Maintain Heat and humidity with lamp for several species

Gabrgrl

Arachnopeon
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Jan 24, 2017
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21
Wow! THIS is the page she referenced? Even skimming, it was agonizing to read! Love how it's about A. avicularia. And yet, they state the scientific name as Avicularia versicolor. So...... which tarantula are they writing about in this article?

Don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't keep avics in groups. Despite what the article states. Mine will tackle prey nearly their own size. Could easily make a meal out of housemates.
First off i have said repeatedly that EVERY website i have been to says high humidity, high temps. Secondly, i never said i was keeping multiple Ts together.
 

Gabrgrl

Arachnopeon
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Jan 24, 2017
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Tarantulas are similar to other arachnids/insects in that they are attracted to heat. Too much heat on their bodies can cause dehydration which is why lamps and pads are never recommended for invertebrates.

I have 2 a avics and they are quite happy with an overflowing water dish to stick their dirty little arboreal pads into. I remember reading that in the wild many of these species are used to wet conditions for sure but also a heavy breeze always dries them out quickly - which is why everyone is telling you to ventilate heavily. My 2 cents.

CBBs i have no experience with but know from just light reading that room temp and a damp substrate are perfect for them, its why they are still considered a beginner species.
Ive been told/read they arent a beginner at all (of course this was after we bought it) because they are so agressive)
 

Gabrgrl

Arachnopeon
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Jan 24, 2017
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Please listen to these folks!! Caresheets are junk! This forum is by far the absolute best resource for all of your tarantula questions. Any species you can possibly get your hands on, you will find people on here who have kept and bred them for decades! Trust everyone on here!
This forum is best, but i sure am getting completely opposite advice on here....
 

cold blood

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Not the kind i have. Im asking about my two species that are from tropical regions- that are humid. Not all spiders need the same kind of care. Sure desert spiders live just fine here, but when there only 10% humidity in the air and 30 when its raining, i assume with a tropical spider i should probably mist. Also you say i should remove the heat pad, if thats true then why are all ocf my Ts-all 4-always huddled up to it?
It was a joke my friend.

But it also illustrated the ridiculousness of care sheets.

No where on the planet aside from caves, does the humidity NOT fluctuate wildly. Your ts do not have the dependence on humidity that you were led to believe.

I have an entire roomful of species from all over the planet...yet I have never once worried or measured humidity numbers...not for any species. I literally NEVER mist ts.

Literally everything you learned prior to coming here was either wrong, or severely flawed...forget it all and start over.
 

cold blood

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Ts are attracted to heat like moths to a flame...and just the same, a moth requires no fire to live.
 

cold blood

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First off i have said repeatedly that EVERY website i have been to says high humidity, high temps. Secondly, i never said i was keeping multiple Ts together.
And every website, as usual, is total crap. Which is why we encourage people to come here and not go looking elsewhere.
 

Jeff23

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
620
First off i have said repeatedly that EVERY website i have been to says high humidity, high temps. Secondly, i never said i was keeping multiple Ts together.
These care sheets on other websites should be completely ignored. Keeping your Avic (pink toe) in a range 70-80 degrees F is great. Otherwise, just provide water dishes that ALWAYS contain water. Some ventilation should be provided for air movement.

I sometimes will place a little moisture on one side of the enclosure wall or put a water bubble near the Avic but if you insert additional moisture it is critical to not over do it and have proper ventilation. I never try to maintain any particular humidity level. Doing this will not only be impossible, but will guarantee death of your T since a standard plastic enclosure can't emulate Brazil.

Things can be a little drier and your Avic will be fine. Things can be more humid and your Avic WON'T be fine.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
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Jan 15, 2017
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Why don't we take a few steps back and assess the reasons why you came to this forum for advice. Because at the end of the day, you can walk away from your keyboard and do as you wish, ignoring all of this advice. Really, you are not obligated by any means to do what we're all telling you here. This site is simply another source of information, and it's your decision to take it or leave it. All I can say is that the opinions you're seeing on this thread are coming from people who genuinely love spiders, and have cared for them for MANY years. I would not be surprised if some of these folks have been keeping Ts longer than you and I have been alive. So when people are telling you to trash that heat pad and ease up on the humidity, there's likely a good reason for it. But no one is going to your house to make sure you do it. Our only motivation is that we care about your spiders and we want you to provide the best environment for them. There's simply no reason for any of us to feed you wrong information.

Now, you seem to feel that websites are somehow more legit based on your responses to everyone here. If that is the case, then just do that. The choice is entirely yours to decide who to listen to. But I will leave you with this thought: You are getting advice from multiple people here..... real T owners, real breeders, etc. Each online caresheet only has ONE author, expressing just ONE person's opinions. Not only that, but there's no verification of how authentic that author even is with Ts. For all you know, the author could've Googled all that info 5 minutes before typing out that caresheet. So ALL THESE SOURCES you keep referring back to are only coming from a few brains, and are certainly not backed by any sort of peer review process or much of ANYTHING. So, this trust you have in these websites is all an illusion.
 

cold blood

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Gabrgrl

Arachnopeon
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Jan 24, 2017
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So if im supposed to ditch the pads and heat lamp how am i supposed to keep the temps up?
 

Gabrgrl

Arachnopeon
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Jan 24, 2017
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Why don't we take a few steps back and assess the reasons why you came to this forum for advice. Because at the end of the day, you can walk away from your keyboard and do as you wish, ignoring all of this advice. Really, you are not obligated by any means to do what we're all telling you here. This site is simply another source of information, and it's your decision to take it or leave it. All I can say is that the opinions you're seeing on this thread are coming from people who genuinely love spiders, and have cared for them for MANY years. I would not be surprised if some of these folks have been keeping Ts longer than you and I have been alive. So when people are telling you to trash that heat pad and ease up on the humidity, there's likely a good reason for it. But no one is going to your house to make sure you do it. Our only motivation is that we care about your spiders and we want you to provide the best environment for them. There's simply no reason for any of us to feed you wrong information.

Now, you seem to feel that websites are somehow more legit based on your responses to everyone here. If that is the case, then just do that. The choice is entirely yours to decide who to listen to. But I will leave you with this thought: You are getting advice from multiple people here..... real T owners, real breeders, etc. Each online caresheet only has ONE author, expressing just ONE person's opinions. Not only that, but there's no verification of how authentic that author even is with Ts. For all you know, the author could've Googled all that info 5 minutes before typing out that caresheet. So ALL THESE SOURCES you keep referring back to are only coming from a few brains, and are certainly not backed by any sort of peer review process or much of ANYTHING. So, this trust you have in these websites is all an illusion.
And half the people on here say one thing and the other half say another....
 

BobBarley

Arachnoprince
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Sep 16, 2015
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1,486
So if im supposed to ditch the pads and heat lamp how am i supposed to keep the temps up?
As long as the temps are between 67-85ish you're fine. If you need additional heat, look into heat baths or microclimates.
 

Andrea82

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Jan 12, 2016
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@Gabrgrl
It sucks to think you have everything right, and then come here and discover the advice you read was all wrong. Unfortunately, we don't have the power to take all that trash offline, because that is mainly what those caresheets are, trash, especially concerning humidity.
But you're here now, so that's good, and your Avic is not sick or dying, that's a plus as well.
Link below contains pretty much everything you need to know about Avicularia husbandry. Read and apply, and your Avic will do fine :).
Re: heat
Since you're in the US, I'd get a small space heater to bump up the temperature a bit, constant 65°F is a bit low but okay for nighttime.
If you have questions after reading below posted link, fire away.
Welcome to the boards :) don't let the straightfowardness discourage you from posting. People are passionate about their Theraphosidae, and there have been a lot of posts concerning sick and or dying Avics due to those damn caresheets, so things can get heated when those caresheets seem to have created another victim.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399
 

Jeff23

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
620
And half the people on here say one thing and the other half say another....
I hope you are able to find a solution that makes you and your T happy. Please don't feel like we are being pushy. This isn't a "my way or the highway" discussion. Everyone here wants you to succeed regardless of what advice you choose to use.

There will be variations presented in this forum on what each of us use as our methodology. I am still a little new to this, but several of the individuals who have posted in this thread have raised numerous Avic's over the years. My posts in this thread have been more about what I do than actual rules.

The biggest problem with care sheets is that a huge majority of them are by individuals who just want to make a website. They simply gather up large amounts of information (quite often from other websites) and propagate a lot of misinformation. But they also fail beyond just representing wrong information. They also fail to note that the tarantula properties such as tarantula size, environment temperature, substrate moisture, personality of the tarantula (DNA), type of enclosure, etc. work in conjunction with each other. Some properties that you control may have bigger constraints depending on another property. You can get some of the rules partially wrong on quite a few species and the tarantula will survive though it may be unhappy and searching for a way to escape the problem. But some tarantulas like the Avic especially, are more strict on some of these choices. So that is where a forum where you have ACTUAL individuals who own numerous tarantula's become a much better influence for you. Just search for all of the Avic death and near death threads to confirm the need to get them right.

As far as heat pads are concerned, there are some individuals in this forum who use them. They are more popular in Europe than the US due to costs of using space heater power there. You must remember that a heat pad will require constant monitoring by you. It is a cheap $15-$25 device and it will eventually succumb to some type of failure. Otherwise you are also human. A device of this sort will test you in remembering to monitor conditions for your T's. Even if you continue to use it on the short haul, I would recommend that you put it in your priority list of items to replace with a better solution.

NOTE: By using the word "happy" in my post, I mean a tarantula that is comfortable in its environment. Tarantulas have more of a digital result personality than analog one.
 
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