New to the BTS and tarantula keeping

[Melissa Oligario]

Hello all

I have recently purchased a Chaco Golden Knee juvenile (female), this is my first spider so I am very glad to have found this forum! Sorry in advance if I am asking silly questions!

I bought her with a starter kit but unfortunately the heat mat that came with it is just not warm enough. At the moment she is in a large Faunarium and the heat mat that came with it is 3W (9.6 x 15). The temperature only gets up to 60-65. She spends her time *on* the heat mat which is on the side of the enclosure
Can anyone please tell me what heat mat I need to get. I have asked the shop where I bought the kit from and they aren't getting back to me and I have noticed that they don't even sell the 3W heat mat individually!?
Thank you

[Melissa Oligario]

Ooh one other question.....how many times/crickets should she be eating? I have read lots about feeding but not really found an answer, some say a few times a week where as others have said every day. My spider certainly likes her food and so far has had a cricket a day.

Thank you

[Scott Pritchard]

Hi Melissa,

First off, welcome to the forums and the hobby! If you are anything like the rest of us on here this may prove to be your first of many tarantulas (it gets quite addictive!). I keep a few Chaco Golden Knees (scientific name being Grammostola Pulchripes) and I keep them all at around 26C in the day and around 22C at night, which i think is about 70-85F. I also keep the humidity between 70-80%. However, these are hardy tarantulas so I assume they could deal with temperatures outside this range without too many problems.

You may just want to buy a bigger heat mat or move the tank into a warmer part of the house, I would go with the latter so as to save a bit of money :P. However, if you do wish to buy another heat mat I find www.forttex.com a great website, they are cheap, always good with delivery and I have yet to have any problems with them. I personally find the heat mat size you have fine for my chaco's, in fact I am using two of them pretty much in the way you described and I keep my temperatures fine with them. If you are having problems you could always buy a larger heat mat but I can't see it being warmer than the other, it will just heat up a bigger area.

With regards to feeding I feed my chaco's twice a week with appropriate sized crickets, locusts or roaches (as a general rule of thumb I usually just throw in feeder insects that are rougly the size of the spiders abdomen).

No doubt you will receive a few more replys about this as everyone is really friendly and always willing to help new members so if you have any more questions do not hesitate to ask!

[Melissa Oligario]

Hi Scott, thank you for your reply. Hmmmm the trouble is I don't have a warmer part of the house The temp just doesn't ever go above 65. Maybe the mat I have isn't working properly?
Also is it possible to over feed them or do they not eat when they are full? Sorry for all the questions!

Thank you.

[Scott Pritchard]

Generally I also have a hot and cold side to the tank too, gives the spider the choice of where to move if its uncomfortable with the temps. So where your heat mat is should easily be about 26C or 85F if im right. If its not I would buy a new heat mat, heat mats are notorious for overheating and the likes so you may well be right that its not functioning properly. If you use the link i provided in my previous post it should only set you back ten quid including p+p.

And yes its possible to overfeed a tarantula (in my opinion that is). If you overfeed them the abdomen can become to large to keep off the floor and they could possibly damage the ventral(under)side of it by dragging along the floor. Its hard to over feed some spiders but if your G. Pulchripes are anything like mine it would certainly be possible. However I do have one thats a bit fussy and will fast for a while so it generally depends on the individual tarantula. I just make sure not to let them abdomen get too large, generally about twice to three times the size of the carapace is as far as I will let it get before i make them go on a diet!

Hope that helps.

[Melissa Oligario]

Thanks again Scott. Do you have your heat mats on the inside or outside of the enclosures? Its just that the shop where I bought it from said inside and the instructions on the mat said outside!? Its not possible to put it inside as you can't take the plug off to pull the wire through the lid, so it is on the outside. Just wonder if that is why its not getting warm enough? I will have a look at the link you gave me, thank you.
I will cut down on my spider's food then, would hate for her to have to go on a diet!

[Mark Pennell]

Hello all

I have recently purchased a Chaco Golden Knee juvenile (female), this is my first spider so I am very glad to have found this forum! Sorry in advance if I am asking silly questions!

I bought her with a starter kit but unfortunately the heat mat that came with it is just not warm enough. At the moment she is in a large Faunarium and the heat mat that came with it is 3W (9.6 x 15). The temperature only gets up to 60-65. She spends her time *on* the heat mat which is on the side of the enclosure
Can anyone please tell me what heat mat I need to get. I have asked the shop where I bought the kit from and they aren't getting back to me and I have noticed that they don't even sell the 3W heat mat individually!?
Thank you

Welcome to the forum Melissa
There are no silly questions ok, so just ask what ever you like about tarantulas here. Also worth doing a search as many question have already had full answers so always worth doing a search..

Best regards
Mark

[Melissa Oligario]

Thanks Mark. Great idea re doing a search

[Scott Pritchard]

Yes the heat mats go on the outside of the tank, no idea why the shop said different haha. I have all mine running along one side of the tank, I would avoid putting it below the tank as tarantulas burrow to get away from heat.

[R Thomas]

There are no silly questions ok

Hi Melissa,

That does not mean that there arent sometimes silly answers.

There is a wealth of knowledge and many years of experience between the members and most are more than willing to assist with an opinion or two.

I have a Chaco Golden Knee and must say that it has always been a favourite of mine. Mine is also a good eater given the chance.

Now onto the subject of heat mats. Heat mats by their nature are more of a radiant heat source than a convection heat source. This means they tend to heat solid objects directly more than the air surrounding them. I use 4w and7w heat mats and a 30w heat strip to supply a gentle warmth to my collection. If I put my hand inside my enclosure close to the mat then it feels nicely warm, if i move sideways away from it then I feel nothing. The tarantulas tend to move towards the warmth until too hot then move away again (except if the mat is on the bottom of the enclosure as tarantulas tend to burrow to escape heat - so mount on the side or rear wall above the substrate line). The great Stan Schultz is good at reminding us time and time again that tarantulas are happy in any environment that we find comfortable - so if the room is warm enough for you then it is probably warm enough for your tarantula.

Anyway welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy your stay,

Richard

[Stanley A. Schultz]

First, "Welcome to the hobby!"

And, "Welcome to these forums!"

Right off the bat we do the sales pitch:

First, you need to read Stan's Rant at http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html. Be especially certain to read the four books that are mentioned. Note that you needn't go out and buy them. Your friendly, neighborhood, public library probably has one or two already on its shelves, and they can get the others for you through the Interlibrary Loan System. It's a lot of reading, but you can space them out over the next few months.

... Sorry in advance if I am asking silly questions! ...

The only silly questions are the ones you don't ask.

Silly questions are always a lot easier to deal with than silly mistakes!

... I bought her with a starter kit but unfortunately the heat mat that came with it is just not warm enough. ... The temperature only gets up to 60-65. ...

This is probably a bit too cool for 24/7/365 life. And, the heat pad either isn't working at all or is far too small for the cage.

Though I normally preach vehemently against artificial heat in tarantula's cages, I think you need to throw away that pad and explore other heating options.

... She spends her time *on* the heat mat which is on the side of the enclosure ...

This sounds as though the tarantula is nearly full grown or better. This, in turn, strongly suggests that it is wild caught. Most wild caught and many cage bred tarantulas instinctively hang from the cage walls until they get used to living in a new cage on new substrate. In nature, 95% of their world is a vertical surface, the wall of a burrow for the terrestrial ones or a tree trunk for the arboreal species. It'll get used to a flat, horizontal floor in a few days to a few weeks.

Lastly, has anyone told you of the tarantula enthusiast's lament?

LIKE THOSE POTATO CHIPS, YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!

You've been warned!

[Christopher Smallman]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby

Looks like you have plenty of advice without me adding my two pennies worth.

But never be afraid to ask questions if we can help we will.

Chris.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... The great Stan Schultz ...

Melissa -

Richard is just looking for "browny points." On this one point you can ignore him. Just call me "Stan." Everything else he says is just fine.

[R Thomas]

Melissa -

Richard is just looking for "browny points." On this one point you can ignore him. Just call me "Stan." Everything else he says is just fine.

Phew for a moment there I thought I was in for a real roasting lol

The not so great Richard

[Carole Dallison]

First, "Welcome to the hobby!"

And, "Welcome to these forums!"

Right off the bat we do the sales pitch:

First, you need to read Stan's Rant at http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html. Be especially certain to read the four books that are mentioned. Note that you needn't go out and buy them. Your friendly, neighborhood, public library probably has one or two already on its shelves, and they can get the others for you through the Interlibrary Loan System. It's a lot of reading, but you can space them out over the next few months.


Lastly, has anyone told you of the tarantula enthusiast's lament?

LIKE THOSE POTATO CHIPS, YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!

You've been warned!

i love that. Its so true.
I`vebeen reading up on Stans book (a brilliant book i`d like to add that is easy to understand and follow) and i follow the same rules, if i`m warm then my spiders are warm.