- Joined
- Mar 23, 2004
- Messages
- 61
Wow -- Thanks to all of YOU fine people, I was up til 6am - -reading your postings, laughing, checking out pictures, and learning TONS. I can't BELIEVE how much some of you know!! ANYWAY- I just my first a tarantula -- a (gorgeous) Grammastola rosea, and she's HUGE ! (okay, so they ALL look huge to me!) She's also VERY patient (I'm a klutz, I'm noisy, and in these first 2 months I've had her, I've screwed up a fair amout in terms of proper care.) She's sooo cool though! ie: i'm in her tank, (banging around, accidently of course) and she just-- ever so elegantly stretches out one long, pretty, little hairy leg and waits for my next move. Ready to cruise quickly, if need be, but no longer running for cover. Really, she moves so elegantly -- she's just beautiful! I can't believe I'm so entranced by a SPIDER!! I've hated (!) spiders my entire life..and -and now I OWN one! [Can you tell i'm totally into my new pet???]
A few Quick questions for anyone who might have time to answer:
1) Temperature for her home. I've got a 10 gal. glass aquarium. Does she need a Heat lamp?? I think I was "scalding" her w/the lamp... (poor thing!) " I went by what the owner of our (one & only) pet store said to do: Put the lamp directly on the wire screen top on her cage. Facing down." I came home the 1st day and all the plastic around the top was melting.. so i moved the lamp back - oh, to roughly 12 inches from one side.
2) White secretion. What is the white stuff that she secreets down the side of glass & into substrate? I imagine she's deficating, but it's white! And how does she get it to go down the GLASS like that? where does it "come out" ?
3) Feeding. She sure seems to eat alot; having read T's often go months & months w/o. she eats roughly 7-8 crickets / week. I just got her some mealy worms, too. I can't see the 2 i put in her cage- but wonder if they've burrowed. Do I bump up food amt since she eats everything i give her?
4) How come she's never spun a web???
5) I THINK she's happy--she is out of her shelter a fair amount, (good sign or bad?) she doesn't "pace" or anything though... she seems very relaxed.
Okay! I think that's it! (for now, anyway.) ***Respectfully yours, karen_in_aspen
** REMEMBER: "Keep your tips up"
A few Quick questions for anyone who might have time to answer:
1) Temperature for her home. I've got a 10 gal. glass aquarium. Does she need a Heat lamp?? I think I was "scalding" her w/the lamp... (poor thing!) " I went by what the owner of our (one & only) pet store said to do: Put the lamp directly on the wire screen top on her cage. Facing down." I came home the 1st day and all the plastic around the top was melting.. so i moved the lamp back - oh, to roughly 12 inches from one side.
2) White secretion. What is the white stuff that she secreets down the side of glass & into substrate? I imagine she's deficating, but it's white! And how does she get it to go down the GLASS like that? where does it "come out" ?
3) Feeding. She sure seems to eat alot; having read T's often go months & months w/o. she eats roughly 7-8 crickets / week. I just got her some mealy worms, too. I can't see the 2 i put in her cage- but wonder if they've burrowed. Do I bump up food amt since she eats everything i give her?
4) How come she's never spun a web???
5) I THINK she's happy--she is out of her shelter a fair amount, (good sign or bad?) she doesn't "pace" or anything though... she seems very relaxed.
Okay! I think that's it! (for now, anyway.) ***Respectfully yours, karen_in_aspen
** REMEMBER: "Keep your tips up"