Climbing and screen vents

And I now know why hobbyists avoid screens like the plague. Below is my enclosure, and by the title, you can gather what I'm about to say. My A. chalcodes has suddenly decided that it's an arboreal. I've had this T for going on half a year now, and up until a few days ago, it never once (to my knowledge) showed any interest in climbing. Now, I wouldn't usually worry about this too much - what you see in the pic is where he is 95% of the time. Even if he does climb, the fall wouldn't be bad due to a lack of height. He happily eats, is very docile, and is actually one of the easiest spiders I have in terms of care. But the little bugger keeps climbing and getting its feet stuck in the screen. Not the entire foot, mind you, but the little claw on each end of the foot. Last night, it got all but two feet stuck, and I actually had to take a pin and unhook the claws from the screen to get him down. If this keeps up, I know he's going to lose a leg.

Any tips on how to deter this behavior? I'm really at a loss with this one. I considered buying plastic vents from a hardware store and replacing them, but they're super glued (or something), and I'm not sure if I'd be able to get them all off.

Pretty T! This is why I always drill holes. It may take longer, but I never have to worry. You can't discourage them IMO. However, what you could do is drill out those vents using a hole saw, and put in larger vents.

You can't stop the behavior, and that's why I don't use screen tops. I think multiple small holes are definitely better. And really, all those screen disks in you cage ruin most of the microclimate effect, too much airflow. The spider is subject to far too much as far as hot and cold drafts, fumes, odors, etc. I think vent holes work best on the sides.

I've been replacing the metal screen vents in my acrylic enclosures with plastic vents (http://roundvents.com/25-round-white-plastic-vent-PLW-100-25.htm). They restrict the airflow a bit more, and the Ts don't seem to get their feet stuck. Also, larger Ts can chew through the wire mesh, which makes them an escape risk, so even more reason to change them out. Could you use a utility knife to break the seal and get the vent out?

I agree completely with Viper69 and Poec54 in that the drilled/burned holes are much more practical. No worries of stuck feet and escape, and you have better control of the interior climate. If I buy any more of these "fancy" enclosures in the future, I won't be grabbing ones with large vents.

Agree with everyone, I only ever used a screen vent once with an A.versi sling, it didn't just get stuck though it got OUT -_- Vent holes are better, you can find someway to block those vents and then drill new holes in the sides

Actually a method I use which I find quite effective is using a soldering iron to make holes, you are far less likely to break or damage the container with this than with a drill. However you need to leave time for the plastic to dry and the fumes to dissipate, around half a day should suffice

SuzukiSwift said:

Actually a method I use which I find quite effective is using a soldering iron to make holes, you are far less likely to break or damage the container with this than with a drill. However you need to leave time for the plastic to dry and the fumes to dissipate, around half a day should suffice

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Soldering irons are my 'tool of choice' (not soldering guns, which are much hotter). I have a ceiling fan on when I use it, and odors are gone in less than an hour.

Poec54 said:

Soldering irons are my 'tool of choice' (not soldering guns, which are much hotter). I have a ceiling fan on when I use it, and odors are gone in less than an hour.

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And if you don't own a soldering iron, use a pair of pliers to hold a nail in your stove flame and use that heated nail to burn holes in the container. It won't go as quickly as with the soldering iron, but it has the same effect.

klawfran3 said:

And if you don't own a soldering iron, use a pair of pliers to hold a nail in your stove flame and use that heated nail to burn holes in the container. It won't go as quickly as with the soldering iron, but it has the same effect.

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I think soldering irons are about $10, so there's not much need to fool around with nails and open flames.

Poec54 said:

You can't stop the behavior, and that's why I don't use screen tops. I think multiple small holes are definitely better. And really, all those screen disks in you cage ruin most of the microclimate effect, too much airflow. The spider is subject to far too much as far as hot and cold drafts, fumes, odors, etc. I think vent holes work best on the sides.

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+1 My Nhandu chromatus sits on the wall of her 10g cage more than some of my arboreal's. Spiders like to climb I guess, I need to give her a lid 'not screen sometime.

Tomoran said:

I've been replacing the metal screen vents in my acrylic enclosures with plastic vents (http://roundvents.com/25-round-white-plastic-vent-PLW-100-25.htm). They restrict the airflow a bit more, and the Ts don't seem to get their feet stuck. Also, larger Ts can chew through the wire mesh, which makes them an escape risk, so even more reason to change them out. Could you use a utility knife to break the seal and get the vent out?

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This is exactly what I was looking for. Like I said, I know now that screen vents are a no-no, but this is literally the first T enclosure I ever bought. I have since taken to burning holes in all my enclosures, but I needed a solution for this particular spider. Thank you so much!

Are there places to buy these acrylic enclosures without the screens already in them? Everywhere I've seen, they come prebuilt with the screens in them.


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EulersK said:

This is exactly what I was looking for. Like I said, I know now that screen vents are a no-no, but this is literally the first T enclosure I ever bought. I have since taken to burning holes in all my enclosures, but I needed a solution for this particular spider. Thank you so much!

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My pleasure. I've ordered from Roundvents.com several times without issue. I actually keep a bunch of these vents on hand for when I make my own enclosures, but after catching my L. itabunae chewing through a vent, I used them to alter that enclosure.

Spaceblues said:

Are there places to buy these acrylic enclosures without the screens already in them? Everywhere I've seen, they come prebuilt with the screens in them.


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There are probably some place that will do custom work, ie work with you regarding this issue.

klawfran3 said:

And if you don't own a soldering iron, use a pair of pliers to hold a nail in your stove flame and use that heated nail to burn holes in the container. It won't go as quickly as with the soldering iron, but it has the same effect.

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I used to do that too haha I had my 'special nail' and pliers to hold them with the lighter before I got the soldering iron

SuzukiSwift said:

I used to do that too haha I had my 'special nail' and pliers to hold them with the lighter before I got the soldering iron

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Yup, I had hair-free knuckles for quite a while. My soldering iron was definitely $9 well spent.