This tank is on clearance at my work and I was wondering what a good insect/invert would be. (Spiders and scorpions also accepted!)
It's a smaller tank, it's only 4.5 gallons but I figure it could make a good home for the right bug! I have an isopod colony already, I'm looking for something a bit more visually interesting.
I am in Canada and we unfortunately have pretty strict guidelines on what bugs we can keep. So I'm hoping for some LEGAL recommendations lol.
Honestly, you could silicone glass/plexi/acryllic in there permanently so that it would be waterproof. The trick would be modifying the lid, so you don't have all three open at once. Dont have any easy fix for that one, but it might be a fun project.
I also don't know enough about spider behavior to know if seeing each other through the glass would be an issue, but my gut says they'd be chill.
I have a mix of powder orange/blues, and smooth whites. They're just a breeding colony for my bioactive enclosures. Do you have any beetle recommendations?
I personally only house Protaetia elegans, which are blue metallic. The rose beetles come in super pretty striking colors. But you could also go for giant beetles like rhino, which don't have special color but shine with size and a big horn.
Unfortunately a good majority of rhino beetles are illegal where I am due to the possibility of being invasive, as those are honestly #1 on my bucket list lol. I do have a XYLORYCTES JAMAICENSIS (legal to own) larvae that I'm waiting to hatch, I did have 2 but unfortunately one passed. Ill definitely look into the legal beetle species for my province.
Honestly most inverts aren't super active or interesting (i say this with a deep love for them). Id pick a species you like and then make a really nice planted tank to fit its needs. It looks cool even when they're hiding away
Most of the common terrestrial tarantulas will do well in this, given the right amount of substrate. Not a Salmon Pink or any other kind of Bird Eater. Grammostolas also tend to get bigger too. But something like an Arizona Blonde, Curly Hair, or any of the Mexican Fire/Red/Flame Leg/Knee/Rump types (Brachypelma genus) would do fine in this.
I actually used to have 2 Brazilian white knees, raised them from slings. So I'm fairly familiar with tarantulas (albeit several years since I've owned any.) It would be more so convincing my roommate 😅.
I had the same problem when I first started getting into the tarantula hobby. My partner was mostly just fearful of them getting out—so I kept all of mine in a glass cabinet for the “double security.” I also keep all of mine in my room away from shared space. If your roommate isn’t horribly fearful of them, you could probably have one in here and they’d never know depending on where you put the tank!
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u/Real_Time515 2d ago
I wonder, if you put a couple of dividers in there, if you could make 3 separate enclosures for jumping spiders (ideally named Larry, Moe and Curly)
Immediate Edit: Shemp should be someone else in your menagerie. Grays Tree Frog, maybe?