Attention all past & present G. rosea/Chilean rose hair owners...

[NikiP]

I'd love it if any G. Rosea owners of now or then would post in this thread:

- How many you have/had
- Their sizes
- And whether you would describe/would have described them as docile or overly defensive (or just plain crazy)

There's a statistic floating around that i'm curious about...

 

[KoriTamashii]

I've had 5, and currently only have three.

The biggest is a 6" female. Before her last molt, she was pretty calm. Now, she's much more skittish and defensive.

The next is a 3-4" probably male RCF. He's a little skittish, but still quite docile. I don't handle regularly, but if I did, I'd be comfortable handling him.

The next is a 3-4" unsexed juvie. It's a little fuzzy rock. I handled it at the pet store before purchasing it, and it was quite content to sit motionless on my hand. After a few minutes, it seemed comfortable enough to start grooming. Very laid back.

 

[jgod790]

I have one female G. rosea, Ive had her for just over 10 years now, she is not to big, but defiantly not small. Id say medium large size. She is VERY docile for the most part. In the 10 years Ive had year, there are only 3 occasions where she was defensive. And every time was during pre molt. One time she did a threat posture when I gently touched her abdomen with a paint brush, A few years after that, she actually bit the paint brush with NO warning at all, and a year or two after that she flicked hair when I touched her with a paint brush. All 3 times were during pre molt. So 3 out of 10 years, not bad I think. But since she bit the brush with no warning the one time, I ALWAYS touch her gently with a paint brush before I actually touch her with my hands. And she will go a while with out eating during pre molt, and during the colder parts of winter, she wont eat for a few months. But other then that she eats regularly and is very docile, and sometimes very active. So I don't think she is weird, and I find her behavior VERY predictable. I never know why some people say G. rosea are unpredictable.

 

[flex]

I Have owned 2 , both skittish & sometimes even to the point they get defensive ! i currently own 1 ,i had a male that my friend owns since he is using him for breeding ... & the other is a female , that is about 3 1/2 inches & 2 yrs old . she is the more agressive of the 2 .. and she is in my collection..

 

[EndlessForms]

i have one and she was my first T. i got her, she was about 5.5" and still is lol. she's been very lazy and docile. but recently [when she didn't eat for months] my mom was messing with her when i wasn't home and she went into a threat pose. but for the most part, very docile.

 

[ManlyMan7]

I had one some 10 year ago, that I am not sure of its gender, but it was a smallish adult. Slightly active, but classically docile.

I have a 5" female now (given to me some 6 weeks ago) that is more of the same, only more placid and lazy. It is the one T I will let my sons hold, but she is a bit of a pet rock. sits in their hands and does nothing.

 

[crawltech]

I think i know the particular statisitic your talking about....

- How many you have/had....ive had a over a dozen different females
- Their sizes....3- 6inches
- And whether you would describe/would have described them as docile or overly defensive (or just plain crazy)...well i guess i would say 60/40...as in 60% "docile"...and 40% defensive

I have three right now,...1 mature female RCF, wouldnt call her defensive, more skittish than anything, and 2 normal rosea's, 1 of them is gental, and calm, the other, is the one of the nastiest T's ive ever seen.

 

[Amelia]

I have on 4.5-5" female. She is quick and "inquisitive"(I would say it is a feeding response). She is not defensive at all, never throws up a threat pose(but will let you pose her in a threat pose with whatever stick or pencil or paintbrush you are using) or offers to bite or kicks hairs. Garbage can eating habits. Fairly active. She utilizes every inch of her 15qt enclosure, and much prefers her flower pot hide to her popsicle stick lean-to type hide. She's a pretty thing. I really enjoy her.

 

[Spike]

I recenlty acquired a rcf female and mm who looks very copperish. Both are very placid with the female being a bit skittish. Both are increadibly beautiful.

 

[Obijuan56]

I just got one about 2 weeks ago, its about a 4" female and it goes into a defensive posture almost every time I test its temperament even when its very lightly with a paintbrush. It is also a very aggressive eater which is really fun to watch, at this time I don't think I will be handling it though

 

[Dr Acula]

i've had 3. 2 Juvis and a good size sling. The 2 juvis were perfectly fine but never did anything, just sat there really. But the sling had a bit of a bad temperament and would strike at anything and everything.

 

[Hamburglar]

I have two. They are both around 1-2 inches in size. They are somewhere around 3-4 years old. They don't move very much, but will run around a little when I pick up their enclosures. I would say they lean towards to docile side overall.

 

[Joanie]

I have two females, both of which I assume were wild-caught, as I got them both as adults in the '90s. One is almost 6" and the other is only 4". I've always wondered if the smaller one was malnourished when it was younger, or is just naturally smaller, or is maybe not even a G. rosea at all? Who knows.

The larger one tends to be skittish and the smaller one is more laid-back, though they are both still crazier than my pulchra or my PZB. Both roseas are handleable, though I don't handle them often.

The smaller one only molts every 4-5 years now, and at her last molt she became much, much darker than she'd been before. I've never seen this before, but then again, I have no idea how old she is, as I got her as an adult in 1995. And no, she's not secretly a male Aphonopelma.

 

[pavel]

My first one, unfortunately, did not live very long. I had gotten it for a classroom 'pet'. Well the buildings heating system left a lot to be desired. I had not realized just how much. Got to my room one morning and the doorknob was hot to the touch. The heating system was running on overdrive apparently. So ended my first T.

My current rosie, a female, is over 10 yrs old. She was an adult or subadult when I got her, so the 10yrs or so I've had her plus however old she was then. Very docile, nary even a hair flick.

 

[malevolentrobot]

G. rosea was the only invert my old job would stock, so i am more than happy to tell you my experiences with them:

1. rosea #1: 5" "female" (as told to me)
sold somewhere around the first three months i was at the store. she was there for "a long time". very defensive, probably due to being housed improperly.

2. rosea #2: 4" sex unknown.
was basically her smaller twin, just as evil. i do not recall how long we had this one, as i avoided it like the plague.

3. rosea #3: ~3" female?
smaller specimen. set ups from this point on were correct because i was in charge of exotics. very very docile, was able to pinch-grab, handle, etc. this one got dropped, and died moulting as a result. we probably had it for three months.

4. rosea #4: 4" sex unknown.
boring pet hole. wasn't disturbed much, nor handled. fairly nervous, liked to kick hairs. sold somewhere around two months for some odd reason.

5. rosea #5 "drucilla" 4ish" moult confirmed female.
this girl was fairly docile and handled by most of the staff (to my dismay) up until her moult, where she tunneled down and then became much more skiddish and occasionally defensive. we had her for about eight months, and she had one moult in our care.

and now mine:

"malificent" is about 4" and i have had her for a year and a half now, and she has been great. she get occasionally "irritable" (more prone to bouts of defensiveness) after her total cage maintence, but has generally stayed docile. easily handled if coaxed into your hand gently, but not fond of being pinch grabbed, as both times trying to sex her led to near bites. she's moulted once in my care with no sign of change in temperament due to it.

i also have a .75" RCF sling who acts as most slings do

 

[SC Tarantulas]

I have one G. rosea 4.5" Female. She has never kicked hairs. For the most part she is docile but will throw up a threat posture every now an then.

 

[LeilaNami]

Had 2 females
one 6", one 4"
larger girl was very docile, smaller slightly skittish

My 6" girl was the first T I had. I had her for a little over 5 years. I let someone watch my animals while I went out of town for a few days but she died while I was away. She was so large and was molting only every couple of years, I would assume it was just old age. Never a threat pose and never kicked hairs. I did presentations with her.

The smaller was a rescue that I gave to a girl looking for her first tarantula. She was very excited.

Edit: though one I didn't necessarily own, there was 1 mature male at the store I worked at at 5" and incredibly psychotic.

 

[babypiggy]

I currently have 5 (2 normals and 3 RCF)
I've had about 7 have them before... had a male that was 7 years old.

my normals are pretty docile.. my RCF are kinda defensive(especially the girls..)
My friend also has a rcf and she says her's is pretty defensive too.

I'd love it if any G. Rosea owners of now or then would post in this thread:

- How many you have/had
- Their sizes
- And whether you would describe/would have described them as docile or overly defensive (or just plain crazy)

There's a statistic floating around that i'm curious about...

 

[Formerphobe]

Three

BCF 7" 0.1.0 - deceased
BCF 3.5" 0.1.0
RCF 3.0" 0.0.1

Eccentric

 

[Tym Hollerup]

I just bought one a few days back now. She's about 3.5" I'd say (really bad at judging size though), and she seems pretty calm. I did try giving her a cricket today and she wasn't hungry. Got frustrated with me and got a little pissy while I was trying to remove said cricket. Here you can find my transfer video...
http://www.youtube.com/user/TymHollerup