Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Good morning all. This is my first post to this forum and my first tarantula. I bought a rose hair from a trusted shop two days ago. The dealer was fairly sure it is a female. It is in a 2 1/2 gallon tank. As soon as I put her into the tank she moved to one side and hasn't moved since. I am sure she is alive because from time to time I can see that a leg is in a slightly different position. Any advice will be welcomeed. Thanks.

Welcome to the wonderful world of tarantula keeping. Your Chilean rose or Grammostola rosea is a great starter pet. As far as her disposition, she's probaly just a little stressed form the move and the new enclosure. Give her a week or two of quite and no disturbaces and she should calm down. What is your setup like? What type of substrate are you using?

I wouldn't really trust the pet stores assesment of the Ts sex just yet. I have received 2 guaranteed females form pet stores and both ended up being male. Unless they keep a lot of Ts themselves they probably don't know for sure.
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KJ Vezino
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Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

Thanks for the reply. I am useing shredded coconut shells as a substright. She is already moving a little more. How worried should I be about tempature? I live in a motor home and travel all over. Rihgt now I am in California and the motor home gets down to 58-60 degrees.

For the cocunut bedding, are you using the fine coconut coir stuff like bed-a-beast or eco-earth? or are you using the chunky stuff that kinda looks like bits of wood chips? You definitely want the coconut coir and not the chunky stuff.

As for temps, 60 is about the lowest you want to go. If that is just your nightime low and you get back up to say 70 or so in the day then you're fine.

You can use a low watt bulb on top of the tank or a reptile heat mat on the side of the tank to help with heat, but both methods will reduce the humdity, the light bulb more so.

Interesting that you travel in an RV with a T. I have an online aquaintance who also travels in an RV but has several
Ts. Their home is nicknamed T-mobile. I believe the are or at least were just in CA.
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KJ Vezino
My Gallery
Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

I am not useing the woody stuff. I bought a heating mat and it seems to be working fine. It seems that in the motor home wourld you must have a dog or cat or some kind of pet. I got tired fo everyone telling me I need to get a dog or something so when I found a tarantula I decided to keep it. As it turned out the one I found was a male and it died the first of November. I found it so interesting that I wanted to get another one and stay with it.

Cool. Most Ts you find out wandering in the wild are mature males. They don't live long. Good luck with your G. rosea. I hope it's a female and you get to have it for a very long time.
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KJ Vezino
My Gallery
Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group