hi rose hair burrowing noob question

[donal]

hi i have a rose hair that likes to burrow i put a plastic cave rock that i got with the tank she has maid a little burrow about two inches or so beneth this
is this normal? the first few days were fine she used to come out and do all her spidey things evry once and a while. now she only comes out when no one is around and ther is no light. this is a bit of a disapointment as i only cath a glimse of her when i turn on the light. i cant tell for shure if she is eating drinking molting ect. i dont mind that taratulas dont do much in fact its one of the thigs i like. anyway im thinking of removing th cave will this be ok? what about puting a little led light in there that i can turn on to bring her out or at least to see she is ok without disturbing the burrow. hope ye can help thanks

 

[bobusboy]

Welcome

First of all welcome to the board I really think you should check out this thread.

"Rose Hair Owners Please Read! How to REALLY take care of your G. rosea":

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292


And seccondly G. Rosea is a rather confusing T as far as i can tell, I keep reading lots of contradicting reports of their behaivour. Mine is the opposite of your and refuses to use the hide i provided for it and spends more time land scaping and walking around. Read that thread linked above, and make sure the temperature is warm enough I is more liklely to be active if it is warm (70-80*F or 22-27*C)

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

What and when do you feed it? And how often? If you aren't finding it's prey roaming around or dead anywhere then it is probably eating. If it is not, then it's probably fasting. G. rosea are known to fast for long periods of time.

It's most likely coming out and drinking at night. Just make sure to always keep the water dish full so it can stay hydrated if it isn't eating.

If it were molting it would most likely seal it's burrow with web. Although it might not. If it is not eating, it might be in premolt or just fasting.

You could move the cave to a different spot to try and make it burrow next to the glass. Removing it would be okay too, just make sure it has a hide.

All this sounds like normal behavior of a G. rosea so I wouldn't worry much. As far a the light goes, I personally wouldn't. Try making it burrow against the glass, if it does not you could re/move the cave and make a burrow for it yourself. Or if it continues to burrow in the same spot, if you can use a light to see in there, then just check every once in a while.

And make sure to read that sticky that bobusboy provided.
Good luck and welcome aboard.

 

[donal]

First of all welcome to the board I really think you should check out this thread.

"Rose Hair Owners Please Read! How to REALLY take care of your G. rosea":

yes i read that but did not find much on burrowing

I is more liklely to be active if it is warm (70-80*F or 22-27*C)

that could be it the tempeture was perfect when i set up the tank it then rose when the substrate dried out 26 and 30 c in her burrow so i agusted the heat to 21 and 24 in her burrow i use a heat pad thinging of getting a heat lamp not the light the ceramic heat thingys any opinions? heat is a must where im from the room tempture 15-20c maybe evan lower on a cold night.
i only have him about 2 weeks and just startet feading him i tryed mid sized brown cricket first but he would not eat them. last night i fed him 2 black crickets witch he ate well at least tied them up in web and left them in his burrow humidety could be a problem though as its around 80

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

that could be it the tempeture was perfect when i set up the tank it then rose when the substrate dried out 26 and 30 c in her burrow so i agusted the heat to 21 and 24 in her burrow i use a heat pad thinging of getting a heat lamp not the light the ceramic heat thingys any opinions? heat is a must where im from the room tempture 15-20c maybe evan lower on a cold night.
i only have him about 2 weeks and just startet feading him i tryed mid sized brown cricket first but he would not eat them. last night i fed him 2 black crickets witch he ate well at least tied them up in web and left them in his burrow humidety could be a problem though as its around 80

Heat lamp is a no-no. Stick to the heat pad.

Are you feeding it WC crickets?

 

[donal]

wc crickets? well both types were sold to me as brown crickets looking them up on the net the second bach the larger ones were most lightly black iv had full grown browns before and there not as dark
ya i think ill stick with the heatmat and put it on a timer so that its only on around half the time in the day as my aparment is warm during the day

 

[PitViper]

I think heat pad is a no-no too and I also wouldn't use wild caught crickets as feeders, chance of pesticides.

 

[hassman789]

Yeah I used to think all the stuff about heatpads being dangerous for tarantulas wasn't true. But I have one in my geckos tank and yesterday I changed the reptile carpet and felt the glass where the heatpad was and boy it was hot! It was too hot to keep the back of my hand on for long. And I have atarantula that burrows all the way to the glass on the bottom, if I had a heatpad he would be fried!.

 

[curiousme]

It sounds as if your tarantula is acting like, well a tarantula. Our G. rosea has an extensive burrow system that is multi stories. We let her do what she wants and don't worry about the time we don't see her. Her water dish is kept full, even though we don't often catch her drinking, but Ts are pretty sneaky about it sometimes. If you put prey into the enclosure and it disappears then it has most likely been eaten, if it is still there the next day take it out. This species has been known to fast for up to 2 years, so don't worry about it starving.

As far as heating the enclosure, since you are in Europe, I am unsure of your heating habits. If it is dipping into really low temps, you should consider researching heat tape as most(not all) heat mats are pretty crappy.

 

[bobusboy]

I am no expert, these are my observations and what I've read.

G. Rosea likes it warm/hot and very very dry, I keep mine at 60%-70% and 75*F-80*F with a water dish. It is always digging, walking, drinking. Only things it doesn't do are eat or climb or use the hide I provided.

My G. Rosea will not eat, it's been fasting for 4 months now so if this happens to you don't fret about it.

Heat pads are fine they're just expensive if you get one that allows you to control the heat out put and as long as they're only on 1/3 of the cage (says something to that effect in the the "tarantula keepers guide") The risk is, that if the thermostat fails then you fry your pet.

So no thermostat = not for your pet.

That way you get the temperature control but allows a portion of the cage to be warmer than the other. I don't use heating lamps of any kind or pads; as my room is 70-80*F on average so it is not necessary.

Your Ts behavior is pretty typical of terrestrial if it isn't climbing the sides of the enclosure that is usually a good indicator that it is happy it is with the substrate and humidity.

A little burrow is fine many dig elaborate burrows. DO NOT attempt to force it to come out just let it be.

IF you want an active T then use the search feature to find a thread with information on the more active species.

 

[Mattyb]

I feed mine a roach a week.

As long as your house temp is atleast 65*F and higher your G.rosea will be fine, no need for heat lamps or heat pads.

 

[bobusboy]

I feed mine a roach a week.

As long as your house temp is atleast 65*F and higher your G.rosea will be fine, no need for heat lamps or heat pads.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't there a school of thought which believes warmer temps (75*F or more) and more food equals faster growth and more active spiders?

 

[Mattyb]

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't there a school of thought which believes warmer temps (75*F or more) and more food equals faster growth and more active spiders?

Perhaps but i personally could care less about faster growth, as long as my Ts are healthy. I keep mine around 70*F but during winter sometimes it will drop slightly below 70* and i've had no problems.

 

[LeilaNami]

I would like to say I have had personal experience with burning (2nd degree) my hand on a malfunctioning heat pad. If you use a heat pad at all (though it is not necessary if your temps are above 18.5C), put it on the side of the tank, not the bottom. I strongly suggest not using it at all or put it on a thermostat so it will shut off above a certain temperature. A timer isn't going to do anything when the concern is temperature. It doesn't matter if the thing is on only 12 hours a day if the temperature is high enough to be deadly or to cause injury.

Rosies sometimes burrow and sometimes don't. Mine didn't burrow for a year and suddenly made a scrape underneath a log. Also, my rosie didn't eat for seven months when I first got her. (and being she was my first T, I did nothing but worry) As long as that booty isn't wrinkly or drastically shrinking, it's fine.

As for the crickets, make sure you are buying them from a reliable vendor that actually breeds these crickets. WC means wild caught by the way.