A friend of mine wants a T, but...

Mad Hatter

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she lives in the upstairs room of her family's house (it's kind of like an attic, really). So her room is close to the AC and heater, and consequently never maintains a constant temperature. She worries that this might harm a potential pet tarantula.

Is it really that much of a problem? Or is there perhaps a certain species that would do okay in such conditions?
 

The Juice

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Depending how big the room is maybe she could keep the T's on the oposite side of the room, also depending on how cold and hot that room gets I would think a Usambara or a GrennBottle would be good choices since they are pretty hardy. I keep all my T's at room temp 72 degrees and they do just fine, I work with a guy that keeps his T's at room temp and he said he keeps his house at 65 degrees, so she might be OK ? JMO
 

Gir

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I dont think the AC would be a problem because it must stay warm up there pretty much all the time...but I dont think a temp fluctuation of more then 10 degrees is a good idea. She could get a cabinet or a larger aquarium and then put the T inside a smaller aquarium inside, and then put a heating pad on the bottom...close the door and throw a thermometer in there, and it would be easier to control the temp.
 

The Juice

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On second thought a Usambara would be to advanced for a newbie, so I recommend a GreenBottle or a Rose Hair.
 

ShaunHolder

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The Rose Hair tarantula is a gateway spider. It will lead to other Tarantula's and eventually, serious addiction.
 
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8 leg wonder

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ShaunHolder said:
The Rose Hair tarantula is a gateway spider. It will lead to other Tarantula's and eventually, serious addiction.
Amen to that. A rose hair was where my addiction started 3 years ago!
 

BBlack

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Here in the UK we don't heat our homes 24/7 etc and so temps can fluctuate quite a bit in winter. (don't ask why. lets not get into that argument again:rolleyes: )


I keep my T's an a large Viv with a thermostat controlling a heat mat running along the back. This can be set to maintain any temp (within reason). The bonus for me was that I could justify (to myself at least) that I needed to get a few more T's to fill in some gaps.

I'm up to 18 T's now and am expecting a few more from Sven on Wednesday. I may need to get another viv or maybe a nice big display cabinet... (I'm actually thinking fo making my own having seen some really nice ones here)
 

rosehaired1979

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G.aureostriata would be a great tarantula to start with. I think there better to start with than a G.rosea
 

Brian S

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You could also get a T from a more temperate region like A. hentzi. They would be able to take colder temps in the winter.
 

usumbaraboy

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well in my opion that if the temp is at room temp its good and iv talk to stan schultz about this and he thinks that some people "baby" there tarantulas too much so i think if the temp doesnt go below room temp they should be fine. mine seem to be fine at around 70-80 degrees f and they seem really happy so it doesnt need to be perfect for the t as long as it stays above room temp but that is my opion
 

Mad Hatter

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GUSTO said:
On second thought a Usambara would be to advanced for a newbie, so I recommend a GreenBottle or a Rose Hair.
Yeah, I'm not about to reccommend an Usambara to her! Although it would be kinda interesting ... ("Oh, don't worry Ashley, it's really docile!") :D
 

Mad Hatter

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Thanks for all the good advice. I think I'll start her out with a Rose Hair (she can continue from there - as the rest of us addicts have...). They're pretty cheap, so if something should go wrong, it won't be a huge investment. I don't mean to be so casual with the poor T's life, but I know there are worse owners out there than Ashley. She's had Ts before and takes real good care of them.
 
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