Which room is best for tarantula

[Gizalba]

Hi,

I am new here and I am getting the home ready for my first tarantula. I have done quite a bit of reading but am struggling to find an answer for this -

Are there any obvious drawbacks to keeping him/her in the kitchen? At first I was going to keep him in a cupboard but I read that although they hate bright light, it is best to keep him somewhere where he can tell the difference between day and night and different lengths of daylight through the seasons. I have concluded that the kitchen is a place where I ban cats from going in anyway, it is well ventilated as quite big with an extraction fan, and the only time the sun shines on it is early morning however I have blackout blinds down then.

Hmm, maybe humidity might be a problem if I cook (that doesn't happen often lol but sometimes)?

And also - is it likely to attract mites more so in the kitchen?

Thanks and hi

Becca

 

[testdasi]

Which tarantula are you looking to get and what size?
If it's a typical terrestrial NW species then you should not have mites problem, especially in England. Those enclosures are never wet enough to sustain a mite population (and even if there are mites, just drying it out should be harmless to the tarantula).
Short-term humidity during cooking is also harmless to the tarantula as long as the environment and the enclosure are well-ventilated. Humidity on its own is harmless, it's stale humid air that is not good.

Cupboards are actually ok if you can have a LED light set on timer. That's how to hide tarantulas in a desk drawer. .

One tip for you: if you want your tarantula to settle in quickly, leave the enclosure somewhere dark (pitch-black e.g. a cup board is actually perfect) and don't touch it for 2 days. Don't check on it, don't change water, just leave it (I know it's hard). My tarantulas have always settled in really quickly with that trick. (Of course, make sure you have a filled water dish and a correctly setup enclosure prior to doing that).

 

[octanejunkie]

Hi there and welcome!

Depending on the species, most tarantulas will prefer lower traffic areas. That being said I keep my T rack in the pantry/breakfast nook off my kitchen because it's a low traffic area and does not get direct sunlight.

Avoid high traffic areas and direct sunlight, you don't want to overheat or stress your spider.

If you keep the enclosure properly hydrated for the species T you will keep, mites should not be an issue.

If cooking fumes, airborne oil and steam are a constant reality I would say no, that is not an optimal location.

A darker area in a low traffic area of the house that isn't cold or hot is best. They are semi-nocturnal and private, solitary animals. They will be less stressed if left to their own and will be comfortable at the same temperature you are, think t-shirt not sweater.

Happy T keeping and again, welcome!

 

[Gizalba]

Hi,

Thank you both very much for all the info, that's really helpful

testdasi - Thanks re the settling-in tip, will do that. I am wanting to get an adult/juvenile aphonopelma, not sure which type precisely yet; I am buying from the spidershop.com so it depends which beginner-friendly ones they have in next week. So yes typical terrestrial I think.