heating

[Andrew Grant]

Hi, i'm new to the BTS. I'm setting up an old fish tank to start my T collection with either L. Parahybana, G. Aureostriata/Pulchripes or A. Chaclodes and was wondering about heating part of the enclosure. Would an aquarium heter surrounded by slate buried near the bottom of the substrate be ok or should i use a heat mat as suggested on many sites? Thanks in advance for any and all replies. A.

[Phil Rea]

Hi Andrew, and welcome to the BTS

Aquarium heaters are designed to function when they are submerged in water. If you switch them on in air they tend to heat up too quickly, crack, and stop working. Look at getting a heatmat, perferably on a thermostat or a mat-stat, and go from there.

[Andrew Grant]

cheers phil, i did try it buried, without spiders of course, lol, it seemed to work but think i will go with the heatmat, which of the three Ts above would u suggest, i was thinking of the L. Para, would that be ok for a first one?, P.s. done nothing but read for the last month and a bit about them, want to get it right, ;o)

[Phil Rea]

I think any of those would make a good first spider

[Andrew Grant]

cool, i'm kinda set on the salmon pink, planning on going to the BTS meet to see what i can pick up tho, i might see something that makes me change my mind!! Seriously doubt i'll only come home with one tho!!

[Joanna Pendleton]

Andrew, I know what you mean about not just getting one, we were only meant to be getting a GBB for my 3 year old daughter. We've just ordered our GBB sling and I'm getting a sub-adult A.Chalcodes. They haven't even arrived yet and Ive already got my eye on a G.Pulchra!

I haven't set my tank up yet as have had to order one, but I've also ordered a heat mat for it, which I intend to put on the back but only covering one side of the back of the terrarium. Am I right in believing the best thing to do is to put it on the outside at the back (with polystirene popped on the back of the heat pad)?
Ive seen them set up this way, however the plastic terranium Ive ordered from the spider shop has a hole in the top to run the heat pad's wire through as if it is supposed to be inside?
Any advice someone could give me would be great.

(sorry to ambush your thread Andrew but I guess it's a good question for you if you get a heat pad too, and I didnt think we needed to have more than one thread on heating lol!)

Also I will be putting the pot with my sling in next the the heated end of the sub-adults terranium, will this provide enough heat for the sling?

Thanks guys.

And let us know what you decide to get Andrew!

x

[Andrew Grant]

hi Joanna., I don't mind u hi-jacking, lol. I got my heatmat today and have just stuck it to the outside of the tank, I've stuck my hand in and it does seem to be heating a little through the glass, (I'm using an old fish tank) but it is only a little heat coming through, so am going to try it on the inside where i imagine it will give more heat to the enclosure. The only thing is, because only one T can be kept in one enclosure, I've decided to get a pair of emperor scorpions instead, they're still spider-related so hopefully no-one will mind me remaining a BTS member, ;o)

[Andrew Grant]

BTW, should the heat mat go inside or stuck to the outside? daft Q I know but the heat doesn't seem to be penetrating the glass that well.

[Joanna Pendleton]

I have mine stuck to one half of the outside back wall. x

[Andrew Grant]

how is it heatwise on the outside, coz as stated above, there's very little heat coming thru the glass, just put it on the inside about 10 minutes ago so will find out in the morning, i guess, lol

that's some family u got there, Jo. congrats, A

[Lee Corless]

Yeah always put them on the out side... You might not think its getting warm enough but it will. all mine are on the out side and some of mine are in modified fish tanks. temperature is all ways at a steady 22 and my house is very very cold. You could also try covering up some of the vents so it warms the air up inside easier.

I am sure there are many people who will have different opinions to what is right and wrong. I know that some of the burrowing speicies will try to burrow deeper to keep cooler and if the mat is under the substrate it could easily burn the T as it burrows to get cool.

I don't know weather this is true but someone told me, can't remember who. that its better for a T to be slightly cold than overly warm.

[Larry Shone]

Funny, I have never actually used a heat pad! True when my Ts were slings I woud sit the container on top of the modem which was warm but now they just have room temps!

[Lee Corless]

I agree, before i moved into this house i never used a heat pad, room temperature was always enough. But now i live in a very large cold house. so just to be on the safe side i use them on cold days. but during summer i never use them.

[Andrew Grant]

I di mention in an earlier post that i was actually considering emperor scorps instead of T's, only because a 96ltre tank with one T would be a bit much. getting 2 emp scorps in it instead wit the intention of breeding them. still considering a salmon pink tho in the small tank i have. , i say small tank, it's a 30 ltre

[Lisa Baines]

I have also found that there is a lot of heat wasted from the heat mat being on the outside of the tank. So what we do is cover the heat mat with a sheet of 3/4" - 1" thick polystyrene sheet. This can be easily obtained for free at any aquatic or reptile shop because all they do is throw it away and you are actually saving them money by taking it off their hands. This dramatically increases the heat output through the glass because the heat mat is now insulated and the heat directed into the tank area.

During summer we have to take the polystyrene sheets off the non thermostat controlled tanks otherwise we get the opposite problem of overheating. However during the cooler months it keeps our inverts nice 'n' toasty May not look pretty but if the heat mat is around the back, who's going to notice