Keeping T's warm in winter

KnifingPanda

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
Messages
19
Hi guys, I live in a very open plan cottage with a loft, I literally only have one door inside the house and that's for the bathroom, anyway, last year with my T's for winter I was forced to use a heat pad because the temperatures in my house get incredibly cold. I am from South Africa so the coldest temp I would experience is -3 to -5 degrees Celsius. A heater wouldn't be very effective for my T's due to the open plan design of my cottage. Are there any ways I can keep them warm when winter comes using alternative means to heating pads. They did work for me last year, but that was when I had four tarantulas not 9. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 

JustSomeDude

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
Messages
42
Hey your best bet is to go with a space heater. Never mind the risk factors with burning a t with a heat mat they simply don't do an efficient job in the first place. That's one tough obstacle when the collection starts growing to pay for heating in the winter. I have the luxury of having a dedicated room for the dozens of spiders I have collected among other critters. If it's a small cottage then use a thermostat regulated heater. Try and go for one that has the 700 watt and 1200 watt combo to save money that way if you can get the proper ambient temp off the 700 watt you won't have to flick it up to 1500 really burning the midnight oil
 

Vezon

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 26, 2015
Messages
48
You could just about 'make' a small room out of plywood or those big pink sheets of insulating foam and keep a small heater in there. You could design it to where it could fold up and be stored during the rest of the year.
 

Rogerpoco

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
43
This is challenging me right now as well,getting colder,had to fire up propane furnace,same part of house as my T's. The room seemed to start drying up immediately.
Turned it off for that night,got a vaporizer/humidifier(go to a thrift store,5$). Granted,I fill that sucker up 3 times every 2 days,isn't a fun addition to my routine,but it really seemed to help.
Dessication is the biggest fear,I think. Boo me,fair,but most of my T's have been through brief periods where the temp wasn't ideal,and didn't seem to have any issues.
 

dmahaffie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
13
I use styrofoam coolers to create micro climates. I put the smallest heat mat inside on the bottom underneath two wire plastic coated tiered cabinet shelf things, have a thermostat and a temperature gauge, and keep a mason jar with water in there for humidity. The tiered wire cabinet racks with plastic coating create a top shelf, a middle shelf on each side and a lower shelf on each side. This works great for slings. I am not sure with adult Ts though, you would only be able to get a couple in a cooler. I really don't know how to upload images. I gave it a try. If it doesn't work and you would like to see the pics email me dixiemahaffie@gmail.com



 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
Here in Lombardy winters are very cold, and we reached those temperatures as well (not now, "thanks" to the global weather mess, seems) but i never used heating devices of all sorts for my T's and, of course, i have African Theraphosidae as well such genus Pterinochilus, Ceratogyrus, Pelinobius muticus etc never had a problem. Normal room heating.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
You could build a cabinet for them that is heated internally perhaps.
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
You could build a cabinet for them that is heated internally perhaps.
This is a great option.

As mentioned, the heat bath would work, but you wouldn't really want to use it for larger enclosures, but then again, the larger ones are less in need of the supplemental heat. I'd just put all the smaller ones into a simple heat bath, its simple, effective, ridiculously precise and you won't likely notice anything with your heating bill.
 

Rogerpoco

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
43
I don't mean to cause confusion throwing this in-I may have gotten extremely lucky.

In the mountains,last Feb,literally snowed in,power out for almost a day. Had a single cabinet then,covered it with a blanket,sat next to it,and hoped for the best,nothing else I could do,mebbe 35 T's then.
Somehow,they all made it through.

We think of most of our T's as coming from tropical,weather stable regions,and I'm not sure this is correct. The weather shifts in the southern hemisphere are more dramatic than the northern hemisphere(wiki,lol),and it seems to me like any "bug" living there would have to develop the process of inoculative freezing(again,wiki...)to some degree or other,especially ones with relatively long life-spans.
Some insects produce polyhydroxy alcohols,which acts as an antifreeze in their blood/lymphatic systems,some have the ability to control where ice crystals form in their bodies,and some do both.

If the scientists and the hobbyists got along,we could prolly figure this kind of stuff out,IMO.
 

G. pulchra

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
592
As was mentioned above, use a large container like a Rubbermaid tub and create your own climate with a low wattage heater.
 
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