DIY enclosure

[Chris Barnard]

I have a smallish petpal for my G rosea but will need to re-house her eventually so I thought I would have a go at building my own enclosure.
I have used 5mm acrylic sheets. Bonding the acrylic is a tricky procedure but gets easier with practice. Size is 12"x8.5"x8.5". I have used stainless steel mesh for the vents - hopefully this will be enough ventilation.


Before I re-house the T I am going to experiment with a live pothos vine and some woodlice in the enclosure. If the plant doesn't survive then at least I will not have to disturb the T when removing it. What's the best thing to feed the woodlice on in the meantime? I think I read tropical fish flakes suggested somewhere.

[Alistair Kennington]

cool tank

Like the tank alot,were do you get the acrilic? looks the dogs to me,as for wood lice think thay eat anything,hence bein used as cleaners,i cant help thinking my spiders would just eat them though...must give it a go n see haha

[Chris Barnard]

DIY enclosure

Thanks Alistair. Got all the stuff for the tank on eBay as nowhere to get it around here. The eBay store does four acrylic cuts for free so I was able to get two sides made to the correct size and the thinner pieces for the 'handles'. Only needed to cut some slim pieces to support the lid.
I 'scored' the acrylic handles with a modeling knife to make them easier to grip.
If my sling L para reaches maturity then I'll probably make another one slightly bigger.

[Alistair Kennington]

tank

Yeh i got 3 para slings ,dont thay grow fast..... mine live in kenco coffee jars at the min with holes drilled in the lids,yeh think i mite be havin a look into making some tanks ime impressed with that one.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi, do you know if acrylic scratches as easily as the clear plastic tanks available, like exo-terra etc., as careful cleaning is needed to avoid quite extensive fine scratches appearing all over.

[wayne balcombe]

hi linda, acrylic is not so easy to scratch as the polythene exotera vivs but you would still have to avoid cleaning with anything abrasive.

i've built lids for most of my tanks from acrylic and i find that normal washing up liquid and a soft cloth or sponge removes most grime etc, you can also use a diluted bleach solution for sterilising it without problems too.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, that's good to know, only we were just converting a couple more glass fishtanks, and thought of trying acrylic this time, to let in more light through the top, with the advantage of being able to vent it, unlike glass, But looking around the diy stores, Homebase in Taunton, had huge sheets of acrylic with nearly the same sized price tag lol, £40+, do you know of anywhere where there are smaller amounts available, and we would have to weight them, as most of our big T's are trying to lift up half inch chipboard laminate lids, I must be feeding them too much lol.

[wayne balcombe]

the acrylic is good stuff for lids, i cut circular holes in them and cover them in a piece of mesh to allow that extra air circulation. my local focus has smaller sheets but its not the size of the sheet you pay for its the thickness of it and for the job we need it for its gotta be pretty thick unless your gluing it down lol. i think 30-40 quid is about the average price and even if it is a fair sized sheet it can be cut down quite easily.

[wayne balcombe]

as for weighting them down it would depend on how you build your lids, mine have hinged doors in them and i seal the rest to the tank with aquarium silicone. if your only going to rest them on the top i would probably weight them down or you will be re-naming your spiders Steve McQueen.

[Chris Barnard]

Hi Linda/Wayne
I am using 5mm acrylic as it is strong and has some weight to it so think it should last. There are several EBay stores that sell acrylic in various thicknesses and sizes. Some of them will cut it to size free of charge which is handy as the thick stuff would be tricky to cut unless you use a router or table saw. Smaller sections can be cut with a hacksaw and then given a light sand to smooth off any sharp edges. Sometimes the delivery charge can be a bit steep with eBay though.
I am planning to use acrylic hinges on the next tank I build and include a feeding hole in the lid so I don't need to open the whole lid for feeding/watering.
You have to watch how much heat is being generated when using power tools on acrylic as it starts to melt! Good luck with the new tanks Linda.

[Peter Lacey]

small clips at the top should help prevent the lids being lifted, or do as I do and put another tub on top

You woodlice/springtails cultures won't fare too well in a G. rosea enclosure, far too dry. They're great for moist enclosures and those requiring higher humidity eg. Poecilotheria, Haplopelma, Theraphosa, Lampropelma, Psalmopeous etc.

[Chris Barnard]

Thanks Peter. If I provide a damp corner - e.g. by letting the waterbowl overflow and adding some moss to this area would that be enough? Or would the woodlice etc just stay in this corner and not venture out to clean up?

[Peter Lacey]

I believe some people have had success with a damp corner but you might want to consider the larger British species for that. G. rosea really don't like damp substrate and because of that you're much less likely to get any problems that warrant a colony of woodlice.