Enclosure close to radiator

[mitch26]

I have my T enclosure near my radiator. Since she recently molted she has only been climbing the back of her enclosure and back into her hide. Never coming towards the front of the tank to eat or drink. Ive only recently been having the radiator on as its been getting cold. Is it okay to have the enclosure this close to the radiator and is this behavior worrying or will she start coming to the front after a while to eat.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I see what looks like window door blinds to the right in the photo. If in fact that is a huge, tall radiator move it farther away or you'll cook your sling.

What tarantula by scientific name do you have?

 

[mitch26]

Yeah that is a radiator. She seems to only come out her hide when the radiator is on but it hought she would be burrowing to avoid the heat. Also, if its too hot, wouldn't she go to the front of the tank to get away from the heat? And she is a Tliltocatl albopilosus

 

[Arachnophobphile]

That's a hardy T, I've had two of them both wound up mature males, one passed sometimes ago one still going over two years.

I use an electric radiator heater during the cold season. All my T's come to the closet enclosure wall to the source of the heat. They will do that but my heater is far enough away so they don't cook and they don't always retreat either.

 

[mitch26]

What distance would you say is safe?

 

[Arachnophobphile]

It's dependent on how high you have it set.

For me I keep the small room at 77F. My radiator heater has a built in thermostat so I don't have to worry about the room over heating. So my heater is about 2ft or more away from the shelving unit. It also doesn't run all day.

When I'm not at home it is turned off. I have a fear of electrical shorting out as I experienced that in the past but not anything tarantula or any animal related. I don't trust anything electrical and running plugged in when not at home.

The room temperature will drop to 70F during winter sometimes dipping down to 69F which is fine.

My T's start stressing out at 80F and above. My T's are acclimated to 70F - 73F Spring to end of Fall beginning of Winter and all are new world T's.

 

[darkness975]

Yeah that is a radiator. She seems to only come out her hide when the radiator is on but it hought she would be burrowing to avoid the heat. Also, if its too hot, wouldn't she go to the front of the tank to get away from the heat? And she is a Tliltocatl albopilosus

They gravitate towards heat sources.

 

[mitch26]

The radiator is only on about 19c. We never have it higher than that and turn heating off at night. Is is still too close for that temp? 19c is 66f

 

[Mike41793]

The radiator is only on about 19c. We never have it higher than that and turn heating off at night. Is is still too close for that temp? 19c is 66f

Nah 66deg F is fine for it. It's not like the radiator is right against the enclosure. It looks like that black thing in the tank is a water dish too so if the heat dries the air out the spider will be able to get a drink if they need it. I'd say you're fine.

If that's a window though make sure if the blinds are open on a sunny day it's not cooking your spider. I'd be more worried about that than the proximity to the heater.

 

[Brewser]

If your concerned about high temps in the enclosure, place a thermometer inside and observe fluctuations.

 

[viper69]

It might just die if you don’t move it

 

[darkness975]

If it is constantly hanging on the wall nearest the heater then it is close enough to feel the heat and will constantly try to get closer to it.

I had to move one of mine because the heat emanating from one of my satellite routers was near the back of her tank and she refused to leave the back wall corner ever.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Are you saying the warmest it is in the room the T is is 66F/19C?

 

[Gevo]

It’s really hard to tell you over the internet exactly how far away the enclosure should be, but you don’t want it to be so close that it’s overheating nor so close that there are sharp temperature fluctuations when it turns on. It doesn’t sound like you’re cooking your tarantula, but put your hands about where the enclosure is when the radiator is on to see if you feel a lot of warmth at that distance, or use a thermometer to test it if you have one. The temperature setting on your radiator is fine, but that’s the temperature setting for the room, not the temperature the radiator is operating at to maintain the room, which is why you should feel to see how much heat it’s throwing out at whatever distance that is.

I have forced air heating, and I keep my tarantulas away from window and door drafts and away from direct heat coming from the vents to reduce fluctuation.