Species Grammostola rosea (a.k.a. Grammostola cala)

[-Sarah-]

Okay, here's my rose! (I really tried not to get a lot of my arm or hand in the shots - honest!)

 

[bananaman]

Wow beautiful rosie! What a plump happy spider... congratulations...
Beautiful hand too

PS. I think I see woodchips in the tank... I would advise against that.

 

[southern]

Congrats! That's a beautiful T!

I got my first as a sling, and with its first molt it's just starting to show adult colours, and I have my second arriving by post in the morning - another juvie, so it'll be a while before they cover that much skin!

Enjoy - you WILL get more!

Hels

 

[kenspidey]

Nice rosy i hope mine gets that large.

 

[Drachenjager]

Rosie

how big is she? almost certianly larger than mine.

 

[tima]

PS. I think I see woodchips in the tank... I would advise against that.

I would tend to agree with that, Sarah...I prefer to go with peat (like Drachenjager's substrate)...you can get it at pretty much any garden center (it's about $2.50 for a 9-qt. bag down here); or a mixture of peat and organic potting soil.

Tim

 

[SPIDERBYTE]

Wow that's a lot of abdomen there, she's either very well fed or is ready for a moult-- also nice thick legs, large carapace :clap:
That's a lot bigger than my rosie too, mine's only 3.5 to 3.75 inch at the most, and has a much narrower carapace.

How old is she?
I've had mine maybe 8 months, and she's just maybe getting used to the occasional handling about once a week. Your Rosea does look rather content, was she always like that or did it take a good deal of time for her to get used to handling?

 

[-Sarah-]

Thanks!!

He is pretty cute, isn't he..

From where I bought him they told me he's a year old (!!!) - I'm going to tack on a couple months for a spidering (he definitely arrived as a spiderling!), so maybe he's about a year and... 4-5 months?? That just doesn't sound right, though for how big he is. He's about 3 and 1/4 inches long from the tip of his chelicerae to the very end of his abdomen (think anterior spinnerets) I've got a few more pics of him that I just loaded up, so be expecting those with this message. They had been feeding him 5 crickets a week (yikes) I suppose that's why he's kind of fat and happy. He's still getting situated as he hasn't eaten anything yet - I didn't expect him to jump right after a cricket, but it was just out of common curiosity that I stuck two crickets in the terrarium. They're still in there What I have in his terrarium is what was recommended to me to use: bits of fir bark. It's supposed to be 'ideal' for tarantulas as crickets can't hide in it, and he doesn't mind walking on it as he trots right across it without a problem. Drachenjager, that's a nice rosie you have - male or female? This one I have is a male and he cost $19.99. I'm not sure if that was a good deal or not, but I didn't care as I wasn't walking out of that store without him, he's too darn cute Well, enough talking - you want photos! (Crowd screams in an annoyed tone, "YES!!!")


To Bananaman, thanks for the compliment.. I guess.. What can I say.. I grew it all by myself - for another rarity, I've got two! It was a pretty difficult task, so I don't think I could do it again.
(I'm a bit of a sarcastic person, sorry ;P )

Sarah

 

[Mike H.]

Bark chips can be rough on the spiders underside, most people use DRY peat moss and or black earth mixed with peat moss, there needs are very basic, DRY substrate and a hide and a water dish...


Regards, Mike

 

[Mike H.]

how big is she? almost certianly larger than mine.

Was wondering why the tank is so wet ?? rosies like things nice and dry, a water dish will do just fine...really no need to mist...

Regards, Mike

 

[bananaman]

Sarah... no more compliments for you... forget it.

About the bark chips... lose them, trust us, their abdomen can get scratched and even ruptured, it is very delicate... use peat moss, completely dry... it cant be that hard... forget what they told you at the pet shop, most petshops dont know squat about tarantulas, never trust them... ask here...

 

[-Sarah-]

Tim and Mike,

Thanks for the important tips! The substrate that's in there now is fairly soft although it looks rough. I'll change it as soon as I can when I find some decent substrate! That was the only thing they had that wasn't sand, and sand just wouldn't be good at all.. eek.

Sarah



SPIDERBYTE,

Thanks Well, they told me a year but I kind of doubt that.. how fast could he possibly grow in a year's time? He wouldn't crawl on my hand at the pet store, but once we got him home I let him walk around his terrarium for a little bit before I tried handling him. It didn't take him very long to get used to my hands as he was crawling up and down my arm within the first minute Sometimes he's a little hesitant to get on my hand, but I don't force him on. I had a slight concern about him after I had put him back in his terrarium on the day I brought him home. He had begun to drip this slightly sticky, clear fluid from his mouth (I'm not sure if it was his mouth or his fangs as it was coming out of the general area) and he dripped a good amount of that liquid for an hour before he stopped - I haven't a clue as to what it was or why he had started doing that. He has me a little concerned.. Speaking of this.. does anyone else know what it might be, or has anyone else had this sort of thing happen?? He looks really healthy and acts fine. I'm just not sure if I really need to be concerned about this or if it's something I need to check into. Any input would be a big, big help!!

Sarah

 

[-Sarah-]

Bananaman,

Thanks, I'll definitely do that. Do you think that might be causing him to drip that fluid? He doesn't have any injuries, cuts, scrapes.. anywhere. He's never wet when I pick him up, and this fluid is only coming from his mouth (or fangs, supposedly..) at least that's what the man at the pet shop said. "Either it's venom or he possibly regurgitated something he had eaten." I don't know what the chances of that are, but probably slim to none.. He hasn't done it since but I did notice a very small amount on my hand after he was crawling around on it this morning. At least he wasn't dripping like a faucet like before!

Yes, well... I like to inject a little humour into life - what's life if you can't laugh?

Sarah

 

[Scorpiove]

Bananaman,

Thanks, I'll definitely do that. Do you think that might be causing him to drip that fluid? He doesn't have any injuries, cuts, scrapes.. anywhere. He's never wet when I pick him up, and this fluid is only coming from his mouth (or fangs, supposedly..) at least that's what the man at the pet shop said. "Either it's venom or he possibly regurgitated something he had eaten." I don't know what the chances of that are, but probably slim to none.. He hasn't done it since but I did notice a very small amount on my hand after he was crawling around on it this morning. At least he wasn't dripping like a faucet like before!

Yes, well... I like to inject a little humour into life - what's life if you can't laugh?

Sarah

Hey banaman its not her fault , we need to educate all the new people who are misled by uneducated sellers such as some pet store owners. No worries everything will be fine. Other good stuff to use is eco-earth type expandable blocks. It may not be as good as peat but It still works great, especially for terrestials and arboreal. The liquid was mostly being used to groom itself. I've watched my rosehair secrete liquid and then groom itself. Sarah_88 I'm sure you are going to make a great T owner!

 

[-Sarah-]

Hi Scorpiove,

Thank you!! Now I know it's perfectly normal for them to do that. The funny thing was, he just kind of stood himself up in a corner of the terrarium and it just started dripping out and continued dripping for an hour. My mum said he never moved, which I thought was strange. If he uses that to groom himself, do you know what it is, exactly? It can't possibly be venom, I'm just curious as to why he started 'drooling' this strange liquid and didn't stop for an hour and just what it is that he's been 'drooling' Apparently he didn't groom himself, just walked around and then went and sat on top his little hide. When I came home that night from work and took him out for a little bit, he began grooming himself 10 minutes or so after I put him back in his terrarium. I didn't really see any fluid then.. perhaps it was in such a small amount that I didn't notice, but that would seem odd that he would secrete all that fluid and not groom himself until hours later. Well, thanks again for all your help!

Sarah

 

[Scorpiove]

Hi Scorpiove,

Thank you!! Now I know it's perfectly normal for them to do that. The funny thing was, he just kind of stood himself up in a corner of the terrarium and it just started dripping out and continued dripping for an hour. My mum said he never moved, which I thought was strange. If he uses that to groom himself, do you know what it is, exactly? It can't possibly be venom, I'm just curious as to why he started 'drooling' this strange liquid and didn't stop for an hour and just what it is that he's been 'drooling' Apparently he didn't groom himself, just walked around and then went and sat on top his little hide. When I came home that night from work and took him out for a little bit, he began grooming himself 10 minutes or so after I put him back in his terrarium. I didn't really see any fluid then.. perhaps it was in such a small amount that I didn't notice, but that would seem odd that he would secrete all that fluid and not groom himself until hours later. Well, thanks again for all your help!

Sarah

Yeah you will find that rosies are weird and don't really match the behavior of what someone might tell you. Its possible it was drooling. Or maybe thinking about grooming itself. I had a Curly hair (B. albopilosum) which would drool while on my hand. Kind of made me a little scared to have a drooling spider on your hand! But yeah some times they secrete stuff from there mouth its deffinately nothing to worry about. The only time I would get worried is if the stuff was cremey and white and was being smeared on the glass. Don't confuse it with poop though since poop is cremey white to lol. Only time you worry if its cremey white and from the mouth, which would be some type of infestation.

 

[-Sarah-]

Yeah you will find that rosies are weird and don't really match the behavior of what someone might tell you. Its possible it was drooling. Or maybe thinking about grooming itself. I had a Curly hair (B. albopilosum) which would drool while on my hand. Kind of made me a little scared to have a drooling spider on your hand! But yeah some times they secrete stuff from there mouth its deffinately nothing to worry about. The only time I would get worried is if the stuff was cremey and white and was being smeared on the glass. Don't confuse it with poop though since poop is cremey white to lol. Only time you worry if its cremey white and from the mouth, which would be some type of infestation.



Hi Scorpiove,

Thanks, I knew about the spider excrement being white (although he hasn't done anything yet) but I wasn't aware that curly hairs drool as well! Mites love to infest tarantulas from what I've read and heard, so I'm going to do everything I can to not allow that to happen by bringing in any wood or anything similar from outside that could have mites or other nasties hiding in it. I wouldn't want him to get sick. He could have considered cleaning himself but was probably too excited/nervous to do anything considering he had a 30-mile ride going home and was probably jostled around a bit - I did my best to cushion the bumps as we have a very curvy road. I thought perhaps that's why he started drooling was because he was nervous, being in a new place where the smell and temperature and surroundings are different. He's definitely stopped the heavy drooling for now, but now I know I don't have the only spider that drools lol - Thanks again!

Sarah

 

[ChrisNCT]

Very nice Rose Hair! Nice pics and very nice sized.

I love the Rose Hairs!

 

[-Sarah-]

Thanks, Chris!

I couldn't believe how small he really looked in that pet shop terrarium. It was only after I got him home and picked him up that I realised how big he was.. his size really surprised me! I'm definitely a fan of Chilean Roses now. The pictures you find on the internet of Chilean Roses don't do the tarantulas any justice because they are so much more beautiful in person. How long have you had your rosy(ies)?

Sarah

 

[SPIDERBYTE]

If a spider is really stressed, it might drip venom from the fangs, like if something had really startled it. Mine *might* have done this once, not sure though. It was shortly after I first got her, and I had just finished handling her for a few mins (she didn't want to stay still, and was getting slightly faster, so I took that as a sign to put her back into her cage to calm down)

After she was back in, I happened to touch one of her rearmost legs and it spooked her, --she tried to run up the glass, but was going too fast for her legs to grip. It looked like the "facehugger in the tank" scene in Aliens where the guy gets too close and it thrashes around. The whole thing lasted no more than a second, and just after that, I saw a tiny drop of liquid (no leaking leg joints, no spider poo), so it was either spider barf or maybe a tiny bit of venom?

Now (8 months later) she'll usually "tolerate" me occasionally handling her, though she can still get spooked and try to make a brief sprint (She was laying webs all over my hands/arms and some had drifted between 2 rear legs, she was fine until I went to remove it, --in the blink of an eye--she ran down my arm and onto the top/side my bedspread! (my arm was already lying on top of the bed to reduce the height danger) and in that brief moment she must have ran down my arm, then jumped off my hand, ran a few steps, and stopped when she realized she was just over the edge of the bed, resting on the top/side area.

Thank goodness I didn't cough or sneeze on her

I was also kneeling right beside the bed, so if she ever did launch herself right off the bed , she would either land on thick pile carpet, or on my chest or the legs of my jeans.