Humidity and moulting - fact or fiction?

[Orin]

Hi Ramona,

I'm having trouble locating your e-mail and private messages don't work here unfortunately. Is Monday OK?

Thanks,

Orin

 

[Birdfly]

Do they have enough room, and are there a variety of perches available? I had trouble with deformities when I didn't have adequate perches.Also, surface area is the trick to increasing humidity - simply putting a dish of water wont help that much. Try moistening a clump of moss, or putting something absorbent in there soaked in water. Or, try what I do - an inch of gravel covered by soil/bark, and keep the gravel water-logged. That also helps if you plant your terrarium.

Im sorry but i thought you didnt use any humidity in your insect terrariums ?

 

[Birdfly]

I didn't intend to evoke any hostility from anyone, I was just hoping that people would respond to the poll, and generate thoughtful disscussion on the matter.I appologize - I enjoy debating. That is often misunderstood, and taken as hostility. But, I assure you that I didn't intend to offend. I just wanted to know why people felt the way that they did. That said, the following is my oppinion - but I still look forward to hearing reasoned oppinions from others.

Stress uses valuable energy that an individual may need in order to survive the whole process. In my oppinion, founded on experience carring for a wide variety of exotic arthropods - but only 3 species of mantids - overall health, nutrition, and keeping stress to a minimum, are important factors to the whole process. I am open to the possibility that environmental factors such as low humidity may stress-out an animal, thus endangering it durring molting. But I must respectfully point out that it isn't a "drying out" process. If it were, all crabs would be soft shell crabs.

Thank you!

But those crabs would be inside out and dead as a dodo if they were to shed in low, or no humidity, wouldn't they[fit,healthy or non stressed]. Also most mygalomorph spiders would dessicate and blow away in low humidity as their book lungs need humidity to breath properly. . life evolved first from the water, lower life will always require it live properly.