kerosene heaters and T's

[kosh]

anyone here occassionally use a kerosene heater for supplemental heat?
i do sometimes (supplemental to the house not the T's) and i was just curious if the fumes would harm the T's....somehow i doubt that it would harm the T's but i thought i would just check to be sure........i use a carbon monoxide detector when burning the heater to protect the family...dont know if carbon monoxide harms insects/arachnids or not......
there are probably still several months before i have to or need to use the heater...just being prepared for when/if i do....:?

 

[chaset]

I recently installed heat lamps,

Unfortunetly, my house is not exactly the kinda tropical place that
would be comfortable for exotic fauna, so i recently installed a couple infared heat lamps 100watt, and its doing an awesome job, My T's seem increadibly happy and active, and it seems to make the crickets chirp like mad though.

In case your wondering i keep my T's
in the Closet above my dresser, I had heating pads before but my tanks kept cracking and i was getting tired of replaceing them,


I recomend that over a Kerosene heater, because Kerosene heaters
in general are not subtle about blasting heat out. I would be afraid about cooking my T's.

 

[ArachnoJoost]

Originally posted by kosh
dont know if carbon monoxide harms insects/arachnids or not......

In humans carbon monoxide attaches to the red bloodcells, making them useless for oxygen transport, so if there's too much of it you 'suffocate' by lack of oxygen. Since insects/arachnids don't have red bloodcells that wouldn't be a danger. Don't know if it has any other effects on them, could be.
greetz,
Joost

 

[Wade]

I don't know it helps, but I have a friend who uses a kerosene heater in his house for his reptiles with no problems. He also keeps crickets.

Wade

 

[Code Monkey]

Re: Re: kerosene heaters and T's

Originally posted by ArachnoJoost
In humans carbon monoxide attaches to the red bloodcells, making them useless for oxygen transport, so if there's too much of it you 'suffocate' by lack of oxygen. Since insects/arachnids don't have red bloodcells that wouldn't be a danger. Don't know if it has any other effects on them, could be.
greetz,
Joost

It isn't the bloodcells themselves at all, but rather the hemoglobin molecule. Tarantulas, like most invertebrates, use hemocyanin as their oxygen transport.

The issue with hemoglobin and carbon monoxide is that there is a very fine balance between the affinity of oxygen and carbon dioxide that allows for one to bind/unbind in the right situations. Carbon monoxide has a higher affinity to hemoglobin and once bound doesn't come off at the right times and you eventually suffocate.

However, because hemocyanin uses copper as its binding molecule versus iron, carbon monoxide does not bind to it. So you were right, just not for the right reasons

 

[kosh]

not going to use the kerosene heater to heat the spiders......just as the occasional supplemental heat source for the HUMANS in the house.....and yeah those things do blast out the heat...thats why i only use it sometimes......i think the one i got is like 20000BTU....
i was just concerned with the fumes it puts out.....i dont smell them when im in the house all the time but if i go out and come back i can smell it when i first walk in....
ive only had the carbon monoxide detector go off once (several years ago) in the 6+ years i have been using the heater......and i replaced the wick and gave it a tune-up last year so it should be burning more efficiently now....

 

[MrT]

C M,

Where do you learn all these bits of info. your always coming up with. Your too much bro.

EWT

 

[Code Monkey]

I retain "useless" bits of knowledge like an old, moldy sponge retains bacteria and water. I can't remember the name of some guy I met yesterday - but I can pull trivial facts out of my ass at the drop of a hat. My wife's friends often call me "Cliffy" after Cheers

I'm also a biologist switching careers to CS which didn't hurt in this case. I knew the bits about hemoglobin and CO, and hemoglobin versus hemocyanin, but didn't know whether hemocyanin bound to CO, so I looked that bit of it up.