Watering

[Peter Lacey]

Here's a recent pic of the Klugi taking her first swimming lesson. I told her she'd be alright in the deep end, she's now asked for a diving board

(sorry for the quality of the image, and puns)

[Colin D Wilson]

I never had the experaince for article writing till i wrote my first one..........you never really know you can until you do.
Ray

wise words

If Torans got the watering / humidity article underway then how about a "James Box - heating your enclosure" entry.

Colin

[Stanley A. Schultz]

Thought i'd try to get some help and discussion about how everyone keeps their animals hydrated.
i'm wanting to know about: ...

It's difficult to make specific statements unless we know what species you're talking about and whether you're trying to keep them as pets or breed them. So, I'll make a couple of general statements about keeping them as pets and let the others address breeding concerns.

First, the subject of "hydration" (loosely defined as the way in which we give our tarantulas water) is vastly overstated and overrated by nearly all tarantula enthusiasts. There are only a very few tarantulas (I call them the "swamp dwellers") that are actually sensitive to low humidity. The ones I know about are members of the genera Hysterocrates (African baboon tarantulas), Ephebopus (South American skeleton tarantulas) and Theraphosa blondi (goliath birdeater, maybe also T. apophysis, the pink foot goliath). There may be one or two south Asian species I don't know about, but that's not the point. The point is that humidity and hydration are nearly non-issues.

Still not a believer? How many people on these forums (and the several others you may be a member of) have reported that their tarantulas got sick or died from a LACK of water or LOW humidity? In spite of all the different ways that people have dreamed up for caring or not caring for their tarantulas (with the single exception of T. blondi)? Zippo!

How many complain about mite infestations and mushroom gardens? Bingo!

Holding that thought for a moment, it seems that all one must do is put a tarantula in a cage that supplies it some protection from the family cat and your sister's witless boyfriend (nothing personal here, really), give it a water dish (include the obligatory rock, please), and get on with your life. If you live in Arizona or Alberta where the ambient relative humidity drops below 50% nine months of the year, and if you see your tarantula hanging around or on top of the water dish a lot, it might be a good idea to cover the cages' openings (nominally the top) with plastic food wrap. No misting, no wet substrate, no live plants, no fussing, no fretting.

Having said all this ...

desert/scrubland species

Dry substrate. Water dish with a rock. Simple is better.

humid area species

The species mentioned above only. All others can be kept as desert/scrubland species.

These are the obligate rainforest or "swamp dwellers." At first, they should be kept in a tightly covered cage with damp substrate. After they have had a chance to adjust to captivity (ten minutes to 6 months, depending on the species and individual) they can be gradually acclimated to living in a dry cage or nearly dry cage. Note that they "need" a high humidity, not necessarily a damp substrate or wet cage. You can keep them in a "dry" cage with one or two much larger than ordinary water dishes and obtain the same results.

arboreal

Most require a slightly higher than ordinary humidity, but also good ventilation. Use a larger water dish and keep some part of the cage covered (with plastic food wrap) to partly retard ventilation but to also allow some fresh air.

Some enthusiasts worry that their arboreals won't find the water dish. So, they've pressed two, identical, one or two ounce, plastic condiment cups (tartar sauce or butter balls in a restaurant) into service. Note that these must be able to nest inside each other. They've hot glued or siliconed one to the cage wall next to the arboreal tarantula's lair. They fill the other with water and drop it into the glued one. The system makes it a lot easier to clean a dirty water dish.

burrowing (especially those that seal themselves in and don't seem to care that you've put a water dish out for them!)

There are only two, obligate burrowing tarantulas that I know of: Citharischius crawshayi (king baboon), and Haplopelma lividum (cobalt blue). All others can be cared for like the desert/scrubland species above. Nothing new here.

The true burrowers don't pose a lot of problems unless they persist in filling their water dishes with dirt. If they do, remove the dishes and adapt the practice of dumping 1/4 to 1/3 cup of room temperature tap water down their burrows every 10 days to two weeks. Be especially careful to inspect for mites at least twice a month, maybe even once a week. Visit www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/mites07.html for more information.

lazy terrestrials who don't bother hiding

Same as the desert/scrubland species above. No rocket science here either.

... it would be really helpful if people told me their methods of watering slings, ...

These are almost always kept in some small container like plastic pill bottles or small condiment cups. Since the containers are too small to allow reasonable water cups, and because these still haven't developed a water retentive wax layer on their exoskeletons, we keep their substrate damp to maintain a high humidity. Watch carefully for mites. Keep a bunch of spare containers setup and handy in case you have to switch a few babies in a hurry.

... juvies, and adults of any species they can think of. ..

See above.

... do you rely on prey items to provide water? ...

Some people rely on this completely, particularly with the desert species, and I get into some really profound disagreements with them about the practice. It's so cheap and effortless to supply a water dish to a tarantula that I have absolutely no idea how they could be that lazy or careless or whatever.

... do you mist? ...

Misting is another practice I rant on about. If your tarantula's cage is covered with plastic food wrap to retain humidity, the water in the water dish is already doing the job just fine. Misting is a waste of your time and effort and an annoyance to your tarantula.

If you don't have the cage covered with plastic food wrap and it's open to the room air, any humidity that you might add by misting wafts away into the relatively dry room air almost before you can put the mister away. Again, all you've accomplished is to waste your time and effort and annoy the tarantula.

... use cricket water? ...

Sorry. I don't understand this one. Can someone explain?

Now, let the flame war begin!

[Colin D Wilson]

Sorry. I don't understand this one. Can someone explain?

I understood James to mean "cricket gel"

Colin

[James Box]

Colin, that's right.
some of my animals seem to love it, and it lasts a bit longer then normal water.
of course it's expensive too probably just going to stick with bottled water from the shop for most purposes.

Stanley, sorry i didn't list species, but figured that would take too long, as i have a number of different ones already!
however, you mentioned C crawshayi as one of the obligate burrowers you knew of...that is in face one species to which i refer. i have a large adult who just sits in her burrow. now i read in Sam Marshall's book to give them plenty of dry soil to dig in, and that's what i've done for her. the water dish is at the surface, and as far as i know it's ignored.
so based on your comments, i may start pouring water down on occasion for her.
incidentally, i have another thread about a sling of this species doing poorly, but seems to have picked up a tiny bit with water being offered on a cotton bud.
cling film is a grand idea. at the moment, all my slings are in tubs. some are film or medicine tubes, but others are in mainly small or medium yoghurt-sized tupperware containers. they have lots of holes, but hopefully still enough coverage to maintain humidity.
as my spiders grow, i'm going to give them bottle lids as water dishes, as they're relatively shallow and narrow, so they are hard to drown in.

[Louise~Nichols]

Another *fact-packed read*, and very enjoyable too.

Now, let the flame war begin!

Stanley, another flame war? You scallywag! hehehe
We could end up with another *Latin conspiracy*. In absentia luci tenebrae vinciunt...

[Colin D Wilson]

milk bottle tops from the plastic bottles are brilliant for small spiders James, i add some clean pea gravel to weigh them down and to stop the crickets drowning in them.
alternatively you can cut away about 1 cm of the side and turn them over for a perfect little hide for slings up to 3 cm LS.

[Louise~Nichols]

Castor cups are also good...they're nice and shallow, they don't tip easily, and you can get 10 for £1!

[James Box]

great ideas!
i've recycled some packaging from a box of Sainsbury's minced pies tonight for the purposes of watering and housing.
the tin individual trays make great little pools, though will add some vermiculite to keep them being too deep, and the plastice trays can be cut and inverted so the individual cups are about the right size for a cave. they have these troughs in between cups, for some design reason unknown, that make for perfect little entrances. when i have a chance, i'll find some way to soften the edges just to avoid mishaps, and they'll have to be weighed down, but overall, not bad for slings, i think! two entrances each, and nice and dark.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... you mentioned C crawshayi as one of the obligate burrowers you knew of...that is in face one species to which i refer. i have a large adult who just sits in her burrow. now i read in Sam Marshall's book to give them plenty of dry soil to dig in, and that's what i've done for her. the water dish is at the surface, and as far as i know it's ignored.
so based on your comments, i may start pouring water down on occasion for her. ...

No, no, no! Go back and read my tirade again. It says only if they persist in burying the water dish.

About once a week, at 3:00 in the morning, after all the lights have been out and no one has stirred for hours, your crawshayi quietly, ever so carefully, tippy-toes out of her burrow for a sip of water, then immediately high-tails it back into her burrow before something fierce and hungry can grab her. Trust me.

... incidentally, i have another thread about a sling of this species doing poorly, but seems to have picked up a tiny bit with water being offered on a cotton bud. ...

If it has a leg span of less than about 4 cm (1-1/2") it should be kept in a smaller container on damp substrate. It's still at the baby stage. If someone tried keeping it as an adult and it began to do poorly, the very first thing to do would be to put it back in a baby's container.

Best of luck.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... In absentia luci tenebrae vinciunt...

Oh, for Pete's sake! Now I really do have to go out and learn high school Latin all over again!

[Louise~Nichols]

Hehehe, I couldn't resist!

*In the absence of light, darkness prevails*

[Peter Lacey]

great ideas!
i've recycled some packaging from a box of Sainsbury's minced pies tonight for the purposes of watering and housing.
the tin individual trays make great little pools...

I'm not a fan of deep bowls but I'm a big fan of bowls that are easy to remove and sturdy enough to withstand a quick grab by myself. If we consider the occupant will not drink much from the bowl there seems little point in having a deep bowl as its likely to be used more for humidity. The only time my Klugi has scared me was when I dropped water into her enclosure (she moved faster than I'd ever seen before), so having a sturdy bowl that doesn't collapse when I remove or replace seems the best method for me, and for the Ts. So, I now have a Exo-terra bowl (a waste of money really but it was thrown in with a larger purchase) and a plastic lid from a large milk bottle.

About once a week, at 3:00 in the morning, after all the lights have been out and no one has stirred for hours, your crawshayi quietly, ever so carefully, tippy-toes out of her burrow for a sip of water, then immediately high-tails it back into her burrow before something fierce and hungry can grab her. Trust me.

Have you been up those ladders again Stan?

[James Box]

No, no, no! Go back and read my tirade again. It says only if they persist in burying the water dish.

haha i got you now, Stan! cheers