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He spends all his time above ground: not good, right?

He has grown to his full size I think. I've had him about 1 1/2 years. He is amazingly beautiful. He hasn't shed in quite a while; should he still be shedding? He gets water from a dinner plate that I buried to ground level. Sometimes he just stands stock-still in the 1/4" water.

Heating: He has a 100 watt CHE in an aluminum fixture, warming one end of his habitat. Sometimes he stands in the hottest spot in the tank. Mostly he hangs close to the 78F at the cool end. Are my temperatures OK?

Despite his reputation for being mellow, he postures at me, and pounces to try to bite my hand, every time I try to pick him up. I try once every two months or so.

clffdvr

>>He spends all his time above ground: not good, right?

Sounds normal for a full grown spider.

>>He has grown to his full size I think. I've had him about 1 1/2 years. He is amazingly beautiful. He hasn't shed in quite a while; should he still be shedding?

At full size, molting is once a year. Is he mature? Are you positive on the sex?

>>Heating: He has a 100 watt CHE in an aluminum fixture, warming one end of his habitat. Sometimes he stands in the hottest spot in the tank. Mostly he hangs close to the 78F at the cool end. Are my temperatures OK?

Not sure what your hot end temp is, but it is probably OK. 78 is maybe a little high for the cool end, but as long as the light shuts off at night and it cools down then, it should be ok. My tanks are around 70-75.

>>Despite his reputation for being mellow, he postures at me, and pounces to try to bite my hand, every time I try to pick him up. I try once every two months or so.

Some are just like that. Each has their own temperment. I had a G. rosea that behaved the exact same way. It took about 6 months befor eI was able to hold her.
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KJ Vezino
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Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

Thank you, Vez. You're the backbone of this forum, and I'm always glad to hear from you. I can't contribute here because my knowledge about various T. species and their needs is zero. I guess I just don't have a high enough interest level. My main interest about spiders is to know how to keep my own T. in an environment that is good enough to keep him healthy all his life. I use one or two CHE's to make the warm end. I also found out that not all care-sheets are accurate.

The reason I don't always know the temperature of the warm (hot) end is because I place the thermostat sensor at the cool end, and actively keep the temperature there a little lower than recommended. That way, my animals can get a little cool if they want, or as a part of it's immune system it can bake at the warm end to kill infections. I make all my temp gradients the same way. Directly under the CHE's it's 20 to thirty or so degrees too hot. He doesn't need to hang out right there if he doesn't want to. If the animal moves over about a foot, he's away from the heat source and is entering it's comfort zone. I use real good thermostats to set the cool side of the tank at exactly five degrees too cool. That results in a temperature gradiant that has a hot spot in case the creature' immune system needs to kill an infection by inducing an exo-fever, and a slightly too cool cool end if he want's to chill out for some reason. It's a real good clue about it's health if it suddenly greatly alters it's usual heating and cooling patterns.

Your question: I do not know which sex he is. Do I need to know this, so I can meet his/her special needs better? Is gravidity dangerous for female Red-Kneed's like it is for female iguanas? I assume she is mature because more than enough time has passed.

BTW, my T uses both temp extremes regularly (except now I have to lower the cool side temperature). But I watch him real closely when he camps out under the heaters.

Sorry this is so long.

Regards, clffdvr

No, the sex is not important for how you care for it. And yes, 99% of all caresheets suck. There are written so specifically based on one circumstance and don't apply to an average at all.

It is quite easy to tell from your post that you are big into reptiles, because you are caring for your T like it is a reptile. You're not doing anything wrong, but in my opinion you are overdoing it. Their requirements are not as stringent as reptiles. But if it works for you then go for it.

With invertebrates, overcare will kill more pets than undercare.
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KJ Vezino
My Gallery
Missouri Tarantula Enthusiasts Group

Hi, i'm sorry for this late answer on this post , this is actualy the first time i come to the tarrantula forum on this website.

I have read this whole thread before writing this message and i simply wanted to confirm what Vez said about the temperature and lightings.

I do care for my tarrantula alot, he's my little buddy hehe. I like taking him out of his container and handle him a little while i watch TV and stuff. I'm only saying this because i do try to give him everything he needs for his confort but i never realy did give him any special lighting and/or temperature and he's a very healthy little guy.

And i know he's happy in there cuz he never tryed to escape and he does have a couple of favorite spots . And the other day, i opened his container to give him some fresh water and i totally forgot to put the screen back on top . I then went back into my bedroom for at least 3 hours and i only realised i had left the enclosure open after all that time and guess what, my little friend was still inside. Now of course i do not recommend leaving your container open lol. I know that a part of this was luck .

Now i said all this because all he has is a 10 gallons fish tank with a screen to cover the top. No special lights or heaters . Just room temperature. And to be honest, i never open any lights in my house so it's always dark and i live in a basement so windows are very small and don't let alot of light come in during the day. Now of course i gave him fake plants, a half wooden log like the ones they sell at the pet store and another thing that i bought at the store. I don't know how to call that last thing but it serves as a climbing surface since Mine is an Arboreal species. Just like your Red knee .

I also gave him about 3 inches of coconut fiber substrate but i know he doesn't require that much since he only comes down to feed and then climbs back on something after lunch. So unless your T. is a burrower, substrate will only serve to kill bad smells and also , the tarrantula might use some of it to mix with her own silk when she builds her web to molt.

Sorry about the very long post, i know you probably knew some or most of everything i said but just in case you were still unsure about a few things, this message could possibly help

Have a nice day

Krawll