All about heat mats......

[James Heeley]

Hi guys, right. I have always used heat mats for my tarantulas, big, small, new world, old world, terrestrial, arboreal, and i've never had any problems. Recently i have been reading that "I should never ever use heat mats" because of something about "hot spots" etc. Please let me know your thoughts on this as, if im doing something wrong I would love to correct it, and if im not I would like not to fix something that isn't broken. I'm sure this has been discussed many times on here but please let me know your thoughts!

Cheers,

James.

[James Heeley]

Crap i just read the post about 4 down from this... duh! I would just like to add, that for terrestrial species especially those that like to burrow, I put them half on half off the heat mat, (with the burrow on the cold side).

[Peter Roach]

The best thing i can do is point you in the direction of this >>>> LINK The first part is a bit long winded but it does get better about 1/2 way down.

[James Heeley]

Thanks for taking the time to point me in this direction. I found that most informative and very interesting, and i guess i've never looked at 'cold blooded' creatures in that way. It actually makes a lot of sense now that i think about it, thanks very much. One minor thing i would like to ask though, I took the 3 spiderlings I have at the moment (just getting back in the game) off the heat mat and they all started climbing up the side of there enclosures which theyve never done before. Do you think this is just some kind of response to the sudden change in temperature?

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... Do you think this is just some kind of response to the sudden change in temperature?

Yup! Not to worry. They'll get over it. Read Substrate for more information.

For the record, and for everyone's edification, this may clarify the temperature vis-à-vis tarantula issue.




Now, does that help?


Tarantulas think it's SSSOOOooo funny!

...watching you freak out like that!