suntiger enclosure advice

[asmaa farooq]

i have been looking at some aboreals and made the mistake of telling my hubby i liked suntiger and cambridgei and was in process of looking at there care found some basic stuff but he went to store and bought me a suntiger sling as anniversary present i love him but i feel alittle like ive been dropped in deep end while i found the basics likes height more than floor space builds a teepee type web fast and bites i havent found anything particulary good on its tank set up at the minute its in a sweet tub spider life substrate couple small fake plants and an ornament thats designed as a tree trunk but it isnt going to be in there for ever and id like its permanent home to be well brilliant if i can so im after ideas advice and if you have a pic of set up you have all the better i do have a tall 50p shaped fish tank that im going to mesh the lid with a small wire mesh so its secure and ok for humidity but then what else do i need plants lighting etc

[Simon Brown]

To be honest Im keeping mine like any other aboreal Only a sling at the mo, but in a tall container with corkbark vertical on eco earth

Once it has grown on and moved to a larger tank i will ass another vertical hide, as I hear they would rather run and hide than bite and gives them another option in where to run they are also i believe not very keen on light so a dark spot is necessary and can be achieved by putting some black paper on the sides any extra decor is down to owners choice but be aware to much in the tank allows for food to hide and die, as well as more places for the spider to hide, and as this I believe has quite a nasty bite altohough not as potent as the Pokies I believe its still one you wouldnt want to experience and personally would prefer to know where the spider is at any time of maintainence/feeding in order not to spook it

Most of my setups are very basic with a few that have fake plants for colour and anchorage for webbing and only my P metallica has hanging fake plants on each side as it is the jewell of my collection and thought its tank being a exo terra deserved to look less drab than the others lol

hope that helps

[asmaa farooq]

yep i have my pink toes in fish tanks i bought just on eco earth a piece of wood fake plant and they seem happy enough plenty webbing but this is my first T that is not a docile flick hairs kind of spider and i do not want to get bit i have bought fish tank type ornaments most are like gnarled wood tree roots etc hollow middles so i was thinking of something similar on a larger scale but keeping it about 3inch from the top minimal fake plants and a larger hollow tree trunk type ornament i want to see where it is at all times like the asian fawn well i can see its webbed up burrow so i know ok avoid that area i just want to be sure it looks good but mostly its happy to stay hidden while i spot clean and do water etc

[Peter Roach]

Stop fussing.
Its a sling so only needs a small container the size of a cup, an inch or two of substrate and a small piece of bark or dead leaf for it to build its web against.
Irminia slings dig a burrow and extend it upwards with webbing to a few inches above ground and very rarely if ever leave it.

I've got 10 irminia slings, all growing steadily in these containers bought from ASDA for £1.00 each.
IMHO it isnt worth housing them in anything larger until they get larger themselves.

[asmaa farooq]

the sling pot is pretty basic plenty ventilation etc im just trying to get ahead thinking wise for a long term enclosure when its adult i like to know what i have and where it will be so i can decide if i have space to buy more or do i need to stop with what i have

[Simon Brown]

Peter that's exactly what I'm using only difference are mine are from morrisons and have a horrible green top! Have my pokie slings in there along with my irminia and they seem very comfortable

And exactly as you say the irminia has borrowed down and webbed up and rarely if ever has left that area!

[asmaa farooq]

Peter that's exactly what I'm using only difference are mine are from morrisons and have a horrible green top! Have my pokie slings in there along with my irminia and they seem very comfortable

And exactly as you say the irminia has borrowed down and webbed up and rarely if ever has left that area!

im feeling more relaxed about these now i should really avoid google as most have the most basic care or peoples experience with them being they open it to feed them and its up there arm fangs out i can happily cope with a webbed up burrow

[Simon Brown]

I've spoke to a few owners and one even commented they'd rather spray you with poo than bite

Others have said they'll rather run but as we all know temperaments vary per individual so just be cautious and treat it with the respect it deserves and you should be fine

Believe only real problem is when transferring to bigger tank as they are very quick but again using the right technique shouldn't be a problem there are various techniques out there for more defensive spiders one I'll be trying when it's s bit bigger is the toilet roll method

You plug the bottom of the toilet roll replace the hide with plugged end down and wait for the spider to go in plug the top put in new tank unplug then push top down gently to coax spider into new tank

Got this from a pokie thread on tarantula uk about pokies obviously for slings you could use a straw or the catch cup method looking forward to see it grow adult females look fantastic

[asmaa farooq]

i definatly seen its speed tried the transfer from little pot to a sweet jar with a screw lid put tub in jar took lid slightly off thinking ok dark little bit there might go for that nope was up the jar over side and on kitchen floor heading for under cooker in a flash glad i had another tub to hand for a g.rosea that needed a new tub so i could put that over it second attempt it stayed on side 3rd it went into the tubs lid so just picked and placed on top it didnt look happy but least no bites and when all else fails ill resort to a plan b it wont need another set up now until its ready for the full sized tank i have so i can always unscrew lid and just pop that inside full tank and remove when its safely not in it or just leave it as its comfort zone home if i can get thru it no bites im a happy bunnyjust want to be sure when it needs that last tank its as it should be i dont want to have problems with it being wrong and trying to catch store fix and replace if i can help it

[Lee Furness]

My local "Weigh House" shop has pet plastic jars and pots in assorted sizes, I've got a few of the 400ml tall clear ones for my arboreal slings, but otherwise exactly the same as Peter's pics for the setup.

[Peter Roach]

i definatly seen its speed tried the transfer from little pot to a sweet jar with a screw lid put tub in jar took lid slightly off thinking ok dark little bit there might go for that nope was up the jar over side and on kitchen floor heading for under cooker in a flash glad i had another tub to hand for a g.rosea that needed a new tub so i could put that over it second attempt it stayed on side 3rd it went into the tubs lid so just picked and placed on top it didnt look happy but least no bites and when all else fails ill resort to a plan b it wont need another set up now until its ready for the full sized tank i have so i can always unscrew lid and just pop that inside full tank and remove when its safely not in it or just leave it as its comfort zone home if i can get thru it no bites im a happy bunnyjust want to be sure when it needs that last tank its as it should be i dont want to have problems with it being wrong and trying to catch store fix and replace if i can help it

Must admit that was hard reading ! There wasnt one full stop. (not counting the one between the g and rosea)
Its amazing that missing such a simple little > . < cant make things seem so hard LOL


Asmaa, do yourself a big favour and ignore 99.9999% of the so called care sheets on the internet. Many of them are wrong in many respects and are copied from each other and therefore the myths continue unabated, especially when they are spread about on the forums as the gospel truth.

If the stories and so called facts are to be believed, Pokies, OBT's, irminia and baboons are the actual spawn of Satan and can and will kill all who stand in their way, rather than slightly faster than normal (compared to most terrestrials) tarantulas. There are few people on a certain UK forum who will not even open an OBT's tub without putting it in the bath first LOL, when I feed my OBT's and irminia I open up the lid and then find a roach to drop in. . . . never had one run out yet because they are PREDICTABLE and will rarely if ever leave their web.
There is NOTHING magical about moving arboreal's like pokies, OBT's and irminia, all it takes is a little forethought and preparation because they are PREDICTABLE.

There are two items that I ALWAYS have available when moving ANY Tarantula. One is a plastic chopstick (Most T's can run up a wooden chopstick) to help move the T's about and secondly (and most important) is a cut down coke bottle. I have 3 sizes of bottle I use depending on the size spider i am moving, the is NO size spider that cannot be captured using one of these.

[asmaa farooq]

thanks peter
i never even noticed lack of fullstops. Probably years of texting and not knowing where it was on a phone. im rather looking forward to seeing this little one grow and im definatley happier knowing it isnt likely to decide hey i like out of here every time i go to feed it. i did wonder when it was slow to come out of its web in the tiny pot it comes in but then again the asian fawn came with a label can bite and i never see it. this is my first venture into something beyond the docile beginner species and im hoping calm and relaxed comes with experience or maybe its the mum in me that makes me worry over everything that lives and is in my care