# Tarantula climbing terrarium walls; reducing humidity.



## Asut92

Hi there. I got my Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula last week and ever since then it's been climbing the walls of the terrarium almost none stop. I'm using 'spider life' substrate which was recommended by my local reptile store. The humidity is too high at the moment at around 85-90%.
I have 2 questions: why is the tarantula sitting on the walls all the time and how can I reduce the humidity in the terrarium? 
Thank you in advance


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## Veyron

Asut92 said:


> Hi there. I got my Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula last week and ever since then it's been climbing the walls of the terrarium almost none stop. I'm using 'spider life' substrate which was recommended by my local reptile store. The humidity is too high at the moment at around 85-90%.
> I have 2 questions: why is the tarantula sitting on the walls all the time and how can I reduce the humidity in the terrarium?
> Thank you in advance


You answered this yourself. The substrate is far too wet (spider substrate is no good for a "Chilean Rose hair"). Take it out and bake it in the oven until it's dry, leave to cool and put it back in, along with the tarantula ofcourse :Na_Na_Na_Na: and provide a nice water dish for it to drink from.

The tarantula is climbing the walls because it doesn't want to lay on wet ground, would you ? 

Sorted : victory:


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## MEDICALMAN

but dont bake the tarantula and let it cool down.:whistling2:


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## Veyron

MEDICALMAN said:


> but dont bake the tarantula and let it cool down.:whistling2:


We've all made that mistake :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Asut92

Thanks for the response. That's annoying especially since they recommended it to me >:-/. Ok so I need to work out how to get the tarantula out of the terrarium to sort the substrate. Could you possibly recommend another substrate for this species? 

Thank you


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## Veyron

Asut92 said:


> Thanks for the response. That's annoying especially since they recommended it to me >:-/. Ok so I need to work out how to get the tarantula out of the terrarium to sort the substrate. Could you possibly recommend another substrate for this species?
> 
> Thank you


Something dry...coco fibre/earth that is not in block form.


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## pcharlton

have you a water dish if so remove it they dont need it they peat will dry in a week or so


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## PeterUK

Asut92 said:


> . Ok so I need to work out how to get the tarantula out of the terrarium to sort the substrate.


errr . . . . . pick it up would be a good start or if you are too frightened :gasp: just usher it into an empty cricket tub or similar and keep it in there until the other substrate has cooled down.

Many tarantulas will climb the sides of their new enclosure or if new substrate is added and will stay on the glass for several days or even weeks.

When you have dried the wet/damp substrate out and put the Chile back in the tank . . . . Leave it alone for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks. 
Do NOT feed, poke or disturb it at all for any reason.


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## Asut92

Thank you very much for the advice I'll do just that!


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## Poxicator

If you'd prefer you could just let the substrate dry out naturally, its not going to harm the tarantula. Or place some dry substrate directly on top of the existing substrate.

If you wish to catch your tarantula use a cricket tub, place over head, gently slide the lid underneath (doesnt matter if you grab a little substrate in the process) and remove from the enclosure. I expect placing the enclosure or the bagged up substrate on top of the radiator for a day or 2 will remove the moisture that is causing the high humidity.

But please don't be too alarmed, its quite natural for a tarantula to be off a horizontal plane, their burrows afterall descend into a chamber and they'll sit within this in ambush.


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## gambitgareth

if i over water my ts i just put a torn pair of tights over the top and by the next day or so - its all disappeared,, but tights for a large enclosure? you might need to like big butts - i cannot lie..


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## Asut92

Brilliant, thank you very much for the advice!


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## MattyMUSEROCKS

This is useful! A few hours after my _B. smithi_ sling was introduced to its new home it was climbing the walls... Now I know why!


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## selina20

A tip iv used a few times is when you make up eco earth put some vermiculite in a pair of tights and put it in the eco earth. The vermiculite will draw the water out of it


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## rob158

Veyron said:


> Something dry...coco fibre/earth that is not in block form.


Why not use block form?


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## selina20

rob158 said:


> Why not use block form?


Probably because you had to make it wet to use it lol.


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## rob158

selina20 said:


> Probably because you had to make it wet to use it lol.


Won't it just dry out the same?, or will it turn back into a block. :lol2:


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## selina20

rob158 said:


> Won't it just dry out the same?, or will it turn back into a block. :lol2:


It dries out but people have no patience. I have a bucket i make it up in and it dries out fine


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## MattyMUSEROCKS

Block form is where my sling had problems... 

As a gift the spiderling kit came with coco block, my girlfriends grandparents seemed to have mixed up a pints-to-litre conversion rate; apparantly 4 large glasses of water were added to the brick. An hour later I had a phonecall wondering why the substrate was still sodden!

Admitedly if my other half hadnt been determined to get the whole setup right the substrate waterlogging may not have been an issue


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## selina20

MattyMUSEROCKS said:


> Block form is where my sling had problems...
> 
> As a gift the spiderling kit came with coco block, my girlfriends grandparents seemed to have mixed up a pints-to-litre conversion rate; apparantly 4 large glasses of water were added to the brick. An hour later I had a phonecall wondering why the substrate was still sodden!
> 
> Admitedly if my other half hadnt been determined to get the whole setup right the substrate waterlogging may not have been an issue


Shove it in the oven


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## AilsaM

MattyMUSEROCKS said:


> Block form is where my sling had problems...
> 
> As a gift the spiderling kit came with coco block, my girlfriends grandparents seemed to have mixed up a pints-to-litre conversion rate; apparantly 4 large glasses of water were added to the brick. An hour later I had a phonecall wondering why the substrate was still sodden!
> 
> Admitedly if my other half hadnt been determined to get the whole setup right the substrate waterlogging may not have been an issue


I use boiling water instead of cold water, spread it out thinly on some bin bags in a warm room and it dries out no problem.


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## MattyMUSEROCKS

Like I said if it had been me making the block into substrate the process would have been more efficient, I'll bear this in mind though!


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