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It has been about a month now with my new G. Rose, and it(still not sure on sex) has been doing great(eating very well).

First, specs of the tank are as follows: 10gallon long, bed-a-beast substrate about 2-3inches deep, two plastic plants, a water dish, and a plastic log.

1) It almost never uses the hide spot. I've heard about tarantulas not liking a particular substrate, so I moved one leaf of one of the plastic plants (it likes to sit on the leaves) into the hide and on top of the substrate, but still, I never see it using the hide. It just prefers to sit on top of the hide instead of inside. During the day, it just kind of plants itself wherever and hangs out for a while. Is this normal? Is there something wrong with my setup that is not promoting the use of the hide?

2) One day I was trying to do some maintenance. I have yet to hold my tarantula, mostly because of primeval fear, but I have no problem working in the proximity of it. I just flinch whenever it suddenly moves. For the most part, this is because the first week I got it, I was trying to get it to move forward a little by poking it gently in the back leg with a long stick, and it just turned around and lunged at the stick. It got me spooked, and deterred me from dreams of holding it. I think I just spooked it, and then it spooked me. Is there a safe way to get it out of the tank and then hold it without it getting spooked? When I have to do maintenance, I usually end up placing a deli-cup over it and scooping it out. Any handling tips that would allow me to safely handle it? (I realize getting bit is also a possibility. I will sign the "waiver" and take the chance. I just want to be able to minimize the possibility when I am reaching in the tank)

3) I feed my tarantula two large crickets a week. Should I feed it more? It devours the crickets within minutes. Also, how often should I completely change the substrate? I spot clean when it poops and change the water dish a few times a week. Is there any other maintenance I should be doing?

And I am sure it actually hates the daylight. I try to keep it in a room that gets little of it, but up until the nighttime, the room does get a lot of artificial light.

Thanks a lot for any help!

>>1) It almost never uses the hide spot. Is this normal? Is there something wrong with my setup that is not promoting the use of the hide?

Absolutely Normal. Some never use their hide. Your tank setup sounds fine, just let it do whatever it want and don't worry about it.If it was me, I'd add another 3 inches or so of substrate to redude the effective height of the cage (for safety) but it is probably OK.

>>2) Is there a safe way to get it out of the tank and then hold it without it getting spooked? When I have to do maintenance, I usually end up placing a deli-cup over it and scooping it out. Any handling tips that would allow me to safely handle it?

The delicup method is what I use. I usually use somethign to prod it into the delicup and then put the lid on it. I've found that once the T is out of their cage, they are less defensive and less likely to 'spook'. Once you get it in the delicup you can let it crawl out of the delicup onto your hands. Just be sittign low to the floor when you do it, in case you flinch and it falls.

>>3) I feed my tarantula two large crickets a week. Should I feed it more?

Nope, no more than 2 a week. That is a fine feeding schedule.

>>Also, how often should I completely change the substrate? I spot clean when it poops and change the water dish a few times a week. Is there any other maintenance I should be doing?

I never completely change the substrate. I've got one tank that is going on 5 years. Spot cleaning is enough. The only time I change substrate is if I am rehousing a spider to a leager enclosure, or if I have a high humidity tankl that gets a mold or a pest problem. But a G. rosea tank is not a high humidity tank and you should never have those issues.
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KJ Vezino
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