Naturalistic Tarantula Enclosures

[ph0bia]

Thought I'd post up a collection of my tarantula enclosures for you all to see. A brief description accompanies each:


Aphonopelma abberans (Casablanca Chestnut)

The water dish is a 'Lucozade' bottle cap. She is currently sitting on top of the hide, a half plant pot burried under the substrate (a 60/40 mix of spider mix (60 peat, 30 orchid bark, 10 vermiculite) to sand).


Aphonopelma seemani (Costa Rican Zebra)

The spider has my favourite piece of cork bark. It curves wonderfully, making a perfect hide. All the plants in all my enclosures are fake. Substrate composition is about 40 peat / 40 sand / 10 orchid bark / 10 vermiculite.


Brachypelma auratum (Mexican Flame-knee)

Hide beneath the pieces of cork-bark at top-right. She tends to 'bask' on the cork bark near where she is stood. At the top of the picture, her molting mat is also visible. Substrate is 40 sand / 60 peat.


Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red-knee)

Currently hiding in her burrow in the top-right. It's a half plant-pot with two pieces of cork bark on it. She likes to 'bask' on the piece in the lower left. The water bowl here is a 'Lucozade' bottle cap. The substrate here is 70 potting soil / 30 sand.


Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose)

Two hides available, one by the star cactus, the other near the spiders current position. Substrate is 30 sand / 40 peat / 10 vermiculite / 20 orchid bark. The water dish is a hamster bowl burried to the rim.


Haplopelma albostriatum (Thai Zebra)

The substrate is 7" deep. She has burrowed vertically to the bottom, the entrance is in the planted corner, where she has also applied much webbing. No water dish is used as she is misted every other day. The substrate here is 70 peat / 30 sand.

Pterinochilus chordatus (Kilimanjaro Mustard)

Burrow clearly visible and more webbing added daily. Her substrate is standard spider mix (60 peat, 30 orchid bark, 10 vermiculite).


Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Starburst - OBT)

This substrate is about 6" deep, she burrowed beneath the cork bark in the top right, taking an entrance from the side towards the bottom of the picture. She then sealed this up and now has her entrance in the top-left of that piece of bark, beneath a leaf she has webbed to the bark. Substrate is 80 peat / 20 orchid bark.

[Jade01]

cool setups!

Nice spiders aswel!

[ph0bia]

Originally Posted by Jade01

cool setups!

Nice spiders aswel!

Thanks, there are some photos of the actual spiders here. Pic quality is crap though as I have only my mobile phone camera... >.<

[ph0bia]

EDIT: It's come to my attention that some can't see the pictures, possibly as they were hotlinked from my private gallery. I've relinked these below from my Photobucket. Hopefully it will work.


Aphonopelma abberans (Casablanca Chestnut)



The water dish is a 'Lucozade' bottle cap. She is currently sitting on top of the hide, a half plant pot burried under the substrate (a 60/40 mix of spider mix (60 peat, 30 orchid bark, 10 vermiculite) to sand).


Aphonopelma seemani (Costa Rican Zebra)



The spider has my favourite piece of cork bark. It curves wonderfully, making a perfect hide. All the plants in all my enclosures are fake. Substrate composition is about 40 peat / 40 sand / 10 orchid bark / 10 vermiculite.


Brachypelma auratum (Mexican Flame-knee)



Hide beneath the pieces of cork-bark at top-right. She tends to 'bask' on the cork bark near where she is stood. At the top of the picture, her molting mat is also visible. Substrate is 40 sand / 60 peat.


Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red-knee)



Currently hiding in her burrow in the top-right. It's a half plant-pot with two pieces of cork bark on it. She likes to 'bask' on the piece in the lower left. The water bowl here is a 'Lucozade' bottle cap. The substrate here is 70 potting soil / 30 sand.


Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose)



Two hides available, one by the star cactus, the other near the spiders current position. Substrate is 30 sand / 40 peat / 10 vermiculite / 20 orchid bark. The water dish is a hamster bowl burried to the rim.


Haplopelma albostriatum (Thai Zebra)



The substrate is 7" deep. She has burrowed vertically to the bottom, the entrance is in the planted corner, where she has also applied much webbing. No water dish is used as she is misted every other day. The substrate here is 70 peat / 30 sand.

Pterinochilus chordatus (Kilimanjaro Mustard)



Burrow clearly visible and more webbing added daily. Her substrate is standard spider mix (60 peat, 30 orchid bark, 10 vermiculite). There's a LOT more webbing outside her burrow now.


Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Starburst - OBT)



This substrate is about 6" deep, she burrowed beneath the cork bark in the top right, taking an entrance from the side towards the bottom of the picture. She then sealed this up and now has her entrance in the top-left of that piece of bark, beneath a leaf she has webbed to the bark. Substrate is 80 peat / 20 orchid bark.[/quote]

[bubbles18uk]

hey iv just got my 1st tarantula witch is a curly hair named charlie i was wondering if you could tell me abit about him as the shop i got him from doesnt know much i would just mainly like to know about his habitat and if i put a hide in there would he still be handlable not that i wanna handle him much but just when i need to it would be nice to do so without him or me freaking out, proberly be more like me freaking out if he twitches lol not quite used to it yet but im fasinated with them an always wanted one. be good to hear from you soon thanks chrissy.