Using space heater = Too dry?

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

I've heard that when people use space heaters it tends to dry out the air. Will this pose a big problem to T's? For slings I'll still keep the sub moist and for those that are large enough I'll include a water dish. Also, depending on the species, I'll keep the sub moist and always make sure they have a full water dish. Would this be good enough? I was thinking by keeping a water dish would help the humidity up in the enclosures as well as the sub, if they're a tropical species.

Also, I was thinking about keeping it at 75 during the day and 68 during the night. Would that be find for all species (specifically Haplopelma, Chilobrachys, Phlogius, Pterinochilus, etc.)? Or would this cause problems? (Would this create molting problems? Poec pointed it out before that keeping it at 68 the entire day would.)

Poec54 · Dec 2, 2014

Any heat source will dry the air. You need to compensate for it. The best thing is to boost the humidity in the entire room, with a humidifier and/or aquariums.

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

Poec54 said:
Any heat source will dry the air. You need to compensate for it. The best thing is to boost the humidity in the entire room, with a humidifier and/or aquariums.

By aquarium do you just mean an open source of water? Would that be just as good as a humidifier?
Or are Oil-Filled Radiators better for not drying out the air?

shawno821 · Dec 2, 2014

I use a space heater,and without a humidifier,it goes down to 30% humidity in the T room.Filling the water dish and flooding the cage may get you another 10-15%.45% humidity is not enough for tropical species.I live in the Northeast,so we have similar wintertime dry air and adding a heater only makes that worse. Get an ultrasonic,filterless humidifier.I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $40.I've had all 3 types,the cool mist filtered one didn't keep up with the heater,the warm air one burned out after a week.The ultrasonic has been running strong for over a month now.You just have to wipe them out a lot to keep them clean,and fill it everyday.

vespers · Dec 2, 2014

Pampho85 said:
Also, I was thinking about keeping it at 75 during the day and 68 during the night. Would that be find for all species (specifically Haplopelma, Chilobrachys, Phlogius, Pterinochilus, etc.)? Or would this cause problems? (Would this create molting problems? Poec pointed it out before that keeping it at 68 the entire day would.)

I keep my all of my spiders at those temps during the winter without issue. Last winter, during the long cold snap, the warmest I could keep my room was 68-72 degrees F for about a month straight...and that was with the heat turned completely up. I had a few tarantulas (including a T. stirmi) molt during that same month with no problems whatsoever.

Poec54 · Dec 2, 2014

Pampho85 said:
By aquarium do you just mean an open source of water? Would that be just as good as a humidifier?
Or are Oil-Filled Radiators better for not drying out the air?

A thermostat-controlled heater with a fan is your best bet. The heat dispersion with radiator types is poor, and some parts of the room will be very cold. Aquariums as in fish or turtles. You can also use pans of water. When I was up north, I used all three. My spider room in Michigan was warm and humid, the most comfortable room in the house. The rest of the place was cold and very dry.

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

shawno821 said:
I use a space heater,and without a humidifier,it goes down to 30% humidity in the T room.Filling the water dish and flooding the cage may get you another 10-15%.45% humidity is not enough for tropical species.I live in the Northeast,so we have similar wintertime dry air and adding a heater only makes that worse. Get an ultrasonic,filterless humidifier.I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $40.I've had all 3 types,the cool mist filtered one didn't keep up with the heater,the warm air one burned out after a week.The ultrasonic has been running strong for over a month now.You just have to wipe them out a lot to keep them clean,and fill it everyday.

Since I don't currently have a job, I'm trying to cut down on costs, would placing a large pan/pot of water near the heater work well as well?

vespers said:
I keep my all of my spiders at those temps during the winter without issue. Last winter, during the long cold snap, the warmest I could keep my room was 68-72 degrees F for about a month straight...and that was with the heat turned completely up. I had a few tarantulas (including a T. stirmi) molt during that same month with no problems whatsoever.

What temp. was it you keep them at? Around 75? The house is currently at 68 during the day and 64 during the night, so I was thinking about just bumping it to 75 during part of the day, then 70 for the rest of the time. And then whenever I'm not in the house, I'll keep the temp around 68-70.

---------- Post added 12-02-2014 at 04:56 PM ----------

Poec54 said:
A thermostat-controlled heater with a fan is your best bet. The heat dispersion with radiator types is poor, and some parts of the room will be very cold. Aquariums as in fish or turtles. You can also use pans of water. When I was up north, I used all three. My spider room in Michigan was warm and humid, the most comfortable room in the house. The rest of the place was cold and very dry.

I was planning on using a pan or bowl of water since I don't have enough for a humidifier.
This was the model I was planning to get:
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-HZ-370BP-Digital-Ceramic/dp/B0034YRLC4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Would this be good enough? I have a small room, so I don't think that it will be much of a problem.

vespers · Dec 2, 2014

Pampho85 said:
What temp. was it you keep them at? Around 75?

Yes, that's around the usual daytime winter temp I keep them at.

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

vespers said:
Yes, that's around the usual daytime winter temp I keep them at.

Okay thanks.

I do have a question, forgive me if it sounds stupid- Will it cost a whole lot for bumping up to 75 during the day (7 degrees more than the rest of the house) and then 70 (6 degrees more than the rest of the house) for the night?

vespers · Dec 2, 2014

Pampho85 said:
Okay thanks.

I do have a question, forgive me if it sounds stupid- Will it cost a whole lot for bumping up to 75 during the day (7 degrees more than the rest of the house) and then 70 (6 degrees more than the rest of the house) for the night?

It depends on the the type of heat and/or heater you're using, as to how much it will increase costs.

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

vespers said:
It depends on the the type of heat and/or heater you're using, as to how much it will increase costs.

I'll probably be going with this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-HZ-370BP-Digital-Ceramic/dp/B0034YRLC4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

But you're right, there's a lot of variables. Hopefully it won't be over $10 or so.

antinous · Dec 2, 2014

I apologize for the double post, but I'm still curious, would the pan/bowl of water near the space heater be enough to keep it humid? Also, for species that need more humidity, their enclosures will be sprayed, and for all T's a full water dish will be provided if they are large enough.

14pokies · Dec 3, 2014

Pampho85 said:
I apologize for the double post, but I'm still curious, would the pan/bowl of water near the space heater be enough to keep it humid? Also, for species that need more humidity, their enclosures will be sprayed, and for all T's a full water dish will be provided if they are large enough.

I don't know what kind of cage/lid combos you use but if you spray the cage/substrate and restrict ventilation the ambient heat in the room should cause the humidity in the enclosures to rise to the proper levels..the whole pan of water thing isnt really gonna help IMO..fine tuning ventilation is tricky but its something you need to learn some time so y not now? I use a brood case type of design for a lot of my smaller ts and crickets that I keep in my bedroom the room is high 60s ..the shelves are heated from the back by flexwatt heat tape(it doesn't come close to touching the delis/enclosures) the brood case is always 80 day and night. All humidity is determined by the species needs and by adding larger or smaller water dishes, misting the walls and injecting the sub with water from a syringe and increaseing /decreasing ventilation. My larger t room where i house my subs and adults is heated by a space heater and I use a cheap humidifier that I got at Walmart about 3yrs ago for around 20 bucks.I still have to play with ventilation on individual cages in that room.its inevitable get used to it!lol!

antinous · Dec 3, 2014

The only reason why I'm a bit hesitant to cut off some of the ventilation is in fear of harming the T and promoting mites and mold. Since I'll only be using a heater while I'm in the house I can spray an enclosure down twice a day and put a larger container of water right next to the T's. I'll look around for a cheap humidifier tho!

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---------- Post added 12-03-2014 at 07:22 AM ----------

I can also add vermiculite as part of the sub to increase the humidity.

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14pokies · Dec 3, 2014

Pampho85 said:
The only reason why I'm a bit hesitant to cut off some of the ventilation is in fear of harming the T and promoting mites and mold. Since I'll only be using a heater while I'm in the house I can spray an enclosure down twice a day and put a larger container of water right next to the T's. I'll look around for a cheap humidifier tho!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added 12-03-2014 at 07:22 AM ----------

I can also add vermiculite as part of the sub to increase the humidity.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vermiculite is man made crap and has no place in a ts enclosure imo,there are other alternatives that work just as good.mold only occurs in constantly moist stuffy conditions,if you notice some pick it out and add a little more ventilation and let the sub dry a little. I understand you can mist them frequently but you don't want conditions that make that necessary,your goal is to have a microclimate in your terrarium,if the cage can't go 2 or 3 days without you doing maintenance to it the conditions in it aren't right,moisture does no good if its just excapeing through your vents.

antinous · Dec 3, 2014

yoyotits said:
vermiculite is man made crap and has no place in a ts enclosure imo,there are other alternatives that work just as good.mold only occurs in constantly moist stuffy conditions,if you notice some pick it out and add a little more ventilation and let the sub dry a little. I understand you can mist them frequently but you don't want conditions that make that necessary,your goal is to have a microclimate in your terrarium,if the cage can't go 2 or 3 days without you doing maintenance to it the conditions in it aren't right,moisture does no good if its just excapeing through your vents.

But doesn't vermiculite help with the humidity as it retains moisture?

And I agree, my goal is only to do cage maintenance once a week other than small things. Would it be good to introduce springtails? With the less ventilation holes, I was wondering if they can help reduce mold, help get rid of bolus and possibly help reduce the possibility of mites. Would this be a smart thing to do? If so, how should one take care of springtails? Should they just be put into a the enclosure right away or?

Poec54 · Dec 3, 2014

Pampho85 said:
my goal is only to do cage maintenance once a week other than small things. Would it be good to introduce springtails? With the less ventilation holes, I was wondering if they can help reduce mold, help get rid of bolus and possibly help reduce the possibility of mites. Would this be a smart thing to do? If so, how should one take care of springtails? Should they just be put into a the enclosure right away or?

'Cage maintenance' is removing boluses and dead prey. You don't need springtails if you do that every week, nor will you have a mite problem.

antinous · Dec 3, 2014

In all honesty, I've never found any boluses from one of my tarantulas so I thought for when I do get some more that I can't find boluses for, the springtails would help.

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Poec54 · Dec 3, 2014

Pampho85 said:
In all honesty, I've never found any boluses from one of my tarantulas

They're going somewhere; they can't digest exoskeletons and bones. Some spiders pack them tightly into corners. Somehow I'm able to find the boluses in my hundreds of spider cages.

How many fingers am I holding up...

antinous · Dec 3, 2014

Poec54 said:
They're going somewhere; they can't digest exoskeletons and bones. Some spiders pack them tightly into corners. Somehow I'm able to find the boluses in my hundreds of spider cages.

How many fingers am I holding up...

I'm pretty sure I'm not blind haha. But it could have taken it into it's burrow, which I can't retrieve it from then. I'll try looking again but if I don't find it, can it be very detrimental to it's health?

Using space heater = Too dry?

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