Tarantulas drawn to daylight?? Riddle me this....

[K Smith]

Hey all,

I've just gone into my 'spider room' to do my twice weekly clean n spray. I always have the blind down in the room as it's where my spiders are. Daylight peaks through the sides so theres the obvious distinction of day/night.

Anyway, I just went over and rolled the blind up so I can see what im doing. Then in a space of 2 minutes the weirdest thing i've ever seen happened!! 7 of my T's actually came out of their hides/webs/hiding places, and actually clung to the sides of their enclosures, which looked like they were actually trying to get to the light??? I've never seen or heard about this before?

Please see the pics below. The T's that moved towards the light were my g.rosea, g.pulchra, E.uatuman, H.maculata, Green bottle blue, Avic Versicolor, and P ornata.

Any one any ideas? As im seriously confused? Spiders hate light right??

[K Smith]

My Cobalt didnt come out for the sunlight but no surprises there...

[MarkPorter]

The majority of my collection are in my kitchen along one wall. At the right time of day the light hits the tanks quite strongly. All My T's have hides but I often see them out enjoying the sun. It is not a question of warmth as all are heated anyway. There are some that have little interest in the change of light, others seem to enjoy it.

This is not just 1 or 2 T's either as my collection (excluding the slings I have bred this year) is at the 60+ level.

[Paul Arnold]

Perhaps when the sunlight struck the sides of the enclosure it created a hotter spot than anywhere else,and the Tarantulas were drawn to the heat being generated?

[MarkPorter]

I do not discount any theories but I do not think it can be explained by warmth as I run heat cables / mats along the back of all the viv’s, if they were searching for warmth they would have been hugging this end of the enclosure prior to the light source occurring.

My kitchen light does not have the same effect and neither does a torch so in conclusion….. I do not have a clue lol, but I have also seen the behaviour that K Smith witnessed causing this post to be started.

[Emma Mallett]

My T does exactly the same. As soon as the blinds are raised he's up the side of his enclosure catching the rays

[Colin D Wilson]

This is a scenario many people who have probably only read the many books (and web pages) about tarantulas will try and argue about ...

"Tarantulas only come out at night and will always hide from daylight"

It's quoted so many times and in fact it's total rubbish to be honest, and i'm of a mind that the UV rays from the sun have a positive effect on the external skeleton of a spider in "natures reccommended doses"

We have a bookcase downstairs, and a couple of rack type (floor to ceiling) shelves upstairs with, well .. quite a lot of tarantulas (including these presumably secretive pokies and avics) that are supposed to react negatively to light.... as has been said above, they all eventually come to the front of their tubs when the sunlight hits, they will sit there in direct sunlight untill it's passed over then after a few mins go about their daily wanderings (another thing they're not supposed to do)

As has been said in the past ..."spiders don't read the same books we do"

[MarkPorter]

Colin I know you often get alot of stick for being direct, sometimes unfairly but come on........

'This is a scenario many people who have probably only read the many books (and web pages) about tarantulas will try and argue about ...'

Of course I read books when I started the hobby as I am sure the vast majority of us did, all trying to ensure we care for our Tarantulas in the best possible way. (not a bad thing at all).

After time we evolve in the hobby, meet new people with like minded interest, debate and learn together. Some of your posts especially on AP have been very useful, I also like how you come from a logical point of view more often than not.

Moving forward with this...... I am fully aware that each tarantula has its own personality etc, so will often discount the many theories out there if we just looked at the one specimen. So the question I raised is it does seem to be the light but my kitchen / torch light does not have the same effect as the sun, what are your thoughts on this ?

*Like yourself I would also say I am experienced in the hobby but we are both still leaning daily.

[Colin D Wilson]

You got me on this one Mark.. i usually post so directly (and from a logical viewpoint as you state) so that there's no way to read into my reply anything but what i mean.
Just read back and yes... this time you can take it two ways....DOH!!..failed etc etc

What i actually tried to convey was that it's the people who only read about them, don't actually keep them, and have mis conceptions of spiders that seem to spread the word (mainly by myth) on how spiders live.
We as keepers know different (which is why i posted the "spiders don't read the same books" bit etc).

To ellaborate .....The other main point about books is that most of them are out of date 6 months after they're written, people read an old book then quote facts from this which have been proven incorrect etc... leads to a few debates as you've probably read online, mainly because people don't back down through pride when they're proved wrong (one of the issues i get occasionally when i reply contrary to the topic, funny how these people seem to drift off into the abys when they realise they are actually wrong..... used to bother me ... i'm getting used to it now)

Anyway.. in short ... i was actually just agreeing with whats in this post, maybe a little long winded which is why it was picked up t'other way.

We all continue to learn each day, and should do .. it's the only way to carry on forward (hence my signature), if someone whos been in the hobby for a week or two comes up with a theory, we should take it on board as we would do if the person has been in the hobby forever.
I've learnt more from novice keepers than i have from books, mainly because they've experienced what they're saying not just quoting someone else. They have a new, fresh way of looking at their pets and notice things we experienced keepers often seem to dismiss as "run of the mill" stuff.

anyway shut up Colin ......you're waffling

[K Smith]

Thanks Colin and Mark for the replies. It was an amazing sight to see last night. Strangely enough it was my pokie and avic that were first to go to the light.

I have heat mats behind the vivs on a thermostat as backup, but the room is at a constant 26-27 degrees anyway so i don''t think it is the heat that drew them out. Perhaps as Colin states the UV may well be benificial to them. The sun is the sustainer of life after all...

I've been keeping T's for about 2 years or so now, and I do agree with Colin in the sense that novice keepers do have a fresh approach to the hobby. But I always ask on this forum for the advice of experienced keepers like Colin. I've read as many books as I can get my hands on, and i've given up on the internet sources as theyr so contradictory.

I'd love to find out if anyone else here has done any research on this or could 'shed some light' on why they are drawn to light...

[Paul Arnold]

Interesting,you really do learn something every day! Whilst my collection of tarantulas is somewhat small ive been keeping them for ten years now,always having to rear and exchange etc due to space restrictions,so have kept many species (the curse of naturalistic set ups) I too have noticed this behaviour in all my T's but due to the fact that i was led to believe that they hate sunlight it was the only logical solution I could arrive at,and ive thought that for bloody years lol lol. Colin by contrast there are some keepers whom ive spoke to that keep tarantulas in a darkened room for exactly this reason. Do you think it could be harmful for Tarantulas not be allowed access to natural sunlight? Could it be possible that there is some D3 synthesis taking place through the exoskeleton? Lol ill take a video of my Avic on a noon wander in full sunlight...Pah Tarantulas dont wander but i guess after reading this thread they could be partial to a spot of sun bathing
One thing i do know is that Tarantulas are surprising and mysterious little creatures,and whilst its of the utmost importance to study and research them as much as possible in order to understand them better,i hope that there are some facets of their behaviour/existence that we will never grasp in order to keep the intrigue alive. So many times ive asked "why" and never arrived at an answer
Ive seen some pretty incredible behaviour which i never thought a Tarantula would do,especially with my sadly deceased L.Klugi. Ill post what I witnessed me thinks

[Colin D Wilson]

Colin by contrast there are some keepers whom ive spoke to that keep tarantulas in a darkened room for exactly this reason. Do you think it could be harmful for Tarantulas not be allowed access to natural sunlight? Could it be possible that there is some D3 synthesis taking place through the exoskeleton?

I've known of keepers to keep them in a darkened room myself, never seemed to have any effect on moulting, growth etc but i do think that there's a direct link between "sunbathing" and a healthier spider myself.. not sure how it could be proven definitively though .... i suppose we could check the integrity of seperate moults (from the "darkened room" and "sunbathing" options) with an electron microscope to see if there's a difference ...possibly???
I'd personally go down the road of a vitamin D influence myself, after all as has been said ... it is a major contributer to health in the right proportions.

[Garth Massey]

What a good read guys thank you , Just want to say i am very new at this.

Still learning a lot , i will say that i was recently introduced to a old guy here in RSA that has been keeping T's for years.

The old man poor Greg asked me if he could come a around and see where i am keeping them.

Any way i showed him and recommend i move the 2 spiders more to the light to catch the rays.

Any way i agreed and moved my whole study round now the get some light have picked up they are more out and sun getting the rays also found a they are a lot more active now which is good.

Just thought i would add my 2 cents hehe..

[Nick Ashley]

I totally agree

Well.. I have just written a long email...however I pressed the wrong keys and highlighted and deleted it...I REALLLLLY hate it when that happens.

So, in short.. I completely agree, a lot of spiders do seem to react in a positive way to sun light. Though I am not sure of the specifics, I also agree that there is some health benefit attached to it as well, particularly when they are growing up... though note, that doesn't mean you should put spiderlings on the window sill as they will probably be toast by the end of the day.

The gisst of my original email was that in our previous flat the spiders did a kind of tour. They moved from the hall, to the bedroom and finally the kitchen whilst we were there. The kitchen was the warmest, and by far the brightest room and they seemed the most comfortable here. It was normal to come in on a warm summers morning and find the majority were out..

[Mike_Strick]

Very interesting topic. I remember reading that Ts in the wild are sometimes observed catching the last rays of the sun in the evening from the mouth of their burrow. I don't know if burrow locations are more commonly located on Westward facing slopes?

It's unlikely to be a good idea to leave T tanks where they have unmonitored exposure to sunlight; there's a strong danger of the temperature getting out of control and cooking the occupant. But it might be an interesting experiment to set up a reptile-style enclosure with a thermostatically regulated sunshine-emulating bulb providing a basking spot for a short time each day to see if the spider (a) emerged to make regular use of it and (b) benefited from it measurably. If so, and we wanted to simulate the more subdued evening sun, one lamp could probably provide enough 'sunshine' to light several tanks at once, with less danger of overheating.