Newbie Questions...

[nubka]

Hi everyone - I am new here! My husband have just taken in a two year old female Chilean Rose from a lady that moved and couldn't take her along. We have experience with ball pythons, corn snakes, and bearded dragons, but not with T's.

First of all, is two years old considered to be an adult? Secondly, what size crickets should I give her? We buy large ones for our beardies, but the small crickets are soooo tiny, so I'm not sure what to do. Also, we feed our beardies super worms - would those work, or would meal worms be better?

We have had her with us for eight days now, and are keeping her in a dimly lit area of our bedroom. How long should we wait before offering food? She is in a nice, cozy tank with two hides, a tiny water dish, a mesh lid and an overhead pink light bulb that gives off very little warmth. Should we use the light at all, or is it stressful for her?

So far, she moves about quite a bit, and seems to favor one of the hides over the other. According to her last owner, she has only molted once. Does that sound about right? She was never handled, so would it be ok for me to work with her at some point, or having gone this long with no handling, would it just be too stressful for her?

Sorry for all these questions, but we try our best to provide healthy environments & care for our other reptiles, and want to do the same for Miss Evelyn. Thanks!

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Hello and welcome. I'll try to answer some of your questions:

• Sexual maturity in tarantulas is determined more by size than age. They can grow at vastly different rates and for a wide variety of reasons, so two years old doesn't give us enough info. How long is your tarantula if you measure diagonally from the longest front leg to the longest back leg? Once your tarantula molts, it will be easier to get a more precise measurement. You can guesstimate it on a live spider though.
• The crickets should be no bigger than the tarantula's carapace. Sometimes called the thorax, cephalothorax, or more correctly labeled: the prosoma. Mealworms or super worms can be a little longer than that.
• Eight days is plenty long enough to settle in. Try to feed her tonight or tomorrow.
• A picture of the enclosure would help us to give you better tips. What size is it? What substrate? Is the substrate damp or dry?
• What is the ambient temperature in the room where the tarantula is being kept? Unless your house is unusually cold, they should not need any heat sources. I wouldn't use that bulb. They can be quite dangerous and usually serve to dry the spider out. Normal comfortable room temp should be sufficiently warm, unless you are an Eskimo and live in an igloo. Are you an Eskimo?
• One molt in two years for a young spider? No. That does not sound right.
• About handling: It is generally discouraged. There is zero benefit for the spider, but substantial risk. If you want to do it anyway, proceed with caution and do it in a safe area down on the floor. Have catch cups, a chopstick for prodding, and a cardboard blocker at the ready.

Please feel free to ask lots more questions. We are here to talk tarantulas and your questions will fuel the conversation.

 

[nubka]

Thank you for responding. I'll try to answer as best I can.

As far as we can tell (and I did have a ruler out,) she is somewhere between 3 - 3 1/2 inches.

The room temp is at 72 degrees.

The enclosure is an Exo Terra Nano Terrarium 8" L x 8" W x 12" H. Seems rather cramped. I am planning to buy her something new this week as soon as I know what size tank she should be in. Maybe 5.5 gallons, or would 10 gallons be too big?

I'm not sure about the substrate, but it is definitely on the sandy/crushed walnut/dirt side. It looks to be about 2 - 3 inches deep, very dry, and very packed - is it somewhat normal for this spider to want to burrow? I have been reading on-line, but am finding varied responses to this. I don't think she could burrow in what she has now.

She has two hides, a plastic plant, and a small water dish.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Arachnoclown]

3.5" sitting there relaxed is probably close to a 5" T. Sounds like she maybe a adult T if the previous owner only experienced one molt with her. Her age is alot more then two years old. Your temps are perfect but it sounds like you have her in a arboreal enclosure. She would be best in something long and shallow. I like the zoomed creature glass tanks. They are 8"high 10.5"wide and 20.5" long.
https://zoomed.com/creatures-creature-den-low-profile/

 

[nubka]

3.5" sitting there relaxed is probably close to a 5" T. Sounds like she maybe a adult T if the previous owner only experienced one molt with her. Her age is alot more then two years old. Your temps are perfect but it sounds like you have her in a arboreal enclosure. She would be best in something long and shallow. I like the zoomed creature glass tanks. They are 8"high 10.5"wide and 20.5" long.
https://zoomed.com/creatures-creature-den-low-profile/

I like that tank!

 

[Arachnoclown]

I like that tank!

I've got one...I think it was $40 with all the stuff shown in the add. It's all junk but the soil is decent. It's more then enough room for most terrestrial Ts plus it's not so tall.

 

[Solsurfer]

Rosehairs (Grammostola rosea) are known for fasting for long periods of time especially wild caught adults. It coincides with seasons in their natural habitat . I'm not an expert on G. rosea but I think they can/will refuse food for like a year or more but 6 months per year is common" I think". The larger and older the spider probably the longer it can or will go without food. Always make sure it has water in a dish especially if it's not eating. I just wanted to let you know about that so you don't worry when/If it fasts.

 

[nubka]

Thanks, that is good to know! When I first had my ball python, I had no idea about brumation/going off of eating, etc. I was so worried for six months because he wouldn't eat, especially when he started loosing weight. Now I understand, but there is a little part of me that still doesn't like it when they won't eat - I guess we just worry about our "kids" lol!

 

[nubka]

Finally, my girl, Evelyn, ate a cricket today - yea!! She came to us in mid-September, and I had had no luck at all trying to get her to eat. I knew that grammostola rosea could (like ball pythons) go for months on end without eating. so I was trying not to worry too much, but I'm so glad that she finally took something! Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but her abdomen looked like it was getting smaller lately - if they start to loose weight, is that where it shows?

 

[Enn49]

@nubka That's great news, such a relief
I'm guessing from your comment regarding Royal Pythons (Ball) fasting that you keep one, mine can be a real pain with his on-off feeding.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Many tarantulas find roaches like Dubai or red runners to be irresistible.

Some reptiles also might appreciate them as well.

As far as nutrition goes, roaches are said to be very good. Once I started using them, I noticed a distinct increase in growth in all of them that was hard to deny.

 

[nubka]

@nubka That's great news, such a relief
I'm guessing from your comment regarding Royal Pythons (Ball) fasting that you keep one, mine can be a real pain with his on-off feeding.

The first winter that we had our ball python, I was SO worried because he just stopped eating. He usually goes from November to April/May without eating. Now that I know it is normal behavior, I don't worry about it any more. Once all our snakes and beardies stop eating, we wait for about two weeks to make sure that they go to bathroom and are empty. Then we cover the window with a blanket, turn off the heater and lights, close the door, and off to brumation land they go, lol! I usually check every few day to make sure that the have clean water, and that's about it until spring comes.

 

[nubka]

Many tarantulas find roaches like Dubai or red runners to be irresistible.

Some reptiles also might appreciate them as well.

As far as nutrition goes, roaches are said to be very good. Once I started using them, I noticed a distinct increase in growth in all of them that was hard to deny.

Our male beardie loves dubia roaches - yum yum!

 

[Enn49]

The first winter that we had our ball python, I was SO worried because he just stopped eating. He usually goes from November to April/May without eating. Now that I know it is normal behavior, I don't worry about it any more. Once all our snakes and beardies stop eating, we wait for about two weeks to make sure that they go to bathroom and are empty. Then we cover the window with a blanket, turn off the heater and lights, close the door, and off to brumation land they go, lol! I usually check every few day to make sure that the have clean water, and that's about it until spring comes.

My worst experience of winter fasting was when someone gave me 2 male Hognoses, they ate the 1st couple of feeds then fasted, one for 7 months, the other 9 months. I'd never kept them before and had seen nothing about their fast habits and I really panicked but they were fine.

 

[Dave Jay]

Finally, my girl, Evelyn, ate a cricket today - yea!! She came to us in mid-September, and I had had no luck at all trying to get her to eat. I knew that grammostola rosea could (like ball pythons) go for months on end without eating. so I was trying not to worry too much, but I'm so glad that she finally took something! Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but her abdomen looked like it was getting smaller lately - if they start to loose weight, is that where it shows?

It is a relief, although we say not to worry you never quite know if there's something wrong, especially if you haven't had the spider long.
To answer your question, the abdomen is where "weight" is stored . As long as the abdomen is tight and plump there is no danger of starvation or dehydration , we use it as a guide.

 

[nubka]

My worst experience of winter fasting was when someone gave me 2 male Hognoses, they ate the 1st couple of feeds then fasted, one for 7 months, the other 9 months. I'd never kept them before and had seen nothing about their fast habits and I really panicked but they were fine.

Wow - 9 months is a long time! I saw a beautiful hognose at a reptile expo last month, but almost came home with a Brazilian Black T. I resisted temptation (but had planned to definitely buy one next spring,) when my husband saw an ad for a female Chaco Golden Knee T for $40.00. Needless to say, "Inez" now lives with us, so the Brazilian Black will have to wait. Inez was born in 2012, and is quite a big girl. She hasn't eaten for us yet, but I suspect that she might be getting ready to molt...

 

[nubka]

Inez molted today. Took about 3.5 hours from beginning to end. She is now right-side-up and looking very fluffy and pretty! The molt came off in perfect shape, so I was able to get a good measurement - 6.5 inches.