natural vs plain(non natural) setups

P. Novak · Nov 13, 2005

how many of you prefer Natural setups over plain and original setups( not looking natural setups) or vise versa?

<EDIT> omg once again in the wrong part of the forum what am i thinking! move this to where its most appropraite. :wall:

juggalo69 · Nov 13, 2005

I started out liking the natural setups. But they are expensive and hard to maintain, especially the bigger your collection gets. Now I go with simplistic but functional.

Hedorah99 · Nov 13, 2005

I prefer the natural setups but i do agree they become expensive and hard to maintain. I only have three right now (A. avic, A. seemani, and E. pachypus) and only the avix is ever really seen. I do intend to have all my arboreals in natural setups, i.e. display tanks. the rest will most likely be in their sterilte containers but will prolly have real plants just to help them have places t hide and increase the humidity.

subminimal · Nov 19, 2005

Hedorah99 said:
I prefer the natural setups but i do agree they become expensive and hard to maintain. I only have three right now (A. avic, A. seemani, and E. pachypus) and only the avix is ever really seen. I do intend to have all my arboreals in natural setups, i.e. display tanks. the rest will most likely be in their sterilte containers but will prolly have real plants just to help them have places t hide and increase the humidity.

What kind of plants are you using? I have always been under the impression that low light conditions are better, and many plants don't go for that idea. I have an A. Seemani and am looking for ways to increase humidity and give it a natural look. Do you have pictures you could post?

ColdBloodedOne · Nov 19, 2005

Plants

not sure about tarantula tanks as I am new to this. But Iused to use pothos in lots of my tropical tanks. They grow like crazy and if they get uprooted they will reroot thereselves. Low light does not hurt them.

ColdBloodedOne · Nov 19, 2005

Photo of Plants.

Not a great one. But an example.

subminimal · Nov 19, 2005

ColdBloodedOne said:
not sure about tarantula tanks as I am new to this. But Iused to use pothos in lots of my tropical tanks. They grow like crazy and if they get uprooted they will reroot thereselves. Low light does not hurt them.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to track one down around here. I have one of the 12" cube exo terra glass terrariums and want to get it as close to natural as possible. It's kind of tough since I'm not 100% sure on the A. Seemani's natural habitat, but I'm trying to use my imagination. I figured plants would help keep the humidity levels up and give those poor little crickets a fighting chance by providing some cover!

YouLosePayUp · Nov 19, 2005

subminimal said:
Thanks for the info. I'll try to track one down around here. I have one of the 12" cube exo terra glass terrariums and want to get it as close to natural as possible. It's kind of tough since I'm not 100% sure on the A. Seemani's natural habitat, but I'm trying to use my imagination. I figured plants would help keep the humidity levels up and give those poor little crickets a fighting chance by providing some cover!

crix and fighting chance aren't sposed to be used in the same sentence lol. personally mine are wounded before they go in the enclosure as I use tweezers for each and every cricket that goes into any enclosure. Next we'll be hearing about cricket boot camp and such to make them tougher lmao. Sometimes if I'm having a real hard time catching just one cricket i put the lid back on and shake the ever loving hell outta them so they are dazed too. I was even joking to my fiance tonight that right before I go feed the tarantulas I should call the animal cruelty hotline and say "I'm planning on the mass murder of about 80 living animals and that this will be happening within the next hour or so" but I reminded myself how well people in authority places can take a joke lol

DragonMaiden · Nov 19, 2005

I like natural. I dont think its expensive at all. I buy jungle mix and that does a few of my tanks I also add it to organic soil that I buy bulk. I buy cheap plants and viola I have a natural setting. I think my T's like it too. They are always out and about for the most part. The most expensive thing I bought was a humidifier for my scorps I paid 15.00 for it and used a hose I had that goes on the tank. Went to the local flea market and picked up timers for 2.00. I love a bargain!

Jmadson13 · Nov 19, 2005

It's kind of a mix between the two at this point. Though I do prefer natural setups.

Cirith Ungol · Nov 20, 2005

Once I go a step further with my interior tank design (that is when all T's have reached maximum size) I will go with a fake everything interior in order to go with a compromize between looks and maintenance.

fscorpion · Nov 20, 2005

I just hate non-natural setups...its just not normal to see plastic and other stuff in a terrarius where you are supposed to keep animals from the wild. I also don;t think its expensive...of course, its less expensive to keep your animals in a terrarium with some peat moss and a plastic container for water, but that is something horrible for me. I collect all the material I need in the wild (stones, cork, pieces of wood, some plants) and it turns out very cheap

and I think my animals are more happy this way...and if you ever tried to give them a choice between a plastic hide and a natural one made out of stones or cork, they will always choose the natural one!

Mattyb · Nov 20, 2005

I like the look of natural setups but the plain original ones are easier to maintain and keep clean IMO.

-Matty

bonesmama · Nov 20, 2005

I tried a natural setup, but it was a PIA,imho. None of the plants thrived, and I ended up adding plastic plants. I'm also paranoid about mold and mites, and in a tank that has alot of stuff it's easy to lose a cricket or it's parts. Now I keep it simple, just what the T needs, no frills.

Anthony · Nov 20, 2005

I think their is a time factor as well as the size of your collection to consider.Natural tanks look great of course, but it is up to the individual keeper

Mattyb · Nov 20, 2005

I think that a person who just has a few Ts can easily maintain a natural setup, but when a person has 20, 30, 40+ Ts like prolly most of us do then it takes alot of work to maintain natural setups. I'll stick with the plain ones.

-Matty

PhormictopusMan · Nov 20, 2005

Hmm, I think my setups are natural, but they aren't as much work as I think some people think. They are natural but simple. Usually its peat and bed-a-beast for a substrate. Peat mostly mixed at the top, with a piece of cork bark--Not a big deal. Sometimes I will add a baked piece of wood which I can get by the bulk when I go hiking. This, I would use for anything I was displaying. I'm not saying I would use it for an inventory of slings.

--Chris

Mattyb · Nov 20, 2005

PhormictopusMan said:
Hmm, I think my setups are natural, but they aren't as much work as I think some people think. They are natural but simple. Usually its peat and bed-a-beast for a substrate. Peat mostly mixed at the top, with a piece of cork bark--Not a big deal. Sometimes I will add a baked piece of wood which I can get by the bulk when I go hiking. This, I would use for anything I was displaying. I'm not saying I would use it for an inventory of slings.

--Chris

Yeah in a few of my tanks i have a piece of cork bark and some fake leaves but if someone is dealing with live plants then its prolly not going to be that easy to maintain unless you only have a few natural tank setups IMO. Maybe someone can posts some pics of their setups and explain what they have done so we can all see how maintain one...just a thought

-Matty

Rabid Flea · Nov 20, 2005

Well I personally use a happy mix of the two. I keep things simplistic by using fake plants for ease of cleaning (comes in handy with the poo shooters) and making things look natural. I have quite a nice setup for my breeding avics done cheaply with artificial plants from Michaels arts and crafts, bed a beast and cork bark. They are quite pleased and the whole thing cost me under 20 bucks.

old...

new...

tarsier · Nov 20, 2005

Mattyb said:
I think that a person who just has a few Ts can easily maintain a natural setup, but when a person has 20, 30, 40+ Ts like prolly most of us do then it takes alot of work to maintain natural setups. I'll stick with the plain ones.

-Matty

i agree. i use (or at least try to use) as natural a set-up as i can as i only have a few enclosures to maintain. that having been said, i only have a live plant in one set-up. the others just contain substrate, moss and rocks or driftwood

natural vs plain(non natural) setups

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