Temperature control??

[tenaciousace]

Hi i've recentley purchased a Lasidora p. I have it in a 18" x 18" x 18" tank. The tank has 2 sides and a lid fully ventilated with gauze. I have 2 heat mats one underneath the other stuck on the back. My substrate vermucilie/moss mix is only 1" deep over heat mat but deeper on opp side. I have 2 thermometers ( one digital) and i'm only getting 72deg. Is my tank too ventilated to obtain my target temp 75-80? The humidity is 70%. Thanks for any advice. I used to keep spiders before my kids were born in solid glass tanks with a vented lid and temp was easily achieved with 1 small mat. I only bought a well vented tank to prevent mold and aid in cross venting as i'm aware of Lasiodora p. requires a warmer humid enviroment. I would appreciate any advice thank you.

[kingcobra]

well,just for the record,if you have a fully vented or mesh lid,you are going to lose a lot of humidity and heat,also heat mats only heat a small area,though an 18" enclosure SHOULD not be too adversely affected.
if you are worried about mould from excess damp,the answer is simple....spray less frequently.
when i first started keeping t's (back in about 1496 a.d.) ,i used glass tanks almost exclusively .but back problems have ruled that out now as the weight of them makes moving them around difficult. i now would be recommending plastic boxes with a few vent holes drilled instead, the REALLY USEFUL boxes which are often available on e-bay,are a good example of a quality secure container,and i feel sure that if you tried one of these in place of you glass tank you would notice an improvement as it will retain heat better.,
however, do first check the accuracy of ALL temp guages before trying anything else,as its much cheaper and just as effective if you just nhave to replace a faulty guage.

incidently,unlike goliaths,lasiodoras are fairly tolerant on temps/humidity, so around mid 20's c ,and 70-75% humidity should be o.k.

i would be interested to know how it works out.

[tenaciousace]

Thanks for the advice mate. Although I originally had T in the plastic tank one of the conditions of me being "allowed" a tank in living room was it had to be lockable with a key ha ha. I have covered some of mesh and temp is now 75 and spid looks like its settling. Me and my girlfriend spent hours last night watching it making a home inside a skull ha ha. It spent all night moving substrate in and out and has laid a nice mat in there now. I think its due to shed its bald patch is very dark and it wont eat. I'm happier now and the girlfriend is very interested in it. Hopefully i'll get that second spid in the future if this one goes well

[kingcobra]

[QUOTE=tenaciousace;166837]I used to keep spiders before my kids were born in solid glass tanks with a vented lid.

VERY interesting! could save the n.h.s a fortune on beds etc,if that system was universally adopted!

seriously though! glad its all working out now,if you need more advice/help for owt,i'll be only too g;ad to try to help.
cheers
kenny