HEATING T SLINGS

[Lady Lilith]

to one 2" P. murinus, one 1/4" B. smithi, and one 1/8" N. chromatus, I've been fussing over how to keep them warm in my home where the heating in winter ranges between 66-70 depending on how well I, personally, am handling the cold snaps. Fearing that the slings, being so tiny, are likewise affected or uncomfortable I spent the majority of my weekend trying to find a happy medium for them, going from moving their enclosures all over the house depending on where I felt the best ambient room temp was, stressing the little things in the mean time I'm sure... AND THEN I FOUND THIS! No longer will I stress about whether they can handle a cooler room of 64-66-68 trying desperately to raise it somehow to 72-74-76 raising my electric bill from $150-$280 in under a month or even continue to consider a 50-75w IR heat lamp placed on a new nail in yet another wall to make sure it's suspended at least a foot above the enclosures so as to allow for a gentle ambient heat but not dry out the air and thus the sling.... sigh.. I suspect they will be just fine as is. . . I am posting the link to this read below in hopes it helps some others a bit of rest of the brain as it did for me. I own a hard cover copy and a kindle copy of this, and was grateful to find this on the web as well. Thank you Stan

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/Temperature.html

 

[Nicolas C]

Stan isn't fashionable anymore, unfortunately, and it happens that many keepers love to backlash him these days. The trend is more about a quest for pseudo-naturalistic enclosures, which means heating a whole room, moistening the substrate more than what Stan advises (but still without using a hygrometer) and other things (terminology, etc.). After all, why not? Everyone is free to look for the best as he/she wants.

But what Stan reminds me, and I'm thankful for that, is: it is possible to simplify things without any issues for the tarantulas (well, for most of them, maybe not everyone, Stan agrees about that too).

As far as I'm concerned, Stan has helped me a lot to relax and has given me a deep insight in tarantula husbandry. I'll always be grateful to him for that. I've been following his advices about temps and humidity (and the rest too) for many years without having any problems with any of my tarantulas. Many years. Then his advices work, at least for my tarantulas.

Nowadays, I'm maybe giving more water to some of my tropical Ts, but that's only my personal preferences (fears?).

In my previous home, I had to face temperatures like yours (66 to 70 fahr.), but my slings were ok. They slowed down a little bit, ate a little less, but nothing more. Maybe lower could be an issue for some slings, but I haven't had this experience so I cannot tell first hand. Anyway, the Ts you are talking about are quite hardy, then it's okay not to worry too much in my opinion! And heating slings could bring other problems, as they are prone to dehydration.

Thanks for the link: I've used it a lot in my story with tarantulas!

 

[Lady Lilith]

Stan isn't fashionable anymore, unfortunately, and it happens that many keepers love to backlash him these days. The trend is more about a quest for pseudo-naturalistic enclosures, which means heating a whole room, moistening the substrate more than what Stan advises (but still without using a hygrometer) and other things (terminology, etc.). After all, why not? Everyone is free to look for the best as he/she wants.

But what Stan reminds me, and I'm thankful for that, is: it is possible to simplify things without any issues for the tarantulas (well, for most of them, maybe not everyone, Stan agrees about that too).

As far as I'm concerned, Stan has helped me a lot to relax and has given me a deep insight in tarantula husbandry. I'll always be grateful to him for that. I've been following his advices about temps and humidity (and the rest too) for many years without having any problems with any of my tarantulas. Many years. Then his advices work, at least for my tarantulas.

Nowadays, I'm maybe giving more water to some of my tropical Ts, but that's only my personal preferences (fears?).

In my previous home, I had to face temperatures like yours (66 to 70 fahr.), but my slings were ok. They slowed down a little bit, ate a little less, but nothing more. Maybe lower could be an issue for some slings, but I haven't had this experience so I cannot tell first hand. Anyway, the Ts you are talking about are quite hardy, then it's okay not to worry too much in my opinion! And heating slings could bring other problems, as they are prone to dehydration.

Thanks for the link: I've used it a lot in my story with tarantulas!

Thanks for your kindly reply. I was really going into a state of brain-a-doe with all the differing opinions on this point. Even emailed Stan and asked if my slings could handle those temps. The adults I don't worry about too much, it's the slings I'm concerned most with, albeit a little less concerned now than I was last night when my house dropped to 66. And even if the temp feels cold to me, I am reminding myself now that MY body temp is 98.6 or thereabouts, and so a diff of even 20 degrees is going to feel extreme to me, but might be just fine for a creature used to such things. \m/

 

[Entity]

i keep a oil filled radiator heater with a digital thermostat in my spider room near but not too close to my spiders. keeps them all around 70 to 75 degrees with little impact on my electric bill. thats just what i do just throwing that out there.

 

[Lady Lilith]

i keep a oil filled radiator heater with a digital thermostat in my spider room near but not too close to my spiders. keeps them all around 70 to 75 degrees with little impact on my electric bill. thats just what i do just throwing that out there.

What a very good idea!!! I will look into this. Turning up the heat in New York is just begging to be you know what by the utility company

 

[SasyStace]

I live in Southern CA and the only time I add heat is this time of the year when I need it- all of my T's are doing fantastic and have for years like this. If it gets real cold and dips into the 30's or 20's I turn the heat up real good and keep on top of my water and misting. That's about it