyway.

 

[Zurchiboy]

Those species come from arrid regions. They like there subsrate to be dry most of the time or they will be in their burrow or huddling on the edge a lot.

 

[micheldied]

i was just asking like in general but i guess a few species im curious about would be Green bottle blue, Brazilian black, curly hair, chile rose (i apologize for not using the scientific names im still memorizing)

and big thansk to the previous comments

All the species you've mentioned (if I'm guessing them right from their common name) do fine on nearly bone dry substrate.

As for humidity requirements for tropical species; don't bother paying attention to exact values (like they have on caresheets). I just adjust substrate moistness based on the areas they come from. You can get a rough gauge of what kind of environment they need from caresheets and all the information on the internet. I don't even provide water dishes most of the time for humid species, I just keep them wet (but not so much that the substrate turns swampy).

 

[RedCapTrio]

What are common examples of humid species? The ones that hobbyists can readily get their hands on. Thanks in advance.

 

[MassExodus]

C lividus, commonly sold in pet stores here. T stirmi. Pamphos. Theres a whole lot..any Asian tarantulas, many South American sp..a lot, all easily accessible to us. As far as keeping..I don't sweat trying to get things perfect. I moisten the sub, I let it dry out, I keep the water dish full and fresh, plenty of cross vent, rinse and repeat. Temp goes from 73-78 F in my room. This has worked great so far. Many breeders suggest mimicking native temp/humidity to stimulate spider nooky, which will be fun and interesting to try this year

 

[micheldied]

What are common examples of humid species? The ones that hobbyists can readily get their hands on. Thanks in advance.

Most Southeast Asian species like Cyriapagopus (ex-Haplopelma), Chilobrachys, Selenocosmia, Phlogiellus, etc. and jungle South American species like Theraphosa and Pamphobeteus. I may be wrong, but I believe the Hysterocrates and Pelinobius are some of the few baboons that should be kept pretty moist as well.

 

[kormath]

i was just asking like in general but i guess a few species im curious about would be Green bottle blue, Brazilian black, curly hair, chile rose (i apologize for not using the scientific names im still memorizing)

and big thansk to the previous comments

I have all of those as slings under 1" and one juvie GBB (Chromatopelma cyanopubescens) about 3". Both of my GBB like it dry. I use dry substrate (they spend all their time in their web tunnels) and a water dish. I'll occasionally mist the webbing to watch them drink the droplets. I tried moist substrate with them once and they stayed on the walls and plants until i redid their enclosure with dry substrate, then they went back down to the "ground" to do their crazy webbing If you give them plants and anchors, kind of like an arboreal setup they'll web all over.

Brazilian Black (Grammostola pulchra) I have 2 slings, both live constantly in their burrows. The substrate is moist enough to hold shape when you squeeze it but not release any liquid. They have a water dish also. I don't mist or overflow (on purpose anyway) their water dish.

Curly Hair (Brachypelma albopilosum) is the same as the G. pulchra for both of my slings.

Chilean Rose (Grammostola rosea) likes it dry. They'll climb the walls to get away from moisture, like if you drip on the substrate filling their water dish. Dry substrate and a water dish for them is fine.

For those on dry substrate i just use Eco Earth coconut fiber. For the ones that burrow and have moist substrate i use a mix of organic potting soil (without any fertilizer or other chemical additives) and the Eco Earth, about 50/50 or so and mix with filtered tap water.

You'll need plenty of ventilation in the enclosures also, cross ventilation to keep the moist sub from molding.

 

[kormath]

What are common examples of humid species? The ones that hobbyists can readily get their hands on. Thanks in advance.

A. geniculata I use a water dish and moist sub as stated above with vermiculite added to help keep the moisture.

 

[RedCapTrio]

A. geniculata I use a water dish and moist sub as stated above with vermiculite added to help keep the moisture.

I too moist my genic but not so much. But I don't really know if genics are humid species. They can still be kept like a smithi right? Dry sub with water dish...

 

[kormath]

I too moist my genic but not so much. But I don't really know if genics are humid species. They can still be kept like a smithi right? Dry sub with water dish...

Everything I've read and been told here is they love the moisture.

 

[Meludox]

Everything I've read and been told here is they love the moisture.

I've read this too, and I guess would explain why my genic sling has been hovering about his waterdish a lot lately.