Questions and a hello!

[Peter Lacey]

you can purchase scalpels at art shops.

[Richard Shah]

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.

Hey Roy!
In another thread you said "it's me again" - I was wondering what you were talking about, so I assumed I'd forgotten you! All makes sense now! All the reasons for buying a sling you mentioned, were my main reason too! Ill take your advice on how to keep the substrate damp Thanks! What do you mean about the shows exactly? I know the BTS have events going on, but that is all I know; please elaborate?

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.

Whoa, that's too much for me lol! I understand your reasoning, but 40 crickets is already a lot for me!!! Lol, thanks anyway.

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.

Of course of course, I have heard about removing the food after a day of it being uneaten already,m but thank you for your first-hand knowledge on it, and sharing that with me. Also, I am now a lot more informed on feeding around the time of a near-future or recent malt, thank you for telling me that!!! Where did you buy a juvenile chilea rose from may I ask? The Spider Shop doesn't sell juve. c roseas - although I think I'm going to get a spiderling, though I def. hear your reasons and understand them fully! One of the reasons I want a s/ling is cuz I want to see it really grow, and I'll just pray it grows fully and healthily.

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!

That is so kool! I wanna take the skin after my tarantuala malts and show it around school! Thanks for the welcome and the advice mate, I may just get a cricket and dice it up for the s/ling - what do you think? I feel uncomfortable storing and using maggots, they are the only real creature I find repulsive, next to the flies themselves.

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

Lol! I'm guessing that kills them, or is it like freezing a fly
(and they revive after a while of 'defrosting'). The thing about my pet store is, that they don't sell pinhead crickets, although they do sell small locusts (which really are quite small!); and I think my mum would be uncomfortable with that idea, lol. I don't mind taking a sharp knife and dicing them!

[Phil Rea]

Lol! I'm guessing that kills them, or is it like freezing a fly
(and they revive after a while of 'defrosting').

No, they don't revive

[Richard Shah]

No, they don't revive

Lol kl thanks.

[Roy Patten]

Shows

Hi Again Rich, hope your getting organised now ready for the T to move in it's tank. Yes the shows that BTS have are once a year and held at a school in the midlands.

Arachnologists take there best T what ever it may be, then they get awards for best what ever. Also you can purchase T's there too, and if your lucky you can grab a bargain from one of the many stalls that sell T's and equipment.
Roy.

[Richard Shah]

Hi Again Rich, hope your getting organised now ready for the T to move in it's tank. Yes the shows that BTS have are once a year and held at a school in the midlands.

Arachnologists take there best T what ever it may be, then they get awards for best what ever. Also you can purchase T's there too, and if your lucky you can grab a bargain from one of the many stalls that sell T's and equipment.
Roy.

Hey Roy
First I need to convince my mum before I do anything - and I have to wait two weeks for her to come back to England - also, I need to save up about £30 before I set out and buy everything I need.
The show, I'd really have to try and convince my mum to take me to that, because she does work a lot, and I live in NW London. If I know the exact address, I'll just work out a journey for myself via tube/bus. I really would like to go to one of these whos actually!
Thanks,
Rich.

[James Box]

there you go...she works alot! what better than a lovely day trip out of London with her son? my mum would jump at the chance...actually, there's a good chance i'll drag my own mum along. she's visiting from Canada during that period!

[Richard Shah]

there you go...she works alot! what better than a lovely day trip out of London with her son? my mum would jump at the chance...actually, there's a good chance i'll drag my own mum along. she's visiting from Canada during that period!

Oh lol that should be kl; and thanks for that, a really nice excuse to convince my mum to take me (first I need toconvince her about getting A T., to be honest, I'll think she may actually let me!)!

[James Box]

she just might! play up the educational benefits, along with the responsibility of caring for a pet
i'm such a bad influence, aren't i!

[Richard Shah]

she just might! play up the educational benefits, along with the responsibility of caring for a pet
i'm such a bad influence, aren't i!

Nah not really lol. You realize we are talking on several threads to eachother, and I think it's my fault lol. I do care for my cat though... so that's already sorted, but yeah I'll mention the 'educational' benefits, although she'll just laugh when I say that. I dnt think she'll say no tbh, now that I've thought about it - she's quite layed back about certain things, and I just sense that this is one of those things.

[Claudia Baines]

Hi Richard,

I hope you get your Chilean Rose, they are ideal first spiders. They are really easy to look after. I have a small humidity meter which I use to check the humidity, but I only do this about once a year, just to make sure its fine (which it always is). Just having a water bowl in the tank seems enough to keep the humidity just right. I occasionally spray mist inside the tank in the summer to keep the humidity level up. It can be worse to be too damp than too dry, as you can get mould and mites in the tank, which are not good news. You won't really need much specialist equip for a C.R, just a heatmat. They are lovely pets and very little trouble to look after. Have fun!!

[Richard Shah]

Hi Richard,

I hope you get your Chilean Rose, they are ideal first spiders. They are really easy to look after. I have a small humidity meter which I use to check the humidity, but I only do this about once a year, just to make sure its fine (which it always is). Just having a water bowl in the tank seems enough to keep the humidity just right. I occasionally spray mist inside the tank in the summer to keep the humidity level up. It can be worse to be too damp than too dry, as you can get mould and mites in the tank, which are not good news. You won't really need much specialist equip for a C.R, just a heatmat. They are lovely pets and very little trouble to look after. Have fun!!

Hi Claudia
Thanks! I may buy a h/m, it's just that I'm considering wether I actually need one or not, since I find my room quite warm! I'll just do what you do with the humidty!
Thanks again,
Rich.

[Peter Lacey]

My Klugi has the luxury of a heatmat, my little G. rosea doesnt. As Schultz says, if the room is comfortably warm for you its likely to be comfortable for the T so no need for the added expense. Much better to buy a thermostat to keep an eye on your T, as long as its not staying too long in the <60s or >90s it should be fine. Within that range, with a full water bowl and good ventilation you should have an acceptable humidity.
One of the problems with heatmats is they don't have a controllable temperature guage which means they're either on or off. I have mine set to off most of the night and during the day it switches off for half hr at intervals through the day, all done via a B&Q timer (about £2).
Don't place the terrarrium near windows, try to keep subdued lighting and things should be fine.
Now, all we need is the approval from mum!

[Joe Bowden]

Another alternative to a timer switch if you are using a heatmat would be a thermostat. Lot more expensive in comparrison but the benefit is that it turns off the mat when it hits a pre set temperature and likewise turns it on when the temperature drops. Useful as a backup incase the ambient temps in your room are compromised (i.e central heating breaks, someone leaves a window open etc)

[Richard Shah]

My Klugi has the luxury of a heatmat, my little G. rosea doesnt. As Schultz says, if the room is comfortably warm for you its likely to be comfortable for the T so no need for the added expense. Much better to buy a thermostat to keep an eye on your T, as long as its not staying too long in the <60s or >90s it should be fine. Within that range, with a full water bowl and good ventilation you should have an acceptable humidity.
One of the problems with heatmats is they don't have a controllable temperature guage which means they're either on or off. I have mine set to off most of the night and during the day it switches off for half hr at intervals through the day, all done via a B&Q timer (about £2).
Don't place the terrarrium near windows, try to keep subdued lighting and things should be fine.
Now, all we need is the approval from mum!

Yeh I know where I'm going to put it; I'm going to put the tank on one of the shelves in my bookcase, which is completely guarded from direct natural light - the only natural light being what reflects off everything else in my room. The bookcase itself stands to the left of the window, which is why no direct natural lighting is possible.
Yes, my mum does have a few of those timers. I suppose I could just ask her for one, or just go out and buy it myself!
I think she'll say yes; though she says she'll talk to me about it when she gets back in two weeks.
'Till then, I pray!
Rich.

Joe Bowden, just read your post - and tbh, I orginally thought that feature came with the heatmat lol. What do you say would be the average price for a thermostat?
Edit: Whoa just seen the price! Lol, I think I'll stick with Peter's idea, or just my idea - since my room is always warm, even with the windows open.
Thanks a lot though mate! I appreciate it!