My husband wants a T...I am disabled, and I have a concern...

[shypoet]

ok thank you

 

[Jackuul]

Or you could get another aquarium, a cheap 10gal from Wally World, and raise roaches >.>

There are quite a few that cannot climb glass. Benefits include - cheap, easy to feed, and of course... they don't stink like crickets.

I have begun to loathe those chirping b*stards.

 

[curiousme]

Or you could get another aquarium, a cheap 10gal from Wally World, and raise roaches >.>

There are quite a few that cannot climb glass. Benefits include - cheap, easy to feed, and of course... they don't stink like crickets.

I have begun to loathe those chirping b*stards.

Isn't a roach colony for one T, kind of overkill/ not a good idea?:?

 

[burmish101]

I think until they start getting more t's (its inevitable) buying crickets would work a little better. The only bad part is their lifespan is very short and the smell, but if the OP ever gets a big collection going should definately go the way of the roach.

 

[Stan Schultz]

... Is it ok to still feed her these crickets even though there are fruit flies around them, or should we go buy new ones? ...

Those little flies could be any one of several different species. Most are just harmless nuisances, a very few are a possible danger to your tarantula.

Had you mentioned this before bringing them home I would have said get rid of those crickets and find a source that isn't infested. However, now that you have them we'll assume that the flies are harmless unless something indicates otherwise. Go ahead and use them.

... And, I got my Tarantula Keeper's Guide book now, so most of my questions are being answered in there ...

And thanks for buying the book!

Be advised that we've posted an extensive set of webpages as aftermarket source material to TKG3. Visit www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/aftermarket3.html.

... which means I don't plan on posting in this thread anymore unless I can't find the answer in there or in the search. ...

Good plan, but you need to understand that the tarantula keeping hobby is very, VERY, VERY new. I can remember the days when the only people who kept them were a few university types who were using them for some sort of research, and a handful of laypeople who where generally considered to be so weird that no one wanted to let their sons or daughters near them! (Come to think of it, maybe things haven't changed that much after all, no? )

What this means is that the keeping and breeding of these fabulous creatures is still not a cut-and-dried science. There are a bunch of people who ardently disagree with a lot of what's written in TKG3 based on their own biases, experiences, and goals. TKG3 and its predecessors were written mostly to help the novice get started, but there's far too much known (or at least strongly suspected) about tarantulas to fit in 400 pages or less. So much was deleted or simply left out...

You should monitor this and a number of other forums, reading about other's experiences, their successes and their failures, to become familiar with the full spectrum of knowledge and experience concerning tarantulas. I promise it's going to be an almost unbelievable voyage through history, biology, paleontology, almost all the physical sciences. And, you'll get to meet a huge bunch of really great people.

Who knows, maybe you'll write the Tarantula Breeder's Guide or the successor to TKG3. Either way, you would not get much of an argument from either Marguerite or me!

Best of luck and enjoy your newfound little buddy.

 

[shypoet]

Thank you, Stan.

We tried to feed her today, but she didn't eat. We will try again tomorrow. It could be that we didn't wait long enough, but after 15 minutes, you think she would eat them.

I'm assuming that she's just not used to her new home yet and doesn't want to eat. I'm sure when she's ready, she will eat.

She's still on top of her hideout and doesn't move much. (pet rock)

Other than that, she seems to be doing well. I'm keeping an eye on her and making sure she doesn't lose any weight. I'm also keeping her water dish clean and full.

And, about the flies with the crickets. The flies weren't on the crickets when we bought them.

 

[Jackuul]

Usually you should leave one cricket in for 24 hours. I feed my roses one cricket a week. Sometimes though, they aren't hungry (for weeks at a time I have found), so the spares go to the Aphonopelma. She's quite thin still, so I figure, a few extra are fine. Plus she is in isolation for the rest of the year.

 

[shypoet]

OK. I'll have Josh put it back in tonight when he gets home

 

[ravenruby]

I'd definitely give her more time to find/munch the crickets, especially in her new home! I usually will put 2-3 in with my B. emilia in the afternoon. She'll munch one up almost immediately, but ignore the others until later in the evening.....I think she likes to eat in the dark

Do take them out though after 24 hours, especially if she hasn't eaten them, they'll only stress/aggravate her more.

 

[shypoet]

Only posting in here because some of you wanted to see a better pic of Suzie. This was taken with my cell phone, so it is small, but here's a better pic of her.

Currently she is still not eating. It has been 2 weeks since we have had her. We will keep trying to feed her, but I am sure she will eat when she is ready. Until that time, we still make sure she has fresh water every day!

Hopefully that's good. If not, Josh will take some pics of her with his digital camera soon.

 

[shypoet]

I'd definitely give her more time to find/munch the crickets, especially in her new home! I usually will put 2-3 in with my B. emilia in the afternoon. She'll munch one up almost immediately, but ignore the others until later in the evening.....I think she likes to eat in the dark

Do take them out though after 24 hours, especially if she hasn't eaten them, they'll only stress/aggravate her more.

yep, that's what we have been doing. She is still not eating them even after 24 hours, so we take them out and then try a few days later.

 

[curiousme]

Thank you for the pic, she looks just like a G. rosea! Seriously though, she is beautiful, but so are all G. rosea.

Have you determined that it is not a male yet?

 

[shypoet]

Thank you for the pic, she looks just like a G. rosea! Seriously though, she is beautiful, but so are all G. rosea.

Have you determined that it is not a male yet?

we don't know for sure, but I know males have extra hooks on the sides of their legs (I don't know what this is called) and, our T doesn't have those, so I'm pretty sure it's a female.

 

[intouchreptiles]

i think a great starter would be a G. Rosea thats what i started off with and i handle her all the time and have never had any problems but like others have said sometimes u can come across spiders that arent as docile as others even if they are the same types of species... good luck with your first T i hope u and ur husband make a good choice and enjoy your T

 

[Falk]

we don't know for sure, but I know males have extra hooks on the sides of their legs (I don't know what this is called) and, our T doesn't have those, so I'm pretty sure it's a female.

They will only get tibial hooks once they mature so it can still be male that you have.

 

[Man1968]

Don't worry about your pet not eating right away. I've had Grammostolas that fast for months. And also, all tarantulas have their own individual temperaments, but in my experience none more so than G. rosea. Since they are originally from Chile and have been exported here (to the Northern Hemisphere) for only a few decades, their imprinted behavior for millions of years tells them that Spring is just beggining now, and food is at its most scarce. But on the other hand this might be completely irrelevant; I have just noticed that my Grammostolas clearly tend to eat less these months.
About its sex, if you manage to take a good shot of the lower aspect of its abdomen, maybe when it climbs on the glass, there are experts in these forums (not me) who can tell you.

 

[paul fleming]

In captivity,we overfeed all our animals.
Snakes for instance,could last months on one good meal........same with spids.
Don't worry,it will be fine.In fact,start worrying when it has not eaten for 3 or 4 months or even longer and even then it is not the end of the world.
Paul