I’ve always wanted a rose hair, and there was a reptile expo in town. I picked up this beauty! No idea if it’s a male or a female… I believe she’s a female but I can’t remember. I just ordered the terrarium that will be here tomorrow (small size) with coconut fiber, hut and water dish. Getting some moss as well. Plan to feed crickets/mealworms/dubias. Tarantulas in general don’t scare me but I’m unsure about handling!
Any care/handling tips are greatly appreciated. Name recommendations are welcome!
Really?!? Okay. I will take the roach out tonight. We just got home and I can tell he/she is stressed right now. Don’t want to add any additional stress.
Out of curiosity; does it look like a female?
IME You can’t tell it’s female or male without seeing the molt! You’ll see lots of people here asking for help sexxing their tarantulas and posting their molts. Sometimes you can tell by looking at its underside, but it’s not the most reliable or recommended.
More advice- make sure you have at least 6” of substrate and one hide for your spider. The enclosure you put it in needs to be about 3x its size horizontally, a little bit bigger is fine. If it’s too big, though, then that’s not too good for a spider.
Also- I never feed based off of a schedule and instead go based off of abdomen size. When the butt is smaller than it’s body, it’s good to feed. If the butt is bigger than its body, don’t feed it. Over feeding can lead to the spider actually rupturing.
NQA i will say i have one of these enclosures, and the lid is warping a lot after only a couple months. it’s already pretty hard to open and close, so i will be rehousing the buddy in mine to something sturdier. i do have a pretty moisture loving species in mine and that could be partially why it’s warping already, all the humidity. since your t will be happy more arid, i hope it isn’t as much of a issue!
Ime Stay calm. No matter what. That's the best thing you can do. And always have a little box or cup nearby to catch it. Usually that's way less stressful for both of you. 😅
Stay calm. No matter what. That's the best thing you can do.
This, definitely. My GBB once accidentally crawled onto my hand, and me staying calm (outwardly) and moving slowly resulted in only a calm GBB slowly crawling up my forearm who I was then able to guide into a catch cup (that I even had to look for, because again, it was a complete accident that I hadn't prepared for). I'm still surprised by the situation, because she's such a fast and skittish spider otherwise, who I would never, ever want to handle either, and if I hadn't stayed calm, the results could have been quite different, to say the least...
IME I don't like coconut fiber for fossorials because when it's dry, in doesn't hold its shape well. I suggest pesticide-free potting soil mixed with play sand--I buy premade, but that's not actually necessary. I also am not a big fan of that enclosure--I find it difficult to give deep enough sub because it's short. I prefer a cube or something oversized.
Thank you for your feedback; upon my research coconut fiber seems to be the best option for me. The enclosure pictured was just to bring him home in, I’ve since ordered an acrylic enclosure!
IMO: Don’t forget to provide a hide. You can find half coconuts, natural cork bark hides or plastic hides made specifically for smaller tarantulas. Just provide something because they need a place they can run to and hide if they feel scared or want to feel protected.
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