cactus can they be put with T's?

Ben Oliver

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
0
is there a form a cactus that i can put with my little G. rosea? i am trying to give my little rosea a little better environment to live in. or is it a bad idea because of the needles of the plant.
 

grayzone

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,461
^ i agree....ts may encounter cacti in the wild, however, in a tank i see too much wrong that can happen
 

MB623

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
192
is there a form a cactus that i can put with my little G. rosea? i am trying to give my little rosea a little better environment to live in. or is it a bad idea because of the needles of the plant.
I'm not sure what kind of cacti or the care of the cactus, but I'd be worried about the T walking on the glass or the lid of the tank and falling on the cactus.
 

Pavlor

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
Messages
23
I'd be more worried about the shit that might be in the soil. Why not a plastic one, or a cactus that has soft spikes (but change the potting soil first to one that has no chemicals in it...)?
 

desertanimal

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
173
A few of the Mammillaria sp. have thorns that are sufficiently curved that they aren't actually pokey. They form a nice shadescreen for the cactus, but you could pick them up barehanded without getting pricked. But not all of them do. Most of them still have some thorns that stick out past the non-prickly protective "coat" of thorns. So you'd want to see the cactus first.
 

pavel

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
390
Cacti are not suited to be terrarium plants. You'd be better off for the T and the plant to just get a plastic one.
 

Crysta

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
1,475
what is with all the dis on the cactus plants? Why not reccomond another dessert plant?
If you have enough soil in the tank you don't really need to worry about the tarantula falling on the plant and killing itself, oh gosh, what would i do if it fell on its waterdish?
lol

If we all want to be boring and use fake plants..sure you can...but having life plants adds another interesting element to tarantula keeping...

Heres a good desert plant for rosies...and these are hardy.. succulents are wonderful little things. Do some research on how to plant them. Make the planted tank, put some crickets in the tank for 2 weeks, if they don't die, introduce the tarantula after. (remember to feed the crickets...) You will need to include a light during the day, but thats cool <3

http://www.carolsimsartist.com/images-10-06/DS-cactus,rocks,sedums.jpg
http://img4.southernliving.com/i/2005/08/heavy-savy/plants-m.jpg?300:300
 

grayzone

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,461
thanks crysta, i do know a bit about succulents, and have yet to use one in a ts enclosure... ill have to try it.. i have a type of palm in one of my enclosures and it has never caused problems. it took a fall from a bathroom window one day.. and ended up as t decor. apparently it doesn't need much light and can grow in coco fiber. I wish i knew what it is.
 

pavel

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
390
The problem arises, Crysta, if one actually cares how the plants fare. If not, then there really are a lot of options. If one does care about how the plants fare, then there are no real options in the cacti & succulent category. They require excellant air circulation, high light for healthy growth (which unfortunately tends to make one's tank too warm), and watering is a pain in the butt. Their requirements simply are not conducive to terrarium life.
 
Last edited:

Crysta

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
1,475
The problem arises, Crysta, if one actually cares how the plants fare. If not, then there really are a lot of options. If one does care about how the plants fare, then there are no real options in the cacti & succulent category. They require excellant air circulation, high light for healthy growth (which unfortunately tends to make one's tank too warm, and watering is a pain in the butt. Their requirements simply are not conducive to terrarium life.
... they don't need that high of heat, they just grow slower... High light can be found in nice leds, that dont tend to give off much heat either... which plants do well on. Succulents come in all shapes and form, and there are many house succulents that live indoors which you can use for a tank, such as a rosy..rosies tend not to go and destroy the plant like heavier webbin' t's.
 

Hornets inverts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
481
Unfortunately live plants dont do too well in arid enclosures, its not only the matter of lighting but moisture, drainage and humidity are also big things that need to be taken into consideration. In an arid style enclosure you cant really keep both t's and plants happy in the long term
 

Crysta

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
1,475
Going to use abraxas as an example....
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...sComplex-s-Invert-and-Vivarium-Picture-Thread

more pinpointed to g. rosea
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...cture-Thread&p=1672223&viewfull=1#post1672223

http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/AbraxasComplex/15.jpg

Also, he has an M. balfouri setup that is quite amazing as well, but I can't seem to find pictures of his setup...

It does require steps for a person to set up a good base for the plant to grow, but once its setup up its not really a problem...
 
Last edited:

pavel

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
390
No Crysta, the LEDs currently out are not sufficient -- not those that come in a white light spectrum. The only LED setups which do provide sufficient light in usable wavelengths of appropriate intensity result in a very purple light.

When I mentioned heat, I was referring to an undesirable result for the temps in the enclosure due to the lighting needed. Again, if you really don't care about the plants welfare -- and as the T is your primary concern that would be completely understandable -- then again you have lots of options. However, getting a succulent to thrive in an enclosure is not likely to happen. Furthermore, other issues such as air circulation and humidity are common problems and not minor ones at that.

One solution, besides going artificial, is to have several of the same plant and rotate them out of the enclosure on a weekly basis -- one week in, one or two weeks on a bright window ledge.
 

Shrike

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
1,598
Those are amazing terrariums that Abraxas has, but I have to wonder how long the succulents thrived after the initial set up. I'm not saying it can't be done, but meeting the ideal light requirements for the genus Crassula, for example, is going to be a tall order in a tarantula enclosure. That being said, I prefer live plants to fake any day. No arguments there!
 

grayzone

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,461
Unfortunately live plants dont do too well in arid enclosures, its not only the matter of lighting but moisture, drainage and humidity are also big things that need to be taken into consideration. In an arid style enclosure you cant really keep both t's and plants happy in the long term
tell that to the palm thats been in one of my enclosures for around a year
 

macj1983

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
53
Check these out might like these. They use the air in the tank. Dust dead insect duct to live .Tillandsia there are like 500plus sp. they might work
 
Top