G. rosea and feeding question

I snatched up a smallish G. rosea from petco today for $10. Someone gave it up and they put it at 50% off and they had it on absolutely SOAKED substrate, it was like a swamp, I could not leave it there. Poor thing was trying to get up on a plant that couldn't support it. Same petco has a GBB sling labeled as a "gold fringed tarantula" for $115... they are going to have that thing until it's dead at that price. Tried to talk them down but to no avail.

I bought some eco earth and packed down about 1" of slightly damp, and I dried out the rest as good as I could with only a heat lamp. It's still SLIGHTLY damp but not as bad as at the store. The top layer at least is dry. She has almost 3" of substrate.

Will it be ok on this for a couple days? It's super arid here so it should dry out in a day or three. She's got a small water dish and a piece of cork bark to hang out on if she doesn't like the damp.

Second question:

I'm going to be gone for 6 or 7 days starting this Wednesday. My P. irminia molted 4 days ago and has a very small abdomen. My P. regalis molted today.
Will they be ok without food while I am gone? My mom will mist them and fill their little water dishes, but nothing more than that. She's scared of them.
I'm just being a worried tarantula mom.

Here is the G. rosea
[edit] UGH don't know why it's flipped. It's normal view on my computer.

I was just was at Petco earlier tonight. They just got in a rose hair.. 4.5" mature male.. with pin head crickets running around it.. If the rose hair tries to climb the sides continuously for some time it's definitely too damp. Any dampness in the soil they usually won't like. If the irminia is a sling it'll need sustenance a little sooner, an adult can go 10 or 11 days to the first meal after molt naturally at times. The Pokie will be ok for a week if it just molted. Just make sure mom keep the water dishes full

What size is your P. irminia? If its fangs are solid black you can go ahead and feed it before you leave. The P. regalis will need to harden up anyway, so it should be fine.

Congrats on the Rosie, she is absolutely adorable! :love:

Thanks guys!
The irminia is about... 4- 4 1/2" long now with legspan. I will attempt to feed everyone but the G. rosea the morning I leave.

Will my GBB sling be ok as long as I feed her before I leave?
If not, I can ask a friend to come by and feed her. I just don't want him to try and feed the faster ones in case they decide to bolt or bite.

She drank for about 5 minutes, poor girl! She's not acting as crazy as she was at the store so I'll take that as a good sign. Just exploring right now. I'm sure she'll hang out on the cork bark until her home dries a little more. Immediately started to web a bit.
I named her Kryll

Awww how cute! :giggle:

They should all be fine, tarantulas can go months without feeding. Just make sure the irminia's fangs are fully black before trying to feed her, 5 days may not he hard enough.

None of the species you listed ever need to be "misted" unless they are small slings an inch or less.

Likewise, they all should be fine for a week, unless one is a recently molted sling, say an inch or less.

Agreed if you feed/water them before you leave they will be fine, poor G,Rosea being in such a bad home at petco (shame on them), least now it will have a good home.

cold blood said:

None of the species you listed ever need to be "misted" unless they are small slings an inch or less.

Likewise, they all should be fine for a week, unless one is a recently molted sling, say an inch or less.

Click to expand...

I saw that both my irminia and regalis like humidity around 70% unless the arachnopets thing is lying. It's VERY arid here and I do a quick mist every few days. Not enough to soak the substrate, but enough to up the humidity a bit. I've mostly been misting more lately since they were going to molt and I didn't want any complications from too dry an enclosure.
My only one that's smaller than an inch is my GBB. I'm going to feed her a roach right before I leave and I'll ask my friend to feed her later in the week probably.

Thanks for your replies, guys! Really helps!


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Kryll is doing great. She really loves her bark hide.

I fed the GBB and OBT last night. The irminia still won't eat though and it's making me a little nervous :c His abdomen is almost smaller than his carapace. He has fresh water. Wish he'd just eat so I'm not going to worry all week.