Improving air quility arboreals.

[Seekeroftruth]

So i live in a city, kind of. Nothing like new York City but still the air quality is far from optimal and indoors supposedly is worse.

I was reading that if the environmental conditions is not preferable to the tarantula, they will try to postpone molting. Not to mention the death of one of my slings after smoking a couple of ciggerettes in my t room. Also the air quality indoors tends to be worse than outside.

I was wondering if anyone has noticed quicker molts (specifically with slings) by using a air purifier with hepa filter or routinely opening windows? I used to own an air purifier with hepa filter and personally felt the differences. I would imagine t's, especially arboreal ones, would benefit greatly from this. Im not sure however, how drastic of a difference it would make. Instead of windows in my T room, i have a sliding glass door, without a screen unfortunately. I'm trying to make a habit of opening the doors once per day, but due to bugs outside that's it for now, unless someone shares that they have had noticeable quicker molts by doing so. The cost of a hospital quality air purifier is high, so i would want to know there would be noticeable quicker molts before making that kind of investment.

 

[Casey K.]

I feel that the overall health of your tarantulas is much more important than their molt cycle because as stated, the health of your spider has a lot to do with their molt process and how quickly they molt. I power feed mine (depending on species and whether or not they are breeding projects). I have noticed that if you keep your substrate damp and keep your temps warm along with power feeding that they will molt more often. The air quality may actually effect how often your spiders molt but my thought on this is that when a tarantula is in distress for any reason they would want to molt out of the conditions they are in....shedding the old exoskeleton to remove the bad sh**. I am not a smoker. The air quality around me isn't bad (until summer time when it gets super hot and dust/pollen come around but nothing close to "pollution" level). If it were me, I would buy the air purifier. Your tarantulas would be forever grateful and 100% appreciate you not smoking in their room. Treat them the same way you would take care of anything else important in your life...like your own kids if you have any (how I treat mine except I don't put my kids in a terrarium and feed them insects, lol). My spiders are my babies.

 

[Seekeroftruth]

I've been thinking that a t's molting could be a sign of health. My slings that gain the most size per molt, just so happen to be the ones that make the most webbing or tunnels. It could be assumed that the slower growing ones are females but i don't think female slings would make less webbing or less elaborate tunnels. Some molt more often than others although i don't keep the best of records on that. Just some observations ive noticed with my slings.

I definately want my slings grow to juveniles so they will be more hardy (and because im impatient... Cant help it).

Im going to look into getting that air purifier. It's especially going to be useful when it starts getting cold because i won't want to open the door/ windows at that point.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Casey K.]

You're very welcome! Also, if you want them to grow quicker, crank up the temps to about 78-80. Mist them or keep their substrate damp. Power feed them (I feed mine 3x a week). Make sure there is adequate water in their reservoir and plenty of cross ventilation. Watch how fast they grow!