Looking into Grammostola rosea baby... Need Help.

[harleyhunter]

OK I have a few scorps now looking into tarantulas. I am looking at buying 1/2" Grammostola rosea baby.

Does it need any special care above and beyond your typical caresheet for adult Grammostola rosea?

Can I still use the same 10 Gal. tank I would use for an adult?

Do I feed it different like killing and smashing the crickets for it?

Or anything else I might be missing dueto being new to the invert world?

Thanks ahead of time for all your help guys!!!:worship:

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Depends on what you mean by typical caresheet. If it says anything about humidity being high then it's wrong..

You put it in a vial or other very small container. Other than that I'd recommend you read the rosea care sticky. It's pretty detailed.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Can I still use the same 10 Gal. tank I would use for an adult?

Absolutely not. You will never, ever see it again because it will either climb out through the screen or possibly dehydrate/starve/just plain get lost in there.

A 1/2" G. rosea means you're going to have a tiny speck with legs living in a vial of dirt with a couple pinpoint-sized airholes. Add a couple drops of water once a week (being careful not to drown it; misting the open vial at an angle so you get a wall damp is the best option), add a pinhead cricket or leg off an adult cricket or mealworm segment or maggot or fruit fly once a week.

In a few years, you might have something that almost looks like a tarantula. You're really better off just getting an adult. They're far less fragile and they still live roughly forever, especially if you get a female.

 

[harleyhunter]

It doesn't say anything about feeding a baby. Plus anyone who is experienced in raising Grammostola rosea babies wanna give any heads up is more then welcome also. Thanks alot guys.

-Sam

 

[harleyhunter]

Absolutely not. You will never, ever see it again because it will either climb out through the screen or possibly dehydrate/starve/just plain get lost in there.

A 1/2" G. rosea means you're going to have a tiny speck with legs living in a vial of dirt with a couple pinpoint-sized airholes. Add a couple drops of water once a week (being careful not to drown it; misting the open vial at an angle so you get a wall damp is the best option), add a pinhead cricket or leg off an adult cricket or mealworm segment or maggot or fruit fly once a week.

In a few years, you might have something that almost looks like a tarantula. You're really better off just getting an adult. They're far less fragile and they still live roughly forever, especially if you get a female.

I think I'll take your advice!!! I thought so but wanted to see others more experienced opinions.

-Sam

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I think I'll take your advice!!! I thought so but wanted to see others more experienced opinions.

-Sam

Yeah, I don't normally advise ever buying from a petshop, but G. rosea is so slow-growing that if you aren't going to look for a guaranteed female adult from someone on our sell/trade forum...you may as well go put down 10-15 bucks at the local petshop for an unsexed adult. Just learn to identify the signs of a mature male so you can avoid buying something that will die in a couple years or less. Even an immature male should at least be around a while.

 

[Buggzter]

It doesn't say anything about feeding a baby. Plus anyone who is experienced in raising Grammostola rosea babies wanna give any heads up is more then welcome also. Thanks alot guys.

-Sam

My 2nd and 3rd T's were little 1/2" baby roseas. They are little cuties, all fuzzy and peachy. We got them in 2" deli cups, and left them in there will about 1/2" substrate. Gave them flightless fruitflies until the next shed, and then we used teeny little 1/8" crickets. Now, they are about 2" and I give both a 3/4" cricket once a week to 10 days.

Now, one of mine LOVES to dig while the other one doesn't care about the substrate - there's a vial in there as a hide that it uses. Both are calm and handlable, and are a good first T in a way. It's just that they don't do much.

Oh, keep the substrate wet on half if one side of the initial tiny container, and when it's about 1.5", have a 2" square area that's wet for drinking. Follow the caresheet here on G. rosea once it's out of the initial tiny stage.

Have fun - these little ones are fun. The more you have, the more interesting (most T's do very little, but when you have multiple you'll be able to see something happening nearly every time you check on your T's. It's quite likely like scorps, tho I only have 1). I presently have 36, 26 being under 2". Enjoy!

 

[harleyhunter]

Ok I'm going with an adult female. I'm going to put it in a 10 Gal. with peat moss a hide, a water dish, and some decor. Does the peat go in dry or moist?

-Sam

 

[Buggzter]

ps - I also have one MM, a really pretty one that I didn't mind buying a male. Rusty is a nice T, too, no doubt. But it's how you want to do things. Babies you can see how they change from tiny baby to full grown adult. Adult female could even be anywhere from 4-5 years old to even 20 years or more. With a baby, you'll have at least 5 years with normal feeding if it happens to be a male, or 20+ years if it's female. It all depends on what you prefer. To start, it MAY be better to try an adult, but I really didn't - I got my babies a couple weeks after the first adult female. Cheers - it's an addicting habbit for most people!

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Ok I'm going with an adult female. I'm going to put it in a 10 Gal. with peat moss a hide, a water dish, and some decor. Does the peat go in dry or moist?

-Sam

Make it dry. Roseas hate moisture. Fill up with so much substrate that there's just as much air space as the spiders legspan (that goes for all T's btw, except for arboreals).

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Fill up with so much substrate that there's just as much air space as the spiders legspan (that goes for all T's btw, except for arboreals).

Yeah, and this is why a ten gallon is kind of a waste--most of it will be dirt and the tarantula will never use that much space. A five-gallon long, or the largest size critter keeper (which is like a foot long? I dunno exactly, I have one at home for my rosea) is plenty.

 

[harleyhunter]

I gotta find a 5 gal. long now...LOL

-Sam

 

[penny'smom]

Ok I'm going with an adult female. I'm going to put it in a 10 Gal. with peat moss a hide, a water dish, and some decor. Does the peat go in dry or moist?

-Sam

My rosea started out in a 10gal, and she always seemed lost. I recently moved her to a 2.5gal KK, prob same size Mushroomspore was referring to, and she seems happier. She is actually using her hide for the first time in the 9 months I have had her. She's been exploring, and no longer guards the water dish.

Most wild spiders, of any kind, don't go very far from their homes. Ts are no exception. A large amount of space is usually wasted. I've seen full grown arborreals kept in gallon pickle jars. So long as they can be up off the bottom, they are good to go.

 

[stonemantis]

I am looking at buying 1/2" Grammostola rosea baby.

Does it need any special care above and beyond your typical caresheet for adult Grammostola rosea?

They need to be kept a little more humid but, besides that it's care is not any different IME.

Can I still use the same 10 Gal. tank I would use for an adult?

A tank that size is overkill for a spiderling that size. Reason being it would have a hard time finding food. As stated above I would use pill vials filled with substrate. I also would lightly mist the vial 1-2 times a week to be on the safe side.

Dehydration is the cause for most spiderling deaths.

Do I feed it different like killing and smashing the crickets for it?

I usually feed my 1/2" spiderlings pin head crickets, sectioned off frozen mealworms, and mini mealworms. Dead crickets tend to smell if left in the enclosure too long. I recommend dead mealworms if you feed it anything dead.