How to properly heat an enclosure?

My b smithi died two about two months ago and I think one of the reasons might be because I didn't heat the enclosure properly. I'm planning to get another T soon so can somebody give me some tips on heating? I'm a super noob by the way

What is your room temperature? what size was your b smithi
This is probably one of the toughest species, but cold could kill any T.

my room temperature was usually 70 degrees F. An the smithi was about an inch long.

FlyingOstrich said:

my room temperature was usually 70 degrees F. An the smithi was about an inch long.

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Yeah that a good temperature, my room occasionally drops to 68. Did it have enough water? wet substrate. You could just explain how you took care of your b smithi.

I have had slings die for no apparent reason also.

I kept it in a pill jar 4.5 cm wide I fed it crickets every two weeks. Also I just figured out why my Taratula might have died. I fed the crickets these weird oat things that probably had calcium. And I asked the lps worker if its ok for a tarantula (which apparently is something you should never do). She said yes. My smithi stopped eating for a while for some reason. It looked like it was in premolt. then it started looking really weak an eventually died.

Sometimes they just die!
Compared to spiders in the wild, captive bred and kept tarantula's have a very low mortality rate. Since we give them steady food, water, warmth and no predators, the weaker (which would have otherwise died off) last a bit longer, but sometimes seem predisposed to die anyway.
Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong.

JMHO,
Sorry for the loss.:unhappy:

FlyingOstrich said:

Also I just figured out why my Taratula might have died. I fed the crickets these weird oat things that probably had calcium. And I asked the lps worker if its ok for a tarantula (which apparently is something you should never do). She said yes.

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The "calcium myth" is just that, a myth. LPS workers usually know next to nothing as well about tarantulas.

Your temps are fine. Sometimes things just happen. I'm sorry for your loss.

Your temp is what I and hundreds of us keep all our T's at. The calcium thing is just a hypothesis that someone with no real knowledge of chitin and invertbrate exoskeletons assumed and it caught on. Dehydration is the only thing you were in control of that could've killed it. Sometimes slings can be hard for new keepers so maybe shell out a little bit more for a juvie/subadult. Stuff happens man sorry.

Slings should be fed more frequently than every 2 weeks. Your temps were fine, definitely not what killed your smithi.

+1 on the calcium myth...don't go into an LPS looking for t advice.


Did it have a water dish?

I'm willing to bet that for whatever reason, it just wasn't healthy.

NEVER heat a tarantula enclosure unless the temperature where the T is kept is going to drop way down. If you're comfortable, your tarantula is comfortable.

I second COLD BLOOD: once in two week feed is not enough for a 1" sling. I feed mine of this size every 3 days... 2 pinhead b.lateralis...

Every 3 to 5 days is good until they reach about 2 inches. Just remember that even small slings can still have long premolt periods.

B.smithi has slow metabolism so I think feeding every two weeks is acceptable but not best, once a week at the least. I don't believe that us what caused it to die though, how much moisture was provided? Was the substrate dry or moist?

The pet store will always get it wrong. Sometimes when you get a sling you end up with one of the weaker ones in the sac and it dies for seemingly no reason, I am sorry =(

Also as others said do not heat the enclosure, this is only necessary for very cold locations and your temperature sounds fine. For future reference if you ever find yourself needing to heat an enclosure, it is best to heat the room the enclosure is in rather than heat the enclosure itself

I've got a few years' experience keeping T's, especially Brachy's, yet I recently lost a smithii that I'd had for over a year, she was about 2.5 inches. Stopped eating, died. Then I bought a 3" B. baumgarteni. She refused to eat for the entire 3 months I had her, and just slowed down and died. I have no idea what killed these T's. They were both on bone-dry substrate with water dishes in screen top enclosures. The only thing I can think of was that their setup could have been too dry. Nowadays I use enclosures vented only on the sides, or with the screen tops partially covered to reduce moisture loss, and I mist a part of the cage a bit every couple of weeks. But it's frustrating when you lose a T, you tend to blame yourself and second-guess your husbandry. Sometimes they just die, and it's not your fault.

Re heating - I would avoid it unless your temps regularly go below 60 degrees at night. It sounds like your temps are ok, so you shouldn't need a heater. Another thing to check for - a T's cage should NEVER be exposed to direct sunlight at any time of the day! It takes very little time for a cage in sunlight to overheat and kill your T. I have a couple of cages that I cover in cloth during the day because the room they're in is sunny.