My first T - Cinnamon :3

[Elithial]

Hi all,

My name is Charlotte and I live on North Carolina.
I have to say I am quite new to the T hobby but not to worry! Before I went out and bought my new T I watched endless amounts of youtube videos and caresheets from experienced owners like RobC and Jon 3800, I destroyed google with hundreds of tabs on one species or another, I watched handling videos, enclosure set up videos, maintenance videos, different species videos, feeding videos, egg laying videos, ALL sorts! I wikipedia'd then wikipets then google and I even lurked all over arachnoboards. Even then I wasn't sure if I could like a tarantula so I headed to Petland (now Friendly Pets) in Greensboro N.C. and asked if I could handle their sweetest T. -Side note- Luckily the people at Petland actually took the time to KNOW about their animals and how to care for them! Petco not so much....the local petco only had one G. Rosea and she was infested with mites I told them they NEEDED to fix that but I don't have high hopes for that poor thing-

Anyways, one of the employees let me get their G.Rosea out of her cage. I had watched videos on tarantula handling and I was super careful. Gently nudging her in the back legs and abdomen to get her onto my hand. To my surprise she was a total sweetie. No hair flicking, no posturing, she just simply walked on my hand and let me hold her above the table (about 3-4 inches up, I was super careful!). I was beaming inside, she was so light and soft and sweet. I had to have her! I left the store after putting her back and came back a day or so later to see how their other Ts temperments were. They had two really small 1-2" species of Mexican Red Knee and Mexican Redleg and one adultish Cobalt Blue. The little ones were skiddish and one did flick hairs and the cobalt had a pen in her cage. We all wondered why until the store employee removed the pen and gently touched her back leg. She whirled around with the speed of the devil and we all decided the pen had probably been dropped in when she scared a caretaker. That day I bought the book 'Tarantulas and Other Arachnids' by Marshall and went home to think.

Long story short I decided the sweet rose hair was for me and I had already decided to call him or her Cinnamon! She's about 4 or so inches. I looked both her and the Petco one over for parasites using a pinch grab. I did pretty well . I keep her at room temp in a cage that used to belong to my brother's hamster. It's a 10 gal but I'm thinking of getting her a decent Kritter Keeper just because it seems really big for her. She's got her little water dish and a half log to hide in.

One problem I did have however is a TERRIBLE mistake I noticed in Marshall's book. Under substrates he suggests he names Cedar or pine bark!! The first day I put her in there I used Cedar bark and she went straight to the corner and had most of herself on the glass. I was worried and stopped by here and saw people saying 'NO BARK!' I freaked out and scooped her gently out of the tank and into a box and ran to the store to get her Eco-Earth coconut stuff. She seems content with that but she still likes to sit right next to the glass (not on it), go figure. I bought her Sunday by the way.

If you have any suggestions as to why she likes to sit next to the glass I'd love to know. I've heard that sometimes rosies just like to pick weird places to hunker down and as long as it's not up on the glass she's ok.

Anyways, I'd be glad to hear anything you have to say.
I'm already thinking about what kind of T I'd want to have next. XD T Fever!

I'll post a pic when I can, probably here and to the I.D. I know they said she's a Chilean Rose Hair but she isn't really as hairy as the ones I've seen. Plus getting her sexed would be nice XP

 

[NikiP]

Sounds like you're ahead of the ballgame as far as being a new owner

This is a good basic thread to read on care to combine with the book you bought: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292

Your substrate is probably damp, which is why she is still by the glass. Generally they like it dry, it'll probably be fine in a couple of days. Make sure you fill the tank up most the way incase your new tarantula falls from the glass.

Best thing I can suggest is to read every thread that catches your eye Never know what you'll learn!

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

Wow. I would have to say you are the most prepared new owner I've ever seen :clap::clap:

Welcome to the boards by the way.

Your setup sounds perfect. You just need to make sure that if your tarantulas front legs are touching the top, than the back legs should be touching the substrate or really close. It will also take a while for your new spider to get settled in.

One question: Does it have hooks under the first set of legs? (Not the pedipalps). And do the pedipalps look balled up like it's wearing boxing gloves? I'm asking because most G. rosea in pet stores are WC and yours would be a mature male if it has those features.

Other than that, you might be wondering about a few things.
Feeding: 1-3 crickets a week.
G. rosea like it dry.
Read all the stickies on G. rosea at the top of the forum.

Welcome to the hobby. Be prepared for more spiders

 

[jeff1962]

Welcome to the sickness..... The only problem I see right now is that you don't have nearly enough T.'s yet lol. I am sure you will fix that soon though.

 

[Elithial]

Yup! I read that care sticky as soon as I saw xhedx sticking it everywhere. XD She has explored and no she doesn't have tibial spurs or the pedipalp 'boxing gloves' I looked under her when I bought her and I thought she was a female but I think it'll be easier once I get my dad's 'super camera' to take some macros and a molt from her. And if it turns out to be a male...well...Cinnamon it will still be. XD