new rose hair drinking a lot of water

[steelerandrew]

just recently purchased a male(I hope), juvenile, captive born Grammostola rosea. I put him in a 10 gallon tank with 3 inches of eco-earth coconut husk substrate and a water dish with a screened top. I put a night time UV basking light on one side and a small water dish on the colder side. The temperature is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is around 35%. He immediately has made a burrow on the hot side and has webbed the whole bottom of the aquarium. He is also drinking a lot of water. Hopefully he is happy. The one thing that is odd is that he is drinking water excessively (small water dish every 5 minutes or so as long as its full). Do you think this is because he is webbing so much?

 

[MassExodus]

just recently purchased a male(I hope), juvenile, captive born Grammostola rosea. I put him in a 10 gallon tank with 3 inches of eco-earth coconut husk substrate and a water dish with a screened top. I put a night time UV basking light on one side and a small water dish on the colder side. The temperature is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is around 35%. He immediately has made a burrow on the hot side and has webbed the whole bottom of the aquarium. He is also drinking a lot of water. Hopefully he is happy. The one thing that is odd is that he is drinking water excessively (small water dish every 5 minutes or so as long as its full). Do you think this is because he is webbing so much?

Howdy..could you describe the drinking behavior more thoroughly please? How large is he and how much does he drink? Pictures would help also..

 

[steelerandrew]

He is small, i'd say two inches across (including legs). He seems to hover over the dish and and as he is hovering the water level goes down drastically. He has made a web mat over the entirety of the bottom of the 10 gallon tank and made a burrow in one corner where the webbing is thicker. He has done this in less than a day so i am assuming that making the webbing is water intensive but I'm new to owning tarantulas so I don't really know. He seems to be draining the bowl in a couple minutes and goes back to his burrow. He then comes back out after a few minutes and drinks it again. He drained three small dishes(smallest water dish I could buy at the pet store -5 ml maybe?) in 5 minutes and acted like he wanted more yesterday. I'll post pics when I get home from work.

 

[MassExodus]

He is small, i'd say two inches across (including legs). He seems to hover over the dish and and as he is hovering the water level goes down drastically. He has made a web mat over the entirety of the bottom of the 10 gallon tank and made a burrow in one corner where the webbing is thicker. He has done this in less than a day so i am assuming that making the webbing is water intensive but I'm new to owning tarantulas so I don't really know. He seems to be draining the bowl in a couple minutes and goes back to his burrow. He then comes back out after a few minutes and drinks it again. He drained three small dishes(smallest water dish I could buy at the pet store -5 ml maybe?) in 5 minutes and acted like he wanted more yesterday. I'll post pics when I get home from work.

A rosea, drinking like that..at two inches dls..thats amazing..plus the webbing..I'll be looking forward to the pics. Also, you can give a spider a large dish, it won't drown. They very VERY rarely do that, unless there's something wrong with them...but rosea don't drink like that, unless they're starving..Pics please! Thanks.

 

[steelerandrew]

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

I read somewhere that I should wait to feed him for about a week after adoption. Was going to get some gut loaded large meal-worms from local big box pet store. Whats your thoughts on this, should I wait? He had a cricket in with him in his enclosure at the pet store but I wanted to wait. I noticed he had webbed his small enclosure at the pet store prior to purchase. maybe he is ready to molt?

 

[steelerandrew]

No,
I thought maybe his webbing might be absorbing the water so i remove it and clean it before filling. No webbing or substrate absorbing the water and he is drinking it too quickly for evaporation.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Redacted]

Yes, pictures please, including a good one that shows his/her abdomen and mouth, if possible. Easy if it climbs.

 

[SpiderDad61]

I thought fir sure it was substrate/webbing bundled and laying in the dish. This ALWAYS sponges water out of bowls. U say that's not the problem, so that's weird. A T that small.......or ANY T......doesn't drink like that. When's the last it ate? I kno u just got it, BUT if who had it beforehand didn't feed it in a long while it may need to eat. Ts get most of their water/moisture from the prey itself. If there's no prey, it might be drinking like a drunk at happy hour

 

[kormath]

Really odd for a rosea to drink like that. you said he's burrowed under the heat lamp side, I'm wondering if your drying him out and he's drinking to stay hydrated.

Heat lamps are good at that. you don't need one unless the room temp drops below 70 for extended periods

 

[Will]

Yeah, get rid of the lamp I reckon. Sounds like it's drying the enclosure out too much.

 

[MassExodus]

Never used a heatlamp, nor do I know anyone who does for a spider..

 

[Tomoran]

Definitely ditch that heat lamp! This is a species that does perfectly fine at room temps, even ones that dip into the 60s. Tarantulas tend to hug heat sources and dry out VERY quickly, often before they can get a drink and rehydrate.

As @MassExodus said, heat lamps are not safe for tarantulas. Unfortunately, many pet stores will sell them as the employees are ignorant to proper tarantula care (or, they just want to sell you more things).

 

[SpiderDad61]

People don't realize it but a T can handle harsher temperature conditions than expected. No heat lamp is needed. If ur home dips below 60, then get a mini space heater and heat up the ambient temp in the entire room, thus raising the Ts enclosure.

 

[steelerandrew]

 

[steelerandrew]

 

[MassExodus]

Can you inspect the mouth and butt of the spider? A rosea drinking that heavily indicates a problem somewhere..look for tiny bugs or white substance in the mouth and anus.

 

[MassExodus]

Also it looks like it could use a hide or some kind of cover, it may be stressed out in a bare enclosure.

 

[steelerandrew]

No discharge, I think the pet store had him dehydrated. A small log from the pet store or what?

 

[Redacted]

No discharge, I think the pet store had him dehydrated. A small log from the pet store or what?

A 1/2-buried plastic pot will do the trick.

 

[BLUE BEAUTY]

red solo cups work well too