Plexiglass Top VS. Screened Top

Socrates

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Ok, I nearly had a heart attack moments ago, when I couldn't find my newly acquired Acan. Geniculata Sling (2") ANYWHERE in her 5 gallon Tank. When I did spot her, I held my breath because she had climbed ALL THE WAY to the top and was hanging on the the screen top. :eek: Having read that some T's "hang" themselves on screens, I wonder if I should make her a custom plexiglass top. I've made one for my Chilean Rose's 10 Gallon, and the only draw-back in the beginning was that the humidity stayed too high since I had used Bed-A-Beast which must be soaked in water. Of course by now it's adjusted quite well.
I would have the Plexiglass custom cut and then drill a bunch of holes for ventilation, and I wonder whether that sounds like a good solution? :? I certainly don't want to risk ANY injuries.
Thanks for your help.
 

cricket54

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Plexiglass top

Sounds like a real good idea Socrates, others have done the same. Maybe if the humidity gets too high you can just drill more holes. I have a Haplopelma
sp. in an octagon aquarium and I wish I could make a plexiglass top for it
like you have done. Can't find a top of any kind to fit it so I've had to improvise with other things.

Sharon
 

Socrates

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Cricket,
LOWES hardware cuts the plexiglass any way you want :) That's where I'll be heading in a few minutes. My little explorer was up there again BTW, and luckily I coaxed her down again. Looking at the substrate (I'm using peatmoss), I'll have to raise that as well, in case she ever does take a tumble.
Thanks so much for your input.
 

willywonka

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If you are up to changing your set up completely I have a suggestion. I have bought from Lowe's these clear plastic shoe boxes. They are a nice size for some of my smaller critters. I have drilled holes where necessary and they work fine. The boxes come in a six pack for about $5. It is probably cheaper than plexiglass and you have more containers for more Ts. Hope this helped.
 

Trinity

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willywonka said:
If you are up to changing your set up completely I have a suggestion. I have bought from Lowe's these clear plastic shoe boxes. They are a nice size for some of my smaller critters. I have drilled holes where necessary and they work fine. The boxes come in a six pack for about $5. It is probably cheaper than plexiglass and you have more containers for more Ts. Hope this helped.
Hey, do you have a pic of those? Do you use them for just terrestrials or arboreals too? Do they have snap top lids or something? I'm looking for something that would be uniform to make my spider shelves look better.
 

Mr Ed

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willywonka said:
If you are up to changing your set up completely I have a suggestion. I have bought from Lowe's these clear plastic shoe boxes. They are a nice size for some of my smaller critters. I have drilled holes where necessary and they work fine. The boxes come in a six pack for about $5. It is probably cheaper than plexiglass and you have more containers for more Ts. Hope this helped.
I just went to the Lowe's site looking for these shoe boxes. Is this what you have? I tried to copy a pic. of it but couldn't, so here's the address. http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=63151-315-2218
 

willywonka

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Trinity said:
Hey, do you have a pic of those? Do you use them for just terrestrials or arboreals too? Do they have snap top lids or something? I'm looking for something that would be uniform to make my spider shelves look better.
These are pictures of what I found at Lowe's taken next to a Kritter Keeper to show a comparison in size. I am only using them for terrestrials but I am sure you could use them for arboreals with a little modification. I try to spend as little as possible on cages and use the money I save to get more Ts. Kritter Keepers are around $7.50 each at Wal Mart and these clear shoe boxes were 6 for about $5.00. What was nice about these shoe boxes is that the lids snap close very tightly. This is one thing that I had to make sure of since my wife is fond of saying, "Big hairy spider in a cage if fine, big hairy spider out of cage is dead." I think though she is finally coming around after she held my B. smithi.
 

willywonka

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Mr Ed said:
I just went to the Lowe's site looking for these shoe boxes. Is this what you have? I tried to copy a pic. of it but couldn't, so here's the address. http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=63151-315-2218
From the picture at the Lowe's website, they look similar. As you can see in my previous post, the lids are clear and from the looks of the ones at Lowe's website, they look white. But hey, my philosophy is if it works and it is cheap then more money for me to spend on tarantulas.
 

DnKslr

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I have 2 tanks with 1/8" thick plexiglass lids and the humidity will warp the plexiglass. I'll be replacing them with new plexiglass next week and I'm gonna put a screen lid over top of the plexiglass to help keep some of the humidity in and keep the corners from warping upward. If I use the screen lid alone, it will dry out too much for them.
 

MichaelH

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Quick tip on using Bed-a-Beast. When you rehydrate it...if you dont want it to be soaking wet only use 2 quarts of water instead of the recommended 4 quarts. Use luke warm water and just give it time to soak up good and it will be nearly ready to use instead of having to "wring" out excess moisture. If your setting up for a species that needs a drier environment...just spread it out on a flat surface real thin and let it dry out over night. This has worked real well for me in the past.
 

wsimms

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Hey Socrates, glad to see you got your genic. I forgot to tell you that they are rather "arboreal" for a terrestrial T. My top is screen, and she has on occasion made it all the way up there. My solution is simply to keep the substrate level high, so she won't have far to fall (which she never has). I don't really worry about her climbing, since this is evidently natural behavior for them, and I don't think mine is suicidal in any way. As they get bigger and more "settled in", the climbing decreases. I'm not a fan of plexiglass, since my experience with it is it eventually leads to phorid flies. Since genics don't need real high humidity, I'd stick with the screen.

W
 

Socrates

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wsimms said:
Hey Socrates, glad to see you got your genic. I forgot to tell you that they are rather "arboreal" for a terrestrial T. My top is screen, and she has on occasion made it all the way up there. My solution is simply to keep the substrate level high, so she won't have far to fall (which she never has). I don't really worry about her climbing, since this is evidently natural behavior for them, and I don't think mine is suicidal in any way. As they get bigger and more "settled in", the climbing decreases. I'm not a fan of plexiglass, since my experience with it is it eventually leads to phorid flies. Since genics don't need real high humidity, I'd stick with the screen.

W
wsimms, I've noticed the "arboreal" behavior already. :eek: My genic "Zelda" is only 2", and I have a very small arrangements of silk leaves on top of her hide. The other day I ONCE AGAIN couldn't find her ANYWHERE. I was about to panic when I saw a leave move - ever so slightly. Yep, she had climbed up the leaves and was hidden underneath, like an arboreal I guess.... :? She is SO pretty too. And WHAT a speed and hunting skills when she goes after a cricket. :eek: Had me totally shocked. I added a lot more peatmoss to the enclosure, and did manage to put together a plexiglass top with about 50 holes on top. Of course after reading your post I was searching like crazy for flies. What exactly are "phorid flies" and where do they come from???
Thanks again.

---
Wendy
---
 

wsimms

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They look like humpbacked gnats and they are also called scuttle flies due to the fact that they do a lot of running around, rather than flying. They are evidently either parasites or commensals of crickets. Like mites, they fluorish in conditions of excessive humidity. They are at least a nuisance, and in some cases have been associated with T mortality. Keeping moisture to a minimum is the best prevention, and that's why I like screen tops.

W
 
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