New G. rosea

RosyDax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
Messages
6
I've just acquired my first T. The pet store owner was out of A. avicularias so I settled for a Chilean Rose. I was traveling at the the time, so she's been in a small pet store cup for about three days. With school it was hard to find time to set up her enclosure with the substrate and everything she needed. The pet store clerk recommended I use Eco Earth coconut fiber, and to be honest the rehydration process was a pain in my hoo-ha. It is impossible to dry out and even after baking it in the oven for three hours on high heat! I finally settled for half dry, and let it cool down. I put it in my ten gallon tank and let my Rosy out of the tiny cup she's been cooped up in, but now she's been climbing the walls. I assume this is just because of the humidity of the substrate but I can't help but worry she's going to fall, as my tank is quite large. I plan on drying some more substrate really well and putting on top of the wet, will the bottom layer still dry? Also, the clerk said she had been fed about 2 weeks before I purchased her, but I don't want to feed her until she's been well adjusted to her new tank. She's looking a bit small in the abdomen, should I try feeding her? Any advice would be appreciated.
 

Dylan Bruce

Arachnosquire
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Dec 4, 2016
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88
Pictures all ways help especially with judging the distance it has to fall (Remember you should have no more than 2x the diagonal leg span of the T for height), as for the substrate chances are it is to wet like you said but it could just be exploring it's new enclosure. I had the same problem with my B. Smithi when I first got it because the coconut choir was to difficult to dry out and the top layer dryed out within a few days but the bottom layer will all ways be damp which isn't ideal. As for the small abdomen/ feeding again pictures would help.
 

Rittdk01

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
258
Make sure there's not much room from the dirt to the top for it to fall. Also, tape a couple inches around the top to keep it from getting a leg caught if you have a screen lid. Water dish, hide and a cricket every week or two. Bags of loose Eco earth are worth it to not have to mess with the rehydration.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
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The loose eco earth bags come already dry. A 10 gallon tank is larger than necessary but certainly not harmful. Just make sure that the distance from the substrate to the lid is no more than one and a half to two times the DLS of the spider. Also make sure that it has a hide and a water dish. Aside from that, the substrate does need to be bone dry or else G porteri/rosea will climb a lot.

With the tank being on the larger side, you are just going to want to make sure that it is eating. Unless it is going through a fasting period in which it won't eat.

Also, if you are using one of those metal mesh lids you're going to want to replace it with a Pexi glass lid that has holes drilled in it for air flow.
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
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335
Congrats on your new babe! :D You're definitely going to want more substrate. I honestly just buy the bags of coco fiber, I hate dealing with the bricks even though they're definitely more cost-efficient. Something that I believe @EulersK (I think) did with his B. smithi when setting up a desert enclosure for her was take a cardboard box filled with packing peanuts and put it in the enclosure first, then surround and cover it with substrate - rosies aren't really diggers, and the volume of the box makes it so that you use significantly less substrate (and also reduces the weight of the enclosure as a whole). Hope that helps out a little!
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
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Feb 22, 2013
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Congrats on your new babe! :D You're definitely going to want more substrate. I honestly just buy the bags of coco fiber, I hate dealing with the bricks even though they're definitely more cost-efficient. Something that I believe @EulersK (I think) did with his B. smithi when setting up a desert enclosure for her was take a cardboard box filled with packing peanuts and put it in the enclosure first, then surround and cover it with substrate - rosies aren't really diggers, and the volume of the box makes it so that you use significantly less substrate (and also reduces the weight of the enclosure as a whole). Hope that helps out a little!
'Twas not I. Not sure who that was, but I remember the thread.
 

RosyDax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
Messages
6
Here is a picture of the enclosure, definitely not enough substrate if the height is supposed to be no more than two spider lengths. She hasn't been climbing anymore, she stays in the back corner because it's a dry spot, but at least she stays off of the glass. I did feed her a cricket today, I was afraid she wouldn't take it, but she did. I have a little more Coco fiber sitting next to the heater in attempts to dry it enough to add it to all the rest. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow. Also this fish tank hood is the only top I have and it provides very poor ventilation and has a large hole where a filter used to go. I had to cover it with cardboard so she can't escape through it. IMG_6973.JPG
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
335
You absolutely need a different lid. She needs to be able to breathe...and definitely more substrate.

I used to have that exact lid on my rosie's tank many years ago when I first got her - covered the hole with tinfoil with some holes in it for ventilation. Woke up one morning to her chewing through the tinfoil to get out. If I had slept an hour later she would have gotten loose. Cardboard might keep your girl in but she's not getting any air, and that's a problem. Get a screen lid for the time being and use some kind of tape or barrier to keep her from being able to climb on it so she doesn't get stuck and lose a limb or fall and rupture.
 

Trenor

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Jan 28, 2016
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Measure the top of the enclosure and go to the hardware store and get them to cut you a piece of plexiglass to fit it. Then drill holes in the top for ventilation. Depending on the size of your T you can lock down the top with clips, magnets etc.
 

RosyDax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
Messages
6
Okay, I've talked to friend that lives near by who keeps geckos, and she has a screen lid I can use until I can get Plexi glass.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
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Jan 28, 2016
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Okay, I've talked to friend that lives near by who keeps geckos, and she has a screen lid I can use until I can get Plexi glass.
I would replace it quickly as Ts can get their claws stuck in the screen and lose legs. Go ahead and add in more sub then get to the lid as soon as possible.

Good luck.
 

TomKemp

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
160
That's a lot of vertical space for her to climb and fall. If you don't want to spring for a bunch of coco fiber, You can always pick up a basic bag of potting soil for cheap. Just make sure it doesn't have any additives or fertilizers that could harm your T. I remember reading years ago (can't remember where now) that it's also good thing to pat your substrate down a bit to create a firm surface so they aren't tiptoeing around on a lot of fluffy stuff. I've been doing that ever since I read that and noticed that they don't seem to "roam" around as much.
 

RosyDax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
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6
IMG_8056.JPG This is an update of the tank two weeks after I acquired her. I just put the last of the Coco fiber in tonight, (that's why she's on the wall) she hasn't been climbing for a week until just now because shes riled up from me moving things around. I gave her two hides, one exposed a little so I can see through. I replaced the hood with a screen lid and taped 3 inches around the outside of it so there's no way her feet can become stuck. She's doing well, spends alot of time in her cave. She comes out in the evenings to chill on one of the jawbones under the light.
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
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That looks pretty good, but I would raise the substrate level, especially on the right side. If she were to fall from where she is in the picture, she could be injured or killed.

I would also move anything jagged or hard away from the walls so that if she does fall, she only has soft things to land on.
 

Andrea82

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Jan 12, 2016
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It is huge! The enclosure, not the spider. I think rehoming her into something smaller would have been more sensible, this way you have a huge tank, more than halfway filled with substrate, taking up space which you could have used for another spider. Or two :D
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
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Nothing against having a larger size enclosure but there definitely needs to be more substrate in there as the distance from the top to the substrate is still too far.
 
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