help needed to raise the temp

[vincent winyard]

sorry to be a pain everyone but i've got a young avicularia versicolor arriving tomorrow. i've managed to set up the container where it'll start of,there's bark and twigs and some green for it to climb plenty of ventilation holes. i've got it up and running ready for the new arrival the humidity is at 75 to 80 problem is the temp. i've got a 7watt heat pad on the back with polystyrene behind that and i can only manage to get the temp up to 72 to 78 i've read it should be around the 85 mark so i need to know if the temp i've got will be ok if not what else can i do to raise it.

[Colin D Wilson]

I'd leave it at that mate, none of mine and Elaines avics here (and we've got a fair few) go much above 78 (if just left depending on heat source) in the colder months, in the summer the ambient temp takes it up over that naturally so nothing to worry about there. All of ours here are feeding, moulting, breeding and doing all that they need to do.
in the warmer months we switch the heating off at night to allow for a natural nighttime drop, in the winter months we keep the heat on and let the central heating take the temp up in the day.

When attaching a heat mat to the side of a tank most people measure the ambient temp in the tub this can be several degrees below what it is directly on the mat. The spider will actually benefit having an area where it can instinctively go to warm up, and have an area where it can cool off if needed.

[vincent winyard]

Hi Colin thanks for the info it helps to put my mind at rest to know that yours are all doing so well
I thought that the temp and humidity had to be on the ball
but you put it back into perspective
thanks again mate