I cannot believe how much knowledge I have taken in, in such a sort time. You would make a great lecturer at College /University. Why? because you keep the subject interesting. Many years ago I realised you are only as good as who teaches you. My results were very different with two different teachers, I realised then, it was not me but the teacher.
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. If there is a lot of water vapor in the air, the humidity will be higher. The higher the humidity, the wetter it feels in the space. The warmer the air is the more moisture the air can hold. So having a warm 80F spider room. It doesnt take much to keep humidity up. Notice most of daves tanks have dry substrate for the most part. Over watering is the common mistake made trying to raise humidity. If you want to raise the humidity in the room try running a humidifier a few hrs a day. Be sure to keep a close eye and figure the time you need it to run to reach your target humidity. Vicks vapor machines work well. I run one on a timer for 1 hr each day. Almost all of my spider tanks have dry substrates. And once a week a light mist in each tank. But always check and have fresh water bowl in each enclosure. If you dont have a humidifier. Try placing a bowl of water in front of your airflow fan to cause evaporation from the bowl. This adds humidity as the water evaporates from the bowl. Place humidity gauge on opposite side of room from fan and bowl for proper readings.
One of the things I love about your videos is that they are easy to understand and comes with zero bull. I feel like there are a lot of people out there that just repeat things they read from a guide. Which is fine and all but can sometimes just be a word dump. Keep up the good work
Thank you so much , I only share what I have done or had first hand experience, it is sometimes against the grain but works for me and has done for many years .👍thanks for your support .
This was wonderful information explained and demonstrated perfectly!! Thank you for this 😀 One question regarding the Exos: Do you switch the metal screens to vented acrylic? I ask because I often hear about recommendations to switch that to avoid a T getting a claw caught in the screen and losing a leg. If you do not switch it, have you had any issues?
The screens or mesh is flexible so in my opinion its less likely to brake the fangs. The other sort that gets used that doesn't flex or give is more likely to brake fangs [missing leg or broken fangs]?
@@wheezyvettech8781 we currently have several T's making a mess of the mesh almost all are new world we've got to get new mesh some of this mesh can look the same but is stronger its the weakest one im after. I've been keeping an eye on it for a little while they've been working on it a bit at a time.
Hi Wheezy, thanks for the support , I keep all my original tops to my exos and I've never had any problems at all , I do think that a lot of people on the net commenting on the dangers of the mess are often not commenting from there own personal experience and just passing on what they have heard, which doesn't help, I have been keeping for many years and never found any reason to change them ,they are more valuable to me as they are allowing me greater control of the environment within the enclosures , if I was to have problems in the future I would reconsider what I do, 😂👍
Best explanation I have seen. It's such a controversial subject but you sir, have made it a lot more understandable especially with your examples of different enclosures and examples. Thank you. SUBSCRIBED!
Humidity and Relative Humidity are two different references that are usually referred to synonymously into one meaning. Humidity / Water Vapor in the earth's atmosphere is typically between 1% - 2% of the total gasses present. Humidity can range from 0% - 4%. The amount of humidity / water vapor in the air affects the barometric pressure. The more water vapor in the air the more the "Lighter" water vapor displaces the "Heavier" atmospheric gasses and that causes the barometric pressure to drop. Relative Humidity, (as a basic understandable thought for this explanation), is a numerical percentage value that is based on how much water vapor the atmosphere can hold before the atmosphere precipitates or fogs, depending on atmospheric temperature. Meaning, 50% RH @ 50F is NOT the same as 50% RH @ 100F, because warmer atmospheric temperatures can hold more water vapor than cooler atmospheric temperatures can. Which is what the "Dew Point" represents.
Brilliant. I watched your how to tong feed and now this. This is what us beginners need. These useful informative clips helps take the stress out of trying to do what is right for our spiders.
Learning about humidity and substrates makes me realize how involved the question of climate really is. I just realized that I used to imagine tarantulas living in arrid, desert conditons.
Dave this is an incredibly valuable video, the info you give on humidity has really helped me understand the way it all works! My P. Cambridgei was just rehoused into a bio-active set up, I was having problems with mold, TOO WET! He now is in a new environment and is thriving and the enclosure is dry! Thanks so much for doing these type videos the information you give is outstanding!!!🕷
Nice video on humidity and a live stream would be good. I'm worried now Dave has my female h mac juvi is in one of those glass tanks the aboreal one. I do only spray once a week.do u think I should move her.
If she has been ok then theres no need to change it , this video was to try and show the effects of humidity and trying to understand it better , if what you have been doing is working for you then don't change anything , the more we understand the moor tools we have to enjoy our hobby and get the best out of it .❤️👍
So glad I found your RU-vid, as a new owner of just 2 Ts an adult female Nicaraguan Tliltocatl albopilosus and an adult female Brachypelma hamorii I keep them quite arid with a water bowl and overflow it or moist a corner but my question is I also use Exo terras but changed mesh for Perspex with lots of holes for airflow and I did that because I saw lots of people saying the mesh is bad for tarantulas as if the hang upside down there claws can get caught and they could hang there until seen by the owner, all yours are mesh so wondered what your thoughts were on keeping the mesh lids? Btw my humidity was lower with mesh but went up a bit with the Perspex, sorry this is so long winded, great video though and I’ve subscribed 👍
Welcome my friend , I have not had any problem with mesh tops and have used them for many years, the reason your humidity went up is becouse the perspex is no where near as good a vent as mesh , personally I dont like perspex becouse of the very reason 👍
@@daveslittlebeasties thank you for the quick reply, I did prefer the mesh tbh so I’ll probably replace the Perspex as not witnessed either climb, thanks again for the humidity information it’s a lot clearer to me now 👍
A live stream would be fantastic as I don't have a dedicated spider room and I do keep a few arboreals in my collection and I could always use more knowledge. Great video!
Very good information on air flow and its effect on humidity. Your spiders are loved and so well cared for the channel name could be Dave's Luxury Arachnid Apartments, or The Spider Health Villas.
So a ten gallon tank is not good even if it has a vent lid just wondering I don’t have any spiders but hopefully soon to get one when I move lol my mother would kill me if I had one now she is terrified of spiders and snakes lol
A ten gallon tank can work for many spiders , this video was just to try and explain the effects of humidity and how we can use it to its best , thats not to say that the way anyone is keeping there spider is wrong , I use some enclosures with just vented lids and no other vents it all depends on what I want to keep in them and what I want to do with them.hope this makes sense , always here to help if I can ❤️👍
70% is a low humidity? I don't have any experience keeping spiders, but that sounds high to me. I live in Arizona (southwest desert of U.S.). In the dry season in Arizona, the humidity can get down below 10%, and there are terrestrial tarantulas native to the area that live in burrows under the ground. Do those burrows have a higher humidity than the ambient air?
Yes they will humidity is very dependent on location specifics and this is part of the reason people struggle with it because like you say your ambient humidity may be down to 10% but where your spider lives it will be very different 👍
Great video. Thank you very much. I hear lots of people say not to use mesh tops for your spiders but i see that you do. i trust you judgement so do you think it’s okay to leave the mesh rather than replacing it with acrylic?
you will have to deal with the fb Tarantula groups constantly telling you how you have to replace them. but most keepers/breeders ive spoken to never had a problem with them
Good vid. I've been mentioning about a particular way for ventilation that being top and bottom ventilation. Exo tanks are good and anything with very similar ventilation. For a additional understanding research the chimney effect and > stack effect < there's a fair few explaining it but i seen one in particular im sure i saved the link i can always post the link if anyone would like to have a look.
The actually made more sense & seeing how you did it.did help. A live stream on this topic or in general for like a q&a session would be awesome with you 🙂👍
I just spotted white mold on the carapace and abdomen of my T. stirmi. I’m not thinking that the mold is growing on her. I think it rubbed off on her while she was in her burrow, and in direct contact with the drift wood overhead. At first I was thinking I would try to scrub the mold off with an old toothbrush. However, this is a T. stirmi we’re talking about, and not a sweet little A. chalcodes. I did pull her out of the terrarium tonight and into a critter keeper with dry substrate and a water dish, outside her main terrarium. I will be rinsing and baking the drift wood tomorrow and straining out the excess water. I have put off overhauling her enclosure for more than long enough. I’m positive the excess water is a result from my effort to hydrate the sheet moss I had in the beginning. Pillow moss is much better. I have seen that ExoTerra released their specialized enclosures for dart frogs and crested geckos. Hopefully they release an enclosure specifically catered to arthropods. While arthropods are popular in the pet trade, they could still use some more support from the pet supply manufactures. For too long and often they have been thrown into a sub-category with reptiles, and it’s been a pretty big disservice as arthropods are not the same as reptiles and amphibians. Far from them.
Good subject to cover. I was confused at first as to why you "flooded" those tanks, but then I understood when you went back to them. Live stream might be a good idea.
I'm new to the hobby and was struggling with this came across this video and boy did it help me out really informative and very interesting cheers and thanks for making instant subscription and a like 👌👍
Thank you so much for this video which is so enlightening. All these mistakes I've made so far, exactly what you said when you talked about newbies! I've been confusing wet and damp, wet and humidity in the air all this time...
@@daveslittlebeasties I'm doing some tests since I'm being delivered a Piloctenus this very thursday, I set the terrarium following your advice, and I've noticed that humidity goes down during the day (but not too low) and rises as soon as the terra's lignt goes out,like a cycle.
Hey Dave, I'm a newer subscriber and addition to the hobby! I was wondering if you might be able to explain how to set up an Emperor Scorpion tank and care for it. If so, thank you so much and I love the videos and all the information about these beautiful tarantulas.
Hi there they are pretty easy to care for , just allow plenty of substrate as like to dig and hide keep it moist but not wet temps around mid 75f will be fine and dont feed to much as they can get fat very quickly 👍
You may have just saved one of my T's lives. I've been wetting down the enclosure WAY to much apparently. A live stream would be great just to hear what others have to ask. I'm putting a space heater in the room where I keep my T's because my house is VERY drafty in the winter. I'm cold in here so I know they are. I want to do my best to keep them healthy and happy just like my wife. :)
Not quite in your league, or even near it, but now in my late 70s have developed? an interest in keeping Mantis. thanks for your video on fruit flies. Any recommendations for digital thermometers hygrometers for these small vivs ? Thanks Mike
Much appreciated, you often get what you pay for, that being said many of the cheap ones are good if you calibrate them to a known accurate one thats what I do 👍
Same with temperature. It can be piping hot in the african savannah, but deep down a King baboons burrow the temperature is much cooler. But often new keepers thinks "Ohh, i must keep the temperature very high!?" No, cos in a terrarium with 15cm substrate or whatever, high temp is more bad than good. Good videos, keep them up!
Yes, humidety is causing many misunderstandings. The important thing is the humidety inside a tarantulas burrow. The humidety (where people place the hygrometer, often high up in the tank) is irrelevant. I have always "went" the easy way. For moist-living tarantulas i keep the substrate moist. For dry-living tarantulas, i keep i mostly dry and for speicies that requires some moisture i overfliw the waterdish. Many people seems to think humidety and moisture is the same thing. I say "how moist" the substrate is, is the most important thing. You can keep a T blondi (as you shown) in 100% humidety on dry sub and it will do poorly. If you have very moist sub uf you as you say a well ventilated tank, have moist substrate and liw humidety and the spider will flourish, so the important thing is how moist or not moist the substrate is
@@daveslittlebeasties no worries mate love your channel your videos are always entertaining and full off information this video was absolutely brilliant it's taught me a lot thank you. 👌
Thank you Dave. I am new at the hobby and right now I am keeping two c. Versicolor slings in tiny enclosures. I was confused about how keep the right humidity levels for them until now... Room humidity is around 50% so I think I will just leave them with only their waterbowls. Thank you for putting this clear 👍
Brilliant video, best I've seen. Dave recently replied to a comment I made about this subject for my P.Rufus slings. Cannot thank him enough. No more wet enclosures just dampening the substrate water bowl side from now on. As always very informative, keep up the good work 👍
Superb video. I’m hoping to venture into getting my first tarantula and drinking in details. I’ve been struggling with the concept of humidity and airflow as I’d hate to kill my first wee beastie.
Hi Dave I got them off Ebay from china very cheap but effective , there not 100% accurate but I buy a bunch of them and put them in groups so I know what there all reading , makes it easier to keep tabs on things , a few degrees out is not an issue at all .
Im so glad I watched this vlog im in Australia all my Tarantulas are old worlds I had it wrong also my sauce tubs where to wet.I went around rehousing my 21 I can't afford any losses tarantulas in Australia are super expensive a 1cm sling starts at $50 up nothing under 100mm 2.5 I just paid $250 for so yeah I'm trying my best to get it not perfect but right enough for them. Thank you for the easy way you detail things it's a massive help.
Dave do you have a fan running in your room for airflow? I keep my T room at 80F and 65-80% humidity depending time of day. And I keep a small fan blowing across the room on low for air movement. What do you do for your T room in regards to airflow.
Dave, this is really helpful but I'm struggling with a cabinet. We live in a Victorian building and it just isn't economically to keep the heating on all day. Temperatures can fall to easily less than 50F, and that's in the summer and during the day. We have got a vintage China display cabinet from a charity shop and keep our enclosures in that. I've got at dozen questions about where to put the heater/temp guage, insulation, condensation, and more. Is it possible to send you a photo or short video of the setup? Thanks
I'm guessing that you are able to keep the humidity levels that you do because you live in Britain which is naturally more humid. But where I live here in Colorado in the United States here bone dry as you call it would be about 10% humidity.
Incidentally I have my Avic Avic in one of these EXO enclosures and I just checked on her and she just molted. It is very difficult to maintain humidity in these enclosures for me. I am hoping to learn something from you as you do seem very knowledgeable.
Funny thing is Dave tells about 80°f temperature, i wonder what the hell is that i celsius and why is he using fahrenheit.. I think i need to post the f=c in the comment so other don't need to search it. But about a minute he shows his digital climate measure instrument and it shows about 26°Celsius and not Fahrenheit...
Great video Dave! Couple questions in regards to those digital hygrometers you're using. How often do you need to replace the batteries and how did you stick them on? Regards
Hey Dave big fan you make tarantula keeping easier than anybody can you do a a video about fast growing best eater tarantulas maby even point out the best of baboons and Poecilotheria species that eat big grow big. Most new keepers enjoy seeing fast growth and hungry eaters theres no good videos focusing on it. Thanks for your awesome vids mate.
Damm, im learning more from dave videos then any book or any orther videos. He needs to get more sups asap! So people can learn how to keep their tarantula right. Thanks dave for a great video!!
How do you attach the meters to the glass and especially to the bark. Do you use your ever handy glue gun? If so, doesn’t that heat mess up the sensors?
Hi sir can you do video please on heating( stats / heat mats, where to place /safe and not ) for myself and son that keep his T's in his room.They are high up on his wardrobe in the corner of his room next to his bunkbed ( safe out of way) room temps 23 ° to 25 ° And room humidity is usually in the 50's
It's a pump one, so you pump the pressure into the tank, then press down the handle to spray, it will spray until the pressure from the bottle runs out. They sell them at home Depot, or even Walmart in the garden section.
@@daveslittlebeasties like the k8nd from around the bases of some trees? How did you go about making sure there were no mites or anything else harmful in it?
Brilliant dave, for some reason I didn't saw it earlier. If it doesn't bother you, I have posted the video on Arachnoboards, as we have a little fight between the humidity is irrelevant and pro humidity groups 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you again for your videos!
@@daveslittlebeastiesit usually ends in a argument fight between me and a mod, but are healthy fights 🤣🤣🤣 Both groups agree that the moisture in the substrate is the key to keep them propperly, but dissagree in the statement that "humidity is irrelevant", as for me, it could force novice keepers to ignore external factors like low RHs due to clima, or using powerfull AC units all day long. That in conjunction with the common advice for avics to keep them dry to make thing simpler, ends in a lot of dehydration or molting issues, not only in avics, but other species too. It's hard to make them understand that a lower RH values the ambient air will absorbe the moisture much faster than the same room at the same temp but at higher RH levels, so making this room safer than the first room if the novice keeper uses that advice of keeping then dry and with a water dish. I don't feel the humidity like something hard to understand, for me it makes the things easier to achieve, as I can choose to keep them one way (drier) or in the other (moister, not the water quantity but the frequency) to achieve the desired results.
@@daveslittlebeasties Me too! But I care about the new ones coming to this hobby, and unfortunately FB is full of bad advices... So please don't change! Your advices are top notch! Among the best advices anybody could find in RU-vid!