New to Arachnoboards! With a lot of info!

Emperer

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
1
Hello, i am new to this hobby and to this website.Thus i hope I am in the right section for my concerned case.I bought a Chilean rose hair about a month ago, and a few natural first time T owner worries such as: Temperature management, feeding schedule, and handling. Those came and gone, but after returning from an 8 day trip i was surprised what i found and am still not sure what it is exactly.

Background: Before my trip (16-20 of November) she had a decrease in activity was slow moving, as well seemed to have several what looked like deep cuts in her skin (the cuts were not only on the top of all her legs but one long one down the side of her abdomen). I suspected a molt coming because of research, and my daily 2 crickets a day feeding schedule which i only kept them in until she chose not to eat them or the following morning and she has been eating
99% of them. Then from the day before we left to the morning we were leaving she webbed herself in her hollowed out hide away log and never left even when we returned home(A friend came over daily to check on her progress). So
when i returned home i found out that there were temperature problems and my friend had moved her to another room to keep her warm and everything in check, which explains a thick webbing keeping her in the log. But upon
further examination of her, her abdomen has shrunk to about 1/3 of what it was. I was scared because i read that that is usually an effect of dehydration, and starvation. In her tank there was a water dish kept fresh as well as her not coming out the entire time so there wasn't much clarity on feeding her due to the expected molt coming. However i found what looks to be a pile of webbing in a sac like shape in her log and she wont leave its side, also when i opened
both ends of the log free of webbing she went and re-webbed it up again in a matter of 5-10 minutes. I am at a loss as what to think because of the following reasons:
1) Is it an egg or something else? because i haven't bred her and Petco says they don't know how old she was or if she was impregnated when she was given to them.
2) Should i feed her a cricket or not because she hasn't ate in 9 days and i feed her usually 2 a day if she eats them both. But i read if it is a sac she will eat them if disturbed (possibly from a cricket?)
3) if it is starvation and dehydration how to i get her better when she wont come out of her hide.(i want her abdomen to be like it was...)
4) in the case of eggs how should i tackle this because i have a 7 day trip coming this Christmas and i don't know when she wrapped up this mystery webbing ball thing so if it is in need of 6-8 weeks of incubating with her im already counting last week as one full one because of the unknown of when she laid it.
5) any other things im not thinking of would be helpful, i mainly just want an expert or experienced hobbyist to help this newbie with his concerns. :biggrin: :eek:

i want to thank anyone who reads all of this and hopefully responds to me, i know its a lot but i am anxious from my head to my toes.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
Photos would be helpful, sure sounds like an eegsac to me. I haven't had a sac yet, somebody else will have to chime in there. Also, when a spider webs up their hole you should leave them be.

I wouldn't feed her if it is a sac. 9 days without food is nothing to a rosie, as long as she has water you don't need to worry at all. They often fast for months at a time.

Welcome to the hobby!
 

BobBarley

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
1,486
Hello, i am new to this hobby and to this website.Thus i hope I am in the right section for my concerned case.I bought a Chilean rose hair about a month ago, and a few natural first time T owner worries such as: Temperature management, feeding schedule, and handling. Those came and gone, but after returning from an 8 day trip i was surprised what i found and am still not sure what it is exactly.

Background: Before my trip (16-20 of November) she had a decrease in activity was slow moving, as well seemed to have several what looked like deep cuts in her skin (the cuts were not only on the top of all her legs but one long one down the side of her abdomen). I suspected a molt coming because of research, and my daily 2 crickets a day feeding schedule which i only kept them in until she chose not to eat them or the following morning and she has been eating
99% of them. Then from the day before we left to the morning we were leaving she webbed herself in her hollowed out hide away log and never left even when we returned home(A friend came over daily to check on her progress). So
when i returned home i found out that there were temperature problems and my friend had moved her to another room to keep her warm and everything in check, which explains a thick webbing keeping her in the log. But upon
further examination of her, her abdomen has shrunk to about 1/3 of what it was. I was scared because i read that that is usually an effect of dehydration, and starvation. In her tank there was a water dish kept fresh as well as her not coming out the entire time so there wasn't much clarity on feeding her due to the expected molt coming. However i found what looks to be a pile of webbing in a sac like shape in her log and she wont leave its side, also when i opened
both ends of the log free of webbing she went and re-webbed it up again in a matter of 5-10 minutes. I am at a loss as what to think because of the following reasons:
1) Is it an egg or something else? because i haven't bred her and Petco says they don't know how old she was or if she was impregnated when she was given to them.
2) Should i feed her a cricket or not because she hasn't ate in 9 days and i feed her usually 2 a day if she eats them both. But i read if it is a sac she will eat them if disturbed (possibly from a cricket?)
3) if it is starvation and dehydration how to i get her better when she wont come out of her hide.(i want her abdomen to be like it was...)
4) in the case of eggs how should i tackle this because i have a 7 day trip coming this Christmas and i don't know when she wrapped up this mystery webbing ball thing so if it is in need of 6-8 weeks of incubating with her im already counting last week as one full one because of the unknown of when she laid it.
5) any other things im not thinking of would be helpful, i mainly just want an expert or experienced hobbyist to help this newbie with his concerns. :biggrin: :eek:

i want to thank anyone who reads all of this and hopefully responds to me, i know its a lot but i am anxious from my head to my toes.
Two crickets a day is waaayyyy too much. One a week is fine. Look at my response to your PM.

---------- Post added 11-29-2015 at 05:33 PM ----------

Oh, and also I wouldn't recommend PM'ing everyone on Arachnoboards because it could be counted as spam.
 

Sana

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
1,139
I'm not an expert when it comes to breeding but it sounds like you bought a wild caught female that was already gravid. What you're describing sounds like an egg sack to me. Whether or not the sack is viable I couldn't tell you. Females can lay phantom sacks that haven't been fertilized. There are some other folks on here with more experience that will be able to better advise you on dealing with that part of your situation.

I actually jumped in to give my two cents on feeding. Your rosehair, whether G. porteri or G. rosea definitely doesn't need to be fed daily. My adults of most species are fed once a week, my MF G. porteri gets fed every ten days or so and not more than a couple crickets per feeding. This species is known for long periods of fasting, I've heard more than a year from some folks here, and if overfed fasting is more likely. I don't even feed my tiny slings more than every few days. I haven't ever heard of a case of feeding a tarantula until it exploded, but I'm inclined to avoid feeding daily.
 

lalberts9310

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Messages
1,083
What you're describing does sound like an egg sac, don't disturb her, too much disturbance and she'll eat it. How long have you had her now? Did she molt in your care previously? If she hadn't molted in your care yet, chances are she's a WC female that was gravid when you bought her, meaning chances are high that the sac is viable, if she did previously molt in your care then it's a phantom sac. Also don't feed her, until the sac hatches or she eats/abandon it. I don't know about filling the water dish, some Ts roll the egg sac into the water bowl and then it rots. Don't let the sac get in contact with any water. I have no idea how G. Rosea/porteri should be kept when they laid a sac, so hopefully someone with experience on it could chime in.
 

KcFerry

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
80
I agree with everything said above, and suspect that you purchased a "gravid" wild caught G. poteri. It's not that uncommon!
I would treat it as a fertilized sac since you can't be sure. Females can keep the males seed alive for as long as needed while she fills up with eggs and finds a suitable place to lay them. In this case, all the food and water she could want/need, along with a safe retreat may have triggered her to drop her eggs and make a sac.
The first thing I would do is take out the water bowl...(T's have a strange habit of putting their sac in the water bowl and ruining it)...If she looks dehydrated, I'd give her back the water for short periods of time and keep an eye on her closely.
I'm sure if you post pictures of your female you will get all the info you need to proceed. After the way you described her, I think the first issue is the health of the mother.
Get some pic's!
 

Thistles

Arachnobroad
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
624
Definitely sounds like an egg sac. If you just got her, it is probably fertile. Congratulations! We don't have pictures of your enclosure so we can't critique it, but basic care for a rose hair is a well-ventilate enclosure with a few inches of dry substrate (peat, soil, ground coco husk... You have some options) and a low top. Keep a full water dish available at all times, but everything else should be dry. Feed her about 1 cricket weekly, less often if she refuses or appears to be getting too fat (although in your case it works out very well for you) and never leave uneaten crix in the cage. Provide a hide and you should be pretty much set. No need to stress about temperature or humidity. Don't bother her or rehouse her right now. Just leave her alone to tend her eggs.

What you need to do for now is leave her completely alone. Move the tank to a warm room, cover it to keep in humidity and heat and keep the water dish full but don't let the eggs get wet. Since she's webbed in her hide I doubt she'll dunk it. Leave her alone. You can feed her every week or 2 but remove uneaten crickets if you can without disturbing her too much. You don't have to feed her at all, though. Just let her take care of the babies.

A lot of people on this board are overly critical of this resource, but Stan Schultz has a good writeup in the care of the Chilean rose and what to do in case of an egg sac on the University of Calgary website. Just google his name and it should come up. Good luck!
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
I agree about the feeding, in fact I would argue that one cricket per week is still too much, they have a very low food requirement. Like said, 9 days is nothing to the species, I've had them go without food for over 13 months without worry on my part.

Because it could have a fertile sac, keeping her warmer is good, but aside from that, you really shouldn't worry about it, they can handle 60's and even night temps into the 50's...they have no real temp requirements. Its a lucky thing that she was gravid, cause it was indeed a time where her food requirements were unusually high...following the ordeal, if you see her hunting, go ahead and offer A cricket, remove it if its not taken in short time....she may not want food till the sac is pulled.

Those "cuts" on her are not cuts, just rub marks from where she flicked or layed hairs, nothing to be concerned about.

Don't open her hide, disturb her or the webbing she's laying down. Your Christmas getaway should be of no concern, about the time you return would be when you would want to pull the sac. I'd remove the water dish, other wise she could dunk the sac and destroy it. Good luck.
 

Sam_Peanuts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
408
1) There's pretty much no doubt that it's an egg sac from your description and it's likely a fertile one since I doubt she molted and then laid a sac in less than about a month.

2) Don't feed her at all while she secluded with the sac. Starvation is pretty much a non-issue with this species so you never need to worry about that unless you stop feeding her for years.

3) Her abdomen won't get like it was before since it was full of eggs and now it's not so it's perfectly normal for it to be smaller. Just leave her be until you pull the sac or it hatches by itself.
She'll be perfectly fine since you said she had all the water and food she could ever need before she webbed herself shut.
They're very resistant to dehydration since it's a desert species and she's an adult so as long as she had a full dish, she'll easily be fine for a few weeks without water(but in normal circumstances, it's better to always give them the option of having water if they want it).

4) It should be fine to leave the sac with her until you return. The worst that could happen(short of her eating the sac if it's not viable or she feels like it) is that there will be babies all over the place. I doubt they'll be able to escape that young though.

5) Don't stress about it and leave her alone, it's the best thing for her right now. You could remove the water dish as a precaution since she may decide to dunk the sac in there as others said.
In the future, you should definitely slow down on the feeding as people said. 1 cricket per week or two is plenty for her. If she eats too much, she'll start fasting for months once she's full which is not as fun to watch.
There's plenty of information about this species in here, there even a stickied thread about them in this section which I would recommend you read.

The "cuts"(I'm assuming you're talking about the stripes) on her legs are normal, most tarantulas have those pattern on their legs. Not sure about the one on the side of her abdomen though, could be missing urticating hair as previously mentioned or something else, but I wouldn't worry about it either way since you can do nothing about it. Whatever it is, she'll likely fix it when she molt.
 
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