Housing in cold temps.

[mjk412]

I’ve kept A variety of tarantulas in the past. But these were in a room where the temp was 70 and 76°. Now that I’m married my wife is terrified of spiders. I want to get a few tarantulas again, but I have to keep the tarantulas in the basement.My basement is really cold in the winter time around 55 to 65°. I read That the bath method is used for slings. Can I use this for adults? For species thar require a dryer environment will this raise the Humidity inside their enclosure? Has anybody kept adults using a bath method? Thanks so much.

 

[Venom1080]

Anything wrong with a space heater? My spiders live happily in the basement.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

As @Venom1080 said, the easiest way is just to use a space heater in order to heat the room.

 

[mjk412]

My basement is open floor. It’s one large open space. A space heater would not work at all.

 

[cold blood]

I read That the bath method is used for slings.

I don't think its very popular at all...but its certainly effective.

Can I use this for adults?

theoretically you could.

For species thar require a dryer environment will this raise the Humidity inside their enclosure?

Humidity concerns within this hobby are mis-placed. Ts don't require this, ones that say they do, actually just require damp substrate.

People in dry climates just need to add more water to the sub more often, and even at times some arid ts can do with a little moisture addition from time to time....something you might never want or need to do if you lived in, say, Florida.

You can keep a dry species in the most humid climate, and as long as the substrate remains bone dry, its not an issue.

Has anybody kept adults using a bath method?

I don't recommend it simply because the bath needed would be so large it would practically need a kiddie pool if you had a few of them...I just think it would take up too much space and not be all that convenient.
Now, if you have that open space to do it, it could be done and as long as you had the right heater to maintain the temps you wanted. But I would make sure you had things down before getting tropicals or slings obviously.

I would focus on species known to deal better in cooler temps...Native Aphonopelma species (US native) and most Chilean species would all work.

Get the right species and you would only need a minimal bump from a space heater....if you can't block an area to heat...another option would be a large tub...you could heat that with a heat mat on the side, and place the ts within that, creating a micro-climate. There are some good examples in the housing section of the forum.

 

[StampFan]

My basement is open floor. It’s one large open space. A space heater would not work at all.

Buy a cabinet and heat the cabinet.

 

[Jonroe]

Buy a cabinet and heat the cabinet.

Thats what I would do, heat the cabinet with heatpads/cables like you would do with a snake rack.
Preferrably let the heat come from the top.

Don't forget to use a thermostat to control the heating units.

 

[mjk412]

For the bath method I was going to use an extra 75 gallon tank. I have large Rubbermaid container I could use to crest a microclimate. Or should I just insulate the 75gallon and place the trantulas in there. Inside smaller containers. I could possibly heat that? I was looking at getting a female Aphonopelma chalcodes since I have colder temps to deal with.

I could talk my wife into letting me keep one upstairs. It would have to stay in the closet. lol. My living room temps stays around 69 in the winter and 75 in summer.

 

[miss moxie]

I live in PA, and right now all of my Ts are in a closet with a small personal heater that's not aimed at them but it raises the ambient temperatures in the closet. If you've got a spare closet, throw'em in there. Well. Gently place them.

A cabinet is also a good choice, done up with heat tape.

 

[mjk412]

So I can keep the T inside in the living room closet. We keep the house temp 68-70 in the winter. 75-80 in the summer. However the closet might be a few degrees colder. It’s located by my front door.

 

[viper69]

Some species will not handle those lows too well IMO esp chronically. I would seek species that are exposed to cooler temps during their winter, as opposed to species that live around the equator.

 

[Dovey]

So I can keep the T inside in the living room closet. We keep the house temp 68-70 in the winter. 75-80 in the summer. However the closet might be a few degrees colder. It’s located by my front door.

Your ENTRY CLOSET??? Whatever for? Surely there is some place in the house that offers at least a modicum of light some hours of the day. There are very few animals that do not benefit from the opportunity to establish a Circadian rhythm in which to be either active or inactive. Also, any colder than 68 degrees is certainly not ideal. Female and juvie chalcodes winter over in their dens here in the Sonoran Desert, and the steady temperatures they achieve in their dens are in the mid-70s year-round, even in the heat of summer or cold snaps in winter.

I expect your wife will relax a little bit once the spiders are in residence and don't actually eat anybody's face off.

 

[Andrea82]

Buy a cabinet and heat the cabinet.

Like this for example:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/c-lividum-setup.301554/page-3#post-2721123

I keep mine in a large attic room with no central heating (only part of the house without one), and my spiders stay a comfortable 22/24°C in winter.
I'm using a heat cable. Some hooks needed to fix it to the cabinet, done. No risk of burned spiders or electricity shortcuts and very cheap energy-wise.

 

[Andrea82]

Your ENTRY CLOSET???

I expect your wife will relax a little bit once the spiders are in residence and don't actually eat anybody's face off.

I don't know man....my A.geniculata came close while feeding yesterday...

 

[Dovey]

All I know is that in dorm where I resided at my boarding school job, the girls that squealed the loudest and went running from the room every time someone had a tarantula cage out for housekeeping are the ones that were right there and absolutely fascinated when we were breeding. Same with my snakes. It was the kids that made the biggest deal about their fear of snakes that ended up being most fascinated and interested whenever they came out.

You can only perform "scared and revolted" by something for so long once you have familiarity with it before you get past that phase and start getting interested in the next level of questions beyond "how can such a hideous ugly thing exist in the world/my home/my beloved's heart of hearts?"

God knows that happened with me about the World Saxophone Quartet with my musicologist former future husband. "How can anyone actually enjoy listening to compositions that sound like a circle of men beating a pig to death with their musical instruments," I asked myself. And yet, I developed a tolerance, if never a passion. The things we can get used to for the ones we love!

 

[cold blood]

There are very few animals that do not benefit from the opportunity to establish a Circadian rhythm in which to be either active or inactive.

The nocturnal tarantula is one of these though...they need no light. My t room never gets light...ts grow and breed just fine. Less light simply means they spend less time hiding.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

Like this for example:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/c-lividum-setup.301554/page-3#post-2721123

I keep mine in a large attic room with no central heating (only part of the house without one), and my spiders stay a comfortable 22/24°C in winter.
I'm using a heat cable. Some hooks needed to fix it to the cabinet, done. No risk of burned spiders or electricity shortcuts and very cheap energy-wise.

I'm very interested in this heat cable idea. Can you tell me a little more about the cable? Is it one intended to keep water pipes from freezing?

 

[Andrea82]

I'm very interested in this heat cable idea. Can you tell me a little more about the cable? Is it one intended to keep water pipes from freezing?

No, it's sold like heat pads for terrarium animals. It's meant for applying in a rack of curvers, i think to keep snakes.
The core temp of it is around 38°C, but the cable is around 30°C on the outside, and a cm away from it it's around 26°C. It keeps my spiders around 22°C in a room that's around 17°C or lower, depending on the weather. Other cables are used to keep plants from freezing in greenhouses or pipes from freezing, but those get a lot warmer which is a risk, in my opinion. I don't want my inverts to overheat, i just want to keep them from getting too cold.

Mine is a plug-in, with an adapter on one side and a little cap on the other end. The last meter before the adapter doesn't heat up which only adds to the safety imo.

 

[dragonfire1577]

Now that I’m married my wife is terrified of spiders. I want to get a few tarantulas again, but I have to keep the tarantulas in the basement.

I mean do you REALLY need a wife.

 

[StampFan]

The nocturnal tarantula is one of these though...they need no light. My t room never gets light...ts grow and breed just fine. Less light simply means they spend less time hiding.

I've often wondered that. If the T (esp slings) are kept in bright light if they're more likely to hide as opposed to low ambient-type lighting. My room has low daylight (but enough to indicate a diurnal cycle), and my NW terrestrial and aboreals are always out, never in hides, slings never burrow, etc.