New keeper getting conflicting advice

[Brigsy]

Hi all, thanks for reading. I got my first Phid Regis last week. He seems to have gone straight into a week long moult on arrival. I have asked the people I got the spider from for advice, as I wasn’t entirely sure it was moulting at first. I was advised to add some lighting and maybe a heat pad. (UK getting colder now). So I contact the supplier of my enclosure asking to recommend a heat pad for this model, and they said I could kill my spider using a heat pad. So.....what does one do? Obviously I don’t want to kill it. I’ve seen posts on here suggesting using a pad on the back of the enclosure with a piece of insulation or poly between. Temps are going to be getting down to 16c indoors overnight within the next month or two.
Thanks again..

 

[Malum Argenteum]

FWIW, "use a heat pad" and "you can kill your T with a heat pad" aren't conflicting.

I know what you mean, of course, but realizing why these two claims can be true simultaneously is important for good spider keeping.

I'll leave the details of the answer for other folks; I don't know, as I just heat my house (big difference in US and Europe in these matters).

 

[Brigsy]

Ha, I also heat my house, along with the rest of the UK. But not at night, I leave the thermostat on 16c lol
I had thought about putting the heat mat on the side and like my house, a thermostat!

 

[Nicole C G]

Unknowledgeable use of a heating pad is what’s dangerous. You gotta know how to use it. I’ve never used one, as I live in Texas and it gets nowhere near cold enough inside to hurt a Jumping spider. So unfortunately I can’t advise you on it. But if your question is “is it inherently wrong to use a heat pad” the answer is no.
Also, 60°F (16°C) isn’t too big of a deal for most jumpers. Unfortunately all I can do is advise you to do research on the best temperatures for your species. Maybe someone else here has more information.

 

[Postmalone35]

That night time temperature is fine. My temps often get a lot lower than that.

 

[Brigsy]

Thanks for the replies. The info that I’ve found on jumping spider sites says they should be kept 21-25 or 28-32 depending on what site you read. You are saying the area of 16 is ok? I’m so confused.

 

[Nicole C G]

Thanks for the replies. The info that I’ve found on jumping spider sites says they should be kept 21-25 or 28-32 depending on what site you read. You are saying the area of 16 is ok? I’m so confused.

They are referencing the optimal temperatures for activity (to them, anyways. I don’t think anyone really knows.). During the night time, they are inactive so it doesn’t matter as much. I personally keep mine at 73°F most of the time, because that’s my room temperature. And 68°F at night. And my jumper is very active. If you see it’s being sluggish, maybe it would prefer to be a little warmer and you can add some additional heating. But really, don’t worry about it unless it gets extremely cold.

 

[Brigsy]

Thank you.