Newbie post :)

[Craig Moore]

Hi everyone

My name's Craig and I live in North Wales, have become very fascinated with T's as of late and am looking to maybe get one sometime in the future. I'm going to ask some questions that have probably been asked tons of times before so please go easy on me, haha

I live in a 2 bedroom flat. For starters I am looking to get get either a juvenile B Smithi or maybe a B Albopilosum. Or maybe a B Emilia but I haven't seen any in the places I've been looking...
With regards to temperature, having an entire room heated for 1 tarantula seems a little excessive. So that leads me to believe I'll need a heat mat. However, opinion on these seems to be diverse wherever I go. Some people are against them while others advise they are fine in moderation. One person told me never to use them. Someone else said to use one but to put small blocks of wood underneath the tank to seperate the mat from the glass/plastic. One guy even advised me to put it on the side of the tank - how could this be done safely?
Basically I'm just looking for some pointers in the right direction for a first T owner living in a frequently chilly country
I've been on other forums asking similar questions but the people answering them usually live in parts of the world where additional heat is not an issue, so they're usually against the idea of heat mats. I'd love to hear some advice from other UK residents about the best way to combat this issue.

Looking forward to your replies and many more happy posts in this forum!

Thanks

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Craig, welcome to the forum.

The T's you've mentioned are all good choices for starters, easy to look after and reasonably forgiving of any mistakes. Aim to keep a tank temp of around 21c+ and can drop a little overnight. Heatmat on the outside back or side if it's a cool room can be beneficial, you can use a piece of polystyrene behind the mat to direct more heat into the tank, but don't put them underneath the tank, they can overheat and sometimes the T can't get away from them. Then all you need is a hide (half plantpot or coconut shell), some substrate and a water dish, then the addiction starts lol.

Hope this helps

[Craig Moore]

Thanks very much, are there any good heat mats you could recommend? Also, are they safe to keep on unsupervised? (We don't have the heating on during the day when I'm work but we do at night when it gets a bit cold)

[Ian Hall]

Thespidershop.co.uk do a great selection of heat mats especially the Arachnotherm heat mats that have adhesive backing. I have a couple and they work a treat.

[Ian Hall]

I asked Lee at the spidershop the same question you asked and this was the reply he gave me.

Also the Arachnotherm heat mats are small so they don't need a thermostat and can be left unsupervised.

[Craig Moore]

Thanks very much for all your responses - am planning to attend the Convention in May, can't wait!

[Jamie Brady]

hey

Hello and welcome to the forum you wil enjoy looking after T'sI have not been in the hobbie for long but already have 3-chili rosea the longest and biggest. I would say go for the chili rosea although if size isnt a problem for you go for the chaco golden knee-both great tarantulas.

I live in scotland so have to have heat pads on 24/7 at the moment-these species are great, very hardy.

And in my opinion you can put the heat pad under the tank as long as it covers only half of the foof surface-it can only go to the cool side of the tank if it wants-you dont live in a hot climate-same as me!

[Craig Moore]

Thanks Jamie for the tips

If anyone could post pictures of their heat mat set-ups that would be a great help as well!

[Jamie Brady]

pics

Thanks Jamie for the tips

If anyone could post pictures of their heat mat set-ups that would be a great help as well!

No problem, here's a thread where i posted pics on my set up. You may have already seen it. The heat pad is under the exo-terra tank, it takes up the half closest to the swing doors.