Constructive Criticism for a Beginner

Shmotz77 · Oct 2, 2014

Hello everyone. My name is Chris and I am currently new to the addiction called "tarantula keeping". Just yesterday I received an absolutely stunning female Chilean Rose from Jaime's Tarantulas. I decided to name her Susie. Before ordering her I did plenty of research and even bought Stanley Schultz book and read it the past month. Now, the reason I'm creating this thread is because I would like some constructive criticism as to what I'm doing (or not doing) right. I would be forever grateful to hear your opinions as I wish to have my first tarantula keeping experience be the best.

Cage & Substrate-
I am currently keeping her in an 8x8x14 cage also ordered from Jamie. The substrate is Coco-fiber.

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I currently have her cage on my dresser with the curtains of the window next to her open (no sunlight is directly hitting her). What concerns me though about her cage is the hide. The way it is shaped makes it impossible to place it directly flush against the wall, meaning she can enter and exit through both sides. Should I block off one end with substrate? Does it really need only one opening?

Food-
Starting next week I will start feeding her some Dubia Roaches, as I've heard they are better than crickets. I plan on feeding her one a week.

Temperature & Humidity-
Now I know temperature and humidity really shouldn't be worried about and that room temp is perfectly fine. However, I recently purchased a humidity and temperature gauge (I know I don't need it but it's nice to have it) and it is currently saying the temperature is 73 and the humidity is 80 and slowly climbing!! I'm pretty sure the humidity for a Chilean Rose shouldn't be that high. I don't mist the cage or slightly overfill the water dish and I don't have a heating mat. I've even turned the ceiling fan on medium to try and lower it but I am having no success. She seems to be avoiding the ground and staying on top of her hide or climbing the walls instead. Should I be concerned?

I hope to receive some answers and any criticism. Thank y'all for your time.
Chris

Storm76 · Oct 2, 2014

Hi Chris!

I'll go bottom to top on this one.

Humidity gauge:
Most of them are completely inaccurate anyways, hence why not to trust them. If your T is house on dry substrate with a waterdish, there's your humidity source and that's fine. Room temperature around 20-22°C is just fine for them.

Food:
Crickets or roaches whatever you pick. Keep in mind some T's are a little picky and might not eat a certain feeder item. If that happens, you could try the other. The main thing though: G. rosea are notorious for going on fasts! If she (sexed?) doesn't eat, not to worry as long as her abdomen is not shrunken and behaves normal otherwise. She's either a) not hungry, b) fasting or c) in premolt. Simply skip that meal and offer one the next week. They have an extremely slow metabolism and a week without food is usually nothing for them. Unless...it's a sling. I can't see those pictures you link, they don't work, so I don't know what size of T we're talking about here.

Cage:
Cocofiber is fine. Make sure the T has no more than 1.5x legspan space from substrate to lid. If the cage would have to be filled up with more, you should probably do so. Otherwise a fall can prove to be more than just a fall and actually hurt your T (split abdomen and the like...). The cage itself should be in a spot where the T doesn't get disturbed to much. You mentioned window, make sure there's no constant flow of air blowing into her cage or the like. It would irritate the T.

Hide:
Personally I prefer one end blocked off, since their burrows in nature are usually the same way. But I don't think it's an issue, really. You could block it off by adding substrate there, chances are she won't use the hide too much anyways. Most stay visible and rarely retreat. Others are taking to their hides more than staying out on display. It really comes down to the particular specimen.

Enjoy!

ratluvr76 · Oct 2, 2014

Storm76 said:
Hi Chris!

I'll go bottom to top on this one.

Humidity gauge:
Most of them are completely inaccurate anyways, hence why not to trust them. If your T is house on dry substrate with a waterdish, there's your humidity source and that's fine. Room temperature around 20-22°C is just fine for them.

Food:
Crickets or roaches whatever you pick. Keep in mind some T's are a little picky and might not eat a certain feeder item. If that happens, you could try the other. The main thing though: G. rosea are notorious for going on fasts! If she (sexed?) doesn't eat, not to worry as long as her abdomen is not shrunken and behaves normal otherwise. She's either a) not hungry, b) fasting or c) in premolt. Simply skip that meal and offer one the next week. They have an extremely slow metabolism and a week without food is usually nothing for them. Unless...it's a sling. I can't see those pictures you link, they don't work, so I don't know what size of T we're talking about here.

Cage:
Cocofiber is fine. Make sure the T has no more than 1.5x legspan space from substrate to lid. If the cage would have to be filled up with more, you should probably do so. Otherwise a fall can prove to be more than just a fall and actually hurt your T (split abdomen and the like...). The cage itself should be in a spot where the T doesn't get disturbed to much. You mentioned window, make sure there's no constant flow of air blowing into her cage or the like. It would irritate the T.

Hide:
Personally I prefer one end blocked off, since their burrows in nature are usually the same way. But I don't think it's an issue, really. You could block it off by adding substrate there, chances are she won't use the hide too much anyways. Most stay visible and rarely retreat. Others are taking to their hides more than staying out on display. It really comes down to the particular specimen.

Enjoy!

+1 to all the above. welcome to the hobby.

my suggestion is to read these forums. Old threads, new threads.. threads from every section. Even the scorpion sections, true spiders, other arthropods etc etc.

besides being able to rapidly broaden your knowledge base, you will be able to start getting to know some of the others on the boards. There's a LOT of really good people here with decades of knowledge that are happy to let nooblets like us pick their brains as long as you're respectful, honestly want to learn and remain teachable.

Shmotz77 · Oct 2, 2014

Thank you Storm76! The window I have her by doesn't have air flowing through it, it's just to provide light. I do on the other had keep the ceiling fan on just because the room she is in can get a little toasty. Her cage isn't a screen top though so I don't know if air blowing into her cage is an issue. I also don't know why the pictures don't work. Let me try and post them a different way.

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Now that you mention it I think I need to add more substrate but I don't want to stress her out to much since she is still adjusting to the new cage.

Shmotz77 · Oct 2, 2014

Thank y'all for the warm welcome and criticism! I'm trying to repost the pictures of her but I'm having no success.

Storm76 · Oct 2, 2014

Shmotz77 said:
Thank y'all for the warm welcome and criticism! I'm trying to repost the pictures of her but I'm having no success.

Try uploading them to some pic-host and link them simply.

Medusa · Oct 3, 2014

I can see thumbnails of the pics. From what I see, I'd add a couple more inches of substrate.

Stan Schultz · Oct 4, 2014

Shmotz77 said:
Hello everyone. My name is Chris and I am currently new to the addiction called "tarantula keeping". Just yesterday I received an absolutely stunning female Chilean Rose from Jaime's Tarantulas. I decided to name her Susie. Before ordering her I did plenty of research and even bought Stanley Schultz book ...

WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!

WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!

And thanks for all the good words!

Shmotz77 said:
... Now, the reason I'm creating this thread is because I would like some constructive criticism as to what I'm doing (or not doing) right. I would be forever grateful to hear your opinions as I wish to have my first tarantula keeping experience be the best. ...

Have you read Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula? If not, do so now.

Have you read the rest of the Spider's Calgary website? If not, do so now.

Lastly, don't stress out over your rose. They'll thrive in a coffee can on a crumpled paper towel as long as they have access to a water dish and you throw in one (1), and only one (1), adult sized cricket a week!

Cheers,

____________________________________________________________________

Normal people scare me!
____________________________________________________________________

Contrary to popular opinion, tarantulas aren't weird. Humanoids are!
____________________________________________________________________

Poec54 · Oct 5, 2014

Stan to the rescue! Stanley, do you realize how many newbies here have not gotten the full welcome this year? Where have you been, old friend? Good lord, we've had a lot of Tarantula 101 questions pop up.

Shmotz77 · Oct 6, 2014

Sorry for the late reply, college can be a drag at times. Thank you all for the responses and thank you Stan for writing such a great book. It truly is a work of art!
I recently added a few more inches of substrate to her cage, which also seemed to have lowered the humidity to a constant 60. She is now walking along the substrate and actually using her hide instead of clinging to the walls. I also fed her a roach today so she is one happy spider!! (I just hope she removes the roach from her hide after eating it)

SuzukiSwift · Oct 6, 2014

Welcome to the hobby! =D

I also recommend reading this article, also by Stan

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html

Gives you extra information on G.roseas and what to expect from them =)

Stan Schultz · Oct 10, 2014

Poec54 said:
Stan to the rescue! Stanley, do you realize how many newbies here have not gotten the full welcome this year? Where have you been, old friend? ...

:biggrin:

After my epic migration last Winter -

Calgary, Alberta, Canada to central Michigan; Ft. Worth, Mission, Rio Grand City, Houston, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Pensacola, Homosassa Springs, Tampa, Florida. Then, back to Fort Walton Beach/Valparaiso, Florida to visit with KJ Vezino and the Florida-Panhandle Invertebrate Club. Then back down the west coast of Florida to visit with you in Naples, then Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Flight Center; then to St. Augustine to visit a good friend. From there I returned to snow banks taller than my motorhome in central Michigan, and eventually I got back to Calgary. (12,700+ miles, six months, and enough material to fill yet another book!) -

I was absolutely exhausted when I finally got back to the Calgary area.

I also was a bit embarrassed by the fact that I'd done almost nothing on the promised new edition of TKG. So, I checked into a small RV park (for those of you who don't know me, I'm retired and live in a motorhome) in a little farming village in eastern Alberta called Rockyford, and hunkered down into "retreat" mode for the Summer. Yes, I've done a lot of work on the new edition, but there still needs to be a lot more done. This is clearly going to take at least another year.

AND, there's another interesting story involving widows (the spider kind, not humans!) that needs to be told, but at another time and in another thread.

I'm now making last minute preps for a trip to Texas, New Mexico and possibly Arizona - however far my time and gas money holds out.

Poec54 said:
... Good lord, we've had a lot of Tarantula 101 questions pop up.

I was sort of hoping you could help fill in the gap. :roflmao:

____________________________________________________________________

"Well, I'd say your bug was pretty neat, 'cept it ain't got enough legs!"
____________________________________________________________________

While all that may make YOU feel all warm and tickly inside, it makes absolutely no difference to the tarantula.
____________________________________________________________________

ratluvr76 · Oct 10, 2014

Stan Schultz said:
I was sort of hoping you could help fill in the gap. :roflmao:

I think sometimes poor Poec gets tired of all our nooblet questions.. haha..

Stan Schultz · Oct 10, 2014

ratluvr76 said:
I think sometimes poor Poec gets tired of all our nooblet questions.. haha..

In truth, that may be one of the reasons we seldom hear or see from almost all the grizzled, old, flatulences that we grew to know and love (or hate!) over the last few decades of these mailing lists and forums. But, the fact remains that these forums are among the very best ways (a good book being the other important resource) for the newbie to learn how to care for their tarantulas without killing the first three. We who've been at this gig for decades have already done that and saved you the trouble!

So, a few of us who are either pre-terminally brain damaged or who have a genuine love for these remarkable creatures (the spiders, not the newbies!) hang in there, offering advice (and sometimes resounding chastisements) whenever possible because we understand that without that participation, not only are those newbies floundering in uncertainty and ignorance, but all that we've done and learned in the major portions of a century will have been lost as we kick off.

(Wow! That was some sentence! I'm getting almost as good as Darwin and his paragraph-long, run-on masterpieces. :biggrin: )

____________________________________________________________________

We all need to learn to view the world from the perspective of a large, fuzzy spider!
____________________________________________________________________

ratluvr76 · Oct 10, 2014

Stan Schultz said:
In truth, that may be one of the reasons we seldom hear or see from almost all the grizzled, old, flatulences that we grew to know and love (or hate!) over the last few decades of these mailing lists and forums. But, the fact remains that these forums are among the very best ways (a good book being the other important resource) for the newbie to learn how to care for their tarantulas without killing the first three. We who've been at this gig for decades have already done that and saved you the trouble!

So, a few of us who are either pre-terminally brain damaged or who have a genuine love for these remarkable creatures (the spiders, not the newbies!) hang in there, offering advice (and sometimes resounding chastisements) whenever possible because we understand that without that participation, not only are those newbies floundering in uncertainty and ignorance, but all that we've done and learned in the major portions of a century will have been lost as we kick off.

(Wow! That was some sentence! I'm getting almost as good as Darwin and his paragraph-long, run-on masterpieces. :biggrin: )

____________________________________________________________________

We all need to learn to view the world from the perspective of a large, fuzzy spider!
____________________________________________________________________

In truth, all of us can benefit from the decades of experience contained within the brains of the grizzled, more experienced among us. Of course not all of us are equipped, for whatever reason to maximize the opportunity. I for one, intend to take full advantage of the experience offered. If I am to be chastised I hope I will be able to be humble enough to accept it in yhe spirit it is intended. That is to further my skills as a keeper and guardin of my beautiful little spideys, and to make there lives as comfortable and healthy as I am able to provide for. Mr. Shultz, I hope to meet you some day, I am originally from Lethbridge and in fact spent many of my growing up years in Calgary. Some day soon I hope, I will be returning there. Anyways, im getting a bit long winded... I tend to ramble lol.
With that, I am pleased to make your aquaintance, happy trails.

Stan Schultz · Oct 10, 2014

ratluvr76 said:
... Mr. Shultz,

Aw, come on! We're all buds here. "Mr." sounds so stilted. Just use "Stan." Nothing more formal.

ratluvr76 said:
... I hope to meet you some day, I am originally from Lethbridge and in fact spent many of my growing up years in Calgary. Some day soon I hope, I will be returning there. ...

The Bridge? Calgary? Now Louisiana? Wow! Send me a private E-mail to schultz@ucalgary.ca. We'll talk. You need to be more careful of what you wish for!

ratluvr76 said:
... Anyways, im getting a bit long winded... I tend to ramble lol. ...

You think YOU'RE long winded! In the little search box (upper right of this page) type schultz and click the little magnifying glass thingie. Check out some of my epic "Missals to the Apostles!" There have been several times when my dissertations were so long and complicated I had to cut them into sequential pieces and post them in a series!

Cheers,

____________________________________________________________________

Now, let me introduce you to the concept of "seagull" as applied to humans. These are people who fly in, raise all sorts of noise, make an incredible mess, then fly away leaving everybody else to clean up behind them.

I am a seagull. My job is done here.
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Draven · Oct 10, 2014

Stan Schultz said:
Aw, come on! We're all buds here. "Mr." sounds so stilted. Just use "Stan." Nothing more formal.

In South Africa we call him "Oom Stan" lol

ratluvr76 · Oct 10, 2014

Stan Schultz said:
Aw, come on! We're all buds here. "Mr." sounds so stilted. Just use "Stan." Nothing more formal.

The Bridge? Calgary? Now Louisiana? Wow! Send me a private E-mail to schultz@ucalgary.ca. We'll talk. You need to be more careful of what you wish for!

You think YOU'RE long winded! In the little search box (upper right of this page) type schultz and click the little magnifying glass thingie. Check out some of my epic "Missals to the Apostles!" There have been several times when my dissertations were so long and complicated I had to cut them into sequential pieces and post them in a series!

Cheers,

____________________________________________________________________

Now, let me introduce you to the concept of "seagull" as applied to humans. These are people who fly in, raise all sorts of noise, make an incredible mess, then fly away leaving everybody else to clean up behind them.

I am a seagull. My job is done here.
____________________________________________________________________

Well, there is a wonderful state park very close by that has RV spots available for very reasonable prices year round.

http://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-parks/parks/sam-houston-jones-state-park/

Zeek · Oct 10, 2014

Draven said:
In South Africa we call him "Oom Stan" lol

Lol brilliant! Nice to see another South African on here! Although I have been living in the UK for over a decade.

Drache · Oct 10, 2014

Draven said:
In South Africa we call him "Oom Stan" lol

So what does Oom stand for?

Constructive Criticism for a Beginner

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