Mist?

My H.Mac likes to climb the walls of its container(Of course) But the water dish keeps it pretty humid in it. And when ever it climbs it falls(Never gets that high though.Thank god.) So what can I do to keep the mist off the walls? Use a rag?

Originally posted by That_Guy
My H.Mac likes to climb the walls of its container(Of course) But the water dish keeps it pretty humid in it. And when ever it climbs it falls(Never gets that high though.Thank god.) So what can I do to keep the mist off the walls? Use a rag?

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How is the ventilation?

Cheers,

Paul

I have about 18 holes on the top of it. And it only climbs at night.

Originally posted by That_Guy
I have about 18 holes on the top of it. And it only climbs at night.

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Okay. Thankyou.

I should have been more specific. What size is the Het mac and what kind/size of container is it in?

thanks again!

Cheers,

Paul

Well, I traded my other one for a smaller one. Its about 3'. The container is about a foot high, and about 6' accross.

Originally posted by That_Guy
Well, I traded my other one for a smaller one. Its about 3'. The container is about a foot high, and about 6' accross.

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Okay. So it's in a 1 gallon rubbermaid type enclosure? That's fine for that size, however, as it increases in size (not far away in time) you'll want to move it to a 3 gallon size rubbermaid at least. Some would keep it in a 5 gallon size at least once it gets over the 3" mark.

Here are my recommendations. Put it in a low light area. Keep the temp either ranging from the lower 70s to the upper 80s or keep it around 80F. Keep the humidity up around 85% (no lower than 70%, as these guys love moisture, and in their native land the nighttime humidities can reach 100%) and place a little water dish in there for it, like one of those tiny deli cups or a pop bottle lid so it can get water when it wants. It's pretty rainy in this species' home land. Do you have things it can climb on in there? That way it doesn't have to climb the sides. You can add some sticks or if you place a toilet paper tube or paper towel tube cut to size in there it will use that. You may see it less but there is less chance of an injury from trying to climb the sides and possibly falling. While these species do like it humid (at least this time of year) and the humidity will help it with its molts, it is an arboreal species and needs plenty of air. Some people have recommended to me to take the lid and cut the top out of it. Then take microscreening which you can get at a hardware store, and hot glue the microscreening onto the lid for good ventilation. Or if you want to move it to a real nice setup and space isn't an issue, you can go ahead and move it to a 10 gallon tank set vertically with a screen lid. The way I have my big girl set up is in a 10 gallon w/ screen lid, water dish, rubber tree plant, and I have a piece of cardboard cut from a box placed into the tank at the bottom to hold the substrate in. The plant provides good oxygen, the screen lid good ventilation, and I also have a paper towel roll in there for her to hide in. I use peat moss/potting soil mix as it holds moisture well and is mite-retardant (the peat). Clean out the food boluses to keep the mite population down (if you should encounter them). I don't see her very often, except late at night, when her little feet appear at the top of the paper towel roll. These are a very shy species, very reclusive, and very private; sort of like the arboreal version of the H. lividum. But when they do make an appearance, it makes the effort well worth it. They are absolutely beautiful!!

Maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but I figured I would pass the info on to you.

Normally a tarantula cannot climb a totally dry tank, because the setae on its feet require a slight film of moisture to have coated the sides at some time (even if it has dried up after the water was applied); even if that moisture is a light film of humidity that we can't actually see with the naked eye. Know what I mean?
I have nothing to back this up other than viewing close up photographs of the hair on the feet, but I suspect that the ends of the setae of a tarantula's feet act like little suction cups on the ends, and with no moisture being on a surface at one time or another, it can't adhere to the surface. Make sense? So I'm a little surprised about your t not being able to scale the sides. Was it a captive bred or wild caught specimen? Has it been eating okay? How does it's abdomen look?

I don't always have the greatest way with words so if there's anything I typed that isn't clear or you don't follow it, just point it out to me and I'll try to put it in a better way.

Best wishes,

Paul