Heating pad

[Djmo25]

Can I put heating pad under the side of my spider hide or shall I put it on the other side ?

 

[EtienneN]

It's really best to put heat pads outside of the tarantula/spider enclosure, i.e. attached to a bigger bin that you then put the enclosure inside of so that no part of the heating pad has direct contact with the spider enclosure. I suppose if you have a failsafe attenuation on it so that it cannot get above a certain temperature you can try it on the side, but it's really easy for tarantulas to 'bake' themselves by being attracted to a heat source to the point of not being able to get away from it before they die. The heated bin treatment works well for people who live in old housing that gets cold in the winter. If you do decide to actually put it on the cage, always put it on the side and never underneath to avoid them instinctually burrowing towards the warmth and staying near the mat for too long. But if it were my spider I would do the bin within a bin method.

 

[Djmo25]

It's really best to put heat pads outside of the tarantula/spider enclosure, i.e. attached to a bigger bin that you then put the enclosure inside of so that no part of the heating pad has direct contact with the spider enclosure. I suppose if you have a failsafe attenuation on it so that it cannot get above a certain temperature you can try it on the side, but it's really easy for tarantulas to 'bake' themselves by being attracted to a heat source to the point of not being able to get away from it before they die. The heated bin treatment works well for people who live in old housing that gets cold in the winter. If you do decide to actually put it on the cage, always put it on the side and never underneath to avoid them instinctually burrowing towards the warmth and staying near the mat for too long. But if it were my spider I would do the bin within a bin method.

Can you help me ? . Where would you put this pad . I am attaching photos of my spider hide and the tank. My spider is 5cm legspan only .

This are the photos and you can see his hide on the left.

 

[Poonjab]

Just keep room at room temp or get a space heater.

 

[Ic4ru577]

No need for heating pad. If u r comfortable in the room, your t will be too

 

[Matt Man]

Pads attached to an enclosure can be fatal. You can have the enclosure in a pad heated enclosure (as stated above, box in a box) or put the pad on a piece of Plex and have the enclosure elevated some distance above that. Basically you don't want direct contact between the enclosure and the pad, it gets to hot near the pad and you can bake your T. I have known people to have little risers under their T enclosures and have pads about 1/2" to 1" away. (1.27 to 2.54 cm)

 

[Hakuna]

That pad will melt a plastic enclosure. Get a space heater to keep your room, room-temperature.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

One thing I've done in winter when my old house gets drafty is attach a heat pad to the wall behind my enclosures. The enclosures sit about 3cm away from the wall, so the heat pad warms the side of the enclosure without contacting the enclosure directly. However, if your place doesn't get below 18ºC or so, you shouldn't need any supplemental heating. Of course a room heater is always preferable to a heating pad, if it's possible to use that instead.

 

[Matt Man]

I run no environmental in my house (no heat on winter, no cooling is summer) so my house drops below 9C sometimes in the winter. The only room with heat is my daughter's, where the Ts are.
I live in San Diego and have friends in Northern Climes and they say say "Yeah but it is so warm down there" and I can pretty much guarantee my home is colder than theirs during the winter because they run heaters

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I run no environmental in my house (no heat on winter, no cooling is summer) so my house drops below 9C sometimes in the winter. The only room with heat is my daughter's, where the Ts are.
I live in San Diego and have friends in Northern Climes and they say say "Yeah but it is so warm down there" and I can pretty much guarantee my home is colder than theirs during the winter because they run heaters

You're lucky you can get away with that down there. If we tried to go all winter without heating our pipes would freeze and burst, and we'd have to burn the neighbours for heat.

 

[Matt Man]

You're lucky you can get away with that down there. If we tried to go all winter without heating our pipes would freeze and burst, and we'd have to burn the neighbours for heat.

it is nice, but it gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. My house is almost a century old so it is pre insulation.
FTR I have been a Leafs fan since I saw "The Sweater" in I think 1979.

 

[KaroKoenig]

That pad will melt a plastic enclosure.

This is a low-watt heat mat, and not a cooking stove. It will by no means "melt" a plastic enclosure. What it will do, however, is warp the plastic. Which can be very very inconvenient. As in "Where did that sling go" inconvenient.

@ OP: Is that a used mat, and what are those whitish spots? Is the structure of the heat-producing material damaged? That would concern me much more, really.

Heat mats for tarantula enclosures are a source of heated discussions in all forums all over the planet. Among all the different opinions, there is one minimal consensus: Never ever - under no circumstance - put it under an enclosure.

 

[Djmo25]

This is a low-watt heat mat, and not a cooking stove. It will by no means "melt" a plastic enclosure. What it will do, however, is warp the plastic. Which can be very very inconvenient. As in "Where did that sling go" inconvenient.

@ OP: Is that a used mat, and what are those whitish spots? Is the structure of the heat-producing material damaged? That would concern me much more, really.

Heat mats for tarantula enclosures are a source of heated discussions in all forums all over the planet. Among all the different opinions, there is one minimal consensus: Never ever - under no circumstance - put it under an enclosure.

The mat is new I have recieved yesterday. I am not sure what are this 2 spots i have attached mat on the back side but it doesnt change much temperature. Probably is to weak as its only 3W.

 

[Ic4ru577]

I run no environmental in my house (no heat on winter, no cooling is summer) so my house drops below 9C sometimes in the winter. The only room with heat is my daughter's, where the Ts are.
I live in San Diego and have friends in Northern Climes and they say say "Yeah but it is so warm down there" and I can pretty much guarantee my home is colder than theirs during the winter because they run heaters

No portable heater too? Dang u r hardy. If newbie aliens looking for someone to abduct, you would make a good beginner spec.

 

[Dorifto]

No need for heating pad. If u r comfortable in the room, your t will be too

That rule only would work if you live in a country with almost the same temperatures as the T´s habitat. If you live in a colder state, country... etc that rule could lead a newbie to a confusion or disaster. For example I can stay comfortable with very low temps and usually I stay in short pants above 13ºC. In my old house the themperature inside could reach 7-9ºC easily, and I used to be comfortable, so that´s why I stated that is a subjective rule. Also you have to take into account the T species, it´s not the same to keep a Megaphobema or a desert or tropical species.


There are better options like heating a cabinet or you entire room, but if for some circunstances they are not appropiate for you you can use your heat mat, but taking some precautions like using a thermostat to cut the power when the enclosure reach X temperature and putting the mat in the lowest part of the substrate, so the T can´t make any kind of burrow toward the mat.

 

[Matt Man]

No portable heater too? Dang u r hardy. If newbie aliens looking for someone to abduct, you would make a good beginner spec.

I'll make a great pet , except I'm getting a tad long in the tooth. Space heater in the kids room to help with the critters. When I was in high school I moved into the basement, it was dark, quiet and I had my own entrance and exit. The only downside was it had no heat, so I got used to waking up in the AM and seeing steam come off my breath

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Le sigh. Right, I'm gonna cut through the guff regarding heat mats.

Firstly, if you intend to use a heat mat it needs to be connected to a thermostat. That is non-negotiable. The temperature probe should be attached directly to the surface of the mat so that it doesn't exceed the desired temperature.

Secondly, never place heat mats underneath enclosures, the first reason is because tarantulas burrow to escape the heat and will inadvertently burrow towards the heat source and cook themselves, the second reason is because it can cause thermal blocking which can result in electrical fires (heat mats sold in the UK actually come with warnings about this, apparently they don't across the pond).
If you're going to place it on the enclosure then place it on the side of the enclosure above substrate level and away from the tarantula's hide. A safer option still would be to stick the mat to a vertical surface like a wall or the back/side of a shelf and then place the enclosure a few cm away from the mat. Another option is to get a vivarium or any ventilated container that is larger than your tarantula's enclosure, stick the heat mat to the side or back of the viv/container and then keep your enclosure inside of this "microclimate".

The safest option would be to heat the room with a space heater but I realise that this isn't very cost-effective if you only have a small collection.

If u r comfortable in the room, your t will be too

I hate this rule because it's extremely subjective, I could comfortably sit in a freezer wearing a vest and shorts for longer than it takes for a tarantula to freeze to death whereas a tarantula wouldn't even be phased by temperatures that I consider to be uncomfortably hot. The vast majority of species are fine anywhere between 18°C - 33°C, some can easily tolerate daytime highs and overnight lows outside of this range.

 

[Matt Man]

Grym Reaper covers this pretty completely and accurately, and that is what I have seen as well. Heating mats hung (at a slight distance) vertically along a side, away from the hide. At a dealer they had Plexiglas sheets hung along the back of the rack and heating pads attached to the sheets across from the far edge of the hide, and near the top

 

[Baby T]

I have used a heat mat before in the winter. Where I am in the UK gets pretty cold. My problem is there's nobody here for long periods during the day and the house can get down to about 12 degrees...the heating only comes on around 6pm at night. Do you guys consider that too low for a room temp?

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I have used a heat mat before in the winter. Where I am in the UK gets pretty cold. My problem is there's nobody here for long periods during the day and the house can get down to about 12 degrees...the heating only comes on around 6pm at night. Do you guys consider that too low for a room temp?

Yes, 12ºC is too low. As noted above (twice), about 18ºC is about as low as you want to get for most species.