# Miscellaneous Herp Interests > Invertebrates >  Things most new tarantula keepers don't know and should get to know

## PanzoN88

I'm going to post two tips for keeping tarantulas each day or so for at least 16 days:

1. Never use sponges in tarantula enclosures, as they are a breeding ground for bacteria. A plain water dish is fine. The tarantula won't drown, they float.

2. Humidity has no use in this hobby, in other words tracking humidity is useless. They do not need humidity, but they do need moisture, which can be accomplished by filling the water dish, overflowing the water dish, and or pouring water directly on the substrate. Misting only dampens the surface.

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*Bogertophis* (01-15-2019),_FollowTheSun_ (12-05-2018),_hilabeans_ (02-07-2019),_MR Snakes_ (01-05-2019),_Skittles1101_ (12-21-2018),yesiwantacookie (12-07-2018)

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## PanzoN88

1. Take what pet stores and howcast tells you with a drain of salt/caresheets kill. Pet stores are notorious for giving bad advice. The reason I mentioned howcast is because the guy that does the tarantula care videos is infamous for giving some of the most terrible advice. If you are YouTube motivated, watch Tom Moran, his advice is way more reliable. Avics (pinktoes) are good examples of caresheet failure. Most caresheets say to reach specific humidity numbers, that will kill them fast.

2. Choose your substrate wisely. Wood chips, Aspen bedding, and straight sand are horrible options for substrate. Coco fiber, jungle mix, and the most "dirt cheap" topsoil you can find are all suitable options for substrate. You can even mix the three with sand and excavator clay just so long as the base substrate is the coco fiber, jungle mix, or topsoil.

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*Bogertophis* (01-15-2019),dr del (12-16-2018),_hilabeans_ (02-07-2019),_Skittles1101_ (12-21-2018),yesiwantacookie (12-07-2018)

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## PanzoN88

Sorry, forgot to update this thread and Completely forgot that I was a member. In conjunction with tip 2 from 12/5, if you bought a humidity gauge for your tarantula cage, either use it for a reptile or take a hammer and smash it. Anyway to make up for my absence, I'll post 6 tips today.

1. Tarantulas are perfectly fine in room temperature. If you need supplemental heating, use your home heating, get a space heater with a timer, or if you must use  a heat mat, NEVER put it under the enclosure, put the tarantulas enclosure in a larger container and put the heat mat on the side of the large container. A good temperature for tarantulas is between 75-80 degrees, but a slight rise or fall  won't kill it.

2. The enclosure should be 2.5x the legspan of the tarantula and the distance between the lid of the enclosure and substrate should be 1.5x the legspan of the tarantula, which will prevent falls resulting in abdomen rupture and likely death.

3. Don't expect your tarantula to get used to you, as it is impossible to tame them. While they can learn basic things like where the water dish is, they cannot be trained. 

4. Handling is stressful for tarantulas, as they don't gain anything from it. They won't bond with the owner. All tarantulas can turn on the jets, which means if you are handling and decides to bolt, there is a good chance for fall.

5. Only buy tarantulas from tarantula breeders, not reptile breeders. There are some reptile breeders that are pretty reliable as far as tarantulas are concerned, but tarantula breeders have more variety.

6. Tarantulas should be fed superworms, mealworms, crickets, or roaches. Don't feed your tarantula flightless fruit flies, they have zero nutritional value, never feed your tarantula vertebrates, as they are messy and could hurt the tarantula in the process.

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## RickyNY

Do they eat every day? How many mealworms per feeding?

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## PanzoN88

> Do they eat every day? How many mealworms per feeding?


Feed slings once or twice a week, juvies once a week, adults once every two weeks. 

If feeding slings a piece of one cut up mealworm will suffice, since mealworms are fairly small, you can feed juvies 2-3 mealworms, adults 3-4.

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_RickyNY_ (01-12-2019)

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## RickyNY

Cool, thanks.
I have always wanted a Mexican Red Knee

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## PanzoN88

> Cool, thanks.
> I have always wanted a Mexican Red Knee


B. hamorii are very easy to raise, if you ever decide to look for one, try searching using the scientific name, for the reason I'm about to state.

1. Always use scientific names when it comes to tarantulas. For example: red knee could describe many different species, same goes for the common name red rump and many others.

2. If breeding, do NOT hybridize. Breeding tarantulas is very different from breeding snakes. If you breed a pied ball python to a mojave you get other morphs of the same species, right? With tarantulas it doesn't work that way. If you breed acB. hamorii to a B. emilia, you may get a sac, but it will likely be infertile, if you do manage to get a sling that makes it, it will have features of both, but you will have tainted the bloodlines, not to mention you won't be able to sell it, as hybrids are worth less than a grain of salt money wise. Breeding pure tarantulas to others of the same species is not only good for the hobby, but it is also good for the species.

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## PanzoN88

1. If you buy a glass enclosure for your tarantula, replace the wire lid with plexiglass (holes drilled in). If buying an Avic/Caribena/ybrapora, I recommend not buying a glass enclosure with a mesh top or any tarantula for that matter, as they do not offer cross ventilation and tarantulas can chew right through it.

2. If you are going to do more in depth research on tarantulas, only utilize specialized forums and select YouTube channels.

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_hilabeans_ (02-07-2019)

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## hilabeans

Nice thread, thanks for updating!

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