New "instant T owner" and forum member

[Adam Walters]

Yes, A.versicolor is an arboreal species as are all Avicularia. The enclosure is a 30x30x45cm Exo-Terra and cost £30, decorated with some mopani wood, corkbark, and an artificial 'Ruscus' silkplant. It is perhaps 'overkill', but given that you don't get to see versicolors that often; I thought i'd try to make it look nice

Peronally I use the exo-terra tanks wherever possible, but my collection is not so extensive (yet!) for it to warrant any major cost cutting. For multiple housing you can use any kind of tuppaware, plastic containers & sweet jars etc. Ideally they are stackable for obvious reasons.

Many people do use a 'shelved cupboard' as it makes a nice display, and is far easier to maintain a controlled environment rather than do so individually for each enclosure.

Another alternative to consider is Custom Aquaria, based in Northamptonshire, who make excellent glass enclosures. Unfortunately they do not deliver but that's all the more reason to come to the exhibition in May

Cheers,
Adam.

[Peter Parrot]

I don`t think it`s overkill, I think it looks great & makes the versicolor look even better. So I am surmiseing that they like it pretty humid too?

Can you light these arachno/cupboards? I keep hearing that subdued light is needed but surely in "display" type tanks such as yours with plants a touch stronger light is needed? Or would this make the spiders hide away all the more?

I fully intend coming to the expo in May, and intend being a fully paid up member of the BTS well before then. All because someone "dumped" an unwanted pet on me.

[Peter Parrot]

Just realised, your plants are artificial, dont need light!

Seriously though, are there any species that can be illuminated or do they mostly like it subdued like the Rosea? I suppose most are nocturnal?

[Adam Walters]

Yes humid, but ventilation is reputedly much more important for Versi's. Many have 'kicked it', particularly slings, through lack of it. I tend to let it dry out every few days just to avoid mite and mould problems. Might be worth reading up on the climate of their natural habitat, not forgetting that they live high up where it is more 'airy' etc.

My plants are fake, see you realised that...hehe, but you can have live ones in there should you wish. Air plants are ok, many of the Tillandsia family for example. Or you could use ferns, anything with low-light requirements etc...so long as it's not harmful to your tarantula.

I think that it is important for you to in some way simulate day & night cycles within a cabinet, as I feel it will stimulate a more natural behaviour(ie nocturnal). You could use low intensity strip lighting and have it wired up to a timer for instance.

[Peter Parrot]

Sounds good. I use time switches for my snakes to cycle them.

So cross ventilation. Aren`t the exo terra pretty well ventilated anyway? I know smoone who has to block off some of the ventilation (not all) in his exo terra for his frog`s benefit.

I am having ideas now. Some of those peat blocks that you can buy that the poison arrow frog people use might be good on the walls of the cage. Have you seen them? They contain dormant fern & moss spores so that after a while of being placed in the humid conditions of the tank, beautiful mosses and ferns sprout from no where and it looks really natural. I will put the link up if anyone wants to know where to get `em.

Frogs are very sensitive to such things with their "permeable" skin so I should have thought that if they are ok with it, spiders will be. Anyone used them?

[Adam Walters]

Sounds interesting, might look into those for a future 'natural' setup

Exo-terra's do have superb ventilation, and in some of my tanks I do block it off with cling film. More so to keep heat than humidity.

Might be nice if we could get an 'Enclosure' thread going actually, where everyone can post pictures of their setups...and perhaps a mod could 'Sticky' it

Cheers,
Adam.

[mary walters]

Welcome Peter, to the forum and the addictive world of T's, it won't be one for long mate believe me!!!
Don't forget to join the BTS, best money you can spend on T's mate.
Mary

[Peter Parrot]

Thanks for the welcome Mary. No I don`t think it will be one for long either and yes I fully intend to join BTS.

[Mike Shaw]

I think I'd have to recommend separate viv's.For a few different reason's the main one is maintenace.Also less disturance to other spiders when cleaning an individual tank.I use petpal's while they are groing,once they reach subadult I then house them in thier final viv.There are some cool instructions on www.giantspiders.com for building viv's.I hope this help's.actually it's a pretty good site all round.

[Adam Walters]

I think I'd have to recommend separate viv's.For a few different reason's the main one is maintenace.Also less disturance to other spiders when cleaning an individual tank.I use petpal's while they are groing,once they reach subadult I then house them in thier final viv.There are some cool instructions on www.giantspiders.com for building viv's.I hope this help's.actually it's a pretty good site all round.

Hi Mike,

I don't think Peter was intent on housing them all within one container, instead it would be several (eg Petpals etc.) that are all placed into a 'heated' cabinet. This helps to meet space requirements and avoids having to use individual heat mats on each tank etc. Maintenance would be no more of an issue than it would normally(?)

Cheers,
Adam.

[Peter Parrot]

I think I'd have to recommend separate viv's.For a few different reason's the main one is maintenace.Also less disturance to other spiders when cleaning an individual tank.I use petpal's while they are groing,once they reach subadult I then house them in thier final viv.There are some cool instructions on www.giantspiders.com for building viv's.I hope this help's.actually it's a pretty good site all round.

Hi Mike,

I don't think Peter was intent on housing them all within one container, instead it would be several (eg Petpals etc.) that are all placed into a 'heated' cabinet. This helps to meet space requirements and avoids having to use individual heat mats on each tank etc. Maintenance would be no more of an issue than it would normally(?)

Cheers,
Adam.

That is precisely what I meant Adam thanks.

Mike thanks for the link. What I am waffling on about is a well thought out "area" more than anything, I like to plan ahead. The idea is to save labour so it takes less time to look after (I have a fair few snakes etc to maintain too) as well as hopefully looking smart and tidy too.
I hope someone does start a thread on housing and set ups like Adam suggested, it would be great to see different peoples systems and vivs. Would give me some ideas as I am clueless right now!

All the best to everyone who has responded to my questions and helped so far. It`s a nice welcome.

[Mike Shaw]

I thought you meant One large tank with dividing panes of glass,OOPS.Anyway did you check www.giantspiders.com tehy do have a cool home made set up with multiple tanks.

[Mike Shaw]

Hey Adam,
how ya doing.
I've been thinking about encasing my tanks but haven't had a good idea.Any suggestions?
cheers Mike

[Peter Parrot]

I thought you meant One large tank with dividing panes of glass,OOPS.Anyway did you check www.giantspiders.com tehy do have a cool home made set up with multiple tanks.

Have just been having a look now. Interesting site, thanks for the link

[sarah Smith]

Most people use heated cabinets to house their collections in basically a cabinet with shelves and some sort of large heating system at the back. But you would need to ask someone who has one of these for a more detailed set up. At the moment ours are all in tanks with heat mats and seem fine. To awnser your question about versi colours yes they are arborial.