help needed!

[greigmason]

Dear all, I am a relative newcomer to the tarantula keeping hobby and I am having a bit of difficulty keeping a good temperature for my juvenile mexican redknee. Due to the recent cold spell the temps have fallen in the house so I put a small heat mat on the bottom of her small tank. The humidity levels are great but I am struggling to get the temp above 75 deg and I would like them to be around the 80 deg range. Through extensive reading and searching I have been advised not to use a heat lamp so I would gladly welcome all suggestions or ideas anyone may have. She is only around 2-3 inches so I know temp is vital to her especially at this age, many thanks, greig

[Peter Lacey]

There are 2 good reasons for not putting a heat mat on the bottom of the tank.
1. Tarantula will naturally burrow to get away from heat so in this case it would actually get closer to the heat source.
2. A heatmat on a deep substrate can crack the glass.
Best to put the heatmat on the side of the enclosure which helps to create a gradient of heat within. 75F is an acceptable temperature if you consider that the temperature in a burrow will be much lower than that of the hot climate of Mexico during the day, and most tarantula will be active by night.
If you feel the need to raise temperatures you could consider insulating your enclosure with polystyrene or reflective foil.

[Chris Sainsbury]

Hi
Try sticking the heat mat on the side of the tank and reflect the heat back into the tank with a polystyrene sheet.
75 degrees shouldn't harm your spider though and personly I would only be a little concerned if I couldn't make 60 degrees during the day.
cheers
Chris

[Michael Peachey]

First off, welcome to the forums greg; even though i havent been here very long. I'm also relatively new to the hobby but i thought i could share some advise to comfort you.

I've also got a mixican red knee sling/juv 2intches-3 intches.

I got a heat mat with my starter kit, after chatting to people i was informed that having a heat mat wasnt a good idea, and in fact it can 'cook' your tranantula.

Generally speaking from what i've heard from alot of chatting to people is, if your happy with the temperature your T is generally happy too.

I use one of those plastic card thermometer's on my wall which shows the average temperate range to be comfortable in for us mamals 16 degrees = 60 F which you dont want to fall under. Our best range is 16-24, so generally provided your in your own acceptable range your T will be just fine.

It would be great if someone could clarify this for me too though, since i can only share what i've heard
Mike

[scott wilson]

hello mate...welcome to the forum..my own B smithi is kept in a 30X30cm terrarium with a 7watt heat matt selotaped to one side and a thick piece of styrene on the back to send the heat into the tank..she seems more than happy with this and spends her day in the same spot just outside her burrow.the heat matt goes off at 5pm to allow for a natural nocturnal cooling down..hope this helps

[Peter Lacey]

...
Generally speaking from what i've heard from alot of chatting to people is, if your happy with the temperature your T is generally happy too.

I use one of those plastic card thermometer's on my wall which shows the average temperate range to be comfortable in for us mamals 16 degrees = 60 F which you dont want to fall under. Our best range is 16-24, so generally provided your in your own acceptable range your T will be just fine.

It would be great if someone could clarify this for me too though, since i can only share what i've heard
Mike

Generally if its warm enough for you then its fine for your T. Some people suggest not having a heat source but to keep them in the warmest room in the house. As Ts generally stay in their burrow during the daytime and come out at night the temperatures are often lower than expected. Personally I use temperatures of 70-85. If temps reach 90 or go below 60 its certainly time to address your heating.

[greigmason]

thanks Peter I appreciate your quick reply and words of advice. Its helped settle me! Thanks again

Thanks Scott, I appreciate the words of advice

Thanks Michael, glad to hear I'm not the only novice worrying! thanks

Thanks Chris, I appreciate the words of advice. Its good to know I'm not doing too bad!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Greig and welcome to the forum, we aim to keep our T's in the 22c to 25c range