Do you guys approve this enclosure for an A. avicularia?

[KodiakWavingBear]

So, sudden shift in what I was going to get. I was going for either G. pulchripes or A. anax, but when I went back to my local pet store I saw they had A. avicularia and was blown away from its colors so I bought it. I already had this enclosure ready just in case I saw an arboreal that I wanted. Plenty of holes for ventilation as I saw that many keepers emphasized that when it comes to avicularia. The coco fiber on the bottom is pretty dry, might be a little moist now because some of the water fell off the water dish. is a bottle cap too small of a water dish? Do you guys prefer to have it on the floor is it okay glued up on the side? Is the enclosure too big? It seems to be 1.5-2inch DLS. Any critique is welcomed. Thanks!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Looks good to me .
You just have too see if the dish works or not.

 

[fcat]

They will probably end up webbing to the top, even making a little hammock there. You'll end up destroying it every time you pop the lid. I would recommend a front open for adults and as slings/juvies inverted AMAC style boxes (Google amac box then picture it upside down)

You've got the most important parts covered though

 

[viper69]

Water dish!

 

[KodiakWavingBear]

Water dish!

I have a bottle cap glued to the side do u think it’s too small?

 

[Niss]

Nothing wrong with it as an enclosure---as others have said, it's best to avoid top opening arrangements with arboreals as they will tend to web-up at the top and you'll interfere with them more ripping webbing when they anchor to the top. If you get lucky and she makes a tube further down this may not be an issue, but something to keep in mind for a rehouse regardless.

I don't have experience with Avicularia specifically, but do keep a Caribena versicolor which I understand most people keep the same way. I do have a water dish in there, and it's on the ground, and I have seen her drink from it although she generally doesn't go down to the ground much so I'm likely going to glue it to the side or the corkbark higher up. Not sure it will matter.

I do however keep her basically dry. I never specifically water the substrate. I aim for maximum cross-ventilation, and because I can never be sure if she's finding the water dish at the bottom, I do spray some water onto the webbing every few days which she definitely does come up and drink from. Even completely dry, I've had no issues with moulting or anything else, even in the dead heart of Ontario winters when the furnace is going full bore and the humidity in the house is very low FWIW. They seem very hardy based on what I've seen of my specimen (I would keep slings a bit more humid, were that in the cards).

I keep her in a Exo Terra Nano tall (with the screen replaced with ventilated acrylic) and a few months back actually put the cover on it with a good LED light---I avoided that initially thinking it might bother her, but since turning that on during the day I find her up there all the time and she's actually expanded her tube into a cathedral going right to the top. I think it's the bit of heat that comes from it and she's using it to thermoregulate, but whatever...if she likes it, I like it

~N

 

[viper69]

I have a bottle cap glued to the side do u think it’s too small?

Depends on how fast it evaporates. I give deep dishes so don’t have to water frequently

remember they won’t all or always drink from dish!

 

[KodiakWavingBear]

They will probably end up webbing to the top, even making a little hammock there. You'll end up destroying it every time you pop the lid. I would recommend a front open for adults and as slings/juvies inverted AMAC style boxes (Google amac box then picture it upside down)

You've got the most important parts covered though

I have the enclosure it came with it was a amac box but I thought it was too small since it was only twice as tall as its length. Rather than three times as much. Maybe I’ll put her back in there but honestly I might just buy those zilla arboreal enclosures since I am now having concerns of ripping her web every time I open her enclosure

 

[cold blood]

Looks fine...I keep my water dishes on the ground.

As for the top opening hate...lol...every single Avic I keep, and in fact, every arboreal I keep, is in a top opening enclosure....its a total non-issue. Its personal preference, nothing more....I despise front opening doors...so to each their own, both work fine.

 

[KodiakWavingBear]

Looks fine...I keep my water dishes on the ground.

As for the top opening hate...lol...every single Avic I keep, and in fact, every arboreal I keep, is in a top opening enclosure....its a total non-issue. Its personal preference, nothing more....I despise front opening doors...so to each their own, both work fine.

Oh I see, well I guess I’ll see how my avic reacts to it. I know Tom Moran usually has a DIY set up like this so maybe if I’m not liking its reaction I’ll change the enclosure. Thanks!
And thanks to everyone who’s replied also!

 

[fcat]

One hill I will die on:

They will die of dehydration before they use a water dish. Meaning I don't trust them to drink out of it. Especially webbing species. It collects and pools water way too well to not be an intentional design lol. I use a syringe and just put a few drops near them, it's usually enough to get a response. My GBBs and psalmos love it (a few of them do use their dishes but I do it anyway) and drink from the web, my avics usually go for the wall, same with my pokies.

I try to keep at least 2 water dishes, one high, one low, and/including an extra decoy dish because they inevitably web over one lol. You will always need to be mindful that it's not spilling into the substrate and making it swampy in there.

Benefit of a smaller enclosure it can find its food and water easy, you can monitor it more closely and more rehouses means more experience, but as long as it can molt safely, the 2x AMAC would suffice for this molt cycle while it's setting up shop.

 

[KodiakWavingBear]

One hill I will die on:

They will die of dehydration before they use a water dish. Meaning I don't trust them to drink out of it. Especially webbing species. It collects and pools water way too well to not be an intentional design lol. I use a syringe and just put a few drops near them, it's usually enough to get a response. My GBBs and psalmos love it (a few of them do use their dishes but I do it anyway) and drink from the web, my avics usually go for the wall, same with my pokies.

I try to keep at least 2 water dishes, one high, one low, and/including an extra decoy dish because they inevitably web over one lol. You will always need to be mindful that it's not spilling into the substrate and making it swampy in there.

Benefit of a smaller enclosure it can find its food and water easy, you can monitor it more closely and more rehouses means more experience, but as long as it can molt safely, the 2x AMAC would suffice for this molt cycle while it's setting up shop.

Ooo ok. Ya I did hear that dripping water in their webs is ideal. And I kinda wanted to wait for it(unsexed) to settle and make webs. I am kinda concerned if it’s too small for the enclosure. On the 4th picture you can see the avic just chillin on the underside of the cork bark.

 

[fcat]

Ooo ok. Ya I did hear that dripping water in their webs is ideal. And I kinda wanted to wait for it(unsexed) to settle and make webs. I am kinda concerned if it’s too small for the enclosure. On the 4th picture you can see the avic just chillin on the underside of the cork bark.

I think you will be okay either way, he's already in one, just leave him and give him some time to settle. They are good hunters and get a significant amount of their moisture requirements met through food. I don't think he will have any trouble hunting in there.

Here are the cheap diy enclosures

THIS LINK IS PURE GOLD but you'll find the pictures too

Link:

The Husbandry of Moisture Dependent Slings

DISCLAIMER: This writeup is specifically for the husbandry of moisture dependent slings and I’m going to be talking about the controversial topic of *humidity*. If you would like to argue about the merits of its application or importance in the husbandry of moisture dependent species, please...

arachnoboards.com

My guy's:

The top water dish I suspended with a zip tie through one of the vent holes.


You can see his lower water dish here:



Haven't tried this myself, I've only used them for terrestrials

Favorite Tarantula enclosures

Hi everyone! I feel like I've scoured the internet trying to find acrylic enclosures or anything without a mesh top for my Arizona Blonde T and I'm on the hunt for a 12Lx8Wx8H and I found a tarantula cribs one with a sliding top and didn't know if there was any more makers besides Tarantula...

arachnoboards.com

Both of these will run you less than $10