Thermometers

[binary71]

i agree that you don't need a thermometer in the tanks. If you know the temp of the room is ok for your Ts then thats is good enough. I was just trying to give the OP a tip if he wanted to take accurate temps for his cages. The no contact temp guns are accurate but as pointed out you definitely cant take a reading through glass as it will impact the reading that you get.

 

[equuskat]

Meh, I believe in replication to the most minute detail possible. Personal preference if not a necessity ^_^

How can you possibly know? Unless you were there, taking precise measurements of the temperature and humidity within the burrow, you're not going to get anywhere near close. Additionally, you are using a DESK LAMP to keep your spiders warmer. That is highly unnatural, too. Since almost nobody can keep their tarantulas in captive environments which absolutely replicate nature, then I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's not anywhere near a necessity for the health of your spiders, and is more work than it's worth.

 

[Julia]

I guess my Ts are lucky that I, personally, cannot tolerate cold. At the moment, my apartment is 78.2 degrees. I'm 100% comfortable in this temperature (and still wearing socks, so I can tolerate warmer) and I assume that all of my critters are too. 78 seems like a good median temperature for them.

As far as thermometers, I would agree with everyone that in-tank thermometers aren't necessary. I have one for the room and check that periodically. If the room is warm, they probably are too.

 

[bamato]

not trying to be argumentative but the specs for the $25 temp gun and the $100 temp gun are the same as far as temp variance goes. The main difference is the options and size of LCD readout. here is a link to the specs. Many reptiles breeders use these

http://www.tempgun.com/specs.html

You make a good point. I've only bought automotive type IR temp guns, and it's been about 5 years since I was in the market for one. I appreciate the update

 

[bamato]

This is virtually impossible to do in a home environment. In addition there is very little information regarding the conditions inside the burrow or tarantula's home so strictly using the conditions of their home country is far from accurate. For instance, the burrow of a tarantula in Arizona could easily be 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the air temperature. so, do you keep your A. chalcodes at 90 to 100 degrees which is the air temperature in Arizona during the summer or do you keep them at the more likely temperature of their burrow which would probably be in the 60s? Given the virtual impossibility of replicating multiple complex environments in your home I see no problem with keeping them under the same conditions that I live in.

I'd like to further add to this statement. You also don't always know EXACTLY where a tarantula can come from. Good example again is Arizona. The Phoenix area can be in the 70 degree range, and Flagstaff can be in th 20's. :?

 

[ph0bia]

How can you possibly know? Unless you were there, taking precise measurements of the temperature and humidity within the burrow, you're not going to get anywhere near close. Additionally, you are using a DESK LAMP to keep your spiders warmer. That is highly unnatural, too. Since almost nobody can keep their tarantulas in captive environments which absolutely replicate nature, then I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's not anywhere near a necessity for the health of your spiders, and is more work than it's worth.

It's not necessary, no, the spider will 'live' in the enclosure, but B.Auratum and B.Smithi like to bask. The lamp gives them that. Also, let's be frank here, most 'heat lamps' are nothing more than desk-lamps relabelled. I'm not talking UV bars here.

Also, in response to the question of do you keep it at burrow temperature or air temperate, that's an easy question to answer if you stop to think for a moment. Air temperature, of course, as the burrow (being shaded, enclosed and retaining moisture better than open areas) will be cooler anyway. That's why they dig them.

Finally, in regards to the "more work than it's worth" comment, I believe there's a topic on these forums about a guy who kept a T.blondi on cedar chips because soil was "more work than it's worth" to him.

I value my Ts happiness as highly as I do their health and anything I can do to make them happier, I will do and both the B.Auratum and B.Smithi both love coming out and basking under the lamps light.

 

[Stan Schultz]

I have two thermometers in the same enclosure. One is the long thin stick on type and it reads 84 degrees. The other one is the round gauge type and it reads 80 degrees. They are in practically the same spot. How can I tell which one is accurate?

1. Why does it matter?

2. This is a textbook example of why you shouldn't believe thermometers and hygrometers unless you've taken special pains to calibrate them yourself.[*]

3. Virtually every tarantula on the planet can adapt to and thrive in any temperature that you're comfortable at. (Read that to mean that you should be spending your hard earned cash on another tarantula instead of useless thermometers.)

[End of rant.]

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[*] In the factories where these are made (often squalid shacks in the ghettos of various Asian cities), quality control usually consists of someone on an assembly line glancing at a thermometer or hygrometer on the wall every half hour or so and making a quick (1/2 second), cursory adjustment of the scale of the units that pass through their hands. They usually only concern themselves with the ones that they notice are way off. They don't worry about the changing temperatures in the factory, whether their "gold standard" was accurate or not (it was "calibrated" the same way!), whether there is a temperature or humidity difference between their "gold standard" and their workstation, whether the heat from the worker's fingers has artificially raised the temperature, or their breath the humidity. Neither do they really care that they're all that accurate. After all, those things are shooting down the conveyor at something like a dozen or more a minute and they don't dare fall behind or they'll lose the only paying job they ever had any hope of getting.