Jumping Spider heat question

[fizzyelephant]

Hi, I’m a very new to spiders and am interested in keeping a Phidippus Regius. I have done a lot of research, I have a zilla micro habitat enclosure in which I will put cork bark and either aquarium gravel or coco substrate and I have found a local petstore that has flightless fruit flies and mealworms.

The one thing I’m not sure about is temperature, I have read that jumping spiders ideal temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees celsius, which would be fine during the day, but at night time the room I will be keeping the spider in can drop to 18 degrees celsius so my question is: will I need a heat pad for during the night, or will my spider be fine?

Again, I’m new to this so if I’m doing anything wrong please let me know! I would hate for my spider to be uncomfortable or unhappy

 

[magouilles]

you should use a heat pad but not under the enclosure
make sure to make research about how to use heat pads correctly (there are plenty of threads here with experience keepers who do use them)
18°C celsius is a tad too cold but I'm unsure wether it could live fine or it would eventually die

 

[fizzyelephant]

aha, I‘ll look at the other threads about heating and do some more research on how to use them, thank you!

 

[Introvertebrate]

I'm an American, so 18 degrees Celsius means nothing to me. But 65 degrees Fahrenheit is about as low as you'd want to go. Most folks on message boards are anti-supplemental heat, but as long as you follow the heat pad's instructions, you should be okay. I suspect that the vast majority of people who have had problems with heat pads did something wrong.

 

[fizzyelephant]

interesting, is there a reason why most people are against it? I’ll definitely make sure I know what I’m doing before I set one up. Or, would a heat lamp be better? Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Introvertebrate]

interesting, is there a reason why most people are against it? I’ll definitely make sure I know what I’m doing before I set one up. Or, would a heat lamp be better? Thank you very much for your help!

There is anecdotal evidence of animals getting burned. People tend to err on the side of caution. I looked up the range of Phidippus Regius in the U.S., and apparently you can find them as far north as West Virginia, where it can get well below 0 degrees Celsius in the winter. Granted, they would try to escape those conditions, but I think you should be okay without additional heat.

 

[fizzyelephant]

Oh great, thank you! If the spider gets less active and sluggish, I’ll look into heating, but that’s good it should be fine. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Nicole C G]

There is anecdotal evidence of animals getting burned. People tend to err on the side of caution. I looked up the range of Phidippus Regius in the U.S., and apparently you can find them as far north as West Virginia, where it can get well below 0 degrees Celsius in the winter. Granted, they would try to escape those conditions, but I think you should be okay without additional heat.

Phidippus regius is native to Florida and immediate neighboring states. Your chart extends crazy far, I looked up that chart and the site I found it on misidentified Phidippus otiosus and said it was P.regius. In fact that chart greatly resembles Phidippus otiosus’ range. Also, what temperature a place gets during winter is not the same thing as what temperature an enclosure could be. In an enclosure, 0°C, it would probably die. In the outdoors, they are underneath bark or roots to keep warm.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

interesting, is there a reason why most people are against it? I’ll definitely make sure I know what I’m doing before I set one up. Or, would a heat lamp be better? Thank you very much for your help!

Mostly because sometimes people use them incorrectly, which can harm your animal. This is generally more of an issue for burrowing animals - they instinctively burrow to escape heat, so if you put your heat pad on the bottom of the tank, which many newbies do, they burrow to escape heat but end up closer to it, which leaks them burrow deeper, which makes them even hotter…you see where this is going.

A heat pad applied to an area that the animal can’t readily come into direct contact with, that isn’t placed in a foolish spot that runs counter to the animal’s instincts, and that has a temperature control device is perfectly safe.

 

[Introvertebrate]

...............they instinctively burrow to escape heat................

Yet another internet urban legend? I can regurgitate old posts.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Yet another internet urban legend? I can regurgitate old posts.

Perhaps instead of just insulting people you can educate them. I’m open to learning.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Perhaps instead of just insulting people you can educate them. I’m open to learning.

I'm more than happy to educate those that deserve educating.

 

[fizzyelephant]

Mostly because sometimes people use them incorrectly, which can harm your animal. This is generally more of an issue for burrowing animals - they instinctively burrow to escape heat, so if you put your heat pad on the bottom of the tank, which many newbies do, they burrow to escape heat but end up closer to it, which leaks them burrow deeper, which makes them even hotter…you see where this is going.

A heat pad applied to an area that the animal can’t readily come into direct contact with, that isn’t placed in a foolish spot that runs counter to the animal’s instincts, and that has a temperature control device is perfectly safe.

oh okay, that makes sense. So if i need one, a heat pad on the side of the enclosure would be safe? Hopefully it won’t be necessary but I will try to be completely prepared in case. Thank you for your help!

 

[Introvertebrate]

oh okay, that makes sense. So if i need one, a heat pad on the side of the enclosure would be safe? Hopefully it won’t be necessary but I will try to be completely prepared in case. Thank you for your help!

This is stated in the Zoo Med heat mat instructions:

Side Mounting: If your terrarium is located on any
type of antique stand or dresser or if there is fabric
(i.e; tablecloth, etc...) underneath your terrarium
then side mounting of the ReptiTherm® Heater
is preferred. To side mount, simply remove adhesive
paper from the back of the ReptiTherm® Heater and
“stick” to the lower right or left side of your terrarium

 

[wizentrop]

I'm more than happy to educate those that deserve educating.

I'm sorry @Introvertebrate , you have something to say? Do I qualify for your education?

In the meantime, I stand by what @Nicole C G said, she knows what she's talking about. But don't take it from me, please head over to the World's Database of jumping spiders by Dr. Heiko Metzner (I hope that's good enough of a reference for you, yes?), and see that P. regius is centered around Florida in the US.
http://www.jumping-spiders.com/php/tax_distribution.php?id=3594
It extends to MS and LA in the west, and GA, SC and NC, but that's as far north as it goes. Anything outside those lines would be considered sporadic. In the future, as the climate gets warmer, it is expected to see them migrating north leading to more observations in those areas.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I'll take your word for it on the range. I got that off of the first website that came up. If they were this far north, I'd be outside looking for them.

Phidippus Regius - Regal Jumping Spider - USA Spiders

Phidippus regius, the regal jumping spider, is one of the largest species of the jumping spiders of the Phidippus genera. It occurs mostly in the Southeastern United States as well as the Caribbean and the Easter Islands. The largest share of its population can be found in the state of Florida...

usaspiders.com

 

[wizentrop]

You and me both, buddy. But unfortunately, most of them are in the south, in FL and Cuba. Here's the best map I could find that depicts P. regius distribution:
http://www.salticidae.pl/salticidae.php?adres=img.php?id=25889&s_id=7732

Yes, there are records from VA but again they are sporadic at this point.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I suspect that the vast majority that we purchase here in the States (and Canada) have been field collected down in Florida. That's not a judgement by the way, just an observation.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I'm going to circle back to this topic because I had a conversation with my friend Gil (who for some reason thinks I'm actually worth educating) and got a more nuanced view of this. I'm going to share what I learned because I think you're worth educating too, and you might find this useful.

Mostly because sometimes people use them incorrectly, which can harm your animal. This is generally more of an issue for burrowing animals - they instinctively burrow to escape heat, so if you put your heat pad on the bottom of the tank, which many newbies do, they burrow to escape heat but end up closer to it, which leaks them burrow deeper, which makes them even hotter…you see where this is going.

So it's not so much that burrowing animals keep burrowing down. They do burrow to cool off, but it's more complex than this. If you put a heat mat on the bottom of an enclosure that has substrate, all the substrate warms up, which increases evaporation and doesn't give the animal a cool place to escape. You're not giving the animal options. If you place the mat on the side instead, you create a temperature gradient. The side with the heat mat has warmer substrate and warmer air, and the side without has cooler substrate and cooler air. The animal gets to choose where it's most comfortable at any given time. The burrowing part of this is of course not going to be relevant to jumping spiders, but it's interesting general information.

The reason the manufacturers give is more about avoiding damage to the surface you're putting the enclosure on rather than being about the animal's needs.

 

[Icey51115]

oh okay, that makes sense. So if i need one, a heat pad on the side of the enclosure would be safe? Hopefully it won’t be necessary but I will try to be completely prepared in case. Thank you for your help!

Check this link!

The proper use of heat mats

Mods could you please make this a sticky as there's so much misinformation about heat mats? So heat mats are perfectly safe to use IF they're used properly. They're like a mini space heater when used properly. 1) Heat mats MUST be plugged into a thermostat. That's a thermostat NOT a...

arachnoboards.com

I use a heat mat for my P. Regius and she does fine, she actually likes to hang out on the side where the mat is. It can get cold where I live so the heat mat really helps.

Most important thing is:
Heat mat directly against the glass on the OUTSIDE.
You MUST use a thermostat.
The thermostat's temperature sensor must be DIRECTLY against the glass on the INSIDE. This will make sure the glass never gets hotter than what you set the thermostat to. I never set my thermostat above like, 74 degrees F (that's 23 degrees C).

I also have mine set up to velcro on and off so it doesn't have to block the view in the summer time when its warm and she doesn't need the mat.

Good luck!