Good NW Species for Viv?

Ashton · Oct 10, 2014

Just as the title says, what is a good NW species for a vivarium?

telepatella · Oct 10, 2014

Describe the vivarium.

Psychocircus91 · Oct 10, 2014

If you mean fully planted, it will most likely need a lot of moisture and humidity, so T stirmi.

Ashton · Oct 10, 2014

telepatella said:
Describe the vivarium.

It really depends on the Ts humidity requirements but I was thinking fully planted or at least a few pothos.

Fyrwulf · Oct 11, 2014

So, I wrote out this lengthy response and realized I was getting ahead of myself and it would probably only confuse you. My first piece of advice, with no need for any questions answered, is to completely ignore Tarantula Keeper's Guide. The reason for this is that Mr. Schultz spends a good part of the book essentially arguing against vivariums without directly saying so. My second piece of advice is that you're asking the wrong question. The correct question is, "How should I set up a vivarium for Species X" A vivarium can emulate any environment, you just have to know what environment it comes from. So, on to the questions.

1) What is your budget? In general terms, I would say under $100 is small, under $100-500 is medium, and $500+ is large.
2) What sort of environment would you like to set up? Arid, temperate, or tropical?
3) What is your favorite genus?

Ashton · Oct 11, 2014

Fyrwulf said:
So, I wrote out this lengthy response and realized I was getting ahead of myself and it would probably only confuse you. My first piece of advice, with no need for any questions answered, is to completely ignore Tarantula Keeper's Guide. The reason for this is that Mr. Schultz spends a good part of the book essentially arguing against vivariums without directly saying so. My second piece of advice is that you're asking the wrong question. The correct question is, "How should I set up a vivarium for Species X" A vivarium can emulate any environment, you just have to know what environment it comes from. So, on to the questions.

1) What is your budget? In general terms, I would say under $100 is small, under $100-500 is medium, and $500+ is large.
2) What sort of environment would you like to set up? Arid, temperate, or tropical?
3) What is your favorite genus?

I have an interesting budget. It should be noted as a small one, but the LPS I work at (well its a barter system so not really work for any money) gives me viv supplies for free to only a few bucks. The genus does not matter so much as long as it can live in less than a 10 gallon worth of space. The species I was most interested in would be the Nhandu genus as a whole and I am still looking at various other NW species and gathering info about them. I should have the genuses or species narrowed down within a few hours.

cold blood · Oct 11, 2014

Ashton said:
I have an interesting budget. It should be noted as a small one, but the LPS I work at (well its a barter system so not really work for any money) gives me viv supplies for free to only a few bucks. The genus does not matter so much as long as it can live in less than a 10 gallon worth of space. The species I was most interested in would be the Nhandu genus as a whole and I am still looking at various other NW species and gathering info about them. I should have the genuses or species narrowed down within a few hours.

Keep in mind there are many species (Nhandu does come to mind along with Acanthoscurria) that will or can, basically destroy plant life, either by digging them up or mulching the leaves, which can lead to a lot of extra work (and frustrations).

Ashton · Oct 11, 2014

Duly noted.

---------- Post added 10-11-2014 at 10:44 AM ----------

So I have given this plenty of thought and I have narrowed it down to a Theraphosa spp, Nhandu chromatus and Nhandu coloratovillosis. The only problem is a T. stirmi at around 4-5" is practically out of my budget of almost nothing. IF I managed to get an Exo-Terra terrarium or an acrylic one I would certainly have the spider(s) needed but it is not so simple because the cages are rather expensive.

Fyrwulf · Oct 11, 2014

Honestly, with your budget you aren't going to be able to do a vivarium. Well, if you go through craigslist and take a long time to piece everything together, you might be able to. A terrarium setup would be a lot cheaper and easier.

Ashton · Oct 11, 2014

Fyrwulf said:
Honestly, with your budget you aren't going to be able to do a vivarium. Well, if you go through craigslist and take a long time to piece everything together, you might be able to. A terrarium setup would be a lot cheaper and easier.

I don't believe your statement is true. I have the supplies at hand if I do need them its the T that I need.

Fyrwulf · Oct 12, 2014

Ashton said:
I don't believe your statement is true. I have the supplies at hand if I do need them its the T that I need.

Okay, let's take a look at this.

Exo-Terra Medium Wide: 150.00
Exo Terra Bio Drain Substrate (2): 15.00
Exo Terra Bio Drain Mesh: 3.00
NEHerp Vivarium Substrate (6x1g): 39.00
NEHerp Leaf Litter: 6.00
Exo Terra 18x18 Sim Rock Background (2): 36.00
Exo Terra 24x18 Sim Rock Background: 25.00
NEHerp Show Grade Cork Tube: 30.00

Basic Setup Total: 304.00

Some sort of vine for the rock background: 3.00
Shade plant: 10.00
Moss: 16.00
Springtail Culture: 5.00
Isopod Culture: 10.00

Flora and Fauna Total: 44.00 plus your T

Hamilton Fiji Sun 6x24w T5 w/ LED moonlight: 184.00
Coralife Power Center Dual: 40.00
Exo Terra Monsoon: 170.00

Lighting and Misting Total: 394.00

That's $742 without your T. Of course, that's retail without any sales and there's probably places you can cut corners or get stuff for free. But it's not going to get too much cheaper.

Hobo · Oct 12, 2014

^Haha, it needn't be that expensive, not even close. A lot of that junk isn't even needed for a tarantula vivarium.

Anyway OP, of the species you listed, all of them will pull, dig up, and bury things like plants that they deem to be in the way (and these things will eventually be in the way at some time or another). They are huge bulldozers and in a relatively small 10 gallon tank, they will eventually get their fangs around those things. So, the best advice I can give you is to provide a more burrow centric enclosure if you are thinking of those species. With these species, the more extensive and deep their "burrow", the less likely they will mess with things outside of it that isn't directly around their entrance. If you have no experience keeping these species, it may take you a while to get a feel for how they like their burrows/hides and where to place things so that they will be less likely to bother with them.

As for other NWs good for a vivarium, have you considered the arboreal ones?
Avics will work, though they may choke out some plants by excessive webbing. Strategic placement of web anchors and plants can alleviate this problem.
Psalmopoeus, provided with a good hide, will leave everything that isn't associated with it alone and relatively web free for the most part.

Fyrwulf · Oct 12, 2014

Hobo said:
^Haha, it needn't be that expensive, not even close. A lot of that junk isn't even needed for a tarantula vivarium.

I think I acknowledged that. There's always sales somewhere on the net, you can get a lot of stuff used from Craigslist or elsewhere, if not free or in trade if you know the right people, etc.

And I'm curious as to your definition of needed. The point of a vivarium is to provide a suitable habitat for your animal while itself being pretty enough to be a display piece in your living room.

Hobo · Oct 12, 2014

Fyrwulf said:
I'm curious as to your definition of needed. The point of a vivarium is to provide a suitable habitat for your animal while itself being pretty enough to be a display piece in your living room.

Correct.

My definition of need is the items required for the tarantula, and the associated plants and animals that will be in the vivarium.
You do not need the monsoon period, or the power center. You can use a very simple light fixture for lighting as it's doubtful very specialized plants will be used. Most of those decorations can be found significantly cheaper, as you mentioned, through other avenues, or even made relatively easily yourself. Substrate can come at a fraction of the price from non pet brands in gardening/nursery stores. A drainage layer wouldn't be necessary or advised given the burrowing nature of his chosen species, so we can do away with the mesh and drain substrate.

This represents a significant amount of money.

You do not need an Exoterra monsoon, Coralife power center, needlessly expensive light fixture, over priced exoterra brand decorations, show quality(?) corkbark, or even an exo terra tank to have something beautiful and function as a suitable, naturalistic habitat.

pyro fiend · Oct 12, 2014

Fyrwulf said:
I think I acknowledged that. There's always sales somewhere on the net, you can get a lot of stuff used from Craigslist or elsewhere, if not free or in trade if you know the right people, etc.

And I'm curious as to your definition of needed. The point of a vivarium is to provide a suitable habitat for your animal while itself being pretty enough to be a display piece in your living room.

what he ment was alot of that most of us wouldnt put in a tank like the monsoon. id never be cought dead. id rather spritz or use a fogger [diy or not] then a monsoon also the leaf litter, not all of us would use that either. alot of people just use coco/dirt and keep the plants in pots. no fals bottoms, no moon lights, just good ol fashioned dirt and natural window lights.. also a background always best. a few background plants, or even a few hours of foam and paint can save tons of money also most of us dont use "show grade cork" just your good ol run of the mill cork plus i dont think everyone agrees with a exo, i personally dont care for them especially the 24"-36" type ones.. id much rather get a 20gallon or 55 or even make my own with glass saving $100+ on cage alone... just my $0.02...

your hearts in the right place, your wallet? not so much

alot of that is just way off the wall "my tanks better then yours" items IMO

and hobo beat me gah lol

Ashton · Oct 12, 2014

Here is everything I have right now: glass 10 gallon aquarium, 12 bricks of coco fiber, 1 40 kb bag of vermiculite, 3 bags of 1 cubic feet of peat moss, 3 bags of 1 cubic feet of top soil, 10-12 lbs of cork bark, 3 cubic feet of drainage layer, plastic latace, plant lights we use for starting our garden early, a spray bottle, assorted pothos, a few orchids and some sphagnum.

What I have 100% free access to: what would be considered show quality cork bark, any vivarium plant I want that they have, the help of Dave, a 20+ year T keeper that breeds dart frogs, makes vivariums and is a vet, and lots of time for constructing things.

I kid you not when I say all of that. And in total it has costed me about $45 and that was only because I needed a 10 gal and some plasctic lattice. The soil, vermiculite and peat are for the garden as are the lights. I ask for supplies as gifts if people are so inclined to give gifts.

The point of this thread was to ask which kind of T I should get for a viv, not how I should construct it, where to get supplies or the overall expense. Now the Ts I am thinking about are:
A. purpurea, T. stirmi, N. chromatus or N. coloratovillosus. I prefer terrestrial. The real trick is getting something ready to fit in the ten. A different LPS always has stirmis at between $70-100 for 4-8" specimines but they like to feed mice and not give appropriate care.

Biollantefan54 · Oct 12, 2014

You could do a Holothele incei communal.

Ashton · Oct 12, 2014

Biollantefan54 said:
You could do a Holothele incei communal.

Okay now how many would I want in there? How much would they be (average idea of cost for x amount)? Should I get slings and keep them in a KK? Should I get juvies?

Biollantefan54 · Oct 12, 2014

Sorry, I don't know the answers to some of those questions. Slings are only 15-25 dollars though. If they aren't from the same sac and haven't lived together than it may be difficult to do it. If done correctly though I think it would look awesome.

Beary Strange · Oct 12, 2014

Biollantefan54 said:
Sorry, I don't know the answers to some of those questions. Slings are only 15-25 dollars though. If they aren't from the same sac and haven't lived together than it may be difficult to do it. If done correctly though I think it would look awesome.

I've actually seen them for $10 lately. I do think slings need to be started off in an appropriately small container though. Whereas I believe the OP has something bigger ready, and that he wants filled ASAP--or at least that's the impression I get.

Something that likes water might be good (given the need to water the plants). An A.geniculata maybe. They have the advantage of being out on display quite a lot as well.

Good NW Species for Viv?

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