# tarantula heating? is ity necessary?



## cleous (Feb 7, 2007)

we are getting a chilean rose tarantuls soon and was wondering about heating the plastic tank it is going in , do we need to do this or would it be okay without any form of heating it will be placed on top of /or next to a bearded dragon viv at 110 so will this be warm enough,
if not and we need a heat mat is there any small enough and do you not need then a heat stat to control temps 

thanks for any help 
suzanne


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## Luke (May 19, 2005)

Hiya
Some people will say always have your own heat but a lot of keepers i know would say as long as the room temp keeps the inside tank temp up you should be ok.
Heat mats if used ideally should be statted but again with ours statted, penny only has to have the central heating on and after 20 minutes the stats are out and the mat is off.
There are people that do keep tarantulas without any other form of heating as the room theyre in is always warm, I know someone who operates roughly on the same basis, he has a spider rack with about 30 T's on it inside his snake room and he doesnt need to use any other heat for the spiders,
A good idea could be to get the plastic tank and a thermometer and leave it empty on top where its going to go and monitor the temp over a few days, and also if you get up in the night to go to the loo have a quick check on the temp then and let us know what readings your getting, i can then give you more advice from there.

Good Luck and welcome to the world of arachnid keeping


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## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

my three all have mats under half of their tubs, that way they can move to and from the warm bit.I dont use stats anymore because the heat has to get through 2-3 inches of substrateand when they did have stats they were on full anyway.


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## Prestey (Nov 30, 2006)

Depends on temp of your room. Spiders are hard as nails but you dont want them too hot or too cold. As "luke da ledgend" says...check with a thermometer to see what the temp is. If its warm enough night and day, then save your money and dont buy a heat mat in my opinion.


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## Carl (Jan 19, 2007)

I don't use heating equip with our T's, as the room sits at 80-85oc which is perfect for the speices we own.


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## cleous (Feb 7, 2007)

thanks alot for all your replies , will do that , see what temps are and then let you all know, is using vermiculate alright , read somewhere that its dangerous to humans can cause liver probs i think or something like that.

Am i right in thinking that you carn't pick tarantulas up you just use a paintbrush if you need to move them ,

the one we are getiing is about 7 cmlong how old would it be at that size and what is fully grown, i know this depends on the sex of it, don't know what sex we are having though

thanks again 

suzanne


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## serpentkid100 (Mar 7, 2006)

you wanna do a spider mix which is roughly 1 part vermiculite to 5 parts compost/peat, an it hold the humidity well, also the heat mat should be on the back of the viv, for better care results

unfortunately i cant have 1 as mum hates em, but wheni have my own place


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## Luke (May 19, 2005)

yes the spider mix is good, i also use that stuff that comes solid in a brick then you immersre it in water and it expands into a good substrate, like forest floor bedding, i really like using this stuff now as if you need humidity it will hold moisture well, or if you need it fairly arid it doesnt do it any harm to keep dry.
It may do a bit more growing but not a lot, as for handling people say you shouldnt handle them, this comes from the care that should you drop even at a height of only about 6-12 inches from the floor this could be fatal as it will no doubtley rupture her abdomen, from here you could try to congeal it with acrylic non toxic glue(dont use flour) but like i said is it worth it????
If your happy with just moving it around then yeah you can coax it out of the way with a bruch or a long pencil.


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## gaz2374 (Aug 29, 2005)

i never used heaters with mine when i had them dwarf chilean rose and a mexican red knee were fine but saying that they were in my rep room where it is hotter than anywhere else.


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## Prestey (Nov 30, 2006)

As far as I am aware vermiculate is supposed to be cancerous because it is dusty. Wouldnt worry about that too much unless you are sleeping in it as well as your spider. 

I wouldnt use vermiculite on its own, id use the mix already suggested or just peat on its own....both are fine. 

A seven cm chile rose is quite a small one, which is good as you get to watch it grow. You can handle it without any problems, as long as you dont drop it! 

As far as the sex goes....you almost certainly wont know what sex it is until is has reached maturity, unless the exuvium has been examined by someone who knows what they are doing. Dont let any one tell you that you have a female (which live longer) because they can sex it from looking at it (it looks bigger than a male, or I can tell from its leg span etc). Sexing a spider is no simple affair.


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## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

My spider does have heating, its just a electric mat within a fleece lined cover that is placed behind the viv, it keeps the temp just about right,

i don't have heat on in the summer as my house goes from one extreame to the other in summer its worse then an oven even the gecko's don't need any heat aids but in winter its freezing, 

Room temp is about right for T's,

as for the size my friend used to have a chilli rose he was about 7" i have a mexican red knee shes about 5" but she just reached adult hood and isn't fully grown yet,

i keep Vanessa on compost, its cheap and keeps humidity, i was told to put her on this by the dealer i got her from he has over 200 T's not including the ones he sells and she had always been kept on that,


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## Luke (May 19, 2005)

the only thing you have to watch with compost is that its not been treated with insecticides or other chemicals. Some compost has it some doesnt, some does but is not very clear in stating it on the packaging. 7 inches is that fully strecthed out from 1st leg on one side to 4th leg on opposite?, sounds very big for a chile if not lol


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## Prestey (Nov 30, 2006)

He/she said 7 cm long. So is a youngun.


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## Penny (Dec 12, 2006)

Gemificus said:


> as for the size my friend used to have a chilli rose he was about 7"


Would just like to point out that you are mistaken as the above quote does say *7"*
which means inches:smile:


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## Prestey (Nov 30, 2006)

Penny said:


> Would just like to point out that you are mistaken as the above quote does say *7"*
> which means inches:smile:


Sorry, was refering to a post further up the thread.


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## cleous (Feb 7, 2007)

again thanks for replies , 
the spider has arrived today, it is 7cm max if that, we observed temps and is constant around 72-74 day and night a couple of degrees lower so think that is okay isn't it, 
we brought the vermeculite mix from livefoods direct and just put that in do you think thats okay ?
popped him in a hopper , hasn't ate it yet, when he first went in he sat in his water bowl for about 30 mins ,
didn't have the courage to hadle him just popped him into tank , how do you know if their angry/ relaxed etc.. they can flick hairs carn't they ?

thanks for all your help 
suzanne


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## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

Chilli's will flick hair's as a warning they rub the back leg against there abdomen and you see the hairs come out in small clouds looks like dust, sometimes you don't see them 

Some T's will only eat in private like Vanessa others will catch anything that Moves like Serenity used too,

i didn't feed any of mine for a day or so prior to getting them giving them a chance to settle first,

just give the little fellow some time and he'll be ok,


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## Prestey (Nov 30, 2006)

It will eat if it needs to, dont worry about that. If it keeps refusing food it is probably approaching a moult, but they dont feed as voraciously as say a salmon pink any way. 

They dont really require any time to settle down, only to web up a little maybe, they make themselves at home straight away more or less, not like a snake.

They can flick hairs, but it probably wont do as they are rarely aggressive. You will know if it is "angry" when it raises its pedipals into the air revealing its fangs. This is a warning that itis about to bite and makes it look bigger to a potential predator, although to be honest a chile rose probably wouldnt bite even when it does this.


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