Greetings!

[Big Saturday]

Hello, everyone!

I just brought home my first tarantula, a little Rosie my 5-year old daughter named Charlie (a good name, since it could go either way)

Looking forward to tooling around here and learning a lot!

 

[Big Saturday]

Okay, perhaps it's formally known as a Grammostola rosea. Anyway, been hitting the research button in the interest of giving this baby a good home which starts with good nurturing. Seems like if you divide a hundred spiders into a hundred people, you'll have just about a hundred different ways to raise it..

I have heard some locals speak of the bible and it is on my list of things to get Also happened across some factoids via this forum and am thinking that the info I was given when this little baby was purchased is mostly misinformation, so hope to sift through what's what and keep an eye on the little one:

I believe Charlie is a PCF, although hard to tell ^here^ because of the fleshy HAND.

 

[Josh]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new edition! It's great to see intro threads WITH photos. Ask lots of questions! It's what we're here for!

 

[Samuraisid]

Congrats on the Tarantula. Warning: She wont be your last


Officially, the accurate name for your spider is Grammostola porteri. All of the Pink and Grey colour forms have changed, with only the Red Colour Form keeping the name, G. rosea. Oddly enough, its a very simple process to tell the difference between the two species if you have two mature female exuviums... Im still waiting on my RCF to molt out so I can compare the epigastric furrows on her and my GCF.
Its also worth mentioning that your average enthusiast hasnt adopted the new name, porteri, so its not neccisarily wrong to use rosea instead of porteri..
For some reason your average person doesnt enjoy reading overly long, jargon filled, scientific articles on bugs

Feel free to share whatever info you have. We can all learn new things, and if any of us believe it to be misinformation on your part, we will politely provide our opinion on the matter. And your very correct in the idea that this hobby is one of personal preferance, with many ways of doing it right.

 

[Big Saturday]

Thanks for the replies and corrections! Yup, I've been googling T's and this for sure won't be the last, there sure are a lot of beautiful and charismatic tarantulas out there.

Well, for starters, about how old is Charlie? Is it possible to tell by size? I was told that it is about 4-1/2 to 5 years old but I'm just curious if this one may be younger since I have no idea how fast they grow.

 

[Nada]

Rose's are slow growers, but not that slow. at 4+ years It should be at least double that size. My guess is that your T is 1.5-2 years old.
Slow growth is what you want(in a grammastola). Males grow fast, and unfortunately die fast.
"The Bible" Is a fantastic read, and I suggest it for all keepers. However, there are some questions, that the TKG just doesn't have an answer for. That's what we're here for.

 

[donna]

to be honest i just learned everything from google, i have a realy old book from about 18 years ago about keeping tarantulas but the info is so outdated its funny. at one point the auther says you can buy single crickets , or might get a deal for bulk buys & suggests cooked mince meat on a string as suitable food

 

[Nada]

to be honest i just learned everything from google, i have a realy old book from about 18 years ago about keeping tarantulas but the info is so outdated its funny. at one point the auther says you can buy single crickets , or might get a deal for bulk buys & suggests cooked mince meat on a string as suitable food

No.. just no.

 

[donna]

i will find it out & tell you what its called , might even try scan a few pages in, its so wrong. thing is it was the only info available when i got my first t , how times have changed & the understanding of ts