Im a real Newbie.

[Dreaddinit]

Picked up my 1st T. Sunday afternoon. Its a Chilean Rose. Lady said it was a Male. I want to show you guys the setup. Tell me if its good. Theres a heating pad underneith the sand. He seems to like the sand. Its a vitasand that dissolves with water and has vitamins (usually for geco's etc..) Im feeding it tomm. for the 1st time. How many crickets should I feed him? Should I mist the cage everyother day or so? Im kinda confused on the whole thing but he seems to be doing ok. He likes water asfar as I can tell or its either evaporating fast. Any help is appreciated thx in advance.

Bare with me on the pics but youll get the basic ideas.

 

[Dreaddinit]

Heres a crappy pic of him Hrmmm need a new camera!
1st pics are how its setup now. That sand I think has to go for more room.

 

[DarFalcon]

Grats on your first T bro might wanna add some more substrate if hes a climber, as one drop from the top of that tank could be a fatal one for him and we all know ya dont want that !

 

[Texas Blonde]

Well, since I have already told you my opinion of your setup in the chat. All I want to say is:

Nice Poster!!!

 

[Bearskin10]

First off I would get rid of the heat pad and then next I would switch over to peat moss and maybe add a little vermiculite also as the previous poster said raise the substrate level a little bit and you should be good to go. Welcome to the board. Greg

 

[David_F]

What the heck, I'll go ahead and post something. Same as everyone else said: Add some substrate. Otherwise the setup looks good. Definitely like the poster.

 

[Mendi]

Lose the heating pad 1st thing, not needed as long as your house stays above 70F, actually is ok even if night temps were to drop a little below that. Vitasand, dump it and save for use with a reptile. G.rosea do very well using plain old 100% dry peatmoss as a substrate. It won't get the benefits from the sand, Ts get all their nutriants from their prey, and there is always the possibility that the sand can cause abrasions to their exoskeletons, or do severe damage if it were to take a fall of just inches. Peat is much softer in case of falls, and won't cause problems if it drags it's rump 90% of the time. Also you need to raise the level of the substrate so falls won't be a danger. This means having it high enough that one leg is touching the "ground" while another leg can touch the top of the enclosure. This seems like a lot of peat, but it really is needed as Ts are built like a fragile water balloon. Next thing not to do is misting. Yeah, spiderlings might need this in very small amounts, but you have a grown adult desert dwelling tarantula... The humidity that comes from the water dish is all that is needed, and it will also appreciate a dry substrate. As for misting, it will hate it. I truthfully can't think of any species of Ts that like it, but this one will not like it and will not be very happy if it is done once, let alone every week... As for feeding, offer about 5-6 crickets once every 5-10 days, and remove any uneaten ones after say 16-24 hours.

Next thing, read the "Sticky" titled Rose Hair Owners Please Read! How to REALLY take care of your G.rosea

And, welcome to T-keeping and to the boards

 

[Dreaddinit]

Thx guys for all the help. I just gave him 3 crickets for now cause he seems a little pissed/shy about his old home being took away. Ill do the peat moss thing after he eats. I dont want to disturb him. Ill also go turn the heating pad off right now. Thx again. Michael.

 

[Dreaddinit]

Well, apparently not to shy. The crickets messed up and went in his hole. They were all gone in the matter of 10 min. WOW!

 

[Lasiodora]

Michael,
Don't know if you are aware of this but if the rosy is really a male then it will not live very long after it matures. This means after maturity it can live anywhere between a couple of months to one or two years (there's always an exception though).
Mike

 

[Fenris]

This means after maturity it can live anywhere between a couple of months to one or two years (there's always an exception though).

I'd say there is. I had one that lived 5 years after maturity.

 

[MysticKigh]

Thx guys for all the help. I just gave him 3 crickets for now cause he seems a little pissed/shy about his old home being took away. Ill do the peat moss thing after he eats. I dont want to disturb him. Ill also go turn the heating pad off right now. Thx again. Michael.

If you're really having a guilt issue with the heating source.. try laying it against one side of his enclosure. My understanding (although I am new to the hobby as well) is that Ts burrow to get *away* from heat I must admit, on that note, that I initially had a heating source below one end of all my tanks as well. Welcome to the board... there's a lot to learn here!

 

[MizM]

Just a note; not sure how FINE that sand is, but it could kill him! If it's very, very fine, it could get into his book lungs and suffocate him.

Welcome to the addiction!

 

[Dreaddinit]

Thx guys. In my above posts I think I said I got rid of the sand and using just plain ole Jungle mix. Also ditched the heating pad. Next time Im gonna try a lil something diff. He also wont come out of his log thing. He ate 4 crickets today which is good but hes not really out alot. I find myself keeping check on him to see if hes alive lol.

 

[xBurntBytheSunx]

i don't know if anybody mentioned this but make sure the lid is secure (i can't tell from the pic if it is or not) you don't want your little buddy running around your house in the wee hours of the night