jacques wrote: I am new to the tarantulas ...
WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!
WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!
jacques wrote: ... and I am really worried I'm doing something wrong. ...
Yes, yes, yes! You did not do your homework! We can fix that!
Save yourself a lot of stress, work, expense, and maybe even a few dead tarantulas. Go to the
Spiders, Calgary webtree
and start reading. At least scan through the entire website, picking out topics that catch your attention.
DO NOT FAIL TO READ
STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION
!
DO NOT FAIL TO READ THE FOUR BOOKS RECOMMENDED IN
STAN'S RANT
!
Also be sure to read
Relative Humidity
,
...and
Care Sheets
,
...and ... Oh heck! Read the
whole thing
!
The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot,
LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for
ABSOLUTELY FREE if you read that website and take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.
There is a caveat, however. My late wife, Marguerite and I have literally spent decades selling tarantulas to all sorts of people of all ages and from all walks of life. We've massaged and reworked the care suggestions in those webpages and one of those books to make them just about as bullet proof as they can get for
novices. Follow the instructions carefully, and ask us before you start experimenting with anything new.
But, those instructions are not necessarily the only ones that will work, and maybe not even the best ones available. (The hobby is still new and in a state of development. We're still discovering and inventing new things about tarantulas almost daily.) Through our experience we only know that those instructions are pretty much bullet proof
for novices. After you've had one or more tarantulas for a year or better you can start experimenting with the tricks and techniques of other enthusiasts. Just don't do that yet.
FIRST, learn the basics of tarantula care.
THEN start experimenting on your own.
jacques wrote: ... I keep my brazilian black and white in a fish tank, have a heating pad, ...
What on Earth for? Do you live in Antarctica? You haven't been reading those care sheets again, have you? OMG, all your hair's gonna fall out and you're gonna go blind! :ohmy:
Go to the
Spiders, Calgary webtree
and start reading before you do anything else! Start with
STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION
and read each webpage in its turn. Download them all onto your hard drive for future reference.
Trust Unca Stan.
jacques wrote: ... humidity gauge, ...
AAAAaaargghhh!
jacques wrote: ... a lot of air hole drilled in the cover ...
Ahh! At last! This is not bad. Congratulations.
jacques wrote: ... but the tank is always fogged up and the humidity only reaches 40%. is this normal????
Your humidity gauge is broken! Throw the accursed abomination into the trash. Or better yet, burn it at the stake! Condensation will not form on the glass unless the relative humidity is pretty near 100%. (Yes, I know this is not entirely true, but what do you want in 250 words or less?)
Spiders have been around for several
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS, and number in the several tens of thousands of different species. And tarantulas, numbering well over 900 species, have been around for many
TENS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS. With a history like that, what makes you think you need to micromanage every facet of their lives? I can answer a large portion of that question, "Those #$%^&# care sheets!"
Sorry, I'm having a little fun with you. But, quite seriously, read that website. Read the books. Stop
FRETTING over your tarantula and start
ENJOYING it!
We need to learn to view the world from the perspective of a large, fuzzy spider!
