Heat? (outside of the US, where it gets cold)

Hi all!

Right, firstly I see loads of threads saying "room temperature is fine" and "you don't need an artificial heat source" but these mostly come from the US or people in warmer climes than my own.

I got up for work this morning at about 5:45 am and the temp was a pretty uniform 65-68 across my cabinet where my T's are housed, not too bad I guess. Thing is, we're only just entering winter here and the outside temp will plunge pretty soon so heating may become a problem soon. I've got a couple of heat mats in there (thermostat controlled) and the daytime temp is usually around 72-74.

I'm becoming obsessed with the temperature in there, please either put my mind at rest or recommend alternate heating arrangements! I was thinking of running a heat cable around the inside...

Thanks in advance

Bob

You're in Europe like I am. Temperatures in winter are pretty much alike in our countries. If I'm not mistaken, in UK you guys have usual heaters installed in your apps, too, right? Either turn it up some, or get a space heater to heat the whole room. However, heat mats and the like are NOT necessary IMO!

The room my T's are in is kept warmer than the rest of my app (guess I DID divide it into "climate zones" rather than "rooms" ) and none of them shows any signs of discomfort so far. I really don't understand why we make such a fuzz about temps in Europe. After all, the US gets insanely low temps (depending on state) and most only have A/C instead of real heaters like we have over here.

Temps I keep
Daytime: approx. 25°C-26°C
Nighttime: approx. 20°c-22°C

Just my opinion.

Thanks Storm,

I'd be much happier if I could achieve a daytime temp of 25 (which shouldn't be a problem in summer) but I just can't seem to find those extra couple of degrees (can't do the degrees symbol, haha) to keep me at ease. I hate the thought of keeping animals and them being uncomfortable or being treated incorrectly. I try to make things perfect to the point of obsession...

Can I just also take this opportunity to thank you for your advice in several of my threads, and other threads around the forum, you've been most helpful.

You might also look into radiant heat panels or ceramic heat emitter, hooked up on a thermostat of course.

I isolated my closet for T's, the temperature stays around 24C without any heating equipment.

Storm76 said:

After all, the US gets insanely low temps (depending on state)

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Quite true. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region on the east coast, and we get night-time winter temps below 0 degrees F (-17.8 degrees Celsius) sometimes. Some of the more northern states get colder still, more frequently.

I'm in NC and for a couple of months out of the year it drops below 50 on a daily basis. In NJ where I was from it got even colder than that on a daily basis. There have been many, many nights where my car's thermometer read below zero in NJ. Most of the country gets pretty cold during the winter and I'm not sure where everyone keeps getting this "US is warm" theory. Granted we have some really warm states that stay pretty warm through out the year but most of the country has pretty large drops during the winter. We're not Canada (burrr) but we're not Mexico either. Basically we use all different types of heaters like A/C units or electrical wall units. Some older buildings still use oil but many of converted to natural gas. If you don't have a thermostat you can turn up in your T room you have a few options. I'm not sure how many Ts you have but if you have some extra space in a closet you can set them up in there with a little heater. A night time drop to 60 (probably even less) is completely fine as long as you bring them back up to 70('s) the next day. It would be much cheaper and easier to slightly heat up a closet that doesn't have any windows and a much smaller volume.

You can get a dresser that has doors and use heat tape on the walls of the dresser to increase the temperature. You can simply just heat up the whole room with an oil filled radiator that runs on electricity or some time of ceramic heat blower. Just make sure you don't buy a real cheap one that doesn't have a reliable thermostat. You don't need to keep them at 80 F either. Just warm enough in the early 70's. Even 70 would be fine which is room temp we're usually talking about. 68-72 F= average room temp.

As catfish said, always use a thermostat and thermometer. A little too hot is far more dangerous than a little too cold.

Im in ohio. We get down to 0 to -10 F with -30 mph wind chills in the winter. I heat my entire invert room with a oil filled heater. In the winter i have to run it full bore but and the temps drop from 80s down to 70s, but it works out.

catfishrod69 said:

Im in ohio. We get down to 0 to -10 F with -30 mph wind chills in the winter. I heat my entire invert room with a oil filled heater. In the winter i have to run it full bore but and the temps drop from 80s down to 70s, but it works out.

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So glad i moved down south! We had like 6 inches of snow two years ago in a NC blizzard lol! Everything shut down 12 hours before it even started snowing! I used to drive to work in blizzards. I guess about 3 winters ago we had a huge blizzard in NJ and I was driving to work while it was snowing and there was already round 5 inches on the ground. There was about a foot when I got out of work. I love driving in the snow and honestly, that's the only thing I miss about NJ weather wise. Giant snow storms.

We also didn't have heat in the car so I used to have to pull over every 8 minutes to scrape the ice off the windows because it wouldn't defrost. Oh the negatives! How I don't miss those!

What is this "ice" and "cold" you speak of....

Legion09 said:

What is this "ice" and "cold" you speak of....

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Hop one state over to the East and we can show you. It got to be in the mid 50's here the last few nights. Lol.

But seriously we have our T's in separate rooms and both rooms are at about the same temp throughout the day. In the winter when it gets colder I plan on using a space heater if the temps go below 40 degrees otherwise my T's should be fine.

Legion09 said:

What is this "ice" and "cold" you speak of....

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Sorcery that affects the North East of England when the rest of England is experiencing tropical temperatures.

Just curious, but are there actually people over here that FREEZE in their own apps during winter?! If so, it'd be time to pay the oil/gas bill I'd suggest...or beat the landlord to have the freaking heaters repaired
Apologies for the sarcasm, but that's exactly what comes to mind everytime I read of people over here in Europe that are worried about their t's (or other "tropical" pets for that matter) - should make sure before buying an animal that you can accomodate it correctly

This isn't meant against anyone that has posted in this thread...just to mention!

Storm76 said:

Just curious, but are there actually people over here that FREEZE in their own apps during winter?! If so, it'd be time to pay the oil/gas bill I'd suggest...or beat the landlord to have the freaking heaters repaired
Apologies for the sarcasm, but that's exactly what comes to mind everytime I read of people over here in Europe that are worried about their t's (or other "tropical" pets for that matter) - should make sure before buying an animal that you can accomodate it correctly

This isn't meant against anyone that has posted in this thread...just to mention!

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I think in my case it's more paranoia than anything else. Being new to the hobby and reading so much about "perfect" conditions that I strive to meet can be frustrating. I'm sure the temp range will be fine, I just try to meet the "Ideal" temperatures set out in the various care sheets and sources on the net.

I guess my only real worry is the night temp which in fairness shouldn't drop to inhospitable levels given the precautions I've already taken.

Bobafett2k6 said:

I just try to meet the "Ideal" temperatures set out in the various care sheets and sources on the net.

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Throw away the care sheets. In the words of Stan and plenty of others on here. If you are comfortable your T is comfortable.

ragnarokxg said:

Throw away the care sheets. In the words of Stan and plenty of others on here. If you are comfortable your T is comfortable.

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I really am trying to get around to that way of thinking (If not already there) and I've ordered "Stan's book" in an effort to better educate myself.

Bobafett2k6 said:

I think in my case it's more paranoia than anything else. Being new to the hobby and reading so much about "perfect" conditions that I strive to meet can be frustrating. I'm sure the temp range will be fine, I just try to meet the "Ideal" temperatures set out in the various care sheets and sources on the net.

I guess my only real worry is the night temp which in fairness shouldn't drop to inhospitable levels given the precautions I've already taken.

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Like ragnarokxg already said - most care-sheets are wrong one or the other way. Either way, I see SO many Europeans trusting into heat mats (especially for arboreals / fossorials) that I sometimes wonder if those people all don't have ANY kind of heating in their apps...I figure it's because even some "knowledgable" breeders over here suggest using those things. However, what I guess they forget to mention is that those are only used during breeding times to simulate conditions (if at all).

Bobafett2k6 said:

I really am trying to get around to that way of thinking (If not already there) and I've ordered "Stan's book" in an effort to better educate myself.

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I know its hard at first because it is against everything we have learned to do with 'other' pets. But once I got around it and not worrying about every little thing I have had an easier time with my T's. And I have started seeing a lot of active behavior from both of my T's. Especially my G. rosea, she isn't the pet rock that a lot of others have with theirs. Even though she does spider yoga whenever she is being held.

Storm76 said:

Like ragnarokxg already said - most care-sheets are wrong one or the other way. Either way, I see SO many Europeans trusting into heat mats (especially for arboreals / fossorials) that I sometimes wonder if those people all don't have ANY kind of heating in their apps...I figure it's because even some "knowledgable" breeders over here suggest using those things. However, what I guess they forget to mention is that those are only used during breeding times to simulate conditions (if at all).

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Come here to Slovenia where no Tarantula can live without heating and very narrow humidity range. I've seen breeder who wrote temperature and humidity range to pill boxes with slings.

Although I also hate when people start to panic about heat mats. They won't kill your spider if they are not no-name heat mats and are used according to user manual.

poisoned said:

Although I also hate when people start to panic about heat mats. They won't kill your spider if they are not no-name heat mats and are used according to user manual.

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Heat mats are just a bad idea all around, even when attached to a thermostat you still risk the chance of cooking your tarantula. As long as the ambient temperature in your home is comfortable for you there should be no need to provide any extra heating to the T. I am still a noob when it comes to tarantulas but having talked with plenty of people here including an expert I have to agree that heating pads are just plain bad news. Only thing worse are heating lamps.