does keeping t's at room temp,any bad effects?

[motorteipidpa]

ive been keeping t's for over a year now,for this past year they have been in my closet at room temperature,around the mid 70's.(sometimes low 70s in the winter).i havent lost a specimen,all are healthy,but they grow very slow,obviously because of the kinda low temps,even when there fed great and very fat.some of my t's never molted,some one time,only a few of my t's have molted twice.(some should be coming up to there second or third molts shortly).my question is,growing at this slow rate,will it give the t's any effects,like health problems,or stunted growth,or maybe low life span or something?or will nothing happen and my t's will just grow slower and last longer?they grow SLOW.my curly hair spiderling has been 1/2" for almost six months,but its little abdomen is nice and fat and it eats great!.my usambara has molted one time in over a year.im not gonna name all my t's but like i said,i would like to know if them growing slow like this and being kept at room temps is going to give them any harm.
thanks
Tom

 

[JacenBeers]

Room temperature is fine. Just try not to let it get any lower than that.

 

[Vayu Son]

><

I keep all my t's at room temperature. 68 in the winter - 80 in the summer. Before I knew much about T's, I kept my P.fasciata around 90, and it didnt seem to have any adverse effect except to dry out the substrate. I know much better now, but IMHO they will survive better in heat than in cold. Come to think of it, I wonder if drastic temp. change in T's can increase cell mutation, just like human testicles.


-V

 

[Code Monkey]

I'm going on two decades of room temp only - I'll let you know when I see a problem

Realistically, anything over 70 is fine for even tropical species - they might not grow as fast, but they'll be healthy, grow just as big in the long run, and might even live longer because they're going slower. For adults, even temporary dips down into the 60s won't do more than induce them to stop eating until it warms up again. For slings, though, the conventional wisdom is to never let them go below 70. I keep my home about 76 in the summer and 72 in the winter. I've raised T's from small juveniles to adults that died of old age in these conditions, so, no problems in my opinion of room temp.

 

[VI6SIX]

the only reason we regulate tempature and humidity in our T rooms is for breeding purposes

 

[Magnum-PI]

Temperature

I keep my T's in a walkin closet with a regulated temperature of about 80-85 degrees, and on the occasion it rises to 90. I watch the behavior of the spider. During the summer I had turned the heat off and was going at room temp so when I turned them back on as it grew colder I watched. Every one of the Ts, well three of the four, had moved to the side facing the heater and in some cases had pressed themselves against the glass. I found that they did this up to 80 degrees. Yes they can survive at lower temps, but I found that to make mine optimally comfortable I needed to get that heat up. Even my A. Purpurea which I had heard needed less temp than my T. Blondi was toward the heater side. That Blondi btw didnt seem to be too concerned--It stayed in its hide regardless.

Anyway, It can be a matter of simple observation. Watch the behavior of your T with respsects to the changes you make in its environment and you will do great.

--Chris

 

[Valael]

I had a T with me in a truck, showing it to a few people, and in the process it raised to high 50's, low 60's. No affect from it, except it kinda "crunched up" (Not the curling-legs-under thing..I'm sure you've all seen the crunched up look)


It was an Usambara...and let me tell you...If anything, the cold made it's attitude worse. But that was for a fairly short period of time, so I can't really say long-term.

 

[Code Monkey]

Magnum, not arguing that your Ts might not *prefer* it warmer than room temp, but that's not at all the same thing as saying they need anything more than room temp. They're relatively simple creatures adapted to seek the conditions that let them grow fastest - such behaviour makes them more likely to pass on their genes in the wild. Not really a relevant issue for pet Ts though.

If growth rate means anything to you, by all means you'll be better off keeping T's in the mid 80s for the most part, but growth rate and health are not at all equivalent and its misleading to suggest to newbies that they *need* to keep Ts warmer than room temp since they don't.

 

[Magnum-PI]

Ack-I apologize, I think I missed the point of the original post. I have had my Ts at times in the lower temperatures and no they have not had ill effect from it. I also have not been into the power feeding habit either, prefering a slower more natural growth rate. (My choice, not a criticism for those that do.) Biggest concern for me is desication. I really want to keep that moisture and humidity where it needs to be and that is what Im working on solving at this time. (And without the stagnation, molds and mildews, that occur from old air.) I am keeping them at a higher temperature (not real high--I was advised to keep the T. Blondi at 90 Degrees and I shy from that) because those are the temperatures, as I understand it, that occur where they habituate and as I said through my observations that seems to be what they prefer, whether that is because they are instinctively driven to optimize growth rate or not.

And thanks for the great message board. It is great to see the fast activity in response to my post.

--Chris