Do tarantulas need a night and day?

DannyH

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
350
Like should I turn off a light at some point or can the light be left on? My family and I always argue about this, they want to keep the lights on all night but I say it should go off because tarantulas are nocturnal. Thanks!
 

JadeWilliamson

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
207
They should definitely have a sense of night and day for so many reasons. They're far more active at night, hunting for food and such. I love feeding after the sun's been down a few hours!
 

SuzukiSwift

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
1,208
It's not necessary but it is true they can become a little confused if it's light all the time. You could try covering them with a thin sheet at night if it's worrying you

Why does your family want the lights on at night? Doesn't that use up power?
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
4,745
They should definitely have a sense of night and day for so many reasons. They're far more active at night, hunting for food and such. I love feeding after the sun's been down a few hours!
+1. They're nocturnal, a light throws off their cycles. If you want some sort of illumination, put a small 4 watt night in the room somewhere, that'll be like a full moon effect.
 

catfishrod69

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
4,401
I have shades over the windows that let in enough light in the day, to let them know when its day and night. And i randomly pop in and switch on the 2'x4' 4 bulb shop light i hung up. Why the heck would your parents want the light on all night? Im flipping out if the lights are on and there is nobody in the room.
 

freedumbdclxvi

Arachnoprince
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
1,426
There have been studies at least on true spiders showing that they get fairly disoriented when having total darkness or total light (total light causong more issues). It's best to give them a day/night cycle.
 

lancej

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
631
Having a light on all the time could mess up their activity cycles and cause undo stress on them. Some species are very light sensitive (my L. violaceopes for example). I am constantly getting after my kids about leaving lights on when they aren't in the room, so this really makes no sense to me. :)
 

DannyH

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
350
Im flipping out if the lights are on and there is nobody in the room.
I'm the same way. My family are night owls and we all stay up until almost 2 a.m, and will leave the light on if I don't turn it off. it drives me insane.
 

Poison Breed

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 10, 2013
Messages
52
I really don't know what to think about the night and day thing. I mean I give mine that are out all the time night and day but some of my burrowers chill in their holes for weeks so I doubt they see much light. So who know's....
 

Introvertebrate

Arachnoprince
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
1,199
Spiders live in my garage. They're in the dark 24/7, unless I open the door. That's not very often.
 

MarkmD

Arachnoprince
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
1,835
I really don't know what to think about the night and day thing. I mean I give mine that are out all the time night and day but some of my burrowers chill in their holes for weeks so I doubt they see much light. So who know's....

It's always better to provide than not to, if they always have the same (dark/night time) then thats all thay know, then if you're providing light (as with dark/night) then thay can stabilize witch thay want most, I give them a day cycle so if they want to hide then thay can if not then thats upto them, as for my LP/klugi thay prefer both so bottom line is let your T decide.
 
Top