Misting? Is it really necessary?

Is misting or wetting a Ts substrate really necessary if the room they are in is kept at the proper humidity?

With the exception of those species that prefer a moist substrate or a water dish, of course.

I don't "mist" anything. If the dish or substrate needs water I just use one of those monject syringes and shoot the stream of water right where I want it. If your aim and pressure control is really good you can have Ts drink right from the stream, kinda like a dog with a hose. Plus you can do it through the vent holes.

I don't mist many of my T's. Actually, only 1 at this point. What I do is I mist the half of the enclosure that the T isn't, and this is for my Avic since I need to get him a bigger water dish. For the rest of my little guys I provide a full water dish and if I see that the humidity is particularly low I pour a bit of water in a corner of the enclosure. Preferrably where the T isn't.

Nope, not really. You should get a source of water available for your tarantulas to drink. In addition, I generally prefer to moisten the substrate by pouring water into it (not soaking, think of watering a plant) rather than misting. Misting doesn't do anything to significantly raise the humidity and at best only provides a drinking source for a very limited amount of time.

Maybe misting wasn't the best word. I don't directly mist my Ts either. What I meant was, do you really have to moisten the substrate if the RH is at the right levels in the room?

I do have a water dish and I use the same method as Travis to fill them for the species that need it.

Sathane said:

Maybe misting wasn't the best word. I don't directly mist my Ts either. What I meant was, do you really have to moisten the substrate if the RH is at the right levels in the room?

I do have a water dish and I use the same method as Travis to fill them for the species that need it.

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Then you really don't need to worry. If you feel like humidity is down a bit, just pour a little water in the substrate.

Sathane said:

Maybe misting wasn't the best word. I don't directly mist my Ts either. What I meant was, do you really have to moisten the substrate if the RH is at the right levels in the room?

I do have a water dish and I use the same method as Travis to fill them for the species that need it.

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It depends on the species, some are fine with the humidity high, a full water dish, and pretty "dry" substrate. Other species however prefer damp substrate like N. colortrivilosus(sp? too lazy to look it up right now). I think you should ask the question pertaining to individual species.

I use a fogger but (only) when My T.blondi is in Pre molt and I put it on for about 15-20 min a day to ensure a safe quick molt.I generlly dont use the fogger for any other species unless a molt is going badly.

The only ones I mist are slings roughly 1" or smaller.

I have too many different species in my collection to ask about each one. It was just a general question but thanks for the answers. The RH in my room is proper for the species I have but I've always moistened the substrate for my Ts (except for the ones that I'm sure like it dry) but was just wondering if I really had to.

Travis K said:

I think you should ask the question pertaining to individual species.

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That fogger idea seems good for trouble moults. Have you noticed whether or not the vibrations irritate your Ts?

aracnophiliac said:

I use a fogger but (only) when My T.blondi is in Pre molt and I put it on for about 15-20 min a day to ensure a safe quick molt.I generlly dont use the fogger for any other species unless a molt is going badly.

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I don't mist but rather just pour water to wet the substrate of whatever specie that needs wet substrate.

If your room really is moist enough, then there's no need, just keep a water bowl available at all times.

I only mist my slings and very rarely a few of the other moisture-enjoying species as a way of lightly dampening the substrate and emulating morning mist (ie, B.smithi, A.abberans...)

EDIT: Before someone grabs me on the idea of keeping a B.smithi on anything but dry substrate, be noted they're not actually from sub-desert but from scrub-forests half-way up the Pacific Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico.

Sathane said:

Is misting or wetting a Ts substrate really necessary if the room they are in is kept at the proper humidity?

With the exception of those species that prefer a moist substrate or a water dish, of course.

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1. All caresheets to the contrary notwithstanding, there is no such thing as "proper humidity." Do a search in this forum with pikaia as the author and humidity as the keyword to find out why. If that fails, perform a similar search using Stan Schultz and humidity on the ATS message board.

2. Misting is a waste of time and effort. If you need to raise the humidity in a tarantula's cage it's much more efficient to merely cover the open part with plastic food wrap.

3. If you've already covered the tarantula's cage with plastic food wrap, the humidity is already high and misting is a waste of time and effort. Indeed, it may actually be dangerous because it'll boost the humidity too high.

4. If you haven't covered your tarantula's cage with plastic food wrap, and it's open to room air, all your precious humidity from misting will have wafted away before you can put the mister away.

5. The only thing that misting really accomplishes is it annoys your tarantula.

Do not annoy your tarantula.

Laslty, considering how little a decent water dish costs, how little time and effort are required to maintain one, how good they are as insurance against mummifying your tarantula, their facility in maintaining a "proper" humidity, and the objections of all naysayers notwithstanding, all tarantula cages should have a water dish.

I like to sprinkle some water with a fogger!
but only one side of the terrarium