It's getting...cold in here?

[Rookie]

First of all, sorry for the 'Nelly' reference in my subject; I hate that guy.
The subject title is a little appropriate though. Fall is starting to arrive in Nova Scotia, and that means it's getting a little chilly. I live in a Unversity residence, and so my thermostat isn't 100% reliable. Right now my thermometer is giving me a reading of about 68 F. That's too low for me to be comfortable, and I'm worried about Peso.
I'm considering borrowing a lamp from someone since this is borderline emergency. Should I do so, and if I do, what about wattage and so on?
Help quick, we're freezing!
Paul

[galeogirl]

Don't use a lamp with your spider, it can dessicate them very quickly. If the temperature is dipping really low then you can buy a mini heat pad at the pet store and fasten it to one side of the tank, or set just a corner of the tank on it so the spider still has plenty of room to move to cooler spots in the cage. Don't put the heat pad under any burrows. Your spider will move to the warm spot if it needs to, they're pretty good at looking after themselves.

[Code Monkey]

If the cage is too small to attach a heat pad to the side, consider placing the cage inside of a larger container such as Rubbermaid rough tote with the pad attached to that. You can actually create pretty stable mini environments in these with a little work.

[MrDeranged]

Not sure where you have your T, but if you have a shelf over your computer monitor, you might be able to get away with just putting it there. I have some of the T's and pedes that need warmer temps and I keep them over my monitor. Keeps them a bit warmer from the heat being given off through the vents.

Scott

[Rookie]

Hey all,
Thanks for the suggestions. I might grab a heat pad tomorrow, though I didn't think it would be necessary originally.
I liked the monitor idea Scott, pretty east to pull off, and rather economical. Unfortunately, I have a laptop, so I can't use that idea.
I borrowed a 'magic bag', stuck that in the micro, and now i have it beside his babyfood jar. it should do for now, and he's at an average 72 F.
Will this solution dry out his environment? should i mist more often today?
Thanks guys,
Paul

[Gail]

This is something that I use for my very tiny slings, but it could easily work for anything in a small enough container to fit in it. I have one of those large plastic drawers that they sell in Walmart, the kind with a white frame and a clear drawer. I set that on top of a large cookie cooling rack which stands over top of a heating pad - the cookie rack keeps the heating pad from melting the plastic or making the drawer too hot. I keep about 1/4 to 1/2" water in the drawer for humidity. I set all of my vials right into the water. This set up keeps my babies at about 78 to 84 degrees F and the humidity is about 70 to 80 percent. They do very well for me like this and a bonus is that I almost never have any mite problems because they can't swim from vial to vial across the "mote" of water that the vials sit in. If I get some mites in one vial from a nasty cricket then I can just clean it up and no worries that they spread.

Gail

[ithuriel]

hi i have my white knee sling and my red leg in their seperate containers in a large pet pal with one heat mat heating the petpal. it works rather well and the heat mats use very little energy

[Al Muoio]

I liked that idea about the heat pad on the side of tank. I have a ten gal with a Pink Toe in it. I just borrowed a heat pad from one of my snakes but I put it on the bottom of tank to one side. Would it be better on the back or a side instead of bottom. The Pink Toe stays on the glass a lot.