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I've kept my Mexican Red-Knee'd in a large tank for about a year now. It's at least thirty gallons, it might be fifty. I keep one end at about 90 - 95 F, and let the warmth percolate to the other side where the thermostat is set for 85F via a remote sensor I keep there. The heater (CHE) is at the other end of the tank, so it has to be warmer there to keep up the temps in the controlled side. The T gets the most closely controlled temp, always within one degree of 85F. For a long time now I've noticed that some of the roaches I put in the tank for prey were hanging out at the warm end. I have no idea of how they could have survived, because I wasn't feeding or watering them. Last week I stirred up the 1" deep soil there, and several adults and a little swarm of nymphs scrabbled for cover. They are not hiding at the other end of the tank where Red hangs out the most. Though, sometimes for a couple of days, she will spend time right in the warmest part of the tank with the bugs.

Anyway, I realized that I had stumbled onto a pretty cool setup. The Red-Knee seems to know all of his habitat. And she has a self-sustaining gang of prey bugs in with her living separately from her, held in their spot by the high warmth. As long as I put grated carrots and banana peels in the warm end, the system will continue without any more input from me of prey animals. So I've invented a case for the positive effect of keeping a T in a large tank. Cool. I know it's not hard to drop a few roaches in per week, I just like the setup. I don't want the isolated colony to grow much, so I keep the nutrition low (no chicken mash).

Roger

The first pargraph of my post makes me look like I have about a two-second attention span. What I meant is the temperatures are controlled on one end of the tank, and the heater is at the other. I set the heat to 85, and the T likes it there, where it's constantly almost exactly 85 all the time. The other side of the tank has a CHE that has to burn hot enough to heat clear over on the other end of the tank, to satisfy the sensor. To keep the cool end of the tank at 85, the heated end of the tank gets up to somewhere around 95F.

Roger

Sound interesting. Have you wittnessed your T eating the roaches that have bred in there?
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KJ Vezino
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Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

Thank you for your response.

I've never seen her in a wrestling match. The hot end where the roaches like it is also dark, for the roach's sake. That's why I'm using a CHE down there. But I do see her spend time down there, and I've seen her busy with some kind of work. She will spend maybe a day or two in the hot end, then come back up to the 85F zone. The roaches have very little cover, so they are an easy catch for her. I wouldn't know whether she prefers adult females, or small nymphs. But the evidence points unwaveringly to the conclusion that she is eating them, because I never drop roaches in there any more, and she is thriving. I use gel for water for both species. I don't know the pros and cons of that.

I've thought about lowering her end of the tank to about 78F, so if she prefers lower temps, she can set up anywhere across the thermocline, picking out her best temp herself. I would have to place the CHE closer to the ground, so the roaches can still get hot. Toasted roaches are a delicacy snack in some places, right? Or am I thinking of termites? Crunch crunch, yum yum.

clffdvr

Ts need to eat very little to survive and thrive. I don't think that thriving is a good indicator that the roaches are actually being eaten. Just my thoughts on that.
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KJ Vezino
My Gallery
Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

"I don't think that thriving is a good indicator that the roaches are actually being eaten."

I respect your opinion, and admit I'm a complete beginner. I'm trying to figure out the implications of what you say. So, thriving and eating are two completely separate issues? ("Thriving is not an indicator of the roaches being eaten." She couldn't grow if she didn't eat. But maybe I'm missing your point. Is it that she is probably eating a lot fewer roaches than I think? What kinds of signs do they display when they are not thriving? This is the Red-Knee'd I'm talking about. I will do whatever it takes to make it right.

Roger

I just mean that Ts can fast for a very long time. I've had Ts not eat for anywhere from 6 to 12 months (despite being offered food once per week), with no signs of being unhealthy. No shrunken abdomens, no decreased energy/activity.

My point is, without actually seeing Roaches being eaten, or without noticing a decrease in the population of roaches; how do you know your T is just not fasting? Granted the odds are low that it is fasting, but it is possible.
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KJ Vezino
My Gallery
Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

I see her right in the middle of their population center. The rest is just my imagination. I get it. She indeed may be fasting, and just paying a pleasant visit over drinks with the roaches. Just trying to be funny. Actually, she spends time roosting just about in every spot on her floor.

Roger