Swifty wrote:

SynergyZA wrote:

I will have been keeping Tarantulas for 1 year. Up to 29 specimens now, most of which are getting large enough for final / semi-final enclosures

:huh: powerfeed much?

There are various factors that attribute to growth.
I live in a warm part of Pretoria. I had a heating pad over last winter. I was a noob that over-fed according to feeding regime as suggested by the person I bought my first 2 slings from.

My male ornata grew from sling in May last year to molt to over 11cm in Feb (if memory serves).

And I am lucky enough to get mostly males, they also tend to grow faster.

Lastly, I bought many as juvies and have molted a couple times since then.

Point is.
Investing a lot in small enclosures with expensive materials that only get used for a short amount of time is not worth it in my opinion. I have MANY tiny 7x7x7cm enclosures stacked unused.
Spending a lot on large enclosures to save on weight could be worth it if you have the money. But considering glass is something like 6-8 times cheaper than perspex, easier to work with and last longer when considering in time the perspex doesn't look as nice with all the scratches makes it not worth it as well, in my opinion