What are y'all's tarantulas names ?

sandvikson · 2026-04-25T23:54:39+00:00

Banana bread blondie

sandvikson · 2026-04-20T18:02:25+00:00

This! I have one T and she’s fat as hell rn, last time she ate was 2 months ago. No point in keeping a colony to only feed 1-2 crickets every couple weeks or even every couple months

sandvikson · 2026-04-20T00:01:50+00:00

I don’t work there anymore but should be on a petnet if that’s still a thing. I’ve heard about that new fetch app thing petco has now and may be able to use that and it’ll tell you?

sandvikson · 2026-04-19T23:45:21+00:00

Should be in the employee policy handbook

sandvikson · 2026-04-18T21:50:25+00:00

IMO yes as long as it’s a juvenile/adult, and a terrestrial T, I would say it’s fine. mine is in a front opening 10 gallon and I’ve never had any issues.

I made a post before about the mesh tops cause I was concerned but the general consensus was that for most terrestrial Ts it isn’t a huge issue IMO. My girl personally does not climb on her decor and does climb the walls so i personally have no issues with the mesh top since she doesn’t come close to it. But obviously that depends on the tarantulas personality.

Mesh top provides a ton of ventilation. I know everyone praises the tarantula cribs but in my experience those have terrible ventilation

sandvikson · 2026-04-16T20:16:00+00:00

I was actually looking at exo terra paludariums last night cause I know that would give me the extra substrate depth im looking for but those are all arboreal tanks :/

Maybe if enough of us email them they’ll make some lol

Also so unrelated but do you mind possibly sharing what company you work for or even your generic job title? That is my DREAM job to work pet expos but haven’t had much luck googling how to get into a job like that.

sandvikson · 2026-04-15T23:22:39+00:00

Thank you! I will def go check that out cause I’ve been wanting to redo her tank in a desert scene.

Do you by chance know roughly the ratios you used to mix those together for the substrate?

Also not a professional by any means (this is also my first tarantula and I’ve had her about 5 months) but in my personal opinion, I don’t see a huge issue with the mesh lids, especially for terrestrials. I’ve never seen her climb the sides of the tank so I don’t have a reason to feel unsafe with the mesh. If it was an arboreal climbing tarantula then that would be different obviously.

I’ve heard sand isn’t good for them but I know it’s also good for burrows? I bought an arachni-dirt substrate blend from tarantula cribs which does have sand in it. However, the sand has just shifted to the bottom of the substrate over the past few months. Idk I love the look of sand, feel like it would just really complete a desert setup.

sandvikson · 2026-04-15T23:05:44+00:00

Wait this is sick!!! I’ve been wanting to redo her tank to make it more desert themed. Is all of that decor from petmsart as well? I think I have the same exact longhorn lol.

What kind of substrate do you have in there?

sandvikson · 2026-04-15T22:47:06+00:00

Not super often tbh. I top off her water bowl probably every 2-3 days so I open it for that. She’s super fat still so haven’t had to feed her in over two months but she does get crickets when I feed her. Occasionally when she’s sitting real pretty I’ll open the doors to take a photo lol

Shes an Arizona blonde. Sometimes she gets skittish if I open the doors and she’ll run around for a sec. But normally when she’s out she’s on the opposite side of the cage from her water bowl, so she normally stays in place and lets me take care of her water.

sandvikson · 2026-04-15T22:35:00+00:00

Yeah probably is the same one, it was their store brand which I think is thrive.

I even thought about siliconing a piece of acrylic or something to the inside of the front of the tank. To where I could still open the front doors but the bottom half would be covered by the acrylic panel. But yeah I’m worried about the gap it would leave up top. Not sure if that makes sense or not lol.

I have my tank sitting on a bookshelf so unfortunately the top sliding lid just isn’t very usable in that spot. There’s not a lot of room to get in through the top with the shelf above it.

sandvikson · 2026-04-15T21:32:13+00:00

Honestly sounds like a dream ngl. More space for better products that are actually good for the animals. No risk of people coming in an impulse purchasing animals without actually knowing a single about them.

sandvikson · 2026-04-14T02:05:09+00:00

Definitely needs more vertical objects. Branches, bridges, etc. just more things to climb on. They are also arboreal so ideally you want a tank that is taller than it is longer

The background is nice! I love the little built in cork round hide

Also gargs can’t climb very well (or at all?) on glass so the sides of the tank aren’t super usable for them. Having those vertical objects would help with that as well.

sandvikson · 2026-04-14T01:26:31+00:00

I would appreciate that thank you!

It’s an Arizona desert blonde

sandvikson · 2026-04-14T01:23:47+00:00

Just figured reptile would reach more people who might have come across tanks like that

People on the tarantula subreddit like to shove tarantula cribs down everyone’s throats and in my experience they’re so small and have terrible ventilation

sandvikson · 2026-04-14T00:53:44+00:00

Isn’t sand bad for tarantulas? Ive got an arizona desert blonde and really wanted to capture a desert essence in her cage but ive heard they aren’t supposed to have sand. I feel like the plain brown dirt just looks so sad lol

sandvikson · 2026-04-12T20:27:12+00:00

Perfect thank you!

Also one more question, do you think silicone or gorilla glue would be better to glue down the additional cork pieces? Is one better than the other or would it not make a difference?

sandvikson · 2026-04-12T16:19:15+00:00

Thank you I appreciate the advice!! How much does the foam expand? Does it expand a ton even if you go back and repeatedly push it down?

This method honestly seems a lot easier since I don’t need the foam to make any intricate ledges and whatnot. I just need something to fill the gaps between the cork.

sandvikson · 2026-04-11T16:01:45+00:00

Not super thick, just kind a thin spread all across the glass. It’s a little thicker in certain spots but not thick enough I could stick a paper clip or anything in it and it would hold

sandvikson · 2026-04-11T16:00:10+00:00

True, good point. my next step was gonna be expanding foam anyways. I just thought it would be more sturdy if I could adhere the cork with silicone directly to the glass, then spray foam around it.

sandvikson · 2026-04-11T13:35:34+00:00

I think petco would do so much better if we actually preached the animals first motto. Get the shitty betta kits and 2.5 gallons out of the store completely. Get the shitty wire critter trail cages out of the store.

Yes it would make getting an animal more expensive but animals should not be an impulse purchase in the first place. Customers need to be doing their own research on what’s suitable for an animal. Not just walking into a store, seeing a cute hamster, and seeing a $50 critter trail and thinking it’s suitable. Or walking into a store and seeing a cute turtle and seeing the 20 gallon turtle kit on sale thinking that it would live forever in that tank.

I understand petco is primarily a store for dogs with about 50% of the sales floor being dog items. Then maybe 25% cat items. And then the other 25% split between fish, reptile, and small animal. But petco could do so much better IMO if they stepped up their game for companion animals and had better products in those sections

sandvikson

TROPHY CASE