To dim or not to dim...

[wicked]

As I was putting the finishing touches on my T's cage set up yesterday a thought occurred to me. Everything was there, water dish, hide, soft peatmoss, a small plastic aquarium plant for looks <I think I will replace it with silk, the stiff plastic could pose a risk of injury to the T> and a hide, in this case a paper cup half buried in the peat until I get a nicer half log or something similar. But it still seemed wrong, it was so bright and exposed. I imagined the little Aphonopelma Chalcodes would take one look around, bee line it into the hide and never come out again. So I took a couple pieces of dark blue construction paper and covered the back side and one end. The hide was placed in the corner that was covered with paper.The difference was dramatic.
I am going on the theory that the more secure the T feels the more active it will be <of course this would vary by species> Anyone else experimented with the lighting?
She <I am being optomistic> is about 3" and so far seems very content to hang out in the opening of the hide with an occasional venture around the tank <5.5 gal> She has been here 19 hours and has completely ignored the cricket. She seems very laid back and a bit shy <covers eyes with front legs if you get too close. "If I can't see you, you can't see me" behavior?>

 

[EDED]

as long as theres no direct sunlight nor artificial light then the spider should be okay, but at night keep the light off, if you cant, then get a cover until you shut the light out to goto bed then you can take the cover off.

your spider may need upto a week to be fully functional and hungry again and get used to your cage set up,,,it will be okay without food for a week, keep it warm and dark and i think it will do fine. the spider is walking around the cage thats a good sign, its checking things out,

 

[bonesmama]

Good luck with the new T! I believe that it is important for them to have natural light in the daytime,(not direct sunlight, of course) but we keep them in such an unnatural environment, as far as heat and humidity, etc. So my theory is if they get natural light and can tell the length of the days, it won't screw up thier biological clocks so much. I do agree with you that they need to feel secure - especially when they are brought into a new environment. If you want to watch your T at night, use a red bulb, I've never had any reaction from any of my T's when I turn on the red lights.

 

[Mattyb]

about the lights, can Ts see infrared light? just curious, cause i have a bigg 55gal. aquarium with a snake in it, and the infrared light i use really shines throughout my room at night.




-Mattyb

 

[Apocalypstick]

Good luck with the new T! I believe that it is important for them to have natural light in the daytime,(not direct sunlight, of course) but we keep them in such an unnatural environment, as far as heat and humidity, etc. So my theory is if they get natural light and can tell the length of the days, it won't screw up thier biological clocks so much. I do agree with you that they need to feel secure - especially when they are brought into a new environment. If you want to watch your T at night, use a red bulb, I've never had any reaction from any of my T's when I turn on the red lights.

This is vital to thier cycles. I cringe everytime I hear someone leaves thier Ts in total darkness 24/7. This is not normal for the diurnal cycles of tarantulas...be it arboreals or burrowers.

 

[bonesmama]

This is vital to thier cycles. I cringe everytime I hear someone leaves thier Ts in total darkness 24/7. This is not normal for the diurnal cycles of tarantulas...be it arboreals or burrowers.

I agree completely-- like when they keep them in a closet! I'm happy that someone else thinks this, too! :clap:

 

[moricollins]

Some species that abhor the light would, in my opinion, prefer to not be exposed to light, for example Heteroscodra maculata and the other species of eumenomorphine tarantulas.
I still provide all my tarantulas with a day night cycle regardless

Just a thought
Mori

 

[juggalo69]

I have my T./scorps on an artificial day/night cycle it is always dark in my room so I put a aquarium day light on a timer to simulate daytime conditions. At night I just use a red lensed flashlight to observe. No natural light but enough artificial that my live plants stay live. :clap:

 

[SergioCR]

Hi
I was wondering the same about lighting... i keep the t. house at my computer room, time to time i turn the light on during night when using the computer so i decided to put some cartoon paper to block the light to the t. enclosure.

They can't see red light right? what about red leds? i have some high power low voltage red leds which doesn't make heat and are bright enough to see inside the enclosure, can i use that ones to check activity at night? spider doesn't even seems to bother when aimed with that light, but with daylight or room light goes back to borrow.

 

[juggalo69]

Hi
I was wondering the same about lighting... i keep the t. house at my computer room, time to time i turn the light on during night when using the computer so i decided to put some cartoon paper to block the light to the t. enclosure.

They can't see red light right? what about red leds? i have some high power low voltage red leds which doesn't make heat and are bright enough to see inside the enclosure, can i use that ones to check activity at night? spider doesn't even seems to bother when aimed with that light, but with daylight or room light goes back to borrow.

From everything I've read no they can't see red light at all if it's red they don't see it.
But I'm lucky, my G.rosea dosen't care if the light is on at night it only runs when I open the tank.

 

[Ultimate Instar]

To _me_, it seemed that some of my Ts react to a red light bulb. Of course, it's possible that it was the heat or another stimulus. I've also noticed that some of my Ts don't give a damn about room light, some from the very beginning while others seemed to get used to it after a few months. Personality differences seem to be the controlling factor.

Karen N.

 

[bonesmama]

Okay- those of you who use artificial lights, do you keep them on/off for the same time every day, or do you change the times to correspond with the seasons? Because IMHO, natural light changes by a couple of minutes everyday, and that's an important consideration.

 

[juggalo69]

I just have mine on a timer that I change to match sunrise/sunset once a month. I haven't had my T. a long time so I don't know if there are any long term effects.

 

[wicked]

At the moment my tank doesn't have a light. I am considering a blacklight, but haven't researched it yet. The tank is on a book shelf on the north wall of my bedroom, there is a south facing window so the room has light all day. I think I will have to cover three sides of the tank with paper because it still gets a bit of glare in the tank mid-morning.

 

[juggalo69]

... I am considering a blacklight, but haven't researched it yet...

No blacklight. UV is bad for T's after extended exposure. I've read it makes them blind. Something about the exo-skeleton growing over eyes. I'll try to find the post and edit.


Edit:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=39703&page=2&pp=15&highlight=blacklight

 

[BlkCat]

I use 60 watt heat moon bulbs for my Ts. I like to keep the house cool at nite. The heat bulbs are placed at a distance away from the enclosures to ensure 80F. I have had no problems with the lighting. My Ts are more active and grow faster when they are kept at these temps. I cut the lights off during the day because it gets pretty warm in here.

 

[Rico]

I'm with that never keep T's in total darkness thing. Its just too unnatural. I keep mine in natural light. Open a window and let the sun in. I can hear them come out at night when I go to sleep. Its usually around the same time every night. I know alot of people tend to want to isolate a stressed out T when they buy one thinking that it helps them get adjusted. In my experience that hasnt been as good as letting them get used to a day and night cycle. Which is the way it is in the wild. I've gotten some pretty stressed out T's and put them in the closet, check in on them and they haven't moved a bit after a few days. I get one and put it out in the natural light. In about a day or so, it starts to make itself at home. So yah I'm a big fan of natural light, no not the beer alkies.

 

[jbrd]

I can hear them come out at night when I go to sleep.

ummmm...........ok?

 

[T-Harry]

I use a combination of sunlight and artificial light. In my opinion it's no good idea to place the T cages in close vicinity of a window since you can't control the radiation of sunlight and therefore the temperature inside the cages might get way too hot (at least when you use glass enclosures like I do). So I put all my T cages in shelves located on walls that are not directly exposed to sunlight. In all my cages I have real plants instead of plastic (they just look far better and additionally they help keeping up the humidity) and so I use additonal halogen spots for lighting in order to keep the plants alive. They also work as the heating system so I don't have to use heat mats. Depending on the temperature in the natural habitad of my various T's I use low voltage spots with 10 or 20 watts. They're switched on for 12 hours a day by means of a timer.

They can't see red light right? what about red leds? i have some high power low voltage red leds which doesn't make heat and are bright enough to see inside the enclosure, can i use that ones to check activity at night?

For watching my T's during night I additonally mounted some lamps with special bulbs. They fit in a normal socket for halogen bulbs but consist of 12 red LED's. In this way I don't heat the cages up during night time (most T's prefer lower temperatures at night than during the day).

 

[Rico]

ummmm...........ok?

Which to me signals that they are doing what they should be doing. Hiding in the day and coming out at night.

Sorry I didn't make myself clear.