Tarantulas and light for plants

[Renatozzo]

Hi everyone, i was wandering if someone ever had problem with lights for plants on tarantulas enclosure. I haven't found much on the internet and even if I don't think it would be a problem I want to be sure before doing something bad. Only thing I found is that tarantulas can't see red light so setting the LEDs to that color spectrum shouldn't bother him at all. Also it's a mature male enclosure so he is usually wandering around and never go in the hide, could this cause problems?

 

[emartinm28]

I’m not entirely sure how much the light will disturb the T, but unfortunately red light alone will not be enough to sustain the plants long term. It’s difficult to say precisely how long it’ll take for the plants to stagnate and die but eventually it will happen. If the T has adequate cover you may be able to get away with using a full spectrum light but hopefully someone with more experience can chime in

 

[Renatozzo]

I’m not entirely sure how much the light will disturb the T, but unfortunately red light alone will not be enough to sustain the plants long term. It’s difficult to say precisely how long it’ll take for the plants to stagnate and die but eventually it will happen. If the T has adequate cover you may be able to get away with using a full spectrum light but hopefully someone with more experience can chime in

I was also thinking that red light alone would not be enough but the plants also get some indirect sunlight in the morning, the lights would just be a little help

 

[viper69]

Red lights grow plants? News to me if true.

Considering MM travel out in broad daylight during mating season, and females often have sunlight going into their burrow- non-issue IMO.

IME, I keep Ts in broad daylight, non-issue, but that is not as intense as sunlight nor a grow light I suspect. Provide the T with a hide etc, and observe. They are nocturnal after all.

 

[quirinus]

red and blue light grows plants
there are LED strips with 2/3 red and 1/3 blue lights for plant growth with adjustable strength (dimmer)
they work fine for my enclosures with plants, they grow well.

 

[Frogdaddy]

Many aquarium light manufacturers are incorporating 660nm red LED's as well as blue LED's into their fixtures for plant growth. Red light alone will eventually kill the plants. But why go through the expense of a specialized light fixture
Ambient indirect sunlight is probably sufficient for a lot of plants we would grow in a T enclosure, ie. Pothos.
If it were me, I would probably use just regular white LED lights for a few hours per day. As long aa the T's have a hide or burrow where they can escape the bright light if they wish. I wouldn't keep the lights on late at night. I prefer to keep day/night cycles fairly natural. I don't want to disturb the spiders natural circadian rhythm.

 

[Arachnoenthusiast]

If the room has windows, simply let the day light in and the plant and the t will both enjoy a normal light cycle

 

[Smotzer]

What kind of plants? light is not just one size fits all, spectrum, intensity/lumens, quality of light are all different.

 

[14pokies]

Ain’t gonna hurt it.. broad spectrum led or just plain white light.. Just watch the par with leds if the ones you are planning on are used for growing trees.. I hate being in the tents with high intensity leds and I’m sure Ts wouldn’t like it either.. Think Soft white/white blue and your golden.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
you don't need long photoperiod for growing plants.4-6 hours a day supplementary light will be enough to sustain and produce some growth if your light source meets the individual plant species light compensation point (the minimum amount of light that is needed for photosynthesis to occur) and PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) requirements.Longer photoperiod and higher intensity will mean faster growth tho.
Its just trial and error to try different plants to see which ones will be suitable for your conditions.Also there is no need to light the whole enclosure too you can use LED spot lights with narrow output angle to focus light where you need it
Regards Konstantin

 

[Renatozzo]

First of all thanks everyone for the advice, my biggest concern was only about the t's having problems with the lights. As some of you suggested I mostly use potos in my terrarium and i should have said that it's a Grammostola rosea enclosure so a potos Is going to die for sure, so I went for some succulents . Now I'll just trial and error until I find the right setup for the light.
Thanks everyone for the help

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

You can use plastic plants.There are some really realistic looking ones.
Succulent plants often require high light
Regards Konstantin

 

[Renatozzo]

You can use plastic plants.There are some really realistic looking ones.
Succulent plants often require high light
Regards Konstantin

You're probably right and i should just use plastic plants, I just really dislike them and generally use them only for sling. Also the plants I'm using comes from one that was getting too big for its pot so it's not really a problem if they just die,my biggest concern was about the tarantula. I'll just see how it goes.

 

[l4nsky]

As long as they have a hide, it's not an issue. Make sure you use a LED bulb to prevent any unwanted heating in the enclosure. I have used traditional bulbs in the past for bioactive enclosures, but I made stands out of egg crate lighting diffuser panels to elevate them 6-8" above the top of the enclosure and I monitored the inside temp for a few weeks to make sure it stayed in an acceptable range.

 

[Matts inverts]

If your concerned, use a less powerful led light and get pothos, it’s easy to grow and does not need a lot of light

 

[Renatozzo]

Little update: I've got the lights, 3 led tubes that i keep 30cm away from the plants. I used a Crassula ovata in the grammostola enclosure and after a week it looks just fine, with no leaf yellow/falling. The grammostola never used my premade burrow but I noticed he would coves his eyes with the front legs or by going halfway under the cork bark so I added an oblique cork to cover the corner where he usually rest, now he usually is there when the light are on. I have to say I'm already really impressed in how good a 30 dollar lamp seems, a couple years ago you had to spend a fortune to get some decent LEDs for plants.
Looking at him climbing on real plants is really the best

 

[ColeopteraC]

Little update: I've got the lights, 3 led tubes that i keep 30cm away from the plants. I used a Crassula ovata in the grammostola enclosure and after a week it looks just fine, with no leaf yellow/falling. The grammostola never used my premade burrow but I noticed he would coves his eyes with the front legs or by going halfway under the cork bark so I added an oblique cork to cover the corner where he usually rest, now he usually is there when the light are on. I have to say I'm already really impressed in how good a 30 dollar lamp seems, a couple years ago you had to spend a fortune to get some decent LEDs for plants.
Looking at him climbing on real plants is really the best View attachment 375877

If what is observed in the photo is the enclosure with the light on then that’s much weaker than I’d imagine. Looks quite good.

The only issue I can foresee with the enclosure is related to the lack of substrate, falls are nasty (even with light MM’s) and as a rule of thumb you want 1.5 x DLs of the T. You could be slightly lenient with an MM I suppose.

I’d also recommend you replace the mesh on the lid, T’s can damage their tarsi in it.

 

[Renatozzo]

If what is observed in the photo is the enclosure with the light on then that’s much weaker than I’d imagine. Looks quite good.

The only issue I can foresee with the enclosure is related to the lack of substrate, falls are nasty (even with light MM’s) and as a rule of thumb you want 1.5 x DLs of the T. You could be slightly lenient with an MM I suppose.

I’d also recommend you replace the mesh on the lid, T’s can damage their tarsi in it.

The pic is actually before I installed the LEDs(pic for how it looks now), but I love how derpy he looks. About the top mesh I didn't know it could hurt in any way but it will be the next thing I change. I got the tarantula+enclosure from a guy that was doing a really bad job at keeping him, there were dead and live animal all over the cage and in the substrate (I'm talking about 4 alive dubias and ~20 dead mealworm beetle) I had to change all of the substrate and didn't had enough to fill more the enclosure to completely avoid fall injuries. Also I added a frontal vent for ventilation and the lil guy is doing a lot better, at least now he has decent air and substrate so just a couple more adjustments and I'll be done

 

[b64133]

Walmart has a great led striplight that has most of the red and blue spectrum for plants. I do not know what effect this has on arachnids though.

 

[Williama918]

Okay so new information i found to add to this. A blue glow light will stress out your T. No one understands why yet the theory is they think it is the sky and they feel vulnerable to predators. Soft white and red seem to have no negative effect. On a plus note. If you get the distance right the light will give a heat gradient for the T and, with a day night cycle. Seem to benefit the T.