heat mats

[David Bloor]

Hi all, I'm Dave, the Family & I are fairly new to tarantulas. I've read various posts that heatmats are a no no on the under side of a viv.We've got a Brazilian White knee and a Curly Hair in exoterras. the mat only covers 1/2 the underside area. We want the tanks to look good & would prefer not to have the mat taped to the side,the back has a polystyrene backing so wouldn't let the heat through. we would appreciate your help, thanks Dave.
Also have Av.minatrix sling, 2x scorpions, corn snake, giant african land snails, a tank full of fish & 2x hamsters

[Richard Shah]

Hi all, I'm Dave, the Family & I are fairly new to tarantulas. I've read various posts that heatmats are a no no on the under side of a viv.We've got a Brazilian White knee and a Curly Hair in exoterras. the mat only covers 1/2 the underside area. We want the tanks to look good & would prefer not to have the mat taped to the side,the back has a polystyrene backing so wouldn't let the heat through. we would appreciate your help, thanks Dave.
Also have Av.minatrix sling, 2x scorpions, corn snake, giant african land snails, a tank full of fish & 2x hamsters

Wow u got a lot. Well I am new to this tarantula thing too, but I'd say you are better off having it on the side or the back then at the bottom, cuz at the end of the day it is your T's wellbeing that should matter to you most. One question if you don't mind, and this is personal preference, but why do you keep the exo terra background?? It is very space-consuming isn't it? Then again you are probably okay depending on how you set it out - if it is like mine, then you are better off getting rid of the backgorund (see my thread, "Tank Set-up" to get what I mean.

Anyway if looks does matter (and I know it does to me) then I'd say remove the background and install the heater.


Also, you probably don't even need a heater if your room is exactly room temperature (21 degrees celsius) or above - if you are comfortable with the room, then it should be for your T. (most of the time, unless you like the extreme hot or cold!).

Cheers,

Rich!

[Colin D Wilson]

Hi Dave and welcome.

The main reason that most keepers have the heatmat on the side or back is that the tarantula will naturally burrow to escape heat.
Therefore, if you are to use a heat mat (i personally don't use them and maintain an appropriate temp in the room) the more prefered setup for the tank would be as deeper substrate as can be allowed by your enclosure and the heat mat to the side or rear.
As Rich said above, there's always the option to remove the backing (i've seen tanks with this removed and the extra space obtained is nicely noticable). you can then allow a gradient of deeper substrate up from front to back and maybe add some plastic plants or corkbark for your own viewing pleasure.

Regards

Colin

[David Bloor]

Thanks for the reply Richard (man you work fast) . I think it may be wise to unplug the mats & keep an eye on the thermometer, if the temp drops too much then we'll have to look at repositioning them. As for the look of the tank ,I think the backing looks realy good.
I'm as new to computers as i am to t's so when I get things figured out I'll post some of my pics of the tank setups and t's, we've gone mad with the camera taking snaps, including the av. moulting .
Thanks again Dave

[Richard Shah]

Thanks for the reply Richard (man you work fast) . I think it may be wise to unplug the mats & keep an eye on the thermometer, if the temp drops too much then we'll have to look at repositioning them. As for the look of the tank ,I think the backing looks realy good.
I'm as new to computers as i am to t's so when I get things figured out I'll post some of my pics of the tank setups and t's, we've gone mad with the camera taking snaps, including the av. moulting .
Thanks again Dave

Kl very good idea.
I work fast?? Lol - probably cuz I'm a thirteen year-old kid who can type the alphabet on the keyboard in under 3.5 seconds!
You'll figure the PC things out, it is pretty simple if you just want to do the basics!

[Peter Lacey]

The Brazilian White Knee makes a great tarantula. It grows fairly large, its fast and rarely refuses food. Its definitely one of my favs and I often hear it rush around the tank as if it has hob-nail boots on. The Avic, unlike the White Knee, is an arboreal species so you'll need to supply things for it to climb on, soz if that's stating the obvious.
Unless the temperature in your home is dropping below 70 for extended periods there's no need to supply heating. You'll find people have different opinions on this but whenever higher temperatures are quoted its often with the objection of breeding, in which case more care on temperature and humidity is required. If the Exo's are placed alongside each other you could put one heatmat between them. As Colin suggests the tarantula will burrow to get away from heat so placing it underneath for terrestrials isn't recommended. Placing it on the side creates a gradient temperature allowing and encouraging the tarantula to move around.

[Tom Forman]

Well as you can tell some people believe you don't need a heatmat, I believe you do. Well you don't really need one but you should do your T the favour.
In fact I have done myself the favour getting myself another heatmat I think cause I'm saving money not heating the room anymore

Since I've put up the heatmat I've got a more colourful spider! (yep) and its more active and faster and much more responsive when I open the lid. I wouldn't do without em.

The reason people place the mat at the back of the tank is so the T has got a temperature gradient in the tank and can regulate its temp by going to the front or the back of the tank. Placing it under half the tank, although less ideal, will give the T a temperature gradient from side to side and should be good.

[Louise~Nichols]

Hello David and welcome in,

Generally heatmats are placed on the back or side of a tank to allow the tarantula to burrow away from the heat. The ability to go underground where there is no heat source best replicates their outdoor life...after all, no wild spiders have yet had *underfloor heating* fitted in the wild. lol

My primary concern with any heat under the tank, is that should the spider create a new burrow too close to the heat they are putting themselves in a place which could contribute towards rapid dehydration and poor moults.
A tarantula moves itself by the raising and lowering of fluid pressure within it's body, and it loses fluid/moisture via it's booklungs during respiration...so when it has an energetic moment and runs off into a cozy warm burrow, where the air can dry quickly, the spider is reducing it's body fluids...there could be a higher risk of the spider becoming *too dry* to move itself to the waterbowl due to insufficient fluids within it's body.

Hope that helps a bit anyways.

[James Box]

i agree with Lou and Colin.
i use heatmats because they are in a room with me and it's not always as warm as they like it, and i'm not too good with heat.
i've also got an oil filled radiator which has been on alot with the current cold weather (finding this hard to live with, but it's for the pets, so i put up with it).
my heatmats are almost all down the back of the display area, so they really don't get in the way. the exceptions which i may review and change are under the toads' and snake's tanks as well as down the backs.

just in reference to the Exo Terra setup i assume you have...you can put the heat mat inside and down the back, behind the foam backing. there should be a little sliding opening through which you can thread the cable. that means you can have your nice backing AND a heat source.
that backing will be great for the avic as well, obviously, though less use for terrestrials.

[SylviRigden]

Hi David, welcome to the forum, my T's have 'underfloor heating' and have always been fine. My room temperature is 66f - 68f. The mats are mainly half the tank or less depending on the type of T - some like it warmer than others. I have a thermometer nearby, and if it gets warm I turn off the mats or move the tanks so that they get less heat. The plastic kritter keepers have little feet which leave an air space between the tank and mat. You can buy little stick on electric circuit rubber feet that you can put on the tanks bottom, and failing that I just put a table mat under the tank. Using the heat mat directly on the tank can crack your glass, particularly if the substrate is deep. The dryness of your tank will depend on heat, moisture and the amount of ventilation that your tank has, and you will need to fiddle about with all 3 to get the environment right for each type of T - all part of the fun My T's are in a hall so every time I walk down the hall I have to look at my beloveds, so they are closely monitered. I don't think I would use such a direct heat if they were out of the way and maybe only checked once in a while. If I go on holiday I take the heat right down to the bare minimum.

[David Bloor]

Hi all, Thanks for all your replies. this was my first post and I'm blown away with all the feedback and your friendlyness. Hope to speak to you all again soon, thanks again Dave.

[James Box]

yep nice people here i've found as well

[Nicola Dolby]

Can I just add that in my spiders room I had to put two of my little burrowers (Ornithoctonus and Koh Samui) into the colder part of the room due to space requirements. I put a heat mat under both and keep the temperature at a constant 26 degrees underneath using a thermostat. So far they are eating and drinking normally, but I rarely see them anymore because their burrows are just too cozy down there! Myself I can't see why anyone would use a heat mat without a thermostat though, sounds a bit like a recipee for disaster if you ask me. All the best!

[Tom Forman]

well I've had my first heatmat for a couple of months now and the room has seen temperature fluctuations from 13 degrees to 26 degrees (when i accidentally left the heating on and fell asleep...).

Spiders are all doing great.

These heatpads are not that powerful, Putting my hand on one just feels nice and warm so I'm not surprised to see most of my T's hugging the wall and that is "the full 15 watts of power"(and thats a big heat mat), yeah now that is powerful compared to my 200 watt Fan.