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Substrate and humidity sensor
- Thread starter Logan D
- Start date
- Messages
- 10,909
- Location
- Malton, UK
I use coco fibre for all my Ts. Most humidity gauges are inaccurate so not worth buying but as long as they have a bowl of water available they should be fine, you can always overflow it occasionally then let the substrate dry before repeating.
- Messages
- 2,565
- Location
- Baltimore MD
Pokies are pretty humidity range tolerant. Just keep the water dish full all times and very lightly spray the sides of the enclosure twice a week but don't go hogwild doing it. They appreciate some extra moisture & do better with it.
I don't really bother with humidity gauges and pokies. They don't miss it.
Of course, if you insist on a humidity gauge anyway, the digital ones are fairly accurate, cheap analog ones with a mechanical spring not so much. You get what you pay for as with anything else. Humidity can vary widely even if you move the gauge a few inches in any direction or open the cage even briefly for any reason you can get wildly different readings.
Keeping a narrow range can quickly drive anyone crazy.
Generally, digital gauges are used when the tarantula requires one range of humidity and is harmed or killed by either excess or lack of humidity outside of it's optimum range. (Not a problem with pokies)
A good example of this would be C versicolor, a dry spider. It's best to never let the humidity get into the 70% range or higher. So called SADS can occur aka Sudden Avic Death Syndrome from excess humidity. It's thought that this results from fungal infections in the book lungs or some other reason which kills the tarantula especially slings.
A gauge in the cage will not harm a tarantula in any way, but it's a pretty expensive webbing anchor point if you don't need it.
Many species of tarantulas just don't need them because they don't need that level of precision that a digital gauge produces & if you do have a goal in mind, it better be the right one or else!!
Still, just keeping track of it is harmless.
I don't really bother with humidity gauges and pokies. They don't miss it.
Of course, if you insist on a humidity gauge anyway, the digital ones are fairly accurate, cheap analog ones with a mechanical spring not so much. You get what you pay for as with anything else. Humidity can vary widely even if you move the gauge a few inches in any direction or open the cage even briefly for any reason you can get wildly different readings.
Keeping a narrow range can quickly drive anyone crazy.
Generally, digital gauges are used when the tarantula requires one range of humidity and is harmed or killed by either excess or lack of humidity outside of it's optimum range. (Not a problem with pokies)
A good example of this would be C versicolor, a dry spider. It's best to never let the humidity get into the 70% range or higher. So called SADS can occur aka Sudden Avic Death Syndrome from excess humidity. It's thought that this results from fungal infections in the book lungs or some other reason which kills the tarantula especially slings.
A gauge in the cage will not harm a tarantula in any way, but it's a pretty expensive webbing anchor point if you don't need it.
Many species of tarantulas just don't need them because they don't need that level of precision that a digital gauge produces & if you do have a goal in mind, it better be the right one or else!!
Still, just keeping track of it is harmless.
- Messages
- 5,547
- Location
- Outside San Antonio, TX
Just out of curiosity, what temp do you keep your poeci at, and how often do you see it? Wow that regalis is showing alot of purple..mine had no purple at all. She was an adult female.
- Messages
- 1,034
- Location
- Southern CA
Me too. Word for word.
- Messages
- 2,565
- Location
- Baltimore MD
My 3 pokies are kept at a maximum temperature of 83 degrees, which is only present in one corner of the cage. The rest of the cage varies between 83 give or take 1 or 2 degrees and dips to about 75 degrees. That means that if you point an infrared temperature sensor at any interior point that the tarantula can physically touch, it'll be 83 degrees. They don't like mid to high 80s and will simply move to a cooler area where it's....82 or 83 degrees.
Due to my roommate's medical issues, fibromyalgia, the room temperature itself is either 67 or 68 degrees. I'm NOT comfortable in a T shirt and boxers, gotta Wear sweat pants and a bathrobe. The humidity in my home also has to be low, between 35 to 45 percent.
Yes, I've managed to keepa healthy and happy T stirmi under these conditions but extra engineering is needed.
If the humans are less specialized in their needs, raise the room temp to 75 and be happy. If they still climb the glass and seek out light due to cold, put the cage on a high shelf.
Besides, I don't mind the cold myself.
Due to my roommate's medical issues, fibromyalgia, the room temperature itself is either 67 or 68 degrees. I'm NOT comfortable in a T shirt and boxers, gotta Wear sweat pants and a bathrobe. The humidity in my home also has to be low, between 35 to 45 percent.
Yes, I've managed to keepa healthy and happy T stirmi under these conditions but extra engineering is needed.
If the humans are less specialized in their needs, raise the room temp to 75 and be happy. If they still climb the glass and seek out light due to cold, put the cage on a high shelf.
Besides, I don't mind the cold myself.
