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Hi all, my first T and my 151st 2nd and 3rd are all chile's, in my experience, I'd say if you've got a mat, tape it to the side as described and then just observe your T. If it sits by the heat mat all day and night it obviously prefers it. If it never goes near it then don't bother with it. As we're coming out of winter now the nights are getting warmer so I don't think you'll have a problem, specially if the house temp doesn't drop dramatically on a night.
I don't think you mentioned if this is your first T but if it is, chances are you'll get the itch for another soon enough so the heat mat might come in then, if your chile doesn't need it? For example brachy's generally prefer it a bit warmer than chile's.
Best thing I can recommend is read a few husbandry pages and do your homework, then just observe your T. I find you soon get a feel for the T and what it prefers.
As for the case of the burrowers, generally the T will sort itself out, don't worry about the water bowl as long as it isn't massive or made of particularly heavy stuff lol. It could be that if its chose to make its hide under the bowl, it prefers the damper / more humid area of its enclosure?
Try misting a bit more frequently and see how the T reacts to that? Or just move the water dish after the hide is built, just to take the risk of collapse away. Or (lol I can't stop) manipulate the depth of substrate so you have a shallow area and put the water dish there?
I've found with my burrowers (particularly haplopelmas) if you start a burrow for them by just poking a finger into the substrate they'll usually start there. This gives you the chance to be more inventive with the set ups (lol see pic).
I don't think you mentioned if this is your first T but if it is, chances are you'll get the itch for another soon enough so the heat mat might come in then, if your chile doesn't need it? For example brachy's generally prefer it a bit warmer than chile's.
Best thing I can recommend is read a few husbandry pages and do your homework, then just observe your T. I find you soon get a feel for the T and what it prefers.
As for the case of the burrowers, generally the T will sort itself out, don't worry about the water bowl as long as it isn't massive or made of particularly heavy stuff lol. It could be that if its chose to make its hide under the bowl, it prefers the damper / more humid area of its enclosure?
Try misting a bit more frequently and see how the T reacts to that? Or just move the water dish after the hide is built, just to take the risk of collapse away. Or (lol I can't stop) manipulate the depth of substrate so you have a shallow area and put the water dish there?
I've found with my burrowers (particularly haplopelmas) if you start a burrow for them by just poking a finger into the substrate they'll usually start there. This gives you the chance to be more inventive with the set ups (lol see pic).
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