Opinions on enclosure size for adult arboreals

[goonius]

I'm looking for opinions on which enclosure to invest in for 4 arboreals that have not yet reached maturity but will soon outgrow their current digs; a P gigas, T violaceus, C versicolor & P irminia. Right now I'm looking exo terra terrariums; would the 8 x 8 x 12 be sufficient or should I be looking at the larger (and more expensive) 12 x 12 x 18?

 

[Oursapoil]

I'm looking for opinions on which enclosure to invest in for 4 arboreals that have not yet reached maturity but will soon outgrow their current digs; a P gigas, T violaceus, C versicolor & P irminia. Right now I'm looking exo terra terrariums; would the 8 x 8 x 12 be sufficient or should I be looking at the larger (and more expensive) 12 x 12 x 18?

Good morning Goonius,
It is a little bit different for everyone but I personally really like the exo-terra nano tall which is 8x8x12 for most of my arboreals. It has excellent cross ventilation as well as front and top opening. The mesh top encourages the Ts to build their webbing higher instead of blocking the front opening. Last but not least, they are stackable without removing air flow and in my case I make whole shelves of them. The background provided is also quite useful to attach plants and hides. For my largest arboreal Ts I use the size above 12x12x18. They are available at Petco with free shipping for about $36, be on the lookout for promotions a few times a year where they are just under $30.
Hoping this helps, Cheers.

 

[goonius]

Good morning Goonius,
It is a little bit different for everyone but I personally really like the exo-terra nano tall which is 8x8x12 for most of my arboreals. It has excellent cross ventilation as well as front and top opening. The mesh top encourages the Ts to build their webbing higher instead of blocking the front opening. Last but not least, they are stackable without removing air flow and in my case I make whole shelves of them. The background provided is also quite useful to attach plants and hides. For my largest arboreal Ts I use the size above 12x12x18. They are available at Petco with free shipping for about $36, be on the lookout for promotions a few times a year where they are just under $30.
Hoping this helps, Cheers.

Yes, thank you! This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Currently I am not finding the 12x12x18 at a good price, but I did find the nano tall at a good price and was thinking of buying a few.... I just didn't want to chance buying something that I will have to move every spider out of in a few months.

It sounds like the nano tall will serve me well now and in the future for these tarantulas -- and future ones. I love the arboreals and already have a growing list of ones I'd like to acquire in the future.

I really appreciate your perspective on this!

 

[Oursapoil]

Yes, thank you! This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Currently I am not finding the 12x12x18 at a good price, but I did find the nano tall at a good price and was thinking of buying a few.... I just didn't want to chance buying something that I will have to move every spider out of in a few months.

It sounds like the nano tall will serve me well now and in the future for these tarantulas -- and future ones. I love the arboreals and already have a growing list of ones I'd like to acquire in the future.

I really appreciate your perspective on this!

Anytime my friend. If you would like I'll take a few pictures of some of my setups when I'll get back home from work to show you how they look stacked on shelf, I have 12 of this particular one.

 

[octanejunkie]

For the 4 sp you listed, gallon jugs from walmart, while not as pretty, will work too, and are a fraction of the price of ETNT enclosures.

 

[goonius]

Anytime my friend. If you would like I'll take a few pictures of some of my setups when I'll get back home from work to show you how they look stacked on shelf, I have 12 of this particular one.

Thank you, yes! I would very much appreciate this!

 

[goonius]

For the 4 sp you listed, gallon jugs from walmart, while not as pretty, will work too, and are a fraction of the price of ETNT enclosures.

Thank you! If our collection continues to grow, we may end up looking into budget options, but with such a small collection I'm all about the 'pretty' enclosures currently.

 

[octanejunkie]

Thank you! If our collection continues to grow, we may end up looking into budget options, but with such a small collection I'm all about the 'pretty' enclosures currently.

I was at first, too; every enclosure a display. Now it's down to function and efficiency (space)

 

[Oursapoil]

I went the other way around, starting with home made enclosure for all the slings then as they are growing up switching to more permanent display. Acrylic is nice but tend to warp, turn yellowish and scratch easily. I prefer glass a lot more. This said it depends if you are just collecting, breeding and/or selling. How much space and how many Ts you have is a big factor too.
I learnt the hard way that 100 slings (that will fit in a couple of shelves) will soon enough require a lot more space as they are growing. For each of my sling I already went through 3 to 4 different enclosure sizes.

 

[goonius]

I went the other way around, starting with home made enclosure for all the slings then as they are growing up switching to more permanent display. Acrylic is nice but tend to warp, turn yellowish and scratch easily. I prefer glass a lot more. This said it depends if you are just collecting, breeding and/or selling. How much space and how many Ts you have is a big factor too.
I learnt the hard way that 100 slings (that will fit in a couple of shelves) will soon enough require a lot more space as they are growing. For each of my sling I already went through 3 to 4 different enclosure sizes.

I went for homemade for the slings also. I think acrylic is great for short-term enclosures and the Ferrero Rocher boxes make great little arboreal sling enclosures. That's what these 4 are currently residing in. I'd estimate they are all around 2" DLS currently, and all are plump and due for a molt.

We have a few terrestrials and ordered a big lot of amac boxes to modify for housing, and have found some clear storage boxes on Amazon that make great larger juvenile enclosures too. Then we have a couple larger terrestrials in the nicer acrylic enclosures from Jaime's. I've wondered how well these will stand the test of time, but a year in they have been really nice thus far.

I'd initially considered making my own arboreal enclosures for these 4, but was deterred by the potential material costs of my newbie mistakes. Too, the arboreals are turning out to be my favorites of our dozen arachnids, and I've had the great fortune (thus far) of ones who come out and are visible for some portion of the day. They give me such joy, I figure it's worth a little extra cost to upgrade to enclosures where I can be assured of good visibility (knowing of course, that they could have another plan altogether once they are rehoused).

The long-term housing is what has actually prevented me from acquiring new slings. It's so easy to collect many of them when they are tiny and don't take up much space, especially with the shipping rates. Already we are wondering if we need to install new shelving in the tarantula room to accommodate our growing collection!

 

[Oursapoil]

"Ferrero Rocher boxes make great little arboreal sling enclosures" I couldn't agree more but it also ends up triggering weight gain for the T keeper

 

[goonius]

"Ferrero Rocher boxes make great little arboreal sling enclosures" I couldn't agree more but it also ends up triggering weight gain for the T keeper

This is so true!

 

[octanejunkie]

"Ferrero Rocher boxes make great little arboreal sling enclosures" I couldn't agree more but it also ends up triggering weight gain for the T keeper

Sadly, I don't eat cat turds rolled in kitty litter wrapped in foil paper so I don't have any of those lying around...

 

[Oursapoil]

Adding this to the next T I'll send you!

 

[octanejunkie]

Adding this to the next T I'll send you!
View attachment 55139

Those are too hard, I prefer unicorn soft serve

 

[Oursapoil]

Those are too hard, I prefer unicorn soft serve
View attachment 55140

I have a squatty Potty! Just got sold by the great video

 

[octanejunkie]

I have a squatty Potty! Just got sold by the great video

Best piece of shít I ever bought