Grammastola Concepcion (newbie)

Rachel87

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Apr 20, 2012
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So yesterday my amazing boyfriend surprised me with a beautiful female g.concepcion. He has done quite a bit of research on the species but when looking online it either comes up with g.rosea info or can be conflicting. We we're just wondering what differences there are between them and if anyonr has any good tips or advice for us as she is our first T.
 

Venom1080

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care is the same with all members of Grammostola.
tip 1- dont handle.
2- dont use heat mats or heat pads.
3- theres a ton of crap info online, dont believe all of it. a pic of the cage and spider would be nice.
 

Rachel87

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Apr 20, 2012
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We haven't handled her yet as we wanted her to settle in first. We bought a heat mat (which was advised by the person who sold her us) but it's on the outside of the glass.
 

Venom1080

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We haven't handled her yet as we wanted her to settle in first. We bought a heat mat (which was advised by the person who sold her us) but it's on the outside of the glass.
putting a heat pad in the cage is terrible. putting on the outside is bad as well. theyre so attracted to heat that they dehydrate and practically cook themselves. get rid of it. use a space heater for additional heating if necessary. they are fine in temps 70+. pet stores are terrible sources of info as they all just want to sell unnecessary crap to make money. that lids not looking very escape proof either. Tarantulas are Houdinis.
you also need to raise the substrate level so theres a gap of no more than 1.5x the tarantulas leg span between the top of the tank and the substrate. also, how big is the spider?
 

14pokies

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@Exoskeleton Invertebrates

Jose does alot with Grammastola sp including sp.concepcion, I would imagine care is identical to rosea and porteri but I haven't raised them..

If there are any subtle differences in care or behavior Jose will be able to fill you in.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
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Yes as Venom1080 said heat mats will kill your T fast! Like I said I don't know a ton about sp.concepcion but I do know they will do fine with temps as low as high 60s and can tolerate temps as low as 50 for short periods.. Grammastola generally do fine in the mid 70s.
 

Rachel87

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Apr 20, 2012
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We have a very heavy book on top of the lid. What else could we do to help with the lid? We're going to buy more substrate at the weekend for that reason. The thermometer is against the heat mat and is reading 69. She is around 3" and around 7 months old.
 

Venom1080

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We have a very heavy book on top of the lid. What else could we do to help with the lid? We're going to buy more substrate at the weekend for that reason. The thermometer is against the heat mat and is reading 69. She is around 3" and around 7 months old.
Grammostola grow very slowly. if shes 3", she is not 7 months old. maybe 2.5 years. thermometers are not of any use in this hobby. i and many other experienced keepers never touch the things. as for the lid, the best option for a tank is get a acrylic sheet cut to size and drill some vent in it yourself. they get stuck in screens and lose legs so be sure to avoid that. your lid is a accident waiting to happen. a easier option is to just buy a large Kritter keeper and use that. or a sterlite plastic shoebox from walmart.
 

Exoskeleton Invertebrates

Arachnoprince
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IMG_3665.JPG IMG_3660.JPG IMG_3661.JPG IMG_3662.JPG First: Let's find out if it is a Grammostola sp. "Concepción" please post photo. Also 3" inches and seven moths old no way no how. My Concepción babies aren't quite the 2" inches mark, they were captive born in late December 2013 beginning of January 2014.

Second: Like what some people have said get rid of that damn heat mat, absolutely never use it. Sell it or give it away. I know a lot of people use space heaters me personally I don't like them. In my opinion you will run into issues like the space heater never shutting down or it dries out you spider enclosures quickly. I've had bad experience with space heaters when I have egg sacs, I rather use heat lamps. My room has two 250 watts red heat lamps. I use it all day long keeps my room at 80 degrees.

Third: If you're spider is in fact 3" inches get a critter keeper like someone mentioned or what I like use at that size is a deli cup until she/he is bit bigger.

Fourth: If you're going to use a 10 gallon tank use the following and do the following, eco earth, vermiculite, glass top with the four corners cut, the edges sanded and what ever substrate you use it needs to be high of the bottom of the ten gallon tank. I use white silica sand for my Grammostola sp. "Concepción" however I wouldn't recommend for a beginner to use it specially in a ten gallon tank. Provide a hide out, water dish and keep the substrate dry. The only time I provide humidity is when they are about to molt. Feed 4 to six crickets once a week if it's an adult use your best judgement of the size of your spider of how many crickets to feed at once. Here are some photos of what I use, one of the photos my finger is level of how high you should keep the substrate for a ten gallon tank. Disregard the styrofoam that is in the ten gallon tank.
 
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Rachel87

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Apr 20, 2012
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The only thing I worry about is the temp as we live in the U.K and it's really cold here at the minute.
I think we're just going to buy a new tank for her then cause it seems the easier option. Thanks for all the advice. Nice to be on a forum where you don't get slated cause you haven't got everything right.
 

Walker253

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Jun 12, 2016
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That enclosure is pretty nice. A critter keeper works well and is cheaper. But that thing is cool.
 

Rittdk01

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Oct 4, 2016
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Very cute :) I use 5.5 gallon tanks with plastic tops that have a little sliding lock mechanism. The wire tops can cause problems with the spider getting its legs caught in them. The ones I get have two circles that pop out for feeding. The one you have looks fine as long as you add dirt so there's not much room from the ground to the top. you could also get a cheap critter keeper, which would be fine. This tarantula doesn't need a heat pad at all. Just a water dish, a cricket once a week and temperatures above 70 degrees.
 
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