I'm scared of my g. Rosea

I am new to collecting T's, I want to learn everything I can to best care for them. They are beautiful and absolutely fasinating. So I got a g. rosea her name is Sophie. At the store I got her I was told she was handled all the time and for the first few weeks I've had her I was able to handle her. But a couple of weeks ago I transferred her to a larger terrarium (5.5 gal) and since then when I put anything in the cage she attacks it. Now I am nervous about handling her. Does that have anything to do with the size of her terrarium? And should I set up and give her back her old one? Any advice helps. If she is a feisty T then maybe I just need to be okay with not handling her and appreciating her for the beautiful creature she is.

New terrarium


Old one


Sophie

I strongly believe Chile's are bipolar, mine was the same in a larger enclosure. Although I don't think that has anything to do with it, they just don't like to be messed with sometimes. I'd stop handling her and just leave her to it personally.

she needs a substrate she can burrow a little in... cocofibre substrate is perfect for this. It comes in a very hard brick that you put in water which will then expand. It will be very damp/moist so you will need to dry it out but then put a deep layer of it in your t's tank. Fill it up till the distance between the substrate to the top of her tank is about the same as her leg span. Then add in her clay pot, bury it kind of like you have it there now, replace her plantings and stuff and make sure she has a water dish big enough for her to get her front legs and her mouth parts in and she may calm down after that.

she's very pretty. good luck!

---------- Post added 08-26-2014 at 04:55 AM ----------

I see you have a dish in there already..

My Mf rose hair is absolutely evil.I can just open the enclosure and she will go all defensive on me she used to be pretty nice when I first got her about 1.5 ago but now I wouldn't be able to Handel her without taking a bite but I love her with all my heart

change the substrate. Coco fiber as stated above will work great. The bricks are cheaper and you get more but it has to be dried. the bags cost more but comes pretty much dry. Personally I switched to peat I think I paid about $15 for a huge block more than enough to do several enclosures. I would fill aquarium to about half full with substrate and slope the terrain a little. does not need to be level. bury her hide into the slope of her substrate a few inches back into the slope.I like the fake plant although try putting it next to her buried hide to giver her extra cover.This way she isn't so exposed if she doesn't like it there she will dig it up and then you can just rebury it a couple inches further away each time until she quits digging it up.the water dish is great. After you get her situated give her a few weeks to settle in then if you wont to hold her just check her temperament by first taping the enclosure first to alert her to your presence then lightly touch her back leg if she gets defensive let her be. I personally only hold mine about a few minutes every 3 months and thats just to inspect her for any mites deformity's and so forth.I hopes this helps you out.

Agreed change the substrate to eco earth/coco fiber then give it some time to adjust and try again. Could have just changed personalities a little tho.


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All the other replys are sound but I'd like to add one thing. You just changed her into a new bigger tank. She's not familiar with it and is on the edge as she's not confident in her new enviroment. Ts rely on different senses than we do and take longer to get familiar with a new setup. My guess is that and/or those mentioned above is the reason. Give her time.

EDIT:Read the replys again and this was basically covered.. so, as you were..