Melyssa - 2011-12-12 I just got my first Rose hair yesterday, she is so beautiful, I named her Isabella. I am so happy my boyfriend let me get her, even though he isn't fond of spiders, and is actually scared of them, but I have loved them ever since I was a child. I was wondering if someone could help me out!?!?!?! I want to know if I am doing this right, She is in a 10g tank, screen lid, the bedding of her tank is Eco Earth, she has a half log as a home, and a water dish with stones in it so her crickets do not drown, is there anything else that I'm missing? Any suggestions? I would really appreciate it!
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Christopher Riley - 2011-12-12 Yes you done right also it's best to research and get book on the tarantulas to get full of learning exp. on the rose hair an others an on how they live. I getting one to research them an see how they are. I would love to go in to science an a program to keep them from being killed an to get them protected as a pet by laws in USA
Brian Dzenkiw - 2012-01-04 Hi Melyssa, It's great to see you have a passion for keeping these amazing creatures. I've had Tarantulas for 20 years and thought I would pass on what I have learned. 10 gallon tanks are nice to look at, and decorate, but not the most practical because of keeping your tank humid, which is important for molting purposes, locating dead prey or uneaten parts and maintaining temperature. I found a 5 gallon tank gives the tarantula sufficient moving space. Having a screen lid allows the humidity to escape, so close off the top as best as you can, but leave a few small holes for air circulation. I find the enclosed lids and attached light source for 5 gallon aquariums work great for maintaining humidity and heat. A 12x12x12 terrarium with canopy and attached light source are also good.
Purchase a hygrometer for your tank to monitor the humidity, as to much humidity can be bad. Hygrometers are cheap and easy to install. As for a heat source the aquarium light provides sufficient heat. Remember to turn it off at night because Tarantulas need a night time. Personally I am partial to using vermiculite as the soil because it's clean and less likely to form insect that can harm your pet. Vermiculite maintains a good moisture level and you can go long periods of time between a full cleaning and replacing which I do every 3-4 months. Using a pail I pour in vermiculite then add lukewarm water and mix by hand till the soil is damp. When putting the soil in the tank I put the damp vermiculite in only half the tank so your pet has damp and dry zones, but then I lightly cover the damp vermiculite with dry vermiculite.
Your water dish with stones is excellent, don't change a thing. I like to use drift wood and small silk plants around them to create natural looking burrows. I find Tarantulas love climbing in the plants but don't add too many otherwise it's hard to maintain the habitat. Feel free to add small amounts of orchid bark and some stones of various shapes and sizes. Make sure you wash them first with hot water only, no soaps.
Be sure to maintain the habitat, remove dead or uneaten parts otherwise mites will form. Maintain the water in the dish and clean the water dish and stones at least once every 2 weeks otherwise algae will form. Clean with hot water no soaps. Misting the habitat is a nice way to maintain humidity as your soil will eventually dry out, but don’t be afraid to add small amounts of water to the soil, however remember to leave dry zones. As for the prey, crickets are sufficient, but remember to feed them. I like to feed them orange, lettuce or celery, but despite your efforts they will still eat each other, yes crickets are cannibals. Feeding the prey is very important because whatever they eat will eventually end up in your pets belly, so feed them well and your pet will flourish. I hope this information helps you Melyssa as I have no doubt you will make an excellent Tarantula owner.
Jessica Brown - 2011-12-05 A little more that a month ago I told ya'll that Sookie (my rosie) made an eggsac. The poor little buggars didn't make it. Guess I'm not a good breeder. Won't try that again. Now Sonny my Golden Rosie just molted. Looks just beautiful. She hasn't moved from that corner in a week. Maybe after she gets her strength back. My poor Charlotte I think is dying. I don't know what's wrong with her. She hasn't ate in about 2 months and just mopes around. When I look at her she reminds me of an old granny. She shakes when she walks and her legs are all crickety underneath herself. I think it's her time to go to spider heaven. I'm so sad. she was my first spider:(
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Jessica Brown - 2011-12-06 Charlotte died last night. But she had a great life. I'm going to load some pics up if it works for me.
Charlie Roche - 2011-12-06 Sounds like she had a good home and life. I am sorry you are sad.
PF - 2011-12-23 I'm sorry for your loss! They're special little individuals and each have their own characters, I see it with my own Ts. I wish her the best in spider heaven.
Happy holidays! PF
Anonymous - 2011-12-23 My wife Tsunako and I owned a Mexican Fire leg Tarantula in Wichita, and it sounds about right,we did something similar, she mentioned her former friend Pablo did as well Erick
Jessica Brown - 2011-12-29 I'm not sure how old she was. I truely believe she died of age. She stopped eating so I thought he was getting ready to molt. After 2 weeks and no molt I tried to feed her every 2 days and she would never eat. She didn't eat for like 2 mo. Lost all the weight she had on her so I thought she was trying to hibernate. She just completely stopped eating. She had everything a spider needs and more. Just wish I could have done more.
Jessica Brown - 2011-12-09 OMG Lastnight me and my hubby were getting ready to hop into bed and I couldn't find my phone. So I turned on the light and THERE IT WAS!!!!!!! My Thai Tiger (very aggressive and potent venom)was just chilling in the front of my isolating fan. I was just about to turn it on IN THE DARK. I can't even imagine how that woulda went since she FREAKS at any wind. She probably would have launched at my face! omg scary! So we tried to just persuade he into a crittercage but she reared up and freaked out so i jumped around like the elephants did in dumbo when they seen a mouse. lol. the she ran in the darkness behind my door. after alot of work at 1am, trying our best not to kill her, we finally got her into a container. It was my fault she got out. didn't put the lid on right after I changed her water out. She hasn't been out of her tunnel in about 3weeks. If we hadn't seen her when the light went on I'd have never known she was out of her cage. I just had to share my crazy story.
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Jessica Brown - 2011-12-09 omg hell no!!! i stare at the fan everytime i walk in the room, then i have to check the tank.
Charlie Roche - 2011-12-09 Must have been an interesting episode. Bet you don't look forward to it happening again.
Nevarmore - 2008-01-11 I love my pet Rose Hair. She is such a pretty little girl, and quite nice to go with it. I find her absolutely adorable and interesting to watch every day. She is even somewhat comical sometimes, or she atleast seems as if she is trying to be. The other day I walked into my room and she was sitting on top of her shelter, just kinda sitting there, looking at me like "What?"
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emma williams - 2011-12-02 that is sooooo cute.
Jessica Brown - 2011-12-05 awwwwww. sometimes i just want to squeeze mine. their just so cute.
jaco - 2009-11-02 I've had my rose hair for about a month now, she's wonderful. She has been acting odd for about 3 days, I think she's about to molt. She is great to handle [just don't breath on her]. I would recommend these fascinating creatures to ANYONE.
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emma williams - 2011-12-02 i know, I love my 3 roseas.
Gage Smith - 2007-12-27 Grammostola rosea is a gentile and soft tarantula. The first time I held it, I was attached to it. They're a beautiful spider. I have a friend who told me about them. This is one of the best pets I have ever had.
John Hutchison - 2009-04-26 Hi there - I've had my rose hair for the best part of 6 years. She's bordering on 16 years old now and is full of life - gr8 when handling and for some very strange reason gets on with dog :-S - very timid and a gr8 pet.
The Chilean Rose Tarantula has been an important spider for more than thirty years!
I just got my first Rose hair yesterday, she is so beautiful, I named her Isabella. I am so happy my boyfriend let me get her, even though he isn't fond of spiders, and is actually scared of them, but I have loved them ever since I was a child. I was wondering if someone could help me out!?!?!?! I want to know if I am doing this right, She is in a 10g tank, screen lid, the bedding of her tank is Eco Earth, she has a half log as a home, and a water dish with stones in it so her crickets do not drown, is there anything else that I'm missing? Any suggestions? I would really appreciate it!
Yes you done right also it's best to research and get book on the tarantulas to get full of learning exp. on the rose hair an others an on how they live. I getting one to research them an see how they are. I would love to go in to science an a program to keep them from being killed an to get them protected as a pet by laws in USA
Hi Melyssa, It's great to see you have a passion for keeping these amazing creatures. I've had Tarantulas for 20 years and thought I would pass on what I have learned. 10 gallon tanks are nice to look at, and decorate, but not the most practical because of keeping your tank humid, which is important for molting purposes, locating dead prey or uneaten parts and maintaining temperature. I found a 5 gallon tank gives the tarantula sufficient moving space. Having a screen lid allows the humidity to escape, so close off the top as best as you can, but leave a few small holes for air circulation. I find the enclosed lids and attached light source for 5 gallon aquariums work great for maintaining humidity and heat. A 12x12x12 terrarium with canopy and attached light source are also good.
Purchase a hygrometer for your tank to monitor the humidity, as to much humidity can be bad. Hygrometers are cheap and easy to install. As for a heat source the aquarium light provides sufficient heat. Remember to turn it off at night because Tarantulas need a night time. Personally I am partial to using vermiculite as the soil because it's clean and less likely to form insect that can harm your pet. Vermiculite maintains a good moisture level and you can go long periods of time between a full cleaning and replacing which I do every 3-4 months. Using a pail I pour in vermiculite then add lukewarm water and mix by hand till the soil is damp. When putting the soil in the tank I put the damp vermiculite in only half the tank so your pet has damp and dry zones, but then I lightly cover the damp vermiculite with dry vermiculite.
Your water dish with stones is excellent, don't change a thing. I like to use drift wood and small silk plants around them to create natural looking burrows. I find Tarantulas love climbing in the plants but don't add too many otherwise it's hard to maintain the habitat. Feel free to add small amounts of orchid bark and some stones of various shapes and sizes. Make sure you wash them first with hot water only, no soaps.
Be sure to maintain the habitat, remove dead or uneaten parts otherwise mites will form. Maintain the water in the dish and clean the water dish and stones at least once every 2 weeks otherwise algae will form. Clean with hot water no soaps. Misting the habitat is a nice way to maintain humidity as your soil will eventually dry out, but don’t be afraid to add small amounts of water to the soil, however remember to leave dry zones. As for the prey, crickets are sufficient, but remember to feed them. I like to feed them orange, lettuce or celery, but despite your efforts they will still eat each other, yes crickets are cannibals. Feeding the prey is very important because whatever they eat will eventually end up in your pets belly, so feed them well and your pet will flourish. I hope this information helps you Melyssa as I have no doubt you will make an excellent Tarantula owner.
A little more that a month ago I told ya'll that Sookie (my rosie) made an eggsac. The poor little buggars didn't make it. Guess I'm not a good breeder. Won't try that again. Now Sonny my Golden Rosie just molted. Looks just beautiful. She hasn't moved from that corner in a week. Maybe after she gets her strength back. My poor Charlotte I think is dying. I don't know what's wrong with her. She hasn't ate in about 2 months and just mopes around. When I look at her she reminds me of an old granny. She shakes when she walks and her legs are all crickety underneath herself. I think it's her time to go to spider heaven. I'm so sad. she was my first spider:(
Charlotte died last night. But she had a great life. I'm going to load some pics up if it works for me.
Sounds like she had a good home and life. I am sorry you are sad.
I'm sorry for your loss! They're special little individuals and each have their own characters, I see it with my own Ts. I wish her the best in spider heaven.
Happy holidays!
PF
My wife Tsunako and I owned a Mexican Fire leg Tarantula in Wichita, and it sounds about right,we did something similar, she mentioned her former friend Pablo did as well
Erick
I'm not sure how old she was. I truely believe she died of age. She stopped eating so I thought he was getting ready to molt. After 2 weeks and no molt I tried to feed her every 2 days and she would never eat. She didn't eat for like 2 mo. Lost all the weight she had on her so I thought she was trying to hibernate. She just completely stopped eating. She had everything a spider needs and more. Just wish I could have done more.
OMG Lastnight me and my hubby were getting ready to hop into bed and I couldn't find my phone. So I turned on the light and THERE IT WAS!!!!!!! My Thai Tiger (very aggressive and potent venom)was just chilling in the front of my isolating fan. I was just about to turn it on IN THE DARK. I can't even imagine how that woulda went since she FREAKS at any wind. She probably would have launched at my face! omg scary! So we tried to just persuade he into a crittercage but she reared up and freaked out so i jumped around like the elephants did in dumbo when they seen a mouse. lol. the she ran in the darkness behind my door. after alot of work at 1am, trying our best not to kill her, we finally got her into a container. It was my fault she got out. didn't put the lid on right after I changed her water out. She hasn't been out of her tunnel in about 3weeks. If we hadn't seen her when the light went on I'd have never known she was out of her cage. I just had to share my crazy story.
omg hell no!!! i stare at the fan everytime i walk in the room, then i have to check the tank.
Must have been an interesting episode. Bet you don't look forward to it happening again.
I love my pet Rose Hair. She is such a pretty little girl, and quite nice to go with it. I find her absolutely adorable and interesting to watch every day. She is even somewhat comical sometimes, or she atleast seems as if she is trying to be. The other day I walked into my room and she was sitting on top of her shelter, just kinda sitting there, looking at me like "What?"
that is sooooo cute.
awwwwww. sometimes i just want to squeeze mine. their just so cute.
I've had my rose hair for about a month now, she's wonderful. She has been acting odd for about 3 days, I think she's about to molt. She is great to handle [just don't breath on her]. I would recommend these fascinating creatures to ANYONE.
i know, I love my 3 roseas.
well, all i can say about tarantulas is that they are the coolest pet to have!
I'm with you on that one.
my rose hair taratula is awesome
so is mine they ara so loving,elegent and gentle.
Grammostola rosea is a gentile and soft tarantula. The first time
I held it, I was attached to it. They're a beautiful spider. I have a friend who told me about them. This is one of the best pets I have ever had.
I just picked up my first rose hair, it's awesome. I named him nosferatu. I've been playing with him since I bought him.
aaaawwww bless,did you know that nosferatu is hungarian 4 demon?
Hi there - I've had my rose hair for the best part of 6 years. She's bordering on 16 years old now and is full of life - gr8 when handling and for some very strange reason gets on with dog :-S - very timid and a gr8 pet.
that's adorable.