Chilean rose temperature recommendation on caresheets' accuracy

[s1akr]

The "pet shop guy" told me, "Oh no! This spider wont need a heater. Room temperature will do just fine". I got him a month ago, and in October, where I live, room temperature goes down to high 60s w/o climate control.

Caresheets found online recommends 75-85F.

Currently ambient air temperature in my room is 84F, and T is sitting right next to the wall where I had stuck a heating pad on.

Are these temperature recommendations correct? Or, different Ts have different temperature preference?

My T seem healthy, eating really well and have increase in size (abdomen) since the day I got him. Is there anything wrong for him to seek heat like that? Is this normal? What's going on?

 

[butch4skin]

First of all, how do you live in a room that's 84 degrees? But regardless, unplug the pad, no matter what the T is doing, if it in fact is 84 degrees in your room. Mid 60's during the winter months should not be a problem for that sp., I would guess, but you could certainly plug the pad back in if it cools down that much, provided the pad is on the side of the tank. With rose hairs, anything abnormal is normal, so unplug the T toaster and don't worry.

 

[butch4skin]

My T seem healthy, eating really well and have increase in size (abdomen) since the day I got him.

I'm sure it is, considering it must be like 95 degrees in that tank. Stiil I'd be nervous about it getting that hot in there. Tarantulas metabolisms are dictated to a great degree by temperature and other environmental factors.

 

[Cocoa-Jin]

75-84 is fine, they can likly handle temps as low as 55 degrees, but it will slow them down and likly reduce their feeding. They can likly handle temps in excess of 90 degrees, but they may not enjoy it.

Mine tends to enjoy cooler temps, low 70s, choosing to hang at the cooler end of the tank when it begins to approach the 80s or more.

Avg summe rtemp sare high 70s in the area and mid to high 50s in the winter. Seasonal day and night time extremes are in the high 90s/low 100s (day) in summer low 40s(night) in the winter.

Humidity seems to hang around the high 60s to high 70s(even low 80s)...atleast for the coastal Atacama areas. Im not sure about humidity for in inner Atacama, but considering its dominated by centers of high presure and near a large oceanic body of water, it may be lower, but similar.

 

[David Burns]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292

 

[vvx]

Keep in mind that increased feeding = shorter life. If you have an already adult spider there's no reason to increase it's metabolism and thus decrease it's life. A lot of people will do just that for smaller spiders in order to get them to adult size sooner, but once adult size there's no payoff other than a sooner death of the spider. (Search for "power feeding" to find threads talking about it in slings.)

 

[s1akr]

So a T is not aware enough of it's environment to where they will seek a more comfortable temperature within the enclosure? I have the heat pad connected to the short segment of a rectangular tank. There's certainly enough space across the length of the enclosure to allow significant temperature difference.

He's only 2-2.5" leg span, and yes I think I have been over feeding him a bit, but I'm not sure; you tell me. I get $1 worth of crickets from a local pet store which equates to about 12 mixed sized feeders. I feed it all to him over the course of three days then I wait two weeks before I feed him again, and he has gone through two feeding period so far.

Maybe it's seeking the heat for the extra boost of metabolism from the over feeding?

 

[-Sarah-]

G. rosea are pretty hardy tarantulas, so they shouldn't have a problem with temperatures in between 60-80. Everyone else has given pretty good advice, so there's really nothing that I can add aside from what temperature I keep my own G. rosea at. It gets in the low 80's in the summer (sometimes even with the A/C on) and it generally stays in the mid 60's throughout the chilly months. One time I remember it hit 63 in my room overnight. I keep all of my tarantulas in there, and they've been doing just fine

-Sarah

 

[sick4x4]

rosies lol are really hardy, like many of the gramm's and can tolerate a wide assortment of temps...anything above 80* is really unnecessary.... mine have taken below 50 like champs in the winter, soo i wouldn't worry...you might even see them sunning themselves lol or heading to the top of the enclosure but all that is natural....environmental ques seem to be breed out with many cb t's(especially several generations worth).... since yours might be wc your right, it might be seeking more ideal temps but should adapt quite well on its own....dont worry, it should be fine

wayne

 

[butch4skin]

I wouldn't be worried about overfeeding a 2" spider. Just be sure to remove uneaten stuff.

 

[s1akr]

I feed him one at a time, and he hasn't let a cricket come anywhere near him without getting eaten.

Just checked...there he is again next to the pad with four of his legs stuck on the heated wall. It's cooler now tho. 74F on my room thermometer.

I'm going to remove the pad then. Everyone's saying over 80 degrees' not necessary. I'll see how he reacts w/o the pad plugged in.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

He's only 2-2.5" leg span, and yes I think I have been over feeding him a bit, but I'm not sure; you tell me. I get $1 worth of crickets from a local pet store which equates to about 12 mixed sized feeders. I feed it all to him over the course of three days then I wait two weeks before I feed him again, and he has gone through two feeding period so far.

The ideal/standard diet is two crickets a week, or two crickets every two weeks. They'll thrive on this, and won't become obese or "age" (grow/molt) too quickly.

Especially if yours DOES turn out to be a male, you want to have it as long as you can. No need to rush things, right?

 

[s1akr]

True. The only reason why I feed him that way is because I don't like to keep crickets around for too long. Ants usually gets to them first.

That wouldn't be a problem if I had more Ts now would I? Hmmm...12 crickets per feeding period, so if I had 6 Ts, then two crickets per T every two weeks. That works out well.

 

[Truff135]

True. The only reason why I feed him that way is because I don't like to keep crickets around for too long. Ants usually gets to them first.

That wouldn't be a problem if I had more Ts now would I? Hmmm...12 crickets per feeding period, so if I had 6 Ts, then two crickets per T every two weeks. That works out well.

LOL, spoken like a true arachnoaddict! :clap:

 

[vvx]

Can't buy them in smaller quantities? Around here I can just buy them bulk as many or few as I want. Though yeah, buying more t's would make it work.

 

[s1akr]

No, not at this pet store around the corner. $1 is the least I can get, and she actually counts them.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

That wouldn't be a problem if I had more Ts now would I? Hmmm...12 crickets per feeding period, so if I had 6 Ts, then two crickets per T every two weeks. That works out well.

If you can only get twelve at once, you could just feed once every 3-4 weeks or something. That's about the schedule mine is on--I just go once a month or whatever, add up about two crickets per week since last time, and toss 'em all in.

 

[Le Wasp]

temperature control

Most pet stores that sell the heating pads also sell a thermostat that automatically shuts off the heating pad once the temp gets high enough. They seem to be a bit pricey for me, so I would suggest getting a timer to plug the heating pad into. If you know when it usually heats up in your house and when it gets too cold, you can program the timer to turn the heating pad on at night and turn off during the day.

Although, like everyone else has mentioned, temperatures dipping into the 60's at night shouldn't be a problem for most typical tarantulas.

Currently, I only have heating pads for my roach colony cage and giant millipede. -but I might get some kind of heating unit for the T's if it turns out my house gets too cold (right now the weather has been topping out in the 80's even though it's November).

 

[Ungweliante]

There's also the possibility to feed the first cricket to the spider alive and freeze the rest. Then feed the rest of the crickets to the spider frozen.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

There's also the possibility to feed the first cricket to the spider alive and freeze the rest. Then feed the rest of the crickets to the spider frozen.

At this size it's probably outgrown the desire to scavenge. As far as I know, adults are rarely interested in dead prey.