Tarantula Enclosure problem.

[CornSnakeMan]

When I visit other tarantula message boards they say you dont need a big enclosure for tarantulas but I think otherwise. Tarantulas should have as much room as you possibly can provide, I'm not saying really really big but pretty big that it could have a nice walk around the tank or whatever because what I think is that since they came from the wild and had alot of room to roam around hunting for food and I just dont think its enough and when people put their spiderlings in a pill vial I guess its ok but when they get bigger please people lets put them in a large petpal then a big tank depending on how big it is. I dont want to start any arguments or anything I just wanted to express my feelings on the subject.

Thanks for Reading

[Colonel SB]

I just want to add a thing to your post, you must be carefull when making a large enclosure especally for terrestrial species, to large a habitat can lead to fall accidents. Plus large females tend not to wander too far from thier burows so if the enclosure is too large it may lead to problems finding food.

I am all for natural enclosure and I myself keep my T's in cages a little larger but you must think about the safty and health of your spider .

[Tim and Julie B]

Colonel SB: What size do you generally keep them in? Fall accidents? should you not have stuff for them to climb on? Just a couple questions, Thanks.

[Vanan]

I would have to agree with SB too. Adult females don't tend to "roam" in te wild. Most will use the same burrows for years. As for males on the other hand, they would probably like more roaming space cos of the instinct to breed. Just my two cents.

[Colonel SB]

Yeah any of the larger ground dwelling species ie: terrestrial, can not live though a fall mopre then 1 or 2 inches, thier abdomains are very easily to tear. Most of mine are in tupperwear of some sort or another...the large arboreals are in glass tanks 5.5 gallon hex's to be exact. When you have 2500 specimens you need to conserve space lol. I remeber reading one artice in the ATS(American Tarantula Society) that in the wild one female T.blondi which they studied for 5 years did not move more then 2 feet from the entrance of her burrow over the entire time of the study. Just to give you an idea about thier activivty levels, so if you want to do them a favour give'em a large burrow and they will be happy...Just a side note it has been proven that Tarantula eyes are very primative and they can only seen vague shaps and in B&W, so basically they can only see movment. Hope this was of some use.