Enclosure Tempreture Problems!

[flippinekfaria]

Hello!

I'm new to keeping tarantula and struggling. After 7 months Hombre (Mexican Redknee) died right after a 4th moult due to what I suspect is a problem with enclosure temperature.

The problem is my house is old, cold and draft so ambient temperature is 15-17C unless really cold, and that is when things get tricky. I live in the UK so whilst the heating comes on in the winter it's never hot in an old house without a log burner going... then it's stupidly hot.

To avoid extreme changes in temperature my new companion, Gordito (Salmon Pink) also lives in my office, in a plastic enclosure employing a small heat mat under one side with approximately 1.5cm of substrate. I have a thermostat controlling the mat but it seems useless because the thermometer in the enclosure never records anything higher than about 18C unless, I light the log burner (yes, in a small office) and then it can fly up to 25C+!

I rarely light the fire so 18C is too cold for my companion and I'm trying to sort it out whist trying not to disturb it too much. Sadly any googling for help fitting heat mats and thermostats just results in 18,000,000 hits from people telling me I don't need a matt, shouldn't use one at all and how lovely and warm their homes are all year around... not exactly helpful.

Is there a good guide to setting up an enclosure with specific instruction to controlling temperature? I'm not daft, very practical in fact, so clearly missing something obvious. Can anyone offer assistance please?? Cheers.

 

[cold blood]

The solution is simple...get a larger aquarium, heat that with the mat on the side, and place your t enclosure in that larger heated tank.

This creates a microclimate, so theres no dangerous hot spots.

I dont get people over sea's resistance to heating their homes....sure its expensive, but its part of living in a cold climate....we dont pay to live in homes just to be uncomfortably cold....if that were good enough, we could all save a TON if money and just live in tents.

With a wood burner its even more baffling as fuel is basically free. If i had a wood burner my home would be 80f all winter long....lol.

 

[flippinekfaria]

"cold blood", seems somehow ironic ;-) nonetheless thanks for the quick reply.

I must confess I had considered such a setup, I just thought I might be taking things a bit far and wondered what other people did in similar situations. I work from home, and am very comfortable in the office at around 15-17C which is why I don't fire up the burner but perhaps that's uncommon.

Heating a larger enclosure to create a warmer ambient temperature should allow heating of the 'T' enclosure more easily and create less extremes/variance. It might also help maintain the moisture levels as the heat mat being permanently on dries the enclosure which adds to the problems. The alternative is to heat just the one room, maintain a relatively constant temperature and then achieve the same result reducing the burden on the mat.

The only downside is visibility and possibly access, I like to watch when it's active so shall need to invest in glass enclosures I think. On the plus side, I could house more than one smaller enclosure in the larger so might get another Mexican Redknee whilst I'm going to all the trouble!! Thanks for your suggestion, cheers.

 

[cold blood]

I work from home, and am comfortable at 15-17C

Yeah, I was just kidding around with you....there's a lot of people who like the colder temps, part of the reason many of us avoid that old saying, "if you're comfortable, your t will be comfortable", as its simply not the case for many individuals.

It might also help maintain the moisture

You have zero need to maintain moisture with this species.

The alternative is to heat just the one room

This is ideal, but not always feasible for everyone, nor is it practical for those with just one or a few ts.

The only downside is visibility and possibly access

Watching something through 2 clear panes of glass should be no different than one.

On the plus side, I could house more than one smaller enclosure

depending on the size of the heated tank, you could potentially house many ts within it, especially slings.

 

[flippinekfaria]

Well Cold Blood, I thought I'd share the final setup which is working a treat right now. Picture is not great but basically I have demoted some old motorcycle helmets and remove a partition in one of my display units to make space for two terrarium/faunarium, the larger is empty currently.

Behind them is a thermostatically controlled 'tube heater' like the things people use in sheds and green houses. These are cheap as chip and low wattage, this one is 40 watt but nonetheless capable of chucking out some heat; switches off most of the time anyway. This is placed low down behind the two units so creates a mini 'cushion' of warm air behind, averages 21C, so now even when I'm sat in the nice cool room my companions do not need to endure the same.

I have then built a custom 'plinth' out of some kindling (I'll make a pretty one later) which sits just off the unit and contains two compartments, one slightly larger than the other. The smaller one has a heat-mat on the bottom to create a compartment of warm air below that side of the housing. I thermostatically control this compartment to switch the mat off at 25-26C since I can expect a little heat-loss through the housing.

The result is that on the 'cool' side it is reading a pretty constant 21C whilst Gordito routinely comes and sits out on the warm side until he's had enough. He/she, I don't actually know yet, seems very happy, is enjoying meals and I even managed a picture when drinking from the water dish. You suggested humidity was not a big concern so to avoid disturbing 'him' I don't mist but instead simply overflow the water dish a little which moistens the substrate above the heat mat evaporating it over time creating moisture.

Thanks again for the advice, I've gone for a hybrid setup based on your suggestion but its working well and now I'm ready for another companion!!! Cheers.