Home & settling Great!

[kirsty smith]

Well folks,i picked up my G.rosea on friday!,& at the risk of seeming very childish - she is the most gorgeous g.rosea EVER!!. There had been snow the day before,but kirkcaldy wasnt too bad,but in the town where my t" was it was a few inches deep! so i was a wee bit worried about the journey home. Anyway,i felt she was quite traumatised by the journey home (i was given her in a clear cricket tub with wet kitchen roll in the bottom????)Got her into her tank & she stayed at the top for a few hours,i just left her well alone & let her get used to things,by late evening she was down crawling about the substrate.
Ive got 4 locusts in a tub for her,but im waiting a few days yet before i feed her!. Im calling her Lois (i love watching Family Guy!)so if "she" turns out "he" i can just add an"U" so he will be Louis! Is it a good or bad sign that she isnt webbing?,she had loads of webbing in her viv at the shop,but i havent seen 1 solitary strand?. Will post pics shortly,because im so so proud of her!

[Pam Turner]

Hi Kirsty, congrats on getting Lois home!!

Rosea are not heavy webbers at a species. You can usually see a layer on top of the strate, when viewed at the correct angle, but other than that you're really not going to see much. The times a rosea will web the heaviest are when laying a molting mat, an egg sac, or a sperm web. The webbing at the store may have been more of a security issue for her. I'd be surprised if you see that once she gets settled at home.

Glad to hear you are going to let her just chill out and adjust for a few days. Absolutely the right thing to do.

Enjoy your new baby!!

[Peter Lacey]

Congrats Kirsty
Exciting isn't it
I'm sure like many of us you'll sit waiting for your T to move, her first feeding, the little dance, burrowing and all the little quirky things they're reknowned for.
Good that you're letting her getting acquainted with her surroundings before feeding. You can feed the locusts salad but mine prefer it without the dressing

[kirsty smith]

I am just so chuffed ive finally got her!,iwasnt sure how much g.rosea web!. Also,how do you tell if they are too cold?,i have a heat mat as im not saying my flat gets cold some times-but my friends want to install a bovril machine in the bathroom so they dont freeze to the seat!!lol!. Seriously though,the living room is ok,but i dont want her getting too cold during the night.
I was told to feed the locusts on grass from the garden,i knew that crickets eat most plant stuff like lettuce ect,but it seems salad is better- it explains why 2 locusts have died since friday!!

[Peter Lacey]

We feed our crickets and locusts lettuce but they'll also take grapes, cucumber and fish flakes. We also have morio worms (and previously mealworms) which we buy for our Chinese Water Dragon but they can also be fed to Ts. These are easily fed on a weetabix, they change into beetles so don't tend to die off, but will burrow into the substrate.
Although many say there's no need for a heater or thermostat if you feel your house gets cold its easily remedied without much cost. I've plugged my heater into a timer (you can get these at B&Q for a couple of quid) so its on during the day but mostly off at night. The thermostat helps to see if you have a temperature gradient (good) and is also your warning if temperatures have gone to the extreme due to a faulty heater. If you purchase more Ts its likely you'll be able to heat them with the same heater.
Looking forward to seeing your pix

[Tom Forman]

crickets will turn canibalistic if they don't have enough food and especially water.

I feed mine crushed cat food weetabix and spinach.

btw, the webbing in the shop could easily have been from another T.
I can't see the shop cleaning the tank every time they sell a T so it could easily be from a previous inhabitant of that tank.

[Louise~Nichols]

Congratulations Kirsty...and so the bug begins...I'll bet that you've got more than the one tarantula before the end of this year!!

When T's are in shops...they do experience a fair bit of hassle, from kids tapping, through to customers who *just want to have a look*. Some shops don't bother with any hiding places because they want the tarantula on display 100% of the time, so the spidey then webs up to create security.
@ Tom...in my experience of petshops...tanks were always cleaned between inhabitants, there were plenty of licensing and animal welfare officers visiting out of the blue for anyone to risk substandard care or neglecting cleaning duties!