Question on spider please.

Hi new user here I have a question please. I have a Chilean Rose here, adult, she's quite big. How long does it take them to eat a superworm? Last night it took her like 4 hours to finish it. Had me worried. I know they make their food into a slurpy type meal, but is this normal? Thank you.

I wouldn't worry too much about how long it takes them to finish food. doesn't really amount to much and rosies do a lot of things slow. Welcome to the forum and the hobby.

A few pointers

*Try and use scientific names whenever possible (as in your T is a Grammastola rosea)

*Try to use the search feature and do some of your own research before asking questions (a lot of us fall into that trap in the beggining, including myself)

* Realize that some of the more experience keepers on here are straightforward and to the point, so don't take anything said to heart if they seem firm and direct.

*When asking certain questions where a pic might help, be a dear and post us a pic. (It helps us help you)

*Have fun and enjoy the hobby, respect it, live long and prosper

Damon

Do you have Stan Schultz's book, third edition? It'll answer a lot of those questions.

Thank you for the reply. Why are people so stern on here? Theres no need to be, we are all humans trying to help eachother out no?

---------- Post added 10-10-2014 at 01:36 PM ----------

Poec54 said:

Do you have Stan Schultz's book, third edition? It'll answer a lot of those questions.

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Hi, no I don't but will look into it. Thank you.

Thanks so much! I tried googeling it last night and nothing came up. I reworded it and everything lol I was just concerned is all. She pounced on it but them took her half the night to eat it. Thank you for the help, I appreciate it.

Ikhowvanyow said:

Thank you for the reply. Why are people so stern on here? Theres no need to be, we are all humans trying to help eachother out no?

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I have no clue :S Maybe its the same reason metal people are assholes to one another; to see if you have a genuine interest or if you're just another poseur who's only getting into it because its "in". But like when metal people do it, all it does is discourage people with a genuine interest and prevent the group from growing

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2

Lol, I'm too damn old to be a poser...sigh lol

Welcome to the hobby/addiction, iknowvanyow.

As has been stated, don't worry about how long it takes your rosea to eat. Trust me when I say that you will be very greateful to actually SEE it eat, because there will be times when it DOESN"T eat for 4-6 months (completely normal, by the way) that you'll want to rip your hair out in worry (I have two adult females). Thankfully, the G. rosea is about the only species that will fast that long.

Welcome aboard Arachnoboards, fellow Canadian & tarantula enthusiast. Don't be shy, we're all here to help, and as Poec54 said, try and get the latest copy of the Tarantula Keeper's Guide and read it...know it...live it.

Ikhowvanyow said:

Thanks so much! I tried googeling it last night and nothing came up. I reworded it and everything lol I was just concerned is all. She pounced on it but them took her half the night to eat it. Thank you for the help, I appreciate it.

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I wasn't implying your question had been asked before....just sayin. At least you tried first and honestly.....don't think I've seen that question before. You just said you were new, so I thought I'd give you some newb pointers. I have T's that take that long to eat a dubia......to answer your question directly. I also have a 5 year old daughter who takes that long to eat broccoli. Google can't answer everything and usually the search results will bring you right on back here anyways....lol. And I guess Driller64 has a point too with the whole weeding out the people who aren't serious about this husbandry. I could comfortably say that the majority of active members on this forum take this hobby very seriously, as it has been threatened with legislation in some states, and idiots doing dumb crap on youtube with T's or careless keeping resulting in injuries bring our hobby into a negative light and that could someday hinder the thing we all love. Respect the T's, respect the forum, and respect the users who help and all will be fine on your end. Again, welcome!

Driller....I just realized you live 45 minutes from me.

Ikhowvanyow said:

Hi new user here ...

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Ah, ha! Did you hear that? That was the newbie alarm! :biggrin:


WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!

WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!


Please don't be offended. Tarantulas have been around for several hundreds of millions of years, and have been evolving and fine tuning their lifestyles steadily, seemingly almost forever. So, we're all playing catch-up here, and in a sense we will be newbies for a long time to come.

I strongly urge you to go to the Spiders, Calgary webtree and start reading. At least scan through the entire website, picking out topics that catch your attention, but be sure to read the following webpages. (Even experienced aficionados can sometimes benefit from a little review.)

STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION. No, you start out with the RIGHT foot first.

STAN'S RANT. Read as many of the books mentioned here as you can find.

MYTH WEBTREE. How did we ever get into this mess?

CARE SHEETS: THE MOTHER OF ALL MYTHS. How to avoid both going crazy and killing your spider at the same time.

TEMPERATURE. You may suffer hot flashes or cold chills but your tarantula doesn't.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY. You've been lied to!

GROWING YOUR OWN. No, we're talking about tarantulas here, not the other "stuff."

CARE AND HUSBANDRY OF THE CHILEAN ROSE TARANTULA. The pièce de résistance for everybody who has a Grammostola rosea.

SUBSTRATE. Getting to the bottom of it all.

The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot, LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for ABSOLUTELY FREE if you read that website and take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.

Ikhowvanyow said:

... I have a Chilean Rose here, adult, she's quite big. How long does it take them to eat a superworm? Last night it took her like 4 hours to finish it. Had me worried. I know they make their food into a slurpy type meal, but is this normal? ...

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Perfectly normal. No, the superworm won't turn to a slurpy type meal. There's a lot of fibrous, indigestible stuff in it and the entire process is rather slow. And, all the while the tarantula is crushing all that bug up it's alternately regurgitating digestive fluids onto it and sucking up the resulting liquid.

In addition, the tarantula has some things called coxal glands that open at the bases of its legs. While it's eating, the experts think that these glands are secreting some sort of liquid that may be analogous to our saliva. This liquid moves along the folds in the tarantula's armor towards the mouth, presumably by capillary action, and moistens the food bolus (the mushed up superworm in your case). At the very least, this helps to keep the food bolus moist in spite of the constant sucking of the excess fluids as the tarantula drinks. It may also rinse the digested food elements out of the bolus so the tarantula can suck them up more easily. It may also contain dissolved digestive enzymes or possess other properties that aid the external digestion of the food. (An analogous situation is the secretion of acid in our stomachs to unravel complex proteins so the digestive enzymes in our stomachs can work on them more easily. But nobody knows for sure if this really happens with spiders.)

Think about that for a moment: THESE CREATURES DROOL THROUGH THEIR ARMPITS!

Because this entire process is rather slow (it's operating at room temperature, not 98.6° F / 37° C) and because the tarantula really has little else to be in a big hurry about, the feeding process can last for the better part of a day. No worries, mate.

The end result is a dry-ish little pellet of chewed up, superworm exoskeleton that often resembles a small clod of substrate so closely that many novices can't even recognize it.

Now you know.


Best of luck. Hope this helps.


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We all need to learn to view the world from the perspective of a large, fuzzy spider!
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---------- Post added 10-10-2014 at 05:21 PM ----------

Ikhowvanyow said:

... Why are people so stern on here? Theres no need to be, we are all humans trying to help eachother out no? ...

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I've been monitoring this and about a half dozen other mailing lists and forums for a couple of decades and I notice a few common aspects of the medium and the exchanges that take place.

First, yes there are a small percentage of people who got up on the wrong side of the bed. Life is tough. And if you keep your bed against the wall, it can hurt. On other days and in a different setting these can be the nicest friends you've got. The rest of us shrug, roll with the punches, and carry on in spite of the odd terse comment. (The one outstanding exception is me. When I hear of something like the shallow twit who thinks it's cute to keep a male and female Chilean rose together so they can watch the antics he goes through to court the female without being eaten, I suffer a global melt-down.)

Then there's the problem of the limitations of the medium. All the while that such a seemingly stern individual is lecturing you, they're smiling and trying to be friendly and helpful. But, you can't see the smile or perhaps appreciate the subtle irony in the joke. We have smilies, :biggrin:, to help; but can you imagine how difficult it would be :laugh: to understand anything if we had to communicate :giggle: on this forum like this? Non-starter, right?

But it doesn't stop there. I and a bunch of other people (well, maybe just one or two) are frustrated school teachers. I won't go into the background behind that, but have you ever sat through a college level physics or calculus lecture? The lecturer is a great person on the street. Has a family including a dog. Scout leader. Saving lives and helping all sorts of people as a part time paramedic and firefighter on weekends and when they're not teaching. But, as a physics or calculus teacher, they're all business. Their primary purpose isn't to entertain you, it's to teach you a difficult topic. You want entertainment, turn on your TV. You want social interaction, join a club. You want an answer to your question, that's what you're gonna get here.

Yes it's stern, direct, all business. But the topic of proper tarantula care is not an easy thing to teach, any more than physics or calculus, because these creatures have had a half billion years or more head start on us. And because we're feeding everything through a stream of electrons to people we've never seen before. Not sitting in the same room with and sharing a coffee with.

And then in all fairness, and not attempting to make any inferences or accusations, we can make the same statement about rudeness as we do about beauty: It often is in the eye of the beholder. Just as there is a very small percentage of people who have anal personalities, so too are there a very small percentage of people who have particularly fragile personalities, or who experience the world through especially depressing perspectives. No, I don't think that's you! But there are a few people like that. It's all part of being human.

The surest defense against stern, overbearing, anal personality types is to scan what they have to say to glean what little good you can extract, then hit the delete key or move to the next posting. It's a tough world out there. We all have to roll with the punches sometimes.

I leave you with a couple of philosophical snippets.


__________________________________

Relax. If you stress over your tarantula [or some other enthusiasts] it's gonna outlive YOU!

1) Go into the kitchen and grab your favorite cup, glass, mug, stein or flagon.

2) Fill it with your favorite beverage.

3) Slip a favorite CD in the player or crank up your iThingie.

4) Grab a small rug and go into the tarantula's room.

5) Put the rug in a convenient place on the floor and sit on it.

6) Do some Yoga.

WHAT!?!?!? YOU DON'T DO YOGA! Well, now's a good time to start. You need to learn to meditate with your tarantula. Tarantulas do a lot of meditating. Their Lotus Position is nothing short of unbelievable!

"...every little thing gonna be all right." Your tarantula is trying to teach you something. Learn from your tarantula. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

____________________________________________________________________

Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are secured in an upright position. Fasten your seat belt. Hold on tight. This is going to be one H*** of a ride!


Cheers, fundamentally, completely, truly ...

---------- Post added 10-10-2014 at 06:41 PM ----------

DamonVikki said:

... (we used to have a newbie alarm.....wonder what happened to it?). ...

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That was me. And, after I got into the actual editing process for TKG4 it became obvious that I couldn't do a proper job at both the editing and the newbie alarm thing at the same times. So, last Easter I hunkered down "on retreat" in a quiet, little, farming community in eastern Alberta (Rockyford), and concentrated on the book.

It's working except for one small problem. Rockyford is so quiet at night that it's scary! And, it's so isolated that it can get exceedingly boring to a city rat. There have been times when I simply got into the Equinox and drove the 100 miles (160 kms) round trip to Calgary just so I could eat at a sit-down restaurant with other, live people! My reappearance here, however brief, is also a direct result of the isolation and boredom.

Even so, the editing is going slower than I had hoped, and it looks like TKG4 won't be released until at least 2017. We'll just have to wait and see.


Why doesn't someone else pick up the ball in the interim? I don't hold a patent or copyright on the concept. I just wrote one up with all the codes and use it as a "boiler plate," editing it slightly to fit each circumstance. So simple! (Simple is almost always better.)

Here's how you do it if you're using Win 7 on a PC under Mozilla Firefox (if you're using something else, the theory is the same but you'll have to improvise):

Find an instance where I've published it (e.g., Question on spider please.).

Click or right-click Reply With Quote (lower right corner).

When the posting appears on your screen, notice that you're looking at the actual code. That means that you can see and edit all the (really simple) formatting commands to accomplish what you want. Also note that while it may look a little complex, it's still only in basic ASCII text. There are no weird characters or code sequences. (Well, sort of.)

Click somewhere in the editing window.

Press <Ctrl> A. This highlights/blocks off the entire posting with all its formatting codes.

Press <Ctrl> C. This copies everything that you've highlighted into the Win 7 Clipboard. (This is just a section of memory that Win 7 uses for temporarily storing stuff you want to copy and paste, among other things.)

Run/open some sort of word processor/text editor. I use Notepad. It's included with all versions of Windows. (Get back to me if you don't know where or how to run the program.) If you want to use your favorite word processor, it's okay. Just remember that you need to "save as" your editing in ASCII format. Or, copy-and-paste directly from the word processor's screen. Otherwise all the truly arcane codes that your word processor secretly embeds (that you may never see) will mess everything up later.

Press <Ctrl> V in the editing space. All the text and codes that were in the original newbie welcome should automagically appear before your eyes. The formatting codes are enclosed in square brackets thus:

[noparse]STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION. No! You start out with the RIGHT foot first.[/noparse]

The codes (enclosed in square brackets) are described in BB Code List.

The basic template is [code1][code2][code3]Text that you want to appear.[/code3][/code2][/code1]. Note that the codes come in pairs, one starts a format, the other ends it. If you only want to change the wording, don't mess with anything inside the square brackets. Just change the text between the pairs.

If you want to change the way the text appears (its formatting) you'll need to change the codes. Looking for an instance of how I managed a particular format or even copying and pasting my code sequences (or even someone else's, for that matter) is considered fair and honest. No worries, mate.

Alright! The gauntlet has been cast! The challenge made! If you choose to accept this mission ...

Go for it!

Nothing is going to self-destruct anytime soon. Sorry.


____________________________________________________________________

Tarantulas think it's SSSOOOooo funny!

...watching you freak out like that!
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Okay, first try.

Ah, ha! Did you hear that? That was the newbie alarm! :biggrin:


WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!

WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!


Please don't be offended. Tarantulas have been around for several hundreds of millions of years, and have been evolving and fine tuning their lifestyles steadily, seemingly almost forever. So, we're all playing catch-up here, and in a sense we will be newbies for a long time to come.

I strongly urge you to go to the Spiders, Calgary webtree and start reading. At least scan through the entire website, picking out topics that catch your attention, but be sure to read the following webpages. (Even experienced aficionados can sometimes benefit from a little review.)

STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION. No, you start out with the RIGHT foot first.

STAN'S RANT. Read as many of the books mentioned here as you can find.

MYTH WEBTREE. How did we ever get into this mess?

CARE SHEETS: THE MOTHER OF ALL MYTHS. How to avoid both going crazy and killing your spider at the same time.

TEMPERATURE. You may suffer hot flashes or cold chills but your tarantula doesn't.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY. You've been lied to!

GROWING YOUR OWN. No, we're talking about tarantulas here, not the other "stuff."

CARE AND HUSBANDRY OF THE CHILEAN ROSE TARANTULA. The pièce de résistance for everybody who has a Grammostola rosea.

SUBSTRATE. Getting to the bottom of it all.

The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot, LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for ABSOLUTELY FREE if you read that website and take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.
color][/QUOTE]

---------- Post added 10-10-2014 at 10:22 PM ----------

Second try edited. I think I got it now. Torch passed....for now!

Ah, ha! Did you hear that? That was the newbie alarm! :biggrin:


WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!

WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!


Please don't be offended. Tarantulas have been around for several hundreds of millions of years, and have been evolving and fine tuning their lifestyles steadily, seemingly almost forever. So, we're all playing catch-up here, and in a sense we will be newbies for a long time to come.

I strongly urge you to go to the Spiders, Calgary webtree and start reading. At least scan through the entire website, picking out topics that catch your attention, but be sure to read the following webpages. (Even experienced aficionados can sometimes benefit from a little review.)

STAN'S NEWBIE INTRODUCTION. No, you start out with the RIGHT foot first.

STAN'S RANT. Read as many of the books mentioned here as you can find.

MYTH WEBTREE. How did we ever get into this mess?

CARE SHEETS: THE MOTHER OF ALL MYTHS. How to avoid both going crazy and killing your spider at the same time.

TEMPERATURE. You may suffer hot flashes or cold chills but your tarantula doesn't.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY. You've been lied to!

GROWING YOUR OWN. No, we're talking about tarantulas here, not the other "stuff."

CARE AND HUSBANDRY OF THE CHILEAN ROSE TARANTULA. The pièce de résistance for everybody who has a Grammostola rosea.

SUBSTRATE. Getting to the bottom of it all.

The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot, LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for ABSOLUTELY FREE if you read that website and take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.

This message has been brought to you by The Tarantula Whisperer himself....Mr. Stan Schultz.

Re-posted by me for you. Enjoy.

Ding ding ding, new dumb newbie alert! Thanks for the info guys!

Ikhowvanyow said:

Ding ding ding, new dumb newbie alert! Thanks for the info guys!

Click to expand...

Not dumb, just newb! Being naïve and seeking information does not equate to settling for ignorance.

DamonVikki said:

Not dumb, just newb! Being naïve and seeking information does not equate to settling for ignorance.

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agreed. Although I believe it should be further defined. Ignorance is merely the lack of knowledge. Knowledge can be gained, WILLFUL ignorance on the other hand should be punished by something like (insert what you would think a suitable punishment would be here).

ratluvr76 said:

agreed. Although I believe it should be further defined. Ignorance is merely the lack of knowledge. Knowledge can be gained, WILLFUL ignorance on the other hand should be punished by something like (insert what you would think a suitable punishment would be here).

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My suitable punishment would be ........forceful enlightenment. Not splitting hairs, but willful ignorance might just be the same as settling for ignorance. Either way it encompasses laziness, and indefinitely, a lack of ambition. Seeking answers is never a bad thing, and as long as we are actively seeking beneficial knowledge about the interest at hand, we remain invincible to the ignorance label. I myself, am guilty of laziness at times. We all have these lapses. No one, I repeat no one.....is exempt from a lapse of judgment (AKA No one is perfect) I say we ban all high horses and keep moving in a progressive and civilized direction.

Yay for Stan

Now that Stan's being active again I'm jealous that I didn't get a newbie alert a month ago.

Ikhowvanyow said:

Ding ding ding, new dumb newbie alert! Thanks for the info guys!

Click to expand...

No, no, no! NOT DUMB! You are intimately familiar with the alphabet (repeat after me: a, b, c, d, ...) so we know you're capable of juggling at least 26 distinct concepts at once! You can speak English, one of the world's most difficult languages, just fine. You know how to use computers, one of the world's most complex and versatile constructs, just fine.

The fact that you're a newbie only means that you're ...

...

...

...

... a newbie. You're at the beginning of the learning curve. By Christmas you will have already amassed an unexpectedly huge store of information and experience about large fuzzy spiders. By Easter you'll be expounding to, and coaching other newbies. By this time next year you may have your own tarantula webpage and be starting a beginner's guide to them!

Trust me, YOU'RE HOOKED! and your life will never be the same again! Even if you drop out of the hobby later, you will never "unlearn" what you're learning here and now. In some fashion, spiders will always be an important part of your life from now on.

Spiders do that to you.

I DO THAT TO YOU!

In my initial introduction I didn't give you the full, unabridged version:
_____________________________________________________________________

WELCOME TO THE HOBBY!

WELCOME TO THIS FORUM!

...SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY!


_____________________________________________________________________

Has no one told you of the tarantula enthusiast's lament?

"LIKE THOSE POTATO CHIPS, YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!"*

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!


[size=-2]*Click the link for more information.[/size]

_____________________________________________________________________

---------- Post added 10-11-2014 at 09:58 AM ----------

Amavera said:

Now that Stan's being active again I'm jealous that I didn't get a newbie alert a month ago.

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So sorry about that.

But I can't be active here for very long. I still have my magnum opus to complete, and that's going to take at least another year. I just resurfaced for a brief breath of fresh air.

Not that I'm not monitoring these boards every now and again. I just can't afford to spend too much time here at the moment.

In addition, I am preparing to go on another of my annual Winter Migrations. This time to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, then follow the Rio Grande River north and west until I either run out of time or run out of gas money. This year I'm looking for as many different kinds of widows (the spider kind, not the human kind!) as I can for a research scientist at the University of Ontario.

Never a dull moment in my life!


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"We ain't normal. It's agin our religion!"
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Normal people scare me!
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Contrary to popular opinion, tarantulas aren't weird. Humanoids are!
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Great post Stan, beautifully put and so, so true. If you're really into t's, you certainly wont be newbie for long, just keep the information absorption at maximum levels and stay the course.

And not knowing about something does not automatically make one's question (or self).........dumb. :wink: