Questions and a hello!

[Louise~Nichols]

LOL...ahhh but it's very quick, hence the head and body fail to realise that they're no longer attached!

Well, hopefully your mum will see it as a positive educational experience, but if not...at least you will have a few years ahead to research through the lovely beasties that are available to purchase.

And now I better go read those crickets a bedtime story...

[Richard Shah]

LOL...ahhh but it's very quick, hence the head and body fail to realise that they're no longer attached!

Well, hopefully your mum will see it as a positive educational experience, but if not...at least you will have a few years ahead to research through the lovely beasties that are available to purchase.

And now I better go read those crickets a bedtime story...

Cya later, and thanks again for all your help. +rep!

[Louise~Nichols]

Rich, you're very welcome! We're around to help in anyway we can.
I'll catch up with you again soon...and good luck with persuading your mum!!

[Richard Shah]

Rich, you're very welcome! We're around to help in anyway we can.
I'll catch up with you again soon...and good luck with persuading your mum!!

Thanks - not 'till a few weeks though, she's away on holiday! Cya soon Louise-Nichols !

[Peter Roach]

------ - but a certain website called Exotic Pets say they sell such animals as tarantulas - is this true? Can I trust them?
Thanks,
Richard Shah

Hi Richard, i suggest that you read the entire thread about exotic pets. http://bugnation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=170 ....... the first few posts are reasonable then it goes rapidly downhill from there.

I get the impression that once the order has been recieved and paid for THEN they try and source the spider/reptile to post to the customer.

[SylviRigden]

Hi Richard, welcome to the boards. Just a thought..... get an adult female rosie if you can afford to, and if you fancy growing some spiderlings ( slings ) get a faster growing species to try first like a 'Curly Hair' or a B.Vagans. The Rosies are very slow growing.

[Richard Shah]

Hi Richard, welcome to the boards. Just a thought..... get an adult female rosie if you can afford to, and if you fancy growing some spiderlings ( slings ) get a faster growing species to try first like a 'Curly Hair' or a B.Vagans. The Rosies are very slow growing.

Lol. I don't actually mind tbh, thanks for welcoming me btw. I want a Rosea because it is hardy, and I WILL provide it what it needs, but in case something happens, like a sudden drop in temp. for whatever reason, the spider is a hardy species.
Cheers

Peter Roach - That's fine, I'll stick with the site Louise Nicholls gave me, as I can tell it's trusted! Thanks a lot anyway!

[Tom Forman]

Hi rich,
as far as i can tell you are not going to get a heatmat aftfer all. As long as your home is heated all the time that will be ok. I didn't quite understand you question about electricity but I guess it don't matter if you aren't getting one.

As to your question about keeping the soil damp, some people spray it with a spray bottle, others just let the water dish overflow when refilling to let part of the soil soak up the water.

I guess I was a bit vague when I said moist, what i meant was, do not completely soak it but don't let it dry out completely either.
I tend to water one corner of the soil once a week so the bottom looks wet but the top of the soil stays relatively dry.

Ps: are you planning to breed your crickets?

[Richard Shah]

Hi rich,
as far as i can tell you are not going to get a heatmat aftfer all. As long as your home is heated all the time that will be ok. I didn't quite understand you question about electricity but I guess it don't matter if you aren't getting one.

As to your question about keeping the soil damp, some people spray it with a spray bottle, others just let the water dish overflow when refilling to let part of the soil soak up the water.

I guess I was a bit vague when I said moist, what i meant was, do not completely soak it but don't let it dry out completely either.
I tend to water one corner of the soil once a week so the bottom looks wet but the top of the soil stays relatively dry.

Ps: are you planning to breed your crickets?

Hey Tom
Oh sorry please ignore that question about electricity lol. Thank you for the advice on keeping the soil damp; I'll probably use a spray bottle for it .
About cricket breeding; I was considering it, and I don't know if the pet store sales both the genders in the box, but if I do and I put them together and they mate, then maybe. But tbh I'd prefer to just go and buy them. What would you say on this?
Thanks,
Rich

[Roy Patten]

Hi Richard

I'm new to this forum to, my names Roy, I left the hobby but can't do wthout them so now I'm building my collection back up.

As a lot of members have said it's easy keeping up humidity, what I do is soak the peat & vermiculite mix in water then skeeze it out with my hand. Then it's not to wet, you can also at intervals spray the tank lightly but don't get any water on the T.

You can buy pin head crickets, which are very small which I use for s/lings, and s/lings tend to be cheaper to buy than adult T's. Plus you get the pleasure of watching them get bigger each month.
So all the best with your first T and enjoy the hobby, and we all hope to see you at the shows.
Roy.

[SylviRigden]

Hi, I buy my crickets and locusts on line. I get a bag of 500 - 800 crickets and then seperate them into smaller boxes. It works out cheaper than buying from the pet shops. The crickets don't keep as well in the winter though, I think the mail journey chills them abit.

[James Box]

Hey Richard welcome!
i've got two G rosea's, raised from juveniles. they're both about 3 inches across now.
if it helps, at this size, i feed them about one or two crickets a week when they're eating. G rosea's do fast sometimes, usually due to a long moult cycle, but sometimes just cause they like to stress their owners out!
mine prefer dry substrate, and though both of mine are about the same size, one prefers a slightly smaller tank. my humidity is a little low, so they do tend to stay by their water dishes, which i top up and allow to overflow at times.
ways to sort out humidity include putting cling film over the airholes, to limit airflow.

i have spiderlings of other species and tend to feed them live crickets that are a bit smaller than the actual spiderling, though occasionally they'll grab something a bit bigger. i feed every 3-5 days usually...unless a moult has occured, in which case it's best to give a spiderling at least 5 days to recover. adults may need longer. the recovery time is due to their new skin hardening. their fangs take a bit longer than the rest of them to harden, and can be damaged if they attack something too soon after a moult.

crickets are awful, though, because an uneaten cricket may actually attack a T, and the T may be vulnerable if nearing a moult. so keeping an eye out and removing uneaten food is the best method to protect your T.

one more thing, spiderlings are notoriously delicate, and sometimes die with little warning even if you're doing your best. this can be deeply disappointing obviously, so getting a juvenile or older may be the wisest course since it's your first T.

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Richard,
Firstly welcome to the site. For the most part I can only echo what's already been said here. Keep spiderlings on pre killed small maggots until about 3cm then start them hunting small green crickets. I've never kept Grammostola but a good way of keeping air humidity is to use sphagnum moss on top of the substrate. Most of my tarantulas are arborials so I use it all the time. If your Grammostola likes things on the dry side then still leave the moss in to dry out, rather than moistening it. I have a B. bohemi who never goes on the soil in her petpal anymore, she loves the soft moss (in fact last week she moulted on it)!



One thing though. Always make sure your spider has a waterbowl on hand of clean, fresh water. Tarantulas love a long drink, especially after a moult!

[Kate Arbon]

Hi Rich.

One tip if you are only going to have one or two slings, because you get so many crickets in a tub, is you can freeze them. That's what I've been doing. That way you don't end up with the problem of the crickets getting too big for your slings before you have a chance to feed them. Also I hate squishing and chopping up crickets. I buy a tub of small cricks and stick it in the freezer, then I can pick out ones the right size for all my baby spiders, and they last for ages. The spiders seem to like them fine

[Nicola Dolby]

By the way Louise, where do you get your scalpels from?