Tarantulas are harmless spiders with a hairy covering all over their body. They are cold-blooded animals that cannot generate their own heat. Rather, they take up the warmth from their surroundings. As a result, the majority of tarantulas live in hotter climates. This warmth is necessary for a multitude of biological functions. The normal room temperature with slight warmth is considered to be an ideal temperature for tarantulas.
Is heat an important factor for tarantula?
Tarantulas that are housed at a higher temperature will eat more frequently and hence grow faster. Tarantulas kept at a lower temperature, on the other hand, will eat less frequently and hence grow more slowly.
If you’ve purchased a spiderling or a juvenile tarantula and want it to grow as rapidly as possible, make sure the room is warm enough to help you achieve your aim.
They do not require extreme care and can handle a few temperature drops which might vary from species to species. The temperature drop can only be tolerated for a shorter period of time. The tarantulas prefer to live in the hotter areas and avoid the cold climatic regions.
The metabolism of tarantulas is designed to conserve energy. They have a very good metabolism and do not use it unnecessarily. The experiment conducted on them showed that they can go months without eating anything other than surviving on water.
Are heating lamps or heat pads important?
The tarantulas are considered to belong to tropical or desert areas. They do not specifically require heating lamps or heating pads as they do not have a thermo-regulatory behavior like other reptiles.
The heating pads can sometimes be used but they might do more harm than good. The best advice is to heat the whole room with a space heater rather than using such fancy lamps and pads.
The tarantulas do not always soak in heat while being in the wild. The tarantulas found in tropical areas are believed to have zero tolerance towards cold climatic conditions. They might survive for a few hours but will eventually die as they cannot adapt to the cold climatic conditions.
The tarantulas found in the desert burrow deep into the ground and are mostly underground to protect themselves from such cold weather conditions.
They have a strong neurological system and are very much aware of what is happening around them.
The hairy spikes act as strong receptors which are able to catch the sudden flow of vibrations. They have an instinct of the temperature being too hot or too cold.
The tarantulas being cold-blooded can survive without food for a long period of time. A study done on them proved that the tarantulas have survived just on water for a whole year!
They might get obese if they are fed one cricket every other day. This act of not eating for the longest time helps them to conserve a lot of their energy which in turn is very important for them to survive. However, there are not many studies done on tarantulas and hence the information is very limited.
