My country just got hit by a heat wave - my spiders gonna die?

[InternetSwag]

Hey, from what I understand heat waves are very deadly to T's, especially the ones we keep in the hobby.

Usually it's like 71.6/22 degrees here, today it shot up to 96.8/36 and I'm worried about my T's.
They all climbed up the side of their enclosures, I think they do this when hot. My avic avic is sitting on the magnet used to keep his latch closed, must be colder.

I keep my T's in my room, my curtains are closed with no sunlight coming in but I can feel the heat...
Worried tbh

 

[Nunua]

Warm air rises up, so when tarantulas are trying to avoid the heat they do burrow underground instead of climbing higher
Just make sure that your tarantulas have fresh water available all the time and the heat wave won't be a problem to them at all.

 

[InternetSwag]

Warm air rises up, so when tarantulas are trying to avoid the heat they do burrow underground instead of climbing higher
Just make sure that your tarantulas have fresh water available all the time and the heat wave won't be a problem to them at all.

Ok that's a relief
I didn't know about the burrowing interesting
I also read that 95 f is the point where Ts get overheat so I was heavy paranoid

 

[Nunua]

Ok that's a relief
I didn't know about the burrowing interesting
I also read that 95 f is the point where Ts get overheat so I was heavy paranoid

Of course some tarantulas burrow just for fun, so burrowing does not always mean that they're escaping the heat

As far as I know, there is not an exact / sharp point of them getting "overheat" (even though every living organism, tarantulas included, have the minimum and maximum temperatures their body can handle), and tarantulas can survive in quite a hot climate by seeking water and shade / burrow to hide in - Very high or low temperatures are not good in a longer run, but tarantulas won't just randomly and suddenly die from the temperatures. The biggest problem in the hobby has never been the hot climate of the countries they're kept in - Dehydration is caused by insufficient water source, heating pads / lamps that create hot spots and accelerate evaporation, usually combined with an unfit enclosure where a tarantula cannot get away from the heat if wanted

It is true that there have been tarantula casualties in the hobby during heatwaves, but in most cases the main reason has been the lack of water + poorly ventilated enclosure, not the air temperature itself

 

[AndrewClayton]

Sit you’re Ts on the floor with a fan blowing in there direction if you’re worried about them, they should be fine at these temps for short periods of time if it’s just 1 day and there not in direct sunlight I wouldn’t worry just be sure to keep the water topped up if you want change out for bigger water dishes and fill with refrigerated water to keep temps down, maybe even some ice in it , that’s just being overly cautious though

 

[InternetSwag]

Thanks guys. Really great advice. My Ts have survived the heat wave and one even ate the prekill Roach I put there last night so I guess all is good hehe

 

[Whitelightning777]

Place the cages on the ground if you're worried. Dehydration is the real killer. Keep the water dish full or maybe even put in a bigger one.

Generally speaking, any temp lower then your body temperature won't hurt most tarantulas unless they specifically require colder temps, ex M robustum.

Many Ts like low 90s just fine. Research the species and see what their upper limit is. Desert species and ones closer to the equator will usually he more tolerant of 90 degree ranges.

For example, most pokies (except for P sufusca highland) love higher temps.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I'd watch out for blowing a fan on your Ts. A fan will dehydrate a enclosure in a few hours. Also tarantulas dont like their setae blowing around. 96 degrees in the shade isnt going to hurt a tarantula that has a full water dish.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Think if it this way. No tarantula ever got overheated from walking on a person & we're about 98.6 degrees.

It's undesirable for other reasons however to be walking on people.