r/tarantulas

Imma have a free 15g cube terrarium soon cuz im moving my frog to bigger and i want to know what could live in there if anything could! Its 15x15x15 inches! Thxx!

Yo, long time lurker, first time poster.

I sometimes (never daily and sometimes barely weekly or monthly) use incense and deodorizers a few rooms away from our tarantula enclosures because we have some cats and sometimes they are stinky if we're not keeping up with litter. Sometimes I shut the door, sometimes I don't while using scented things like that but my wife kind of flips out about it because it is "so dangerous and could kill them"... even all the way across the house.

Mind you, she smokes weed every day, multiple times a day, in the same room as the enclosures almost always with all the windows shut and sometimes with the door shut. She even blows the smoke directly at them if she happens to be looking at them while smoking, but says that is completely harmless and not dangerous because it is weed.

It's medically necessary for her to have it as it prevents her seizures, but she could have it in other forms and CHOOSES not to despite us having talked about this before. She understands to keep it away from the kids and the safety and public moral issues there. She keeps it away from work and other family life too. But she is so concerned about the tarantula enclosures being contaminated by what I'm doing several rooms away, and cannot seem to grasp that literal smoke with chemicals and tar in it being released in the same room as them multiple times a day harms them way more.

Or am I just really that mistaken?

Which is less safe for the Tarantulas? Incense and deodorizers from a couple rooms away or blowing huge smoke clouds right at them? This has been on my mind for a long time. I know I probably won't convince her even if I show her this but I want to know for at least my own peace of mind.

They do seem fine, though, so maybe I just need to chill.

Hi! I'm a hopefully soon-to-be tarantula owner, and I'm in the process of setting up an enclosure. All of the Ts I have looked at (beginner friendly species of course) are new world terrestrials, so I have been doing tons of research over the past few weeks.

A lot of forums, care guides, and blog posts recommend Terra Aranea by The Bio Dude as the best option for substrate (a lot make it seem like the be all end all), but shipping is kind of pricey - it costs as much as a bag of the actual substrate itself.

Don't get me wrong, if it really is the best option, I have absolutely no problem shelling out the extra money for it - I want my new buddy to be as happy and comfortable as possible! But, is it really as good as it's made out to be, or is there an alternative that's equally good quality I could go for?

Not sure if this is an odd question. Also please don't take it as me suggesting I'll give anything other than my best care throughout!

In short, if my T is mid life and I find myself unable to still care for them, will I find a good new hoke easily?

I'd like a tarantula (I'd like a few!) but my main concern is the fact I am no longer young and thinking if I ended up with a female I could still be caring for her in 20 years, by which time I will be oh so old.

Now maybe that's all fine and I'll still be able to care for them easily and all will be well, but I need to know what happens if my hands get doddery or such. Is there a ready tarantula adoption network where I'd post online (or via whatever we have in 20 years 😄) and someone would be like 'yeah they can come live with my 50 for their golden years'?

Having written that I realise any of us could unexpectedly end up unable to care for a T, so perhaps my fixation on my age is moot.

All I keep thinking is when I got my first corn snake at 16 and my mum lecturing me about how I'd still have the snake at 30 (we blew way past that in the end!) and I think it is making me very aware of how old I'd be when my T finally succumbed to age.

I did look at getting a male and so a more manageable lifespan, but all the males I see online are already mature and so it'd be caring for them while they climbed the walls and didn't eat (or moult) for their final 12m, which isn't what I'm looking for really (if my baby turned out male then that's fine to be clear, as I'd still have raised them before they got all obsessive).

Ummm, any comments welcomed. I hope that all made sense!