Heating pad experiment.

[Trenor]

What good option do you propose for someone with a 2000 sq foot house they don't want to keep warm all the time and only one T?

Well that's easy.... buy more Ts and then give them their own room. That's what I did.

 

[runCMD]

Well that's easy.... buy more Ts and then give them their own room. That's what I did.

I'm sure it will come to that .

 

[Python]

How warm is your house normally? I keep mine around 70 f and everything I have is just fine without extra heat.

 

[runCMD]

How warm is your house normally? I keep mine around 70 f and everything I have is just fine without extra heat.

Between 63 and 70. Just keeping it 70 when we are home during the day costs me 400-500(in winter). I need to replace my furnace and ducting.

 

[Garth Vader]

I think you can find a spot for your T and just have the space heater right there. You don't need ti heat the whole house or even room, just where your T is. My Ts live at my office which is in an old building with an HVAC system that's pretty inconsistent. Not only is it possible to my anywhere from 60-75 degrees in the building I'm also not there much at night or on the weekends. My Ts stay in a small utility closet and I keep the door open and the heater is right there. The little closet gets plenty of air with the door open and also stays toasty warm. My space heater is programmed to turn on when the temp gets under 74 and turns off when it gets much above that. It works really well.

 

[runCMD]

I actually ordered a little 4W heating pad and a thermostat with probe and we'll see how it goes. Here's hoping. When the collection expands I will look into larger options. I don't think I can even use the heating pad on the juvie enclosure I purchased from Jamie's

 

[Ungoliant]

Space heaters are far more likely to cause house fires, I looked it up. The numbers were staggering.

When tarantula keepers talk about heating safety, they are mainly talking about safety to the tarantula, not safety to humans. But space heaters can be used safely. You just have to keep them in good working order and not be careless about where you place them.

Most space heater fires are caused by misuse -- mainly failure to clean, placing the space heater too close to flammable materials, and leaving them unattended. (Mechanical failure accounts for 15% of space heater fires, and electrical failure accounts for 7%.)

What good option do you propose for someone with a 2000 sq foot house they don't want to keep warm all the time and only one T?

If a heating pad is your best option, be sure to avoid common mistakes. As your collection grows, other setups will become more economical.

By the way, I love your user name.

I don't think I can even use the heating pad on the juvie enclosure I purchased from Jamie's

The instructions on heating pads say not to place them on plastic enclosures.

 

[runCMD]

If a heating pad is your best option, be sure to avoid common mistakes. As your collection grows, other setups will become more economical.
By the way, I love your user name.

The instructions on heating pads say not to place them on plastic enclosures.

Great post, and thanks . Yes but the little 4W says you can(on the side to prevent overheating). I think what I will be doing is going to go ahead getting the adult enclosure, setting up the pad on the side with thermostat, and placing the acrylic juvie enclosure inside of that. Will report back results.

 

[Garth Vader]

Yes, I looked into this with space heaters. Make sure you have a good outlet, better yet a circuit breaker. Don't place it near pieces of furniture and make sure it won't get knocked over. Get one where you can program the temp, vs one where it will run continuously (which might get too hot for Ts anyway). If you are careful and thoughtful with how you place it, it should be fine.

 

[Venom1080]

i can see a heat mat working pretty easily if placed no closed than 6" away. be careful monitoring the water supply. i see people with big collections that know what theyre doing run heat cables behind their spider shelves to provide heat, so it cant be all bad. id prop it against the wall and put the cage a little ways in front of it.

Most space heater fires are caused by misuse -- mainly failure to clean,

this may sound stupid, but how does one clean a space heater?

 

[Ungoliant]

this may sound stupid, but how does one clean a space heater?

The report doesn't say, but dust can be flammable under the right circumstances. We periodically dust our electric oil heater and vacuum the fan heater in the bathroom. (This apartment does not have working central heating and air, and since it's tiny, we heat and cool with space heaters and window units.)

Creosote buildup in chimneys is also a fire hazard.

 

[Belegnole]

I actually ordered a little 4W heating pad and a thermostat with probe and we'll see how it goes. Here's hoping. When the collection expands I will look into larger options. I don't think I can even use the heating pad on the juvie enclosure I purchased from Jamie's

I wish you well. I know they can work as I have used them for other animals with good results. I would of course not trust the thermostat until it has been tested for a bit. Be careful as I have also seen them overheat.

For one tank when monitored closely this method can work. However there are a number of different types of heat pads. The best I found were the large heat tape models which do not have adhesive. They also behave differently than the types you stick to tank. Beyond one tank however I find the expense rather cumbersome. Add to the cost the amount of enclosures that need to be monitored and the increase in risk and that's where I dropped out of the idea. I also like the idea if the slower temp change with a room heater because of the larger area to heat or cool. Someone else mentioned liking having the room temp being the enclosure temp because their own body let them know when it was to hot or cold. I rather like it too, however i have a thermometer/hygrometer sitting a foot behind my keyboard as well.

An alternate method I have seen for collections is a basically a glass door hutch. Where a system was designed to increase the heat inside using one heating system for the whole thing. Because of the larger area temperature swings took longer, which significantly decreased the chance of large spikes. I've also seen refrigerated systems used in hot climates.

Someone asked who had actually had one overheat......me.
It was a Zoomed pad that was affixed to the underside of a tank with the little rubber feet being used for ventilation. It was a small pad meant for a 10-20 gallon tank and it was its first and last use. Somewhere around 4-5 months after I first started using it it just got very hot. I was lucky and the animal in the enclosure wasn't harmed.

I have a rescue 3' ball python from the original owner who was not as lucky. The snake survived but has a couple permanent scars because of the pad they used.

Any way you cut it, we're all trying to take care of our animals. Some of us just don't trust some systems as much as others. And yes, I have two space heaters and a rather warm cottage sized house....lol

 

[Python]

If you use a heat pad, I would absolutely not attach it to the enclosure. I would attach it to something behind the enclosure. As was mentioned, 6" is pretty close but doable. I would be sure that no part of it touches the enclosure. Acrylic softens very easily with heat so it could warp it even if it doesn't melt it. I always leave an air gap between the heat source and the enclosure. The radiator style heater is a good option, they don't use a lot of power for what they do and they are as safe as anything out there. Whatever you ultimately wind up with, start at the lowest setting and work your way up. You can always turn it up if it's too cold but if it's too hot it could be over before you know it. Always err on the side of caution

 

[Abyss]

Yup, i would go space heater or another type of small energy efficient heater and just keep a closet or 1 room extra warm if thats even nescessary.

 

[Red Eunice]

I keep my house on the cooler side and I was really bummed when people were so against heating pads because they definitely consume a more affordable amount of energy than my furnace or a space heater would.

As a result of reading a lot of conflicting information and opinions all over the internet about almost every Tarantula subject I decided to do my own experiment. I purchased a 4w heating pad (one of the smallest you can get) and plugged it in. I let it go for an hour and it was just lukewarm. So I took a big old candle in a glass jar with a flat bottom and put it on top of the heating pad so it was now sandwiched between my thick butcher block countertops and that big old candle in a glass jar with no air gaps. I really expected this to accumulate unsafe levels of heat like everyone had claimed but it didn't. It got warmer but was nothing close to "hot". I even let this setup go overnight and there was nothing I think could be considered dangerous. With the rubber spacers they provide you for air, a good thermometer and a rheostat I can't see how this could be dangerous for my GBB.

Does anyone have any first hand experience they could provide? I'm looking for primary sources here. I'm wondering if maybe the new ones got better? Maybe people were misusing them and not following directions? I'm going to work on finding my infrared thermometer so I can get more scientific with this.

Thanks

Oh, how I do enjoy reading threads like this. Answers, answers everywhere!

Here's my suggestion:
I have, and still do, have 1 heat pad in use on an enclosure. Why? Her enclosure won't fit in the first heated cabinet, I'm building a much larger one to accommodate it and further additions.
Where is it located and is it temp controlled, you ask? Smack dab against the glass, on the back side, 1" above the soil surface, at the far left edge. Temp is controlled via a low range Ranco boiler controller equipped w/h a 4' DE sensing probe.
Is it reliable and costly? Yes, these have been in use for over 50 years, an industry standard, and rarely, if ever fail. Price wise $25-30 isn't high, new electronic models are 2-3X more costly.
The pad is 7 watt, roughly 4"X6" and 1/4" at its thickest point. Oh, I've had it for at least 15 years, not in continuous use on an enclosure though. The control probe is secured on the inside of the tank, against the glass, in the center most area of the heat pad.
Aren't you afraid of "cooking" the tarantula? Absolutely not!
But why? Control setpoint is 79° F and the soil in the immediate vicinity has NEVER reached that temperature. Besides, if the probe senses a temperature of 81°F it breaks the electrical circuit, de-energizing the heat pad.
What's so special about this particular T? My first of the species, produced 3 sacs and 9+ years old. She deserves it.

OP, it can be done! Both safely and effectively (energy wise). Good luck!

 

[smitje]

I have been using some 7 watt heat mats for a while now. Ik keep my spiders in them faunariums/critterkeepers, they stand on legs few mm of the floor. Just to make sure I chucked a digital termometer on the mat. After a while the alarm went off, 35 degrees celcius. The actual enclosures dont even get close to that temperature as there is ventilation between the enclosure and the mat. With a room temperature of 18 degrees at night the enclosures are 23 celcius. During the day its 2 degrees hotter.

To be on the safe side I put only half of the enclosure on the mat. With spiders dig to get cool in mind I was actually pretty surprised to see ALL spiders moving and digging towards the heat mat. They seem to love it.

I left it that way, now if my T's bore me I just turn arround the enclosure and they start digging on the other side, action guaranteed

 

[runCMD]

Set up the heating pad and thermostat after they came in the mail today. I can say the thermostat is very sensitive. It shows existing temperature which I feel is a nice feature. It only ran me $23 - the only nice thing would be if it had a replaceable probe. Just moving the probe a half inch away from the heating pad shows a drop in a couple degrees, and the thermostat has a resolution down to the tenths as you can see. I have the pad against the back of the acrylic case away from where the T has set up.

 

[smitje]

Nice, would be great if they would have them with several probes and plugs so you could use it for multiple enclosures. I just used a small battery operated one.

On the first picture you see the mat running acros the rear of the enclosure.

I use 2 mats, for the left and right row of enclosures. On the second level I keep desert and mountain species that can handle lower temperatures.

One downfall seen on picture 3, I added some water to the lowest middle enclosure that holds an Avic. Due to the increased temperature the water condenses on the window the first few days. When moisture drops this disappears. Still, keep a good eye on your moisture levels (for T's that give a damn about humidity). You might not have this problem as you heat the backside of the enclosure.

All these are plastic boxes.

Give your T a week and she will be living closer to the heat mat

 

[smitje]

P.s. You want to measure the temperature of your soil, stick the probe in there. Not the air above it.

 

[Trenor]

Set up the heating pad and thermostat after they came in the mail today. I can say the thermostat is very sensitive. It shows existing temperature which I feel is a nice feature. It only ran me $23 - the only nice thing would be if it had a replaceable probe. Just moving the probe a half inch away from the heating pad shows a drop in a couple degrees, and the thermostat has a resolution down to the tenths as you can see. I have the pad against the back of the acrylic case away from where the T has set up.

Nice work so far. Honestly, if I were going this far I'd setup a T cabinet. You would keep the heat in better and it would be expandable if you got more.