T. blondi setup advice

I finally got myself a blondi! Now, here's the question - how does this setup look? This is my first species that requires high humidity, and I've stayed away from humid species for a simple reason. Freaking mold. It's always been an issue with me, and I'm hoping it won't be a huge problem this time around. That's sphagnum moss in the corner, heavily misted. Should I leave the other half of the enclosure bone dry (or at the very least not moisten it), and only focus humidity in that area?

Keep the humidity high, good cross-ventilation and lots of food. You can avoid mold with good ventilation.

- The odds are 99% you have a stirmi, not blondi. Which is good, as stirmi are hardier. Blondi are rare, expensive, and delicate.

- What do you have for substrate? I don't like the looks of it, seems too dry. I use bagged top soil for all my T's. Holds moisture better.

- You don't want to mist Theraphosa, it'll send the hairs airborne. The substrate needs to provide moisture; randomly sprinkle water on it periodically. There shouldn't be any dry substrate in the cage. I live in Florida and don't have mold issues. If you do, you need to have a fan going in the room. I have ceiling fans and a fan-powered air cleaner (Germ Guard). Air movement in the room is part of the ventilation equation.

- You don't need air holes in the lid; hopefully you have put any there. That's part of creating a humid microclimate. If you made holes there, cover them. Holes on the sides allow cross ventilation, which keeps things fresher.

- I'd take out the moss as the spider may not like walking on it, and that takes a big dent out of the available floor space. If you want a moss content, mix some in with top soil.

- Substrate needs to be deeper, the spider can fall off the sides and split it's abdomen on the pot and water bowl.

- You really should have disposable water bowls; they regularly crap in them, and throw boluses in them. Totally disgusting. Unless you want to be scrubbing that bowl and constantly fighting bacteria build up, it's much easier to just put in a new one. I use 3 oz soufflé cups for all my big spiders. I buy them by the sleeve from local restaurant supply stores (Gordon Foods). Even my stirmi slings crap in their water bowls almost every week. Nature of the beast. Water bowls should be sunk into the substrate, not sitting on top of it.

- I use 3" diameter PVC elbows as hides for my big Theraphosa. They use them.

You know, I knew that about blondi vs. stirmi, but it was labeled as a blondi and this dealer hasn't been wrong in the past. However, after looking at several threads on this forum, I believe you may be right. Regardless, it was a great deal at $50.

I'm using cocofiber, and I know, horrible at holding humidity. I've used organic topsoil for some of my burrowers in the past, but that particular brand and style has been hard to find lately. As soon as I find it, I plan on changing out the substrate.

Great point on misting, I'll stick with using my syringe. I have a ceiling fan going in this room almost 24/7, and yet mold is still an issue. It's just beyond me how more people don't have issues with this. I just need to keep an eye on this for awhile.

The water bowl is actually similar to what you described - it's one of those plastic things you put on the bottom of pots for water overflow. There's actually two in there: one to hold it in place, the other to swap out when it gets dirty.

I put a 1" layer of the moss under 3" of top substrate for all my moisture dependent species.It allows for high humidity,while also allowing me to keep half the upper substrate damp,and half a little drier.The stirmis usually sit in the middle.I always keep a full water dish.I use the plastic lids off 1 gal. containers that I get for free from a local diner.They are 4" across,so they dissipate well.Crickets that fall in can simply walk out of them.I just toss them when they get nasty.Before I started using this set up,I was dumping water into cages every day because our winters are so brutally dry.The cages were still dry most of the time.Now,it's much easier to maintain humidity with the water bowl and weekly watering of the underlying moss. . y

EulersK said:

You know, I knew that about blondi vs. stirmi, but it was labeled as a blondi and this dealer hasn't been wrong in the past. However, after looking at several threads on this forum, I believe you may be right. Regardless, it was a great deal at $50.

I'm using cocofiber, and I know, horrible at holding humidity. I've used organic topsoil for some of my burrowers in the past, but that particular brand and style has been hard to find lately. As soon as I find it, I plan on changing out the substrate.

Great point on misting, I'll stick with using my syringe. I have a ceiling fan going in this room almost 24/7, and yet mold is still an issue. It's just beyond me how more people don't have issues with this. I just need to keep an eye on this for awhile.

The water bowl is actually similar to what you described - it's one of those plastic things you put on the bottom of pots for water overflow. There's actually two in there: one to hold it in place, the other to swap out when it gets dirty.

Click to expand...

Vermiculite is great for holding humidity as well, and you don't have to concern yourself with mold

I've had my Stirmi in the same tank for a year now, with changing the sub once and haven't had any problems with mold. They like damp substrate, and high humidity. They like lots of plants and cover. Just make sure you have enough ventilation. Have fun! Great species


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Thanks for the advice, all. I definitely need substrate that holds humidity more. She doesn't appear to be stressed in the least, but she's pretty much camped out on top of the moss, which tells me she wants the higher humidity. I'll be changing this out tomorrow, second time's the charm.