The Best Spider Vivarium for Pet Tarantulas
Tarantulas are cannibalistic, so you should never keep two together. Therefore, you can completely kit out your tarantula’s home to their specific needs, without the worry of having to appease two personalities. Another thing to bear in mind is they are notorious escape artists, so your number one concern should be security.
What Size Tank Do I Need?
Whether you opt for a tank or a vivarium, the minimum size a tarantula needs would be five gallons. However, a 10-gallon vivarium would be ideal as you can then add further logs and hiding spots for your tarantula. It is not advised to go much larger than 10 gallons as tarantulas are happy in smaller spaces.
Will I Need to Heat the Tank?
Your tank will need to remain between 21°C and 27°C at all times. If you have a room in your house which is always within this temperature range, there is no need for further heating. However, most people’s homes are not this warm, so a small heat pad will need to be placed in the vivarium.
Will My Tarantula Need Lighting?
Tarantulas do not like bright light so you will find that daylight and artificial room lights are enough. Some people like to attach red lights to their tarantula enclosures, however, make sure this does not dry out the humid and moist environment your tarantula loves.
Setting-Up Your Tarantula’s Home
The bottom floor of your tarantula’s tank should have 1 to 3 inches of substrate. There are a number of different brands you can use that are ideal for the majority of tarantula breeds and these can be found in most good pet stores or online.
There are two main things your tarantula cannot live without; a place to hide and a shallow water dish. Most tarantula owners like to keep their tanks very natural, so will use logs, rocks, and plants to create these areas.
It is worth remembering that your tarantula is an avid climber. Therefore, if you have any areas where they can climb to the top of the tank, just make sure you locate them before you open the lid. Otherwise, you may have a runaway!
How Can I Clean my Tarantula’s Vivarium?
Most pets come with varying degrees of mess, but tarantulas are very much at the lower end of the scale. They do not dig or flick substrate and they only excrete a quick-drying fluid that is virtually unnoticeable and odourless.
Your tarantula will usually only need their tank deep cleaned every four to six months. The one thing you must give attention daily is their water dish so that they always have fresh water and it is not riddled with insect corpses.
When you do clean our your tarantulas enclosure, place them in a secure holding container. Remove everything from the tank, give everything a good scrub. Then you can add new substrate and pop your tarantula back in to their sparkling vivarium