New planted enclosure - high humidity+temp - help decide on the T

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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Nov 27, 2010
Messages
140
So my planted 3-way split is coming alone nicely, with the only problem being controlling the temperatures in the tank. I have cats in the house and im forced to leave all my Ts in the study, which gets rather warm at times. Im using 100watt fluorescents as the light source.

Here's the picture of the overall:






I'll be filling in the middle slot first





currently the temperature in there is 80 (ground) - 84 (air), but when this room gets too stuffy it goes up to like 88 (air temperature anyway, floor level stays at about 85). Im looking to invest into some way to cool this room but as of now.. who would be a better candidate to go in there?

A geniculata (7inch) or a T stirmi (5-6inch), which one prefers/tolerates higher temps? Or is it just a horrible idea right now to put anyone in there?
(maybe i can do something like.. leave lights on during the night instead of day since they don't really care about the cycle?)

The hide is rather small and its the only thing i got right now, i know the genic really doesnt care about going into it but the stirmi does. It can fit in there no problem but its fairly tight and i dont want him to molt inside etc.

ok sorry for the long post, and thanks for the feedback!
 

Rue

Arachnoknight
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Feb 24, 2011
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I have no idea...but did want to mention that it looks really nice.
 

Den

Arachnosquire
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Dec 21, 2010
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---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 PM ----------

I have no idea...but did want to mention that it looks really nice.
Indeed, very beautiful! :clap:
 
Last edited:

sjl197

Arachnoknight
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Feb 3, 2008
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Its not clear if you mean the room goes upto 88 without any additional lights on the tanks. If so, why are you adding lights/heat?

And why not use heat mats instead ? / during the night.
The spiders are really going to hate having lights on them, especially through the night. how would you like it? They need dark and lower temp at night. Leaving the lights on at night is an awful idea.

If its too hot, then why no (a) put lower watt bulbs in, or (b) move the lights
further from the cages, (c) remove/partly remove the reflectors.

Theraphosa dont mind high temps, but you will have to keep the humidty high for them too. Hot and dry is going to be an awful combination for Theraphosa, especially at moult time. Also A.geniculata prefer high humidity. Both species come from dense forest areas, so are not going to lke bright light, especially when tied to low humidity. And yes, A.geniculata should burrow - if yours doesnt at the moment, it suggests its hide is not suitable for some reason.

If you want light to see the species, then surely you can use low wattage and angle the lights towards the back of the enclosure. Yes you would have to think about cooling though.
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
140
Its not clear if you mean the room goes upto 88 without any additional lights on the tanks. If so, why are you adding lights/heat?

And why not use heat mats instead ? / during the night.
The spiders are really going to hate having lights on them, especially through the night. how would you like it? They need dark and lower temp at night. Leaving the lights on at night is an awful idea.

If its too hot, then why no (a) put lower watt bulbs in, or (b) move the lights
further from the cages, (c) remove/partly remove the reflectors.

Theraphosa dont mind high temps, but you will have to keep the humidty high for them too. Hot and dry is going to be an awful combination for Theraphosa, especially at moult time. Also A.geniculata prefer high humidity. Both species come from dense forest areas, so are not going to lke bright light, especially when tied to low humidity. And yes, A.geniculata should burrow - if yours doesnt at the moment, it suggests its hide is not suitable for some reason.

If you want light to see the species, then surely you can use low wattage and angle the lights towards the back of the enclosure. Yes you would have to think about cooling though.
The air inside of inclosure goes up to 88, and thats closer to the top, ground level stays at 85. The lights i use are fluorescents, they give off minimum heat and work well enough as a supply for the low light requiring live plants in the enclosure. I know Ts generally dont like the light, but im borrowing this idea from a very experienced T keeper/breeder who has multiple planted tanks with fluorescents on them, his room just doesnt get as hot as mine and hence the overall temps stay lower and far more acceptable.

Humidity is kept high for the plants and the Ts... and i do know how to take care of my spiders in terms of that stuff, just sayin. My genic has never used a hide.. and has not burrowed, i have tons of burrowing space in both this and previous enclosures. She's huge and mean and content in just sitting on damp ground waiting for the next dubia to enter.

From doing some research im getting quite the opposite results, theraphosa actually like more moderate (avg 75) temps with cooler hides (70).. read this from someone's field report and other sources. On the other hand, genic lives in 80ish+ sort of temperature. Again this is from some limited research i did and general consensus from caresheets.

I'm going to think of a way to cool my room first before putting her in, right now its 81 in that room with outside temp being 65-7.. i dont get it. It's a small stuffy study with large windows, i have blinds covering it all but i guess the windows are still absorbing and transferring the heat from the sunlight on it. Maybe i'll try putting a box fan in there and trying some things.
 

curiousme

Arachnoprince
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if it gets that hot in the air temp then you should keep the lights off for 3 reasons:
1: Most T's are fine a room temp, 70ish in my room.
2: T's HATE light.
3: If it's 85 deg without the account of the light, then your T may be fried!
1. Correct, unless you are dealing with a species with more specific care guidelines. Theraphosa come to mind.

2. Not all Ts HATE light. Some Ts will actually bask in the light, so please do not spread misinformation. There are species that are photo sensitive, but saying that Ts HATE light is incorrect.

3. I am unsure where you are getting your care instructions, as this is not correct either.
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
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Any sp that lives in the dense rainforest will not enjoy that light.
In the wild they barely get light during the day because of the dense jungle canopy,and the sun comes down really fast. (At 5-6pm is dark night)

Theraphosa will, in general, preffer higher temps (low 80's ) but as he said, you need to make sure you provide high humidity and a deep and dark burrow.

If you "must" keep those lights...I wouldnt put Theraphosa there.
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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Messages
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Any sp that lives in the dense rainforest will not enjoy that light.
In the wild they barely get light during the day because of the dense jungle canopy,and the sun comes down really fast. (At 5-6pm is dark night)

Theraphosa will, in general, preffer higher temps (low 80's ) but as he said, you need to make sure you provide high humidity and a deep and dark burrow.

If you "must" keep those lights...I wouldnt put Theraphosa there.

yea fran, i mean my stirmi is in 100% hide mode during the day in a dark corner, but is always out at night.. so i think it could work out if she had a huge hide, which she does, but regardless im gonna put her in the enclosure to the right of the middle one, one with no light at all, and put a large log as a hide there.. should be good for couple of molts.

i just put the genic in the middle, so far so good, i bought this genic from an experienced keeper who had her in a planted setup with lights on during the day.. she had a hide and would just bask instead anyway, i really don't think its such a huge issue with this particular specimen even though i understand what youre saying.

Do you have in mind any high humidity larger size Ts that will tolerate the partition to the left? I have a p nigricolor that's coming in a month or so i can probably put there. Appreciate all feedback and criticism, i definitely don't want to stress out any of my Ts but i really do like this tank as a display tank.
 

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
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How hot is it inside of the hide? Depending on the materials It is made of it could heat up hotter than the rest of the enclosure. This could be why he is not using the hide.

In any case, I would sugest using a bulb with lower wattage. If your room is small, those lights will be more than enough to heat it. I keep my Ts in my closit. My overhead light blew out so now I am temporarly using a dome lamp with a 150 watt bulb. It has brought the temp up about 7 degrees.

But it does look great
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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Nov 27, 2010
Messages
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How hot is it inside of the hide? Depending on the materials It is made of it could heat up hotter than the rest of the enclosure. This could be why he is not using the hide.

In any case, I would sugest using a bulb with lower wattage. If your room is small, those lights will be more than enough to heat it. I keep my Ts in my closit. My overhead light blew out so now I am temporarly using a dome lamp with a 150 watt bulb. It has brought the temp up about 7 degrees.

But it does look great
its cork bark, keep in mind the light heats things up MARGINALLY, its a 120W fluorescent that is also a diffiusing light, i can look at it no problem and i really don't think Ts are bothered that much to be honest. Geniculatas of this generally don't use hides as i understand, i housed her in a closet for months and she has never, ever, ever used her hide.

here's an update:

 

Spiderman24

Arachnoknight
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Nov 19, 2010
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I know this won't answer your question but I saw someone telling you t's hate light and thats so incorrect. My subfuscas and a few other pokies like my Miranda will sit out all morning ontop of there hides basking in the light then once about 1 pm hits they are up and moving around there enclosures I assume preparing to.hunt and what not then at about 5-6pm they are in there hides. Then once the lights go.out its game on.

---------- Post added 03-20-2011 at 12:01 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-19-2011 at 11:59 PM ----------

Paul Becker is actually the one who told me that's what my subfuscas are doing. They are collecting heat for the day
 

Motorkar

Arachnobaron
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You don/t need lights to heat the enclosures, especially not with neon or flourescent, the spiders hate them. If you need to heat, I would suggest a 25 Watt heating cable and you mount it on the back back wall and you put a thin copper plate infront of it so that cable doesen't have direct contact with the enclosure. Thats what I did and my t's normally are near it/on it when they want and they move away from it if it's too hot for them.
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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Messages
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You don/t need lights to heat the enclosures, especially not with neon or flourescent, the spiders hate them. If you need to heat, I would suggest a 25 Watt heating cable and you mount it on the back back wall and you put a thin copper plate infront of it so that cable doesen't have direct contact with the enclosure. Thats what I did and my t's normally are near it/on it when they want and they move away from it if it's too hot for them.
its for the plants, i think i've misguided this post, the lights only give the enclosure an extra 2-3 degrees to ambient room temp, which is barely anything, i need to get a handle on my room temp however
 

Motorkar

Arachnobaron
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Oh I see. All plants that I use are in need of very low or no light at all. Tillantias, Bromelliads, orchids, pothos, these plants are your best friends. :)
 

sjl197

Arachnoknight
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Another suggestion is to find out where the species naturally is found, not difficult information to find for either A.geniculata or T.blondi. It is common for care sheets to contain completely wrong info on species preferences.

For A.geniculata, see here
http://www.climatetemp.info/brazil/santarem.html
and so air temps upto 33oC = 91oF are tolerated by this species, but I would keep temps in the mid to low 80s.
and advice
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=7179&page=2

BUT/ just bear in mind the day temps are always higher than night temps, and the temps deep inside a shady burrow are again going to be lower during the day (but soil often retains heat at night, so burrows can be warmer than night air temps).

And i agree that several species will bask in the sunlight if cold. Its a behavioral approach to warm up. I wasnt saying turn off the lights completely, as you say they dont affect the heat much, just make sure the spiders have somewhere to shelter away from the light, and turn the lights off at night.
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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Nov 27, 2010
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thank you sjl, very very informative! and yep thats what im doin, i mean atm temp doesnt go above 78 in there, she seems happy!
 

jgod790

Arachnoknight
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Mar 28, 2011
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I would of put a Theraphosa species in a tank that hot. As long as the humidity is high enough as well. You have an AWESOME enclosure there.
 

Unravel

Arachnosquire
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haha thank you, yea the stirmi is in there, but in the one without the light. Genic webs up the whole thing every night, getting annoying lol, but i still like the whole planted terrarium thing.
 

jgod790

Arachnoknight
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So I’ve herd controversy regarding constant light, on a tarantula enclosure, but I have also herd heat pads are not ideal. From personal experience, I agree heat pads are no good, either they do not provide enough heat, and simply only heat a very small portion of the enclosure, or they literally cook your tarantula alive. What is your opinion on the matter? I use a light for my H. lividum, but I have a 12 hour day/night cycle. At 9pm I put in a red bulb, and the day time bulb at 9am. So unless you have a really nice space heater, that keeps your room at 75-85 degrees, how are you supposed to heat your enclosures if light, and pads are not good for tarantulas?
 
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