Advice with set-up

[M Zurowski]

Hello fellow members,

I'm currently spiderless at the moment. Having spent 17 years of my life with spiders I had to sell them all a couple of years ago to move house. I've now decided to get some about 4 slings at the BTS show. I have decided also to house them in four respective tubs which will be housed in a larger tub and heated by a heat pad on a pulse thermostat.

What I would like to know is what is the best 'larger' tub out there. I realse that having a tub with an open vented lid will cause a lot of the heat to escape and therefore not be very effecient. Also, where's best to place the pad. On the back or on the floor?

Thanks for all your help. You've always been knowledgeable.


cheers

[Jamie Cooper]

Hi there,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but aren't you the guy who is supposed to be writing a book aimed at new comers to this hobby? With that and 17 years of experience in keeping tarantulas I'm quite surprised at the very basic questions you ask. Again, please don't take it the wrong way, I'm not trying to call you out or anything, I'm just thinking out loud.

Anyway, back on topic. What species are you planning on getting or aren't you sure yet? I think I understand the setup you are planning on making. The way I understand it is that the 4 smaller tubs containing the spiderlings will be placed inside another bigger tub which will be heated by a heat mat? I did something similar when I first started out. It worked OK. Then I built this...

It's a heat 45" heat strip attached to a back stand I made from acrylic. I simply lined up my spiderling pots along the stand and was able to heat about 14 pots on either side. See below...


Then I got fed up with it and bought an oil filled heater - LOL. I still have the stand if you want it. I advertised it on several forums but no body wanted it.

Good luck.

Jamie

[M Zurowski]

That’s very astute of you and I appreciate your politecandour. I have got 17 years experience of keeping Tarantulas. However, theTarantulas I kept were mainly terrestrial and either juvenile or adult. Ialways heated my Tarantulas by heating a large viv.

I’ve been out of theloop for two years because I had to sell my collection for personal reasons. Alot has changed. There were no P. matellicas and no ‘day-night’ thermostats toname just a couple of the changes.

During those 17 years I never owned slings, heated with heatmats, or bred tarantulas. So, you’ll notice that most of my questions on the forumare about slings and heat mats. I also posted a question about the web spinningthat Tarantulas do when eating. I asked this because when I left the hobby twoyears ago there wasn’t a definitive answer on this – it appears that nothinghas changed here.

I’ll be going to the show tomorrow and I hope to get acouple of slings – perhaps more, and I’ll be heating them with a heat pad.
My knowledge is, I would say, is very good with terrestrialspecies from all continents – so long as they are adult. I have kept a numberof Baboons for my sins. However, my knowledge does lack on arboreal Tarantulas,slings of all kinds and heat mats.
The best way I can describe it is that David Beckham is anexpert in his area but place him in goal and I’m sure he would have to ask afew questions – and still be awful no doubt.
Hope that eases your curiosity J
Your setup looks great. At the moment I just need somethingsmall as I’m still living in a small flat. I’m looking to get a couple of G.pulchras but I don’t think I’ll be able to ignore M. balfouri J

[Jamie Cooper]

Hello again,

My intentions when posting in this thread were simply to answer your question. I hope I was able to assist you in that.

Personally, my advice to you is to hold off writing a book, or forget it altogether. I appreciate what you are trying to do here. But despite your 17 years in the hobby, from what I have read you seem vastly inexperienced in key areas and I don't feel you would have much in the way of good advice to offer to newcomers. Writing a book must come from experience, not from information you read somwehere else. It might be worth noting that very few books written about the care of tarantulas have made it onto the shelves. "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" was a big success and one of few good books out there.

I hope I haven't offended you in any way, just offering my thoughts.

Jamie

[M Zurowski]

Hello again,

I never get offended by opinions. So don't worry there. I must say that the book that I am writing isn't being written for any commercial reasons and will be available in PDF format only. The book is purely to promote the hobby and not provide obscure details to very experienced keepers. 'The Tarantula Keeper's Guide' is a very good book and I have broken the back of my copy in many places. What I am doing is nothing close to that

Thank you for your advice and time