What temps do you keep your P.rufilata

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
I think my room is to hot for my P.rufilata. I keep her in the main T room which is 80-82 degrees sometimes dipping to 78 at night. All of the other pokies, metallica, ornata regalis do fine.. They eat like pigs.

Her appetite is absolutely dog crap and she seems kind of stressed out..( hardly leaves her hide, won't feed in front of me, often ignores prey, sometimes she is scrunched up) The enclosure is bare bones because I'm moving soon. Just a round cork hide which she uses and lightly moist eco earth and a water dish. The enclosure has Plenty of ventilation. The only thing I can think is that it's too damn hot for her. I have another room that I can house her in but it's 70-74 tops sometimes a little cooler.

I have know of people that keep them both in hotter rooms like the one she is in and they don't have any issues but I also see alot of people keeping them in the mid 70s..

Just looking for your experience with this particular species.

Thanks.
 

sdsnybny

Arachnogeek
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
1,330
Both mine, actually all my T's are kept around 70-75 in winter and a bit warmer come summer due to no AC here. I have had zero problems with appetite on either my male or female in fact she hunts and eats like an LP.
Got them as 1.5" 2i slings on 04/06/16 the female has molted 5 times and is about 6" or so and the male molted the same # and hooked out at @ 6" on 04/01/17
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Both mine, actually all my T's are kept around 70-75 in winter and a bit warmer come summer due to no AC here. I have had zero problems with appetite on either my male or female in fact she hunts and eats like an LP.
Got them as 1.5" 2i slings on 04/06/16 the female has molted 5 times and is about 6" or so and the male molted the same # and hooked out at @ 6" on 04/01/17
Cool thanks man. I'm going to house her in my bedroom for a few days and if she is more active.. Temps are alot cooler in there.
 

Ghost56

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
443
Cool thanks man. I'm going to house her in my bedroom for a few days and if she is more active.. Temps are alot cooler in there.
If that doesn't change much, I'd say it's just the bare enclosure. I've got a couple subfusca slings (well, juvies now I guess lol) that are super shy eaters even with plenty of cover, so maybe she just needs the extra cover.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
If that doesn't change much, I'd say it's just the bare enclosure. I've got a couple subfusca slings (well, juvies now I guess lol) that are super shy eaters even with plenty of cover, so maybe she just needs the extra cover.
I was thinking that could be part of the problem also..
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
I think my room is to hot for my P.rufilata. I keep her in the main T room which is 80-82 degrees sometimes dipping to 78 at night. All of the other pokies, metallica, ornata regalis do fine.. They eat like pigs.

Her appetite is absolutely dog crap and she seems kind of stressed out..( hardly leaves her hide, won't feed in front of me, often ignores prey, sometimes she is scrunched up) The enclosure is bare bones because I'm moving soon. Just a round cork hide which she uses and lightly moist eco earth and a water dish. The enclosure has Plenty of ventilation. The only thing I can think is that it's too damn hot for her. I have another room that I can house her in but it's 70-74 tops sometimes a little cooler.

I have know of people that keep them both in hotter rooms like the one she is in and they don't have any issues but I also see alot of people keeping them in the mid 70s..

Just looking for your experience with this particular species.

Thanks.
Both of my specimens are in the T room now with everyone else, they are thriving. I actually had the opposite experience, as I heard the same about them preferring cooler temps, so I kept mine cooler at first. Around 68-70 but they weren't very active and had a poor feeding response.

I don't know if maybe some specimens are less tolerant of high temps then others, but mine seemed to favor the warmer temps over the cooler ones. Perhaps dehydration combined with high temps is the culprit, is she nice and plump?
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I think my room is to hot for my P.rufilata. I keep her in the main T room which is 80-82 degrees sometimes dipping to 78 at night. All of the other pokies, metallica, ornata regalis do fine.. They eat like pigs.

Her appetite is absolutely dog crap and she seems kind of stressed out..( hardly leaves her hide, won't feed in front of me, often ignores prey, sometimes she is scrunched up) The enclosure is bare bones because I'm moving soon. Just a round cork hide which she uses and lightly moist eco earth and a water dish. The enclosure has Plenty of ventilation. The only thing I can think is that it's too damn hot for her. I have another room that I can house her in but it's 70-74 tops sometimes a little cooler.

I have know of people that keep them both in hotter rooms like the one she is in and they don't have any issues but I also see alot of people keeping them in the mid 70s..

Just looking for your experience with this particular species.

Thanks.

Kept mine at 70-75 day, 68-70 night, always ate.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I think my room is to hot for my P.rufilata. I keep her in the main T room which is 80-82 degrees sometimes dipping to 78 at night. All of the other pokies, metallica, ornata regalis do fine.. They eat like pigs.

Her appetite is absolutely dog crap and she seems kind of stressed out..( hardly leaves her hide, won't feed in front of me, often ignores prey, sometimes she is scrunched up) The enclosure is bare bones because I'm moving soon. Just a round cork hide which she uses and lightly moist eco earth and a water dish. The enclosure has Plenty of ventilation. The only thing I can think is that it's too damn hot for her. I have another room that I can house her in but it's 70-74 tops sometimes a little cooler.

I have know of people that keep them both in hotter rooms like the one she is in and they don't have any issues but I also see alot of people keeping them in the mid 70s..

Just looking for your experience with this particular species.

Thanks.
I think it could be the spartan setup you have her in.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Kept mine at 70-75 day, 68-70 night, always ate.
She only recently stopped feeding. She had been feeding on crickets and I got her to take a decent sized Tomato horn worm and then a few crickets after that..

Now that I think about it she hasn't eaten since I changed her hide. She had a couple of slabs along the back wall. To me it looked pretty exposed so I bought her a cork round instead that was a bit more snug. To me if I was a pokie I would of loved it.. But maybe that's the problem. I introduced one of her old slabs so now she atleast has the choice.. I'll see if it makes a difference.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Both of my specimens are in the T room now with everyone else, they are thriving. I actually had the opposite experience, as I heard the same about them preferring cooler temps, so I kept mine cooler at first. Around 68-70 but they weren't very active and had a poor feeding response.

I don't know if maybe some specimens are less tolerant of high temps then others, but mine seemed to favor the warmer temps over the cooler ones. Perhaps dehydration combined with high temps is the culprit, is she nice and plump?
She has decent body weight but she is no where close to my other pokies in ass mass.. She has a big water dish and her sub is kept moist..
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
She has decent body weight but she is no where close to my other pokies in ass mass.. She has a big water dish and her sub is kept moist..
Yeah wasn't questioning it, I know you know your stuff. Maybe she isn't hungry, could just be fasting, the rufilata seem more slender as far as pokies go.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Yeah wasn't questioning it, I know you know your stuff. Maybe she isn't hungry, could just be fasting, the rufilata seem more slender as far as pokies go.
I think it's the new hide.. I had to remove her to put it in and they above all other pokies rufilata seem to be sensitive to change and being rehoused.
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
Mine haven't been so bad, they are out quite often. My P.metallica seems way more skittish and secluded, sometimes it won't eat in front of me. It really depends on the individual, guess I got lucky with my rufilatas.
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
My subfusca is terrible compared to the rest of my pokies. Rufilata hits like a truck. Temps 71-78 roughly. Makes me wonder about their preference for lower temperatures...
Both have relatively barebone cages with only the necessary decor.
 

Timc

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
84
My rufilata is kept around 70-75. Never had any issues except she's a total spazz and hides from itself sometimes. Last summer I exposed my spiders to natural temps by closing the vents and opening the windows and this one had 3 molts between April and September (she was a sling in April).
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
My subfusca is terrible compared to the rest of my pokies. Rufilata hits like a truck. Temps 71-78 roughly. Makes me wonder about their preference for lower temperatures...
Both have relatively barebone cages with only the necessary decor.
My subfusca are doing great at higher temps, do you have the lowland or highland form?
 

hamhock 74

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 6, 2011
Messages
334
I've always keep all my T's consistently at room temperature (including several different pokie species) with no issues. 20-21 (68-69 F) degrees during the cooler months and up to 25-27 (77-82) during the summer.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Just a quick update.. So this morning I woke up to find fesh poop all over the front and side of her enclosure.. So I figured she must have been out doing pokie things while I was sleeping..

I entered my bedroom a few hours later and noticed some legs sticking out over the hide.. I took a peek around the side of the enclosures and she was sprawled out on the back side of her cork tube..

I just went into my room again and she is in head down hunting position on the front of her hide..

So I can't positively say that she prefers the cooler temps but she is acting like a pokie again.. I think the warmer temps might have been stressing her out.

I'll wait a few days and offer her a cricket..
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
My subfusca are doing great at higher temps, do you have the lowland or highland form?
Highland. She grows well and is stunning, but has a poor feeding response compared to my other six.
Btw, You're not in need of a MM vitatta are you?
 
Top