G.rosea.... New to the hobby

Hey all, im new to keeping T's.... im currently setting up a home for female G.rosea im planning to get. I have done a ton of research and hopefully have the basics down. I just have a few questions if you guys can maybe help out...
I have a standard 10 gal, aprox 6 inches of an eco earth, organic potting soil and dry spagnum moss mix as substrate.

Questions are

1) i would like to have some decorations in the enclosure.. maybe some rocks, logs/vines and a couple of pothos plants. Would the T mind these things or should I have a bare enclosure with just a hide and water dish.

2) I was planning on making the substrate into a slope of some sort.. would this be an issue?

3) if the pothos plant are ok to have should I plant them with the pot or directly into the substrate?

Thanks for any help guys... im so looking foward to getting my new T.

Here is an excellent place to start:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html

Some decorations are fine, keeping in mind that the tarantula may move them about and/or dig under them. Nothing with sharp edges that the tarantula could fall onto.

A slope is also fine. But, the ceiling height should be no more than 1.5 x tarantula legspan to avoid falls. Also, if the ceiling height is too short, the T could get additional leverage to push the top off the enclosure. (Depends on type of enclosure you have.)

Some plants may be okay. G. roseas are from one of the most arid areas on earth. They abhor damp substrate and regular high humidity could cause a sick spider. Spider may dig the plant up, too. I know of people who place potted plants in enclosures of arid species. Generally more trouble than it's worth, IMO.

Congrats on your new T.

Thanks so much.... ill check that link

Yeah pothos would probably die if you're keeping a rosea properly. The substrate will be far too dry for it. I tried a succulent in mine, one from the pet store meant for reptiles and my rosea just dug it up. She really likes to move everything however she wants. +1 to everything formerphobe said.

One thing i suggest, is if you have a screen lid on that tank, toss it. I had a rosea female get a fang stuck in the screen for 3 days. I know it was 3 days because i was feeding/watering my collection, and noticed her in one spot on the screen. I thought "uh thats her being normal". Then 2 days later i was continuing feeding/watering, and noticed she was still in the same spot. I thought that was kinda of akward, and it hit me. I pulled her enclosure out, and i was right, she had one of her fangs stuck. As i was trying to push it back out of the screen, she was biting and making it wedge in tighter. So i had to put my tweezers in the spot next to her fang and twist the screen just a hair in order to push her fang out. Best to stick with plastic shoe boxes, or cut a piece of plexi glass to fit the top of the tank, and drill lots of vent holes in it.

Don't use screen lid as mentioned above. I will say that you can put a piece of slate in as a hide and have it slope up and make a tunnel. I have had that in there for a while and its nice looking IMO

bklyncg said:

Hey all, im new to keeping T's....

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Ah, ha! Did you hear that? That was the newbie alarm! :biggrin:

Please don't be offended. Tarantulas have been around for several hundreds of millions of years, and have been evolving and fine tuning their lifestyles steadily, seemingly almost forever. So, we're all playing catch-up here, and in a sense will be newbies for a long time to come.

I strongly urge you to go to the Spiders, Calgary webtree and start reading. At least scan through the entire website, picking out topics that catch your attention, but be sure to read the following webpages. (Even experienced aficionados can sometimes benefit from a little review.)

STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION. No! You start out with the RIGHT foot first.

STAN'S RANT. Read as many of the books mentioned here as you can find.

MYTH WEBTREE. How did we ever get into this mess?

CARE SHEETS: THE MOTHER OF ALL MYTHS. How to avoid both going crazy and killing your spider at the same time.

TEMPERATURE. You may suffer hot flashes or cold chills but your tarantula doesn't.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY. You've been lied to!

GROWING YOUR OWN. No, we're talking about tarantulas here, not the other "stuff."

SUBSTRATE. Getting to the bottom of it all.

ADDENDA AND ERRATA. Changes, additions and all the material that never made it into the printed version of TKG3.

CARE AND HUSBANDRY OF THE CHILEAN ROSE TARANTULA. The pièce de résistance for everybody who has a Grammostola rosea. This one is necessary only if you're getting or already have a rose. Otherwise it may only be interesting reading to give you a broader data base.

The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot, LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for ABSOLUTELY FREE if you read that website and take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.

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While you have done nothing wrong yet, you're talking about doing a few things that I'd rather you didn't.

While lots of enthusiasts use a ten gallon aquarium because they're usually the least expensive, they're actually too tall. But, you're on the right track by using a thicker layer of substrate. Just make sure that the CIH is no greater than about 1-1/2 times the DLS. Falling from a height is your tarantula's greatest threat in a cage.

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CIH = Clear Inside Height = The maximal, clear, open, inside distance between the top of the substrate and the highest part of the top of the cage. Also defined as the farthest distance that an adventurous tarantula can skydive in its cage.

"Tarantulas and base jumping don't mix."
-- David Desoer
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DLS = Diagonal Leg Span = The linear distance between the tip of one front leg to the tip of the rear leg on the opposite side when the tarantula is in a normal, resting position. Yes, it's very inaccurate. Yes, it's very unfair. But, we're not competing for gold medals or a new car. We're just trying to figure out how big your spider is.

"Mine's bigger than yours is! Neener, neener, neeee-ner!"
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You don't have to use some exotic mix for substrate. (See Substrate.) After all, the rose grew up in plain dirt! With a lot of gravel mixed in! A lot of enthusiasts use plain garden soil if they can absolutely guarantee that it hasn't been exposed to pesticides for the last several decades. If you choose to use store-bought substrate, either simple horticultural peat from a landscaping or garden shop will work well. Or, if you don't mind paying a higher price for no extra benefit, some brand of shredded coconut husk from a pet shop also will work just fine. The thing that most often tilts the balance is which is less trouble to acquire rather than some esoteric "need" of the tarantula or exotic property of the substrate. In the world of tarantulas, tarantulas seldom have any "esoteric needs," and "exotic properties" are usually absolutely worthless and over-abundantly expensive.

Do not use live plants in a tarantula's cage. At least while you're still a newbie. Living plants and living tarantulas have contradictory requirements in cage life. Trying to keep both at once means having developed the skills for keeping both separately, then maintaining the cage environment within the extremely narrow overlap between their two sets of requirements. Keep tarantulas safely in their cages on the end table. Keep plants on the windowsill. Until you've had a couple of tarantulas for at least a year.

You can use coconut shells as retreats. (Use a hacksaw to cut 1/3 off one end, dig out the white pulp. rinse and dry.) Also, many clay pots and ornaments available for use in reptile cages will work. Avoid anything with sharp corners or edges. Most rocks are acceptable as long as they're not able to fall on or roll over the tarantula when (not if!) the tarantula starts one of its earth moving episodes.

Sloping substrate is irrelevant as long as you observe the CIH rule.


Best of luck. Hope this helps.


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YOU NEED TO BE REPROGRAMMED! Yes, this is genuinely, sincerely, profoundly correct! While you may have developed some proficiency at the proper care of aquarium fish, turtles or lizards, parakeets, gerbils, and even the family dog or cat (although there is some genuine question about who has who as a pet with these last two), you need to set all those prejudices and practices aside, and start again with a clean slate.

-- /The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, Edition Four/, S. A. Schultz (In progress.)
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Thanks alot guys... I really appreciate the help

bklyncg said:

Thanks alot guys... I really appreciate the help

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Hi! I'm your friendly, Internet, tarantula pusher. People in this world tend to fall into three categories:

1) Those poor souls who have never had a pet tarantula. My own personal opinion is that most of the world's troubles are caused by this group simply because they haven't had the good fortune or common sense to see and experience the innate wisdom inherent in these creatures. We should all pause a moment in sorrowful silence for these disadvantaged people and do our level best to illuminate and convert them.

2) Those who have known tarantulas and have fallen by the wayside. These poor people found the wisdom, but then lost their way. They are now wandering in the dark forest of disenlightenment, and are without hope.

3) Those who have seen the true path and have now:
a) Filled the spare bedroom and the kitchen with tarantulas.


[size=-2]North wall of the Schultz' spider room.[/size]


[size=-2]East wall of the Schultz' spider room.[/size]


[size=-2]South wall of the Schultz' spider room.[/size]

b) Are using the hall closet to store the paraphernalia they use to care for them.
c) Hold tarantula orgies every second Saturday evening between Labor Day and Valentine's Day, and invite everybody who'll stand still for 30 seconds to attend.


[size=-2]Screen shot from CBC's On the Road Again with Wayne Rostad as host. First aired in Canada January 201.[/size]

d) Make chocolate covered spiders for guests.


[size=-2]Not real spiders, but real chocolate. Photo of Marguerite Schultz, co-author of TKG3.[/size]

e) Post pearls of tarantula wisdom on no less than seven Internet forums.
f) Write the same book about tarantulas over, and over, and over, and...

[Sorry. Ran out of attachment space. See my next posting.]

bklyncg said:

Thanks alot guys... I really appreciate the help

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f) Travel around North America in a motorhome in an evangelistic crusade to spread the true, 8-legged gospel.


[size=-2]Presenting a little speech (a.k.a., "spreading the gospel") at a meeting of the Florida Panhandle Invertebrate Club. The attendees' faces have been intentionally obscured to protect the guilty.[/size]

g) Hide out in the desert with the tarantulas when the goin' gets too rough.


[size=-2]Camped out in the southwest Arizona desert. There were tarantula burrows within seven or eight feet of the motorhome![/size]


[size=-2]What I woke up to every morning. If you look very carefully you can see John Wayne or Clint Eastwood on horseback, riding across the horizon in the distance. Squinting a little helps a lot.[/size]



And, these are only the milder insanities.

:laugh:

Prepare yourself!

:roflmao:


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Has no one told you of the tarantula enthusiast's lament?

"LIKE THOSE POTATO CHIPS, YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!"

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
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Stan Schultz said:

View attachment 132783
[size=-2]North wall of the Schultz' spider room.[/size]

View attachment 132784
[size=-2]East wall of the Schultz' spider room.[/size]

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Stan, did you not believe in using substrate back in the day?
Looks like there might be a thin sprinkle of vermiculite and dust on the cage floor of a few of those enclosures. :laugh:

vespers said:

Stan, did you not believe in using substrate back in the day?
Looks like there might be a thin sprinkle of vermiculite and dust on the cage floor of a few of those enclosures. :laugh:

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"Back in the day" we and a bunch of other enthusiasts were experimenting with all sorts of things as substrate including aquarium gravel (Well? Exactly why not?), Astroturf (They went bankrupt anyway.), cat litter (before the cat!), bare glass (no substrate at all), shredded newspaper, shredded sugar cane stems, and some other things you probably wouldn't believe. Remember that the hobby and any system of general knowledge or experience with tarantula care only started in 1958 when Dr. William J. Baerg wrote the first ever tarantula book, The Tarantula. That's only 56 years ago. We've come a long way baby!. Since no one seems to have done any experimenting and published the results at the time, we did. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.

Since the illustrations that I use here and elsewhere were accumulated over several decades, you're likely to see a lot of odd things if you look closely enough. If at all possible I try to crop the questionable artifacts out, or otherwise obscure them. But, once in a while one will magically sneak through. Like the green Astroturf. Or even (gulp!) aquarium gravel.


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I just love when enthusiasts experiment gently with their tarantulas.
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The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

And, stupid questions are a lot easier to deal with than stupid mistakes.
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Indeed, we have come a long way. I remember a lot of questionable arachnid husbandry choices being the norm, even in the 80's when I started keeping them. Things have changed quite a bit (for the better), even since then.