is light a must for t's

losct2381

Arachnosquire
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Dec 2, 2010
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76
i was wondering i have a t room and wanted to know if it is a must that i leave the lights on a certain amount of time a day. it gets expensive if i do so. do they really need light. or can i leave them off
 

Anastasia

Arachnoprince
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Not really, all mine in darkness all day long sometimes few days,
and when I flip switch all run and hide like roaches, haha
some leave in the hole all their lives, grab prey that just happens to step in close enough
I highly doubt tarantula have any benefit from sun rays(besides warmth)
never saw one basking in the sun, usually down in the hole, under the rock or inside the web
 

Suidakkra

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Nov 23, 2010
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I only use room light to differentiate the cycle of night and day. Tarantulas actually hate light.

I can keep my most defensive Poecilotheria regalis at the back of her enclosure by just shining a flashlight on her when I go to change her water bowl. I just get tired of chasing her down almost every time I open her enclosure, lol. I have not seen this reaction with my other T's though, so I cannot claim my statement to be absolute. But most of my collection do shy away from a light source such as bright sunlight, or a flashlight.
 

Mez

Arachnoknight
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Nov 17, 2010
Messages
214
Personally i always make sure there is a day/night cycle. Be it from a window in the room, or in my case the room light.
 

Athelas

Arachnopeon
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Feb 19, 2011
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I can't say from experience with tarantulas, but in general arthropods thrive when there is at least some kind of photoperiod every 24 hours. I did an experiment in grad school where I was looking at the timing of reproductive behaviors in female burrower bugs and put them on non-24 cycles (either shorter or longer) and could seriously throw off their behavioral patterns.

Scott
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Interested in animal behavior? Visit The Birds and the Bees: Things you were
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Spidershane1

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Apr 11, 2010
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So in summary, T's don't need particular light spectrums or UVA/UBV for vitamin production like alot of animals do, but its pretty much agreed that they do utilize day/night cycles for their behavior. It doesn't take much light though- I have most of my T's in a closet with the door cracked and the only light in the room is indirect sunlight faintly filtering through the closed blinds.
Basically the darker the better while still maintaing at least a faint glow during the day to keep em on a day/night cycle.
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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May 28, 2009
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You should have some sort of light, the need to feel the day nigh time.
 

Rue

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Feb 24, 2011
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I'd think they need light too, to synchronize their circadian rhythm...but I don't know if a 12 hour cycle is particularly useful or if they can make do with an irregular or a northern seasonal cycle of light (long days in the summer, short days in the winter).
 

satanslilhelper

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Seeing as Anastasia is one of the most reputable breeders of tarantulas in the U.S. I'm going to side with her. It doesn't seem to be effecting her ability to get egg sacs at all.

So, no light isn't a must for tarantulas. They are nocturnal after all.
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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Seeing as Anastasia is one of the most reputable breeders of tarantulas in the U.S. I'm going to side with her. It doesn't seem to be effecting her ability to get egg sacs at all.

So, no light isn't a must for tarantulas. They are nocturnal after all.
Yes but they should know when its day or night to get a natural rythm, those words comes from a spider biologist.
 

AmbushArachnids

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Jan 30, 2010
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Conflicting experiences..

I have fluorescent lights over my tarantulas but they all have places to hide if they choose. I have two four foot fluorescent bulbs with a beach towel shading my shelf. They get ambient light. They seem unbothered and i often see my pokies sitting outside of there hides in the light.

I dont recommend direct light. In most cases giving your spider the option to have darkness/hide will reduce stress greatly.

Now on the other hand i have some spiders that are in near complete darkness on my bottom shelf. They seem to dislike the light alot more. I think they become accustom to the lighting conditions they are in.

Some spiders are more photo sensetive than others, obligate burrowers are one example. Ive seen them out and about in the light at the entrance of thier burrow during the day.
They run from the light change instinctivly to hide from preditors not exactly because they hate light.

What would you do if you were relaxing in the dark and a giant tore the roof off your house? I would try to hide too!
 
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Anastasia

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I'd think they need light too, to synchronize their circadian rhythm...but I don't know if a 12 hour cycle is particularly useful or if they can make do with an irregular or a northern seasonal cycle of light (long days in the summer, short days in the winter).
I highly doubt that tarantulas go by daylight to know their seasons
just talking from experience of keeping
none of mine see daylight period.
my spider room is in basement no windows, I have one small night plug in light by the door so if I need to sneak in I dont break my neck
but sure if some one can point scientifically significant information that sunlight is necessity or real benefit for tarantulas I'd like to see it
other wise, next step is daylight saving time in check, heck I go broke buy all mine watches ;P
 

patrick86

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I had two adult female Brachypelma smithi's that would bask in sunlight on occasion. During the evening when the sun was setting there was a section of their container that the sun would shine on. I've caught them sitting in that section many times and even seen them turn around to allow the sun to shine on their other side. This was during the summer when temps in my home were in the mid 70's.
 

dannyboypede

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Aug 22, 2010
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Some of my tarantulas have spent weeks hidden with no exposure to light at all. I doubt that they need to know the difference between night and day. Its not like they have to go to work in the morning and come home at night{D...

--Dan
 

ArachnoYak

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I had two adult female Brachypelma smithi's that would bask in sunlight on occasion. During the evening when the sun was setting there was a section of their container that the sun would shine on. I've caught them sitting in that section many times and even seen them turn around to allow the sun to shine on their other side. This was during the summer when temps in my home were in the mid 70's.
There are several species that like to bask. Most notably those of the genus psalmopoeus. All of my psalmos love the sun and during the summer I let them out so they can enjoy it.
 

Rue

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Feb 24, 2011
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239
I highly doubt that tarantulas go by daylight to know their seasons
just talking from experience of keeping
none of mine see daylight period.
my spider room is in basement no windows, I have one small night plug in light by the door so if I need to sneak in I dont break my neck
but sure if some one can point scientifically significant information that sunlight is necessity or real benefit for tarantulas I'd like to see it
other wise, next step is daylight saving time in check, heck I go broke buy all mine watches ;P
Aren't most of them tropical and used to 12 hours light/dark? Do they need sunlight and UVB? Maybe not, but I think they'd do best with light to signify day/night.

Can they live without light or with irregular light...of course. So can we. But it's not the best option for us.

So if you move them out of a 12:12 light cycle...that they've evolved to live in and move them up north where the light cycle varies seasonally (that they're not used to) will it have an effect? Again, maybe not...but it's a large enough variation you can't dismiss it as not having any effect either...not without studies of some sort.

For example...maybe they need the light cycle for hunting...but since we feed them and the food supply is there (they're not hunting anymore)...we don't notice that their hunting trigger is missing.

Nocturnal does NOT mean no light - moonlit nights can be very bright. My best guess is that they need light for some biological function - even if we don't consider that need important to us - as pet owners/collectors/breeders.

*ouchie* Too much thinking...back to fluff...if I get a pet T, should I give it a name??? {D ;)
 

Merfolk

Arachnoprince
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Dec 13, 2005
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J-M Verdez and others wrote that avicularias need natural sunlight to some extent...
 
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