Hi all,
this is going to come off as an exceptionally noobish thread for someone with a 20 year old Chilean Rose. But the circumstances are rather unique.
I got this guy when I was a kid, and that was before the internet. As a kid I knew enough to feed it, give it a home, and help it molt. Beyond that he was always low maintenance.
When I moved out, my parents insisted on keeping it. They didn't want him to leave saying that it was his home (hahah). So there he stayed, and is now at least 20 (since we don't know how old he was when we bought him).
He has lived in these conditions:
-on a substrate that is some kind of crushed walnut or whatever. I guess close to crushed gravel. He spun his web all over it though, so it's not hard on his feet.
-at room temperature. I recently started giving him a hot spot during the day of 28C, but for the most part he's lived around 22C.
-at room humidity. He has NEVER been misted. And that substrate barely holds humidity. I would suspect that it ranges between 35 and 50 relative humidity.
-eating crickets (and nothing else). he's a great hunter, and isn't skinny or anything.
-with a hide he likes during the day, and is active at night.
-with a water dish and a rock to climb, but no vines or anything like that.
Anyways my parents wanted me to take him back now since they are going to travel a lot, and I was happy to get him back. I've since come to read that pretty much every aspect of his cage is wrong other then his water and hide. But honestly this guy eats well, and is super old and in great health. So my 2 questions are:
1) Would giving him the "ideal" housing at this point freak him out ? Or did my parents actually find the best way to have this guy grow old and healthy ? I will give him more humidity during molting, since he was pretty weak the last time that happened.
2) Would you handle him now, after maybe 13 years of not being handled. I used to handle him all the time as a child. he would even crawl and my face, and never was mean. but now I picture him being like the 2 old guys on the muppets. Grumpy and old.
His name is Billy (named after Billy the Kid)
thanks in advance
this is going to come off as an exceptionally noobish thread for someone with a 20 year old Chilean Rose. But the circumstances are rather unique.
I got this guy when I was a kid, and that was before the internet. As a kid I knew enough to feed it, give it a home, and help it molt. Beyond that he was always low maintenance.
When I moved out, my parents insisted on keeping it. They didn't want him to leave saying that it was his home (hahah). So there he stayed, and is now at least 20 (since we don't know how old he was when we bought him).
He has lived in these conditions:
-on a substrate that is some kind of crushed walnut or whatever. I guess close to crushed gravel. He spun his web all over it though, so it's not hard on his feet.
-at room temperature. I recently started giving him a hot spot during the day of 28C, but for the most part he's lived around 22C.
-at room humidity. He has NEVER been misted. And that substrate barely holds humidity. I would suspect that it ranges between 35 and 50 relative humidity.
-eating crickets (and nothing else). he's a great hunter, and isn't skinny or anything.
-with a hide he likes during the day, and is active at night.
-with a water dish and a rock to climb, but no vines or anything like that.
Anyways my parents wanted me to take him back now since they are going to travel a lot, and I was happy to get him back. I've since come to read that pretty much every aspect of his cage is wrong other then his water and hide. But honestly this guy eats well, and is super old and in great health. So my 2 questions are:
1) Would giving him the "ideal" housing at this point freak him out ? Or did my parents actually find the best way to have this guy grow old and healthy ? I will give him more humidity during molting, since he was pretty weak the last time that happened.
2) Would you handle him now, after maybe 13 years of not being handled. I used to handle him all the time as a child. he would even crawl and my face, and never was mean. but now I picture him being like the 2 old guys on the muppets. Grumpy and old.
His name is Billy (named after Billy the Kid)
thanks in advance
