Yipee! gettin my first T!

[kirsty smith]

I know its not a lot to other people,but ive got a chile rose reserved & im picking her(?) up at the weekend (After i get my tank set up first!) im soooo excited. A big thank-you to Elaine for giving me the shop details. I just hope every one will put up with the many questions!! WHOOPEEE!

[Phil Rea]

Now you've done it Kirsty

One becomes two, then three etc......

Congratulations, and enjoy your new spider

[James Box]

G rosea's are what i personally would recommend to a beginner, based on my experiences with them so far! lovely little things. beautiful to look at, a bit of personality, and *usually* very docile. mine are really calm, though others have had other experiences!

[Louise~Nichols]

Congratulations Kirsty!! I'm so pleased for you...bet you're buzzing with excitement now.
We'll love helping you with queries...it's a pleasure to help others learn and enjoy their beasties! Let us know when she/he is home with you.

[Colin D Wilson]

I know its not a lot to other people

Actually you'll be surprised how many people have bought rosea as their first spider or consider them their favorite in their collection.
I think they are really underestimated and make a fabulous addition.

Congratulations on your first (but as Phil says...not your last) purchase.

Colin

[Toran Tanner]

I agree with colin on this one but will bump it up a notch they are my favourite and are very very underrated. I wish more people would see how great they really are. you have choosen good on picking one up. hope you enjoy.

[James Box]

fully in agreement with Toran and Colin on rosea's! i'll for one say they're at least not the same old B smithi that everyone and their grandma's orthodontic surgeon has.
my first t's were C darlingi (haha! nice beginner species), but as both were males they didn't last too long. after that i got my two G rosea juvies and have loved them ever since.

[Peter Roach]

Actually you'll be surprised how many people have bought rosea as their first spider or consider them their favorite in their collection.

So much so that I've now got 4 of 'em

[Pam Turner]

Congrats Kirsty, and as is said on ATS; Welcome to the Addiction!!

A year ago I had one (also a rosea): now I have 12 Ts, plus a gorgeous Carolina Wolf spider (biggest US species)!! Addiction indeed, but a very fun one, and good for the health of the addictee. LOL.

[Peter Lacey]

Congrats Kirsty, good to hear you found a local shop, couldn't find the original link I had, sorry. Looking forward to hearing your experiences and stories.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

I know its not a lot to other people,but ive got a chile rose reserved & im picking her(?) up at the weekend (After i get my tank set up first!) im soooo excited. ...

Congratulations and welcome to the hobby!

Now let's get down to business. Before you set up that cage, visit www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html for an insight into caring for it.

1. Don't believe anything that the pet shop told you unless it's confirmed here! Pet shops have an abysmal track record in this respect (Does the phrase "Can't find their own behinds with both hands and a road map" mean anything to you?), and most absolutely can't be trusted.

2. Chilean roses hate moisture and dampness. They want their cage bone dry. Just supply them a water dish so they can get a drink when they need it. It's okay to put your rose on damp substrate when you first set up its cage, but after that let it dry out completely. Don't even keep a small portion of the substrate moist around the water dish. Don't mist!

Later, because it's winter and the relative humidity can sometimes get too low even for a rose, if you see it standing on the water dish a lot, or even soaking its behind in the water, you can cover the entire open part of the cage with plastic food wrap to raise the humidity into the acceptable range. Otherwise don't worry about it.

3. Chilean roses, like almost all other tarantulas really don't care a lot about temperature. They'll do just fine at any temperature you're comfortable at. You don't need a thermometer. You don't need a heat pad. You don't need to turn your home's temperature up to accommodate it.

4. Your rose is going to spend the first week or so hanging from the walls of its new cage, not resting on the substrate. Not to worry. They spend almost all their time hanging from the walls of their burrows in nature, and it takes time to come to terms with a world that's mostly horizontal, not vertical.

5. It's just experienced an alien abduction, but hasn't the intellect to appreciate it. It's been ripped out of its nice comfy burrow in Chile, shipped thousands of miles, kept for weeks in a filthy deli cup, been mishandled, not fed, probably barely watered.

It's now been dropped into a completely unfamiliar place (your cage). There are no close fitting, retaining walls that it can lean against or feel safe in. The smell is different. The lighting is weird. There are vague, weird shapes moving around it. There is a barrage of completely unfathomable vibrations washing over it all day long. It's disoriented and suffering horrendous anxiety attacks.

So, DON'T FEED IT! It doesn't need to be stampeded by a herd of rowdy crickets. It needs peace and quiet so it can meditate (tarantulas do a LOT of meditating!) and come to terms with its new lifestyle. Maybe in a week or ten days you can drop in six (and ONLY SIX!) crickets. That will be its monthly ration, and even then you'll be overfeeding it!

6. Once you get it in its new cage, DON'T MESS WITH IT! Don't allow any of your friends or family members to drop by to gawk at it except at a great distance. Let it settle down for a few days first.

Remember - From the tarantula's perspective, we're the little green eyed men with bug eyes and no genitalia!



Enjoy your confused tarantula!

[James Box]

another highly entertaining and informative post, Stan!

[Colin D Wilson]

James,

I don't know about you but i think Stan should consider writing a book, maybe along the lines of tarantula keeping, might even sell a few copies if it's published

What do you think?

[James Box]

you know something, Colin...that's a bloody good idea!

[Stanley A. Schultz]

James,

I don't know about you but i think Stan should consider writing a book, maybe along the lines of tarantula keeping, might even sell a few copies if it's published

What do you think?

you know something, Colin...that's a bloody good idea!

Guys (and Gals), I'd gladly consider it, but I've already got this book writing project with a deadline in April that I'm not going to complete in time if I don't stop spending so much time on these forums. (Guide³ will theoretically by on the market about next Christmas).

Thanks for your support!