how does sound/activity affect T's?

[GailC]

I'm thinking about bringing one of my T's into the living room next to the computer stand so I can watch it more. Will regular household activity bother it? I was thinking either my A. avic or P.scrofa

 

[bugs4life]

I used to play the drums in my room, where I keep my T's. I don't think they really liked the noise/vibrations, but they didn't freak out too much either. Most of them just went into their hides. I don't think there would be a big problem as long as you don't have little kids knocking over the enclosures, which is why I MUST keep my spiders in my room at all times lol.

 

[Gigas]

dpends if there bright light or hefty bass, dropping things onto the same surface withh give it a shock but i if its on a desk i dont see a problem

 

[PA7R1CK]

If there isnt much vibration they should be fine. Tarantulas feel vibrations instead of hearing.

 

[GailC]

Thanks. The T will be on its own little stand next to the comp stand. No little kids to knock it over but I do have dogs so I'll make sure to put the stand close to the wall where the dogs don't go.

 

[Steffen]

I have 3 Grammostolas next to my computer were I listen to music and I haven't noticed any problems. But in my hobbyroom, most of my spiders get "restless" when I use the vacuumer. They don't like the like the "sharp" noice. I haven't noticed any problems with deep bass noices, but on the other hand, the spider can't tell if it is annoyed.

 

[Beth-Tex]

All of my Ts are in/on a bookcase next to my computer in a spare bedroom turned into a computer room. They do just fine & I really enjoy watching them while I am on the computer. (which is a lot) It also helps me to keep an eye on them & tend to their needs. Have never kept them elsewhere (in this house, anyway) & they thrive, molt, & grow just fine.

Beth

 

[Cerbera]

T's and disturbance...

I won't get into the debate about whether it's uncomfortable for the spider to be placed where there is lots going on around it, or not, but instead will jump straight to the point. Why not get yourself a USB webcam (or 3) with night sights (£12 in the UK) and run a cable from the T Room to your PC. You can connect up to 4 cams via a decent powered USB hub. (Note: Not a cheap USB hub)

Advantages.

1. The T's never know you are watching, and uninterrupted by anyone blundering into the room, are free to do their own thing at their own rate.

2. You can see them in the dark.

3. You don't disturb them at all, with sound, light, vibration or anything else.

4. You can record them on the PC incredibly easily.

5. You can get movement detection software that will record just the times the spiders moved throughout the day, and essentially video the 'exciting bits'

To me, that has to be a far preferable way of doing things than moving a T tank into a brightly lit room, next to a PC and with things going on around it most of the time. None of my spiders would appreciate that. And I feel sure (though am prepared to accept that I may be wrong) that spider feet that can pick up the footfall of a cricket can also pick up the vibrations from the multitude of fans going on inside a PC, which can only be annoying if it is there with any constancy.

I'm just watching my A.genic disassemble a cockroach at the moment, which I can see full screen, as if I was 3 inches away from it in 'glorious' detail, yet that spider sits in total darkness completely undisturbed, and just possibly might be grateful for it !

just a thought...

 

[Gigas]

Big brother for T's?

 

[Fierce Deity]

That's a great idea. My T's are in my bedroom, so there is no point in me doing this, but when my collection gets a bit bigger I am going to hagve a designated spider room and I will definetely have to look into this. Thanks for the info. My question is do they have wireless cams? And would it work on the other side of the house?
It would be much easier to just sit a few cams around the T room instead of doing all the cable work and having wires everwhere I think.

 

[Cerbera]

Wireless cams...

Yes is the answer, but the 12 quid thing no longer applies. Wireless cams are more like £200 over here, and tend not to have the infra red night sight thing. But you can get those separately anyway - only has to be a small infra red LED array...

There is, however, a newish range of motorised cameras with pan tilt and focus all controllable from the PC, and some of these have night vision inbuilt too, for as little as £70 but they don't solve the cable problems either. But they are very cool.

I'm lucky - my T room is right next to my bedroom, so one easy hole through the wall, and I can see 4 of 'em at a time.

 

[KingBollock]

I have six Ts on shelves that I built onto my desk.
I play music through my PC pretty loud sometimes, I play Bass Guitar, Guitar and Banjo just a few feet away from them, it can be pretty noisey in here sometimes. I'm practically nocturnal so they get light most of the night as well as normal daylight, though the light at night isn't very bright eg: if I take a photo without flash I just get a mostly black picture.
All of them have good hides but only one of them ever actually hides though she's always been a digger and loves her tunnels.
My biggest worry was that because of the vibrations they wouldn't be able to hunt effectively but this has proven unfounded. Activity in the room doesn't bother them at all, they would only normally react to my presence when their tank is actually picked up.
The two Ts nearest to my speakers actually seem to favour the speaker side of their tanks, though I think this is probably despite the speakers rather than because of them.
They're healthy and are thriving in their situation.

 

[Ennoozunu]

I've read a study (forget where) that animals have instincts to only react to a non-constant noise/vibration.

I can confirm this seems true with tarantulas as well. I turned up my sound system(460watt w/ seperate sub) one night and my P.regalis (who is on my computer desk. My sound system is just alittle to the left of it) was out and about and showed no signs of the sound (or the computer fans/harddrive) bothering it. Then I suddenly banged into the table(banged into the table only lightly) and my P.regalis ran into her burrow.

I tried this with my other T's as well with the same results.

So my experience is that Tarantulas only react to non-constant (sudden) sounds/virbrations. Meaning loud music/computers doesn't bother them.

 

[wicked]

Day to day activity doesn't seem to bother my Ts (and believe me, this house is active!), but there are somethings that upset them. Turning the stereo up more than 1/4 of the way in the bedroom sends my A chalcodes running for his hide and my G pulchra scrunches up or paces, so I have to 'keep it down' for them.

As for light, my tanks are set up so there is a dark area and a light area, and the T has a choice of where it would like to be. My G pulchra likes the mid area between the two and my A chalcodes spends almost all of his time stretched out in the light side.

My A avic prefers the shadows of her silk plants but does hang out on the front of the tank in the mornings.

 

[Beth-Tex]

In response to my earlier post......my Ts are NOT subjected to bright light in our computer room as I don't like bright light myself......they are shielded & there is NOT a lot of activity in the room, only quietly sitting at the puter as both adults in this household are retired folks & no little ones & others are in the household. I also do not play stereo in this room.
My Ts have some natural light (not on them directly as I stated, they are shielded) & when it gets dark, the room darkens & we have a small lamp in the room which does not shine on the Ts & the computer light from the monitors does not shine on the Ts.
This simulates natural daytime hours & night time hours & yet, I still get to enjoy them.

Am just typing this in response to those who were concerned that the Ts are subjected to bright noisy rooms & are bothered by lots of activity. This is not the case here.

Beth

 

[Cerbera]

So my experience is that Tarantulas only react to non-constant (sudden) sounds/virbrations. Meaning loud music/computers doesn't bother them.

Now to me, those statements don't lead on from each other at all. If I reacted to all the things that bothered me, for example, three quarters of the world might be dead by now.

Meaning: Just because they don't react shouldn't perhaps be taken as an indication that they are not bothered.

I understand the point about it possibly not affecting their ability to hunt, and their ability to discern the difference between the constant and momentary vibrations, but think it is quite another leap of imagination altogether to gather from this that they must be fine with it.

 

[Ennoozunu]

I understand the point about it possibly not affecting their ability to hunt, and their ability to discern the difference between the constant and momentary vibrations, but think it is quite another leap of imagination altogether to gather from this that they must be fine with it.

I see what your saying but if it doesn't change their behavior then does it really matter?

I can't really see Tarantulas being fine with something or not because they don't have that ability mentally they only can react physically(you could argue that it would raise stress but then would that not show up in their behavior?). So if they show no physical difference (like in the way they move or carry on their normal activities) then I don't see a reason to believe that the sound bothers them.

Now I can see maybe if the bass was turned all the way up causing problems (because then it would be felt more and the more inconsitiencies in the bass from the music will be felt and they would no doubt show a behavioural change) but I don't think at a decent leve music or a computer fan sound would bother them.

If I reacted to all the things that bothered me, for example, three quarters of the world might be dead by now.
.

Yes but you can think mentally on if its a good idea to react due to outside forces or not. We as humans have the mental ability to think things over and make choices based on what we think.

Its like if you stick your finger in the tank. Your T isn't going to think about if it should bite your finger or not. Its just going to go into defense and bite it (or run etc.). It will follow its instincts.

It never actually thinks(in the way we think) about if it should or shouldn't.

So if something happens that it can feel it will change its behavior and react to it because it can't be annoyed it can only be stressed and if stressed I think it would change its behavior due to the stress or to try and get rid of the stress.

 

[Cerbera]

Yep - a lot of good points there... and some more questions raised to which I don't have answers...

The only thing I could perhaps add is that any 'stress' going on might not manifest itself in predictable, or obvious ways. They might 'know' that they cannot run away from the source of the stress, and therefore don't try. They invariably will realise it's not something to bite or flick at: The effects might be subtle, and may be cumulative over long periods of exposure or may change the long term behaviour , and possibly even the personality / temperament of the animal. And if that could be the case, I would bet that the animal would not get more calm and serene as time (and the stimulus) went on.

I have heard / read several times that spiders regularly subjected to seriously loud music have become more aggressive over time, for example, but as with all these reports and hypotheses, we're all guessing really, and each subject to our own experiences, biases, and ideas...

Long live debate, hey...

 

[GailC]

Years ago I knew a guy who kept a T in front of his house speakers, he was always playing music really loud and that T was a nasty beast. I can't remember for sure what kind it was, possibly a red knee. He said it got meaner the more he played music, maybe coincidence, maybe not?

Where I was thinking about moving a T to won't have any vibration except for foot steps going by about 5 ft away. I do play music on my comp but use the head phones. I still don't know if I'll move one out here or not...still deciding. You all bring up good points.

 

[Ennoozunu]

Years ago I knew a guy who kept a T in front of his house speakers, he was always playing music really loud and that T was a nasty beast. I can't remember for sure what kind it was, possibly a red knee. He said it got meaner the more he played music, maybe coincidence, maybe not?

I could defintly see a tarantula being infront of a speaker causing problems. I was mostly debating the constant sound of a computer fan/computer and some music (not right infront of the speaker).

Depending on the music and the volume level it probably won't be to constant of a sound and will trigger effects.

I think at a decent volume it shouldn't cause to much of a problem tho.

I can defintly see where your coming from Cerbera with the increased agressiveness point and I agree that really loud music can cause that to happen in T's(a long term thing causing a change in behaviour). I don't think music at a decent volume would cause to much of a change (if any) tho.

If it(the decent volume music not the loud music) does cause any small change in agressiveness I don't see it causing the T any harm (only the owner if they decide to pick up the T lol).

Now a big change in agressiveness I could see causing a problem (as the T would probably be more stressed and therefore it would signifigantly shorten its lifespan probably).

Gotta love a good debate