HUSBANDRY

       There are two types of setup in the Tarantula keeping hobby these are Arboreal and Terrestrial this section will give a complete description of both. The housing for your Tarantulas can be as detailed as you like, as long as you take into consideration the species you keep and the type of habitat that they need.

Arboreal

This type of set-up is for the tree dwelling species such as Avicularia and Psalmopoeus species from South America and the Poecilotheria species from Asia. It is the easiest set-up to do naturalistically as they build there own retreat, the only downfall is that the spiders are arboreal so they want to go up and build there retreat on a side wall to the lid which makes it difficult to feed or open the enclosure. The way I have got round this problem is to lean a cork bark against the side of the tank so my Tarantula climbs up to the snug of the bark and glass and then builds her retreat under the bark. I also put about 2" of substrate at the bottom of the enclosure and a water dish at the base of the bark. Temperature and Humidity will of course depend on the species you have.

Terrestrial

With terrestrial species you have two types of habitat to take into consideration both need a deeper substrate than that of an arboreal species. I usually use between 3" and 8" of substrate depending on the species going in the enclosure.

first habitat would be for an opportunistic burrower this species will inhabit an already existing hole either under a root of a tree or a hole between ground and rocks. For my opportunistic burrowers I put half a plant pot in the substrate creating two separate levels the lower level is at the mouth of the pot with a water dish outside and the upper level is over the top of the pot this way it should encourage the Tarantula to dig into the mouth of the pot creating a retreat. These species make brilliant display spiders as they spend the majority of their time at the mouth or just outside there retreat. the second habitat is a bit more difficult to do as the species that inhabit this set up are obligated burrowers which means that the condition of the substrate has to be ideal or the burrow may not take shape or collapse. Having the conditions just right also induces the Tarantula to dig it's own burrow. Pterinochilus,Citharischius Crawshayi  are a couple of obligated burrowers that are seldom seen in the terrarium. Once again just like the arboreal species the temperature and humidity will depend on the species you have.

Temperature

Tropical species          22 ---- 28 degrees Celsius   (71.6 ---- 82.4 f )

North American Species         20 -------- 26 degrees Celsius  (60 -- 68 f )

Humidity

Tropical species           70 to 80 %

dryer species                40 to 50 %

remember that the temperature drops slightly in the evening.