8-9" T. Stirmi 20 gallon enclosure set up!

So I rehomed my 8-9" T. Stirmi last night and wanted to share some pictures with you all. She was in a 10 gallon tank and it was just too cramped for her so I upgraded her to a more spacious 20 gallon long tank. I added her old substrate first, which is just top soil, as it has tons of dwarf white Isopods living in it. Then I added about a 4" layer of damp EcoEarth with the water squeezed out so the dirt can hold a fist shape without dripping if squeezed. Her hide is just two pieces of cork flats I hot glued together. I also added quite a bit of moss around the enclosure to help with some humidity as well as a fake plant for aesthetics/cover. I need to upgrade the water bowl to a more natural one but that's what I have until tomorrow! By the way, I also added in full size Isopods (rollypolly) that I've been breeding out from WC ones. Will these harm the dwarf white Isopods at all? I didn't think they would but I want to be certain. I hope you all enjoy, and I always love other keepers input!
She was very angry in the first pic. When I cupped her with the deli, she was hissing and sticking her butt up

Exploring her new enclosure :biggrin:

Woah, that's a big girl! The enclosure looks great.

awesome enclosure! I love the idea of adding in the white pill bugs.

A beautiful T with a beautiful enclosure.

tarantulagirl10 said:

Woah, that's a big girl! The enclosure looks great.

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She sure is! She's a looker! Thank you!

---------- Post added 07-22-2014 at 12:48 AM ----------

ratluvr76 said:

awesome enclosure! I love the idea of adding in the white pill bugs.

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Thanks a lot! They seem to be thriving in there as I see way more than I started with and they do great with eating mold and bolus's!

---------- Post added 07-22-2014 at 12:49 AM ----------

HungryGhost said:

A beautiful T with a beautiful enclosure.

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Thank you, she sure is! She seems to be settling in nicely!

Looks good. Try making a acrylic lid with vents or add clear packing tape over the steel lid (michaeljacobi).

Nice setup! I would love to have a 8-9" Stirmi.

ConcreteWeb said:

Looks good. Try making a acrylic lid with vents or add clear packing tape over the steel lid (michaeljacobi).

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Thanks for the advice! That's my plan in the near future..since I made the set up, I've been using a towel over half of the lid that I dampen with warm water every day to help keep adequate humidity.

That is a beautiful Stirmi Bro. I've had and lost two females. Treasure that one. Collection feels empty without them. They make all the other spiders seem useless. Nothing like watching them devour frogs, mice and baby snakes. Good going with Roly polys. Gotta keep that tank clean with the high humidy. Ditch that fake plant bro. Buy a pothos from home Depot or wall art for two bucks. Pull out the plant and douche off all the fertilizer off the roots. Buy a fertilizer stick and stick it in the bulb at the bottom. Stick it in that cage and when you spray down the enclosure soak around the plant. Those will help stagnant air tremendously. The lost legend Robc has a easy video guide on youtube. Your Stirmi will love it.

ConcreteWeb said:

That is a beautiful Stirmi Bro. I've had and lost two females. Treasure that one. Collection feels empty without them. They make all the other spiders seem useless. Nothing like watching them devour frogs, mice and baby snakes. Good going with Roly polys. Gotta keep that tank clean with the high humidy. Ditch that fake plant bro. Buy a pothos from home Depot or wall art for two bucks. Pull out the plant and douche off all the fertilizer off the roots. Buy a fertilizer stick and stick it in the bulb at the bottom. Stick it in that cage and when you spray down the enclosure soak around the plant. Those will help stagnant air tremendously. The lost legend Robc has a easy video guide on youtube. Your Stirmi will love it.

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I've been serial watching all of his vids. He's awesome. What do you mean "The lost" legend? Is he out of the hobby? I love his vids.

Beautiful T! Great job with the enclosure as well.

leaveittoweaver said:

Beautiful T! Great job with the enclosure as well.

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Thank you! I plan on adding pothos soon, as suggested. I will be sure to update with pictures!

ratluvr76 said:

I've been serial watching all of his vids. He's awesome. What do you mean "The lost" legend? Is he out of the hobby? I love his vids.

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I don't think he is out of the hobby but he hasn't made a video in over a year maybe even two. Which is surprising since he was a YouTube partner and his channel was averaging well over 20,0000 views and had to be quite lucrative for him. Definitely the most popular tarantula channel for sure attracting not only fellow hobbyist but curious onlookers.

Akai said:

I don't think he is out of the hobby but he hasn't made a video in over a year maybe even two. Which is surprising since he was a YouTube partner and his channel was averaging well over 20,0000 views and had to be quite lucrative for him. Definitely the most popular tarantula channel for sure attracting not only fellow hobbyist but curious onlookers.

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He was the one that got me into this hobby after I stumbled upon one of his feeding videos, I was wondering what had happened to him?

goldie said:

He was the one that got me into this hobby after I stumbled upon one of his feeding videos, I was wondering what had happened to him?

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Yeah me too. Maybe we'll never know. :/ I really wish he would come back lol, I learned A LOT from him although I've never even messaged him, or seen anything he's posted in threads, and in fact the first time I watched one of his videos was LONG after the last video he posted.