Furnace broke overnight.... House down to 59 degrees.

[Little Grey Spider]

As the title states, I woke up to arctic conditions in my house. Penguins trekking through my living room. A polar bear in my bath tub. Icicles hanging from the chandelier....
Ok. It's not *that* bad... But it's cold. I've moved all my smaller guys (a 4 inch Grammostola pulchripes, a 1.75 in. Poecilotheria metallica and a 1 inch Harpactira pulchripes) upstairs into my child's bedroom which is the only room in the house (built in 1875 eek) that has heat at the moment due to it having electric heat. But it does get more direct sunlight than I'd care they be exposed to- shouldn't be a problem with today's weather forecast. My question is two fold...
Could their being exposed to below 60 degree temps for several hours have harmed my slings? Only the P. metallica is visible and he/she looks normal.
And two... What about the rest of my bigger guys that I cannot move upstairs? How long can they go in these temps? Hopefully the heat will be fixed today, knock wood, but I just don't know.

 

[Greasylake]

That's pretty cold and I wouldn't leave your larger Ts in those temperatures for and longer than it takes to get them warmer. I've heard of one or two people's houses that got down below the 50s and for a few weeks their Ts were fine then a few slings dropped dead, probably due to internal damage. It looks like the old heat has been going out on a few people lately, and one thing you can do is boil water then fill up water bottles with the hot water, put all the Ts into a cooler or insulated container, and put the hot water bottles around the edges to warm up the container. This should keep your Ts warm enough until you get your heat back. I believe @cold blood did something similar.

 

[RonnyT]

As the title states, I woke up to arctic conditions in my house. Penguins trekking through my living room. A polar bear in my bath tub. Icicles hanging from the chandelier....
Ok. It's not *that* bad... But it's cold. I've moved all my smaller guys (a 4 inch Grammostola pulchripes, a 1.75 in. Poecilotheria metallica and a 1 inch Harpactira pulchripes) upstairs into my child's bedroom which is the only room in the house (built in 1875 eek) that has heat at the moment due to it having electric heat. But it does get more direct sunlight than I'd care they be exposed to- shouldn't be a problem with today's weather forecast. My question is two fold...
Could their being exposed to below 60 degree temps for several hours have harmed my slings? Only the P. metallica is visible and he/she looks normal.
And two... What about the rest of my bigger guys that I cannot move upstairs? How long can they go in these temps? Hopefully the heat will be fixed today, knock wood, but I just don't know.

I would be uncomfortable with those temperatures.

However I have a bit of a story, I went to vacation for a week.

On the last two days my heater turned off and the temps rapidly dropped. I did not know this until I came back.

When I came home it was 48f, yes ridiculously low

I panicked and turned up the heat, put on a space heater, and turned on the fireplace.

Somehow all three of my slings survived.

 

[Venom1080]

You should keep a space heater as a back up.

 

[cold blood]

move em all upstairs.

A few hours shouldnt be catastrophic, but definitely dont leave any of them that cold.

 

[the sith witch]

As someone who went through the same thing mid-Canadian winter cold front, I was lucky enough that my former orchid collecting hobby came in handy and I had a 400 watts metal halide lamp to use as a "space heater" while the landlord called the plumbing cavalry. I also covered several enclosures with a thick blanket with a normal incandescent light that raised the temp. slightly and the blanket kept the heat close. I did stay right close by for over an hour to ensure the heat didn't end up frying/melting anything though. My makeshift 'tents' kept the spiders comfy for the 8 hours it took for the heat to come back while the rest of the apt. dropped to 12 celsius in spots.

That's something you could try for the enclosures you can't move. And I hope your heating gets fixed right fast!

 

[Little Grey Spider]

You should keep a space heater as a back up.

I have a space heater I could employ, however, it won't warm up the entire downstairs as it is all open and doesn't have doors between rooms. I could set it right in front of the two tanks I physically can't move. I'll do that. The stupid heat keeps kicking on but it's got no balls. Minimal warm air. Currently have the thermostat at 75 and it's 62 in here now. And snowing outside .... Why meeeeeeeeee???

 

[PidderPeets]

My power cut out due to a storm a few weeks back, and indoor temperatures reached mid to low 50s F. I put everything in catch cup sized enclosures (deli cups, 2 oz sauce cups, literal cups, etc), packed them all in insulated grocery bags and added heat packs. Everybody was stressed, grumpy, and I was itchy for over a week afterwards, but everyone was also alive. That sustained 12 tarantulas (including <1/2 slings and some more temperature sensitive species), a scorpion, adult and baby millipedes, and a group of madagascar hissing cockroaches until I was able to transport them to a house with reliable heat.

Good luck with everything, and hopefully you'll get your heat back soon

 

[Little Grey Spider]

My power cut out due to a storm a few weeks back, and indoor temperatures reached mid to low 50s F. I put everything in catch cup sized enclosures (deli cups, 2 oz sauce cups, literal cups, etc), packed them all in insulated grocery bags and added heat packs. Everybody was stressed, grumpy, and I was itchy for over a week afterwards, but everyone was also alive. That sustained 12 tarantulas (including <1/2 slings and some more temperature sensitive species), a scorpion, adult and baby millipedes, and a group of madagascar hissing cockroaches until I was able to transport them to a house with reliable heat.

Good luck with everything, and hopefully you'll get your heat back soon

Thank you. I hope so as well. Contemplating moving to Florida or Texas or something. My T's need a better environment . Psht to this New England crap.

 

[PidderPeets]

Thank you. I hope so as well. Contemplating moving to Florida or Texas or something. My T's need a better environment . Psht to this New England crap.

Oh, I hear ya. I'm thinking Nevada, Arizona, or California myself

 

[Greasylake]

Thank you. I hope so as well. Contemplating moving to Florida or Texas or something. My T's need a better environment . Psht to this New England crap.

As a native Texan let me just say, it's hot. Like really hot.

 

[ItzXskrilla]

IME all of my T’s used to see temps this low, I also have a 1970 house with electric only, and an average bill if I run the heater doubles and is around 600$. I’ve never had any issues. It gets low 60’s every night for months on end. The heater does kick in if it drops below 60 and turns off after 65.
I now use a space heater, (55 $ a month extra for me) but for 2 winters all T’s were just fine.

As a native Texan let me just say, it's hot. Like really hot.

And depending on where you are at, disgustingly humid, I stepped out side at the airport and was like I spent a year in north Houston so I made it through all the seasons, being native San Diegan this was a shock!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Thank you. I hope so as well. Contemplating moving to Florida or Texas or something. My T's need a better environment . Psht to this New England crap.

Move to Italy, Piccolo Ragno Grigio

 

[Greasylake]

And depending on where you are at, disgustingly humid, I stepped out side at the airport and was like I spent a year in north Houston so I made it through all the seasons, being native San Diegan this was a shock!

I'm in west Houston so humidity is not a stranger to me. The best feeling is when you go outside with the dog on a day that's over 100 degrees with humidity in the high 90%.

 

[Little Grey Spider]

Move to Italy, Piccolo Ragno Grigio

I think I would love it there... I'd have to homeschool my English speaking spawn, but....

I'm in west Houston so humidity is not a stranger to me. The best feeling is when you go outside with the dog on a day that's over 100 degrees with humidity in the high 90%.

I have a snow loving very floofy Australian Shepherd... I may have to rethink Texas....

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I think I would love it there... I'd have to homeschool my English speaking spawn, but....

I will help you, don't worry, my Piccolo Ragno Grigio friend from New England domain (which I love due to that 'witch' stuff of the past, btw)

I mean, I will help you to end just like Amanda Knox, ih ih ih


























Joooooking a laugh always help

 

[Little Grey Spider]

I will help you, don't worry, my Piccolo Ragno Grigio friend from New England domain (which I love due to that 'witch' stuff of the past, btw)

I mean, I will help you to end just like Amanda Knox, ih ih ih


























Joooooking a laugh always help

Not just Salem but also vampires, the Conjuring, etc... I guess we are a bit spooky!

My house is a balmy 69 degrees woot woot! Don't want to jinx it- but hopefully we are in "crisis over" mode.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I'm in west Houston so humidity is not a stranger to me. The best feeling is when you go outside with the dog on a day that's over 100 degrees with humidity in the high 90%.

Might I suggest Amarillo.. It's rained once in the past six months. Humidity? What's that?

Could you cup the T's in the heavy enclosures and put the spiders in a bathroom with the space heater? Or bring everyone in the kitchen and bake till the cows come home.

EDIT: I need to learn to read. Happy you're not freezing anymore!

 

[Little Grey Spider]

Might I suggest Amarillo.. It's rained once in the past six months. Humidity? What's that?

Could you cup the T's in the heavy enclosures and put the spiders in a bathroom with the space heater? Or bring everyone in the kitchen and bake till the cows come home.

EDIT: I need to learn to read. Happy you're not freezing anymore!

Thank you so much! I did bake earlier .
It's been running pretty stable. I'm nervous still so I'm going to hold off on resituating everyone until tomorrow. We will see how tonight goes. But boy am I glad this didn't happen in January! Makes me realize how I've taken heat for granted!!!!

 

[darkness975]

When in doubt you can do what I did and pile them into rubbermaid bins and such and use heat packs to help keep them warmer. It's not ideal but it will work in a pinch.

I had furnace issues not that long ago either if you look up my thread.

Where I live I can't use a space heater either due to old wiring.

Never fun =/