Misting.

Just wondering guys i have been questioning my misting scheduled with my arboreal tarantulas these include

Avicularia purpurea.
Poecilotheria regalis.
Poecilotheria formosa.
Avicularia laeta.

Is once a week enough i allow the enclosure to dry before re misting all have water bowls in there enclosures aswell.

Don't mist the Avics. They need it dry, despite what most online caresheets may say. Good cross- ventilation and dry conditions. Moist cages can kill Avics fast.

With avics, you should only mist occasionally, and very lightly, on their silk. Aside from that, your substrate should be dry with a water dish for drinking/humidity. That's what I've heard.

With my Pokies I mist only when the substrate dries out, aside from that I keep a water dish for humidity/drinking.

BobGrill said:

Don't mist the Avics. They need it dry, despite what most online caresheets may say. Good cross- ventilation and dry conditions. Moist cages can kill Avics fast.

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Okay thanks it normally dries out within 24 hours or so but i will stop misting them

You can mist one corner for them to drink from but misting the whole thing is no good.

Angel Minkov said:

With avics, you should only mist occasionally, and very lightly, on their silk. Aside from that, your substrate should be dry with a water dish for drinking/humidity. That's what I've heard.

With my Pokies I mist only when the substrate dries out, aside from that I keep a water dish for humidity/drinking.

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Okay thanks i read up online that pokies will refuse food if there sub is too damp ? i find alot of care sheets send me around in circles...

I am not sure about that. Only my P. metallica has ever refused food (and happens to be my most troublesome sling in 6 years, ugh). My P. regalis/P. ornata are eating fine. My P. rufilata isn't eating, but I'm almost certain she's in premolt.

BobGrill said:

You can mist one corner for them to drink from but misting the whole thing is no good.

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I do normally just give it a couple of sprays over the silk but yeah ill stick to the corners for now thanks for your help.

---------- Post added 01-11-2015 at 06:05 PM ----------

Angel Minkov said:

I am not sure about that. Only my P. metallica has ever refused food (and happens to be my most troublesome sling in 6 years, ugh). My P. regalis/P. ornata are eating fine. My P. rufilata isn't eating, but I'm almost certain she's in premolt.

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My p.regalis has a weird eating pattern she refused for a month she molted then she took a roach like 3 weeks later and now she hasn't eaten since,shes pushing on a good 8 weeks now i know adults dont eat very often but i offer to her every 2 weeks or so.

Duckaay said:

I do normally just give it a couple of sprays over the silk but yeah ill stick to the corners for now thanks for your help.

---------- Post added 01-11-2015 at 06:05 PM ----------



My p.regalis has a weird eating pattern she refused for a month she molted then she took a roach like 3 weeks later and now she hasn't eaten since,shes pushing on a good 8 weeks now i know adults dont eat very often but i offer to her every 2 weeks or so.

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Misting the silk works too, I wasn't sure if yours had a web established yet.

BobGrill said:

Misting the silk works too, I wasn't sure if yours had a web established yet.

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yeah pretty much most of the containers they are in .

Duckaay said:

i find alot of care sheets send me around in circles...

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Don't ever rely on care-sheets for your info....they are unreliable, at best and cause more trouble than they solve in many cases. Number specific humidity and specific temps are the most common poor advice they offer.

Like Angel said, just a very light mist (I use a syringe) on the webbing once a week or so is all that's needed. Glad you have water dishes, that's good.

cold blood said:

Don't ever rely on care-sheets for your info....they are unreliable, at best and cause more trouble than they solve in many cases. Number specific humidity and specific temps are the most common poor advice they offer.

Like Angel said, just a very light mist (I use a syringe) on the webbing once a week or so is all that's needed. Glad you have water dishes, that's good.

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I second the use of the syringe. Much more precise and controlled. It also prevents accidentally misting the T while trying to mist the silk, and let me tell you, they really don't like that.

Duckaay said:

Okay thanks it normally dries out within 24 hours or so but i will stop misting them

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Pay attention to the rate at which your water dish dries out, that'll let you know how arid your conditions might be

---------- Post added 01-12-2015 at 02:39 PM ----------

of course not letting it dry out lol, wrong use of words, watch the rate of evaporation

What do you guys think about my misting regiment for my T's.

1x Avicularia Avicularia UJ semi- heavy misting weekly then allow the substrate to dry out completely and stay dry for the rest of the week
1x Avicularia Minatrix J same
1x Avicularia Versicolor S same
1x Avicularia Laeta S same
1x Avicularia Purpea S same
1x Acanthoscurria Geniculata IF same (waterbowl)
1x Aphonopelma Hentzi S light misting weekly in half of the enclosure for water droplets then allow the substrate to dry completely
1x Brachypelma Smithi UJ no misting (waterbowl)
1x Brachypelma Albopilosum S light misting in a section of the enclosure weekly then allow the substrate to dry out completely
1x Brachypelma Albopilosum MM no misting (waterbowl)
1x Brachypelma Vagans UJ no misting (waterbowl)
1x Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens S light misting in a section of the enclosure weekly
1x Ceratogyrus Marshalli S light misting weekly
1x Chilobrachys sp. Kamphon Thom S misting weekly
1x Grammostola Rosea IM no misting (waterbowl)
1x Hapalopus sp. Colombia Lg. 1/4 inch S misting weekly
2x Hapalopus sp. Colombia Lg. 1.5 inch S light misting weekly
8x Nhandu Chromatus 2nd instar S misting in the enclosures weekly for drinking water and ontop of the enclosures several times a week for humidity in the air
1x Psalmopoeus Irminia S weekly misting
1x Poecilotheria Striata weekly misting
1x Phterinochilus Murinus light misting in a section of the enclosure
1x Theraphosa Stirmi MF misting every other day (I have her in a standard 40 gallon so it dries out quickly) (waterbowl)
1x Thrixopelma Ockerti MU light misting ( waterbowl)
2x T violeceus S weekly misting

I apologize for my long disorganized descriptions lol

T's without the (water bowl) have no water bowl currently. I mist their webbing and sides of their enclosures to form water droplets instead. However, I am planning on adding water bowls soon.

I have also had problems with my 2nd instar N. chromatus dying for unknown reasons. They were being fed large meals at least weekly ontop of their regular misting.

I think you mist more than I would.

I'd have to agree with cold blood here. I'd say misting is only for species such as Theraphosa, Hysterocrates, Pamphos etc, because they need higher humidity levels. The way you mist could kill your avics really quickly, I think.

Thx for the responses guys. I don't ever flood the enclosures or mist them so that they stay humid for more than a day or two. And I am careful to remove bolus's. I also try to overkill it with my ventilation in avic enclosures when I can so when Imist I do not keep it is not overly stagnant air. To my knowledge this is what kills avics, not necessarily high humidity for short periods of time. I could be wrong. As previously stated, I mist well weekly to allow water droplets to form for drinking and then allow the enclosures to dry. So 5 out of the 7 days of the week, the avics are kept fairly dry. I was actually concerned more with a lack of humidity, so I am glad to know that at least I don't need to be misting more.

Misting is so pointless as it will just evaporate too quickly to do any good. If you need to raise humidity for any reason, pour a cup of water in the substrate. To provide water for arboreal species, fix a water cup to the side of the enclosure off of the substrate. If it's a small enclosure, just put the water cup in the substrate like a terrestrial. Did and done. I don't know why people mist their spiders like they are plants.

I pour water into the substrate for my more moisture dependent species such as my AF T. stirmi. I also it seems that a waterbowl does not seem to raise humidity high enough to make a difference. It may be because it is more gradual evaporation so it is harder to notice.

ARACHNO-SMACK48 said:

I pour water into the substrate for my more moisture dependent species such as my AF T. stirmi. I also it seems that a waterbowl does not seem to raise humidity high enough to make a difference. It may be because it is more gradual evaporation so it is harder to notice.

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I've come to prefer drops of water randomly throughout the enclosure for my more humid species. I don't want to have to worry about mold if I flood the sub.