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**James Box** · 16-02-10, 10:47 AM

my own experience with Chilean species is that they don't particularly need heatmats or even alot of water. where they come from, i'm told, conditions are both dry and cool.
they do have access to water, but maintaining a water dish in the tank constantly can raise humidity beyond what they prefer.

they really are among the easiest spiders to keep, and the most maddening, cause they fast for ages sometimes and do things you don't expect...
but they're tough as old boots, and should be able to outlast even a few mistakes, which is why they're fantastic "beginner" spiders...

while i'd not bother with a heatmat for this spider, the common opinion on this forum from what i've read is that it's best to have the mat on the side. spiders dig down to avoid heat, so placing the mat underneath them will result in a confused and stressed spider wondering why it's getting hotter the further down it goes!
faunariums aren't great for burrowing, and neither is vermiculite, but i think these spiders "bulldoze" more than burrow, so it should be ok. but others may have different experiences.

alot of people prefer alot of different substrates. i started with vermiculite (and still have it in a couple enclosures, due to not wanting to unnecessarily rehouse and thus stress the spiders that live in them) because it's not as conducive to mould growth.
but i've started using coir (coconut husk) as it holds burrows better and is a bit more natural.
i've realised mould isn't as much a thing to panic over as i'd thought as a beginner.
coir is quite cheap as well, and can be mixed with vermiculite if you want to try that.

for humidity, as i said above, they like it dry in my experience and according to all i've read, so definitely not as high as 80...50-60 is probably ok though.
however, they are very tolerant, it's mainly wet substrate they don't like.

**Peter Lacey** · 16-02-10, 01:13 PM

I'll beat Stan to his own link:

403 Forbidden

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html

The general rule with heating is if its comfortable temps for you with a T-shirt it will be fine for your tarantula. Just make sure the temps dont go below 60 for any length of time, preferably in the 70s, keep dry, occassional water, feed once a week, expect the unexpected

**Sarah Willis** · 16-02-10, 01:35 PM

Thanks for your advice, both. I will definitely need heating though, my flat is nowhere near warm enough for me to just wear a t-shirt; fleece jog bottoms and two sweaters is minimum (shiver!) Think I would have to knit a tiny sweater with 8 arm holes for the spider if I didn't use a heat mat at least during the night

)

**ralfkonen** · 16-02-10, 06:42 PM

my rosie does not like pure vermiculite and either webs over it or hangs on the walls (like it does if the soil is a bit too damp after I replace it once a year) So I use peat (bought at bts show) with a handful of vermiculite only

**Scott Pritchard** · 17-02-10, 11:35 AM

I would agree on the point that Rosie's don't particularly like vermiculite. I have a friend who was keeping hers on vermiculite and her Rosie was constantly climbing the walls or sitting on anything inside the enclosure that wasn't the vermiculite. We changed it over to a coconut fibre substrate (you can get this from almost any pet store) and the Rosie seems fine on it now and is no longer climbing the walls.

Apart from that I would agree with what Peter Lacey suggested with regards to temperature (I have a pretty cold room at times so have a heat mat attached to one of the sides of her tank) and as for humidity I just top up a water dish about once a week.

I also agree with the statement expect the unexpected! I recently got back from a weekend away to find my Rosie on its back moulting after showing no signs of an impending moult. It was a pleasant surprise I must say!

Hope that helps

**Sarah Willis** · 17-02-10, 02:45 PM

Thanks for your help! I knew I'd come to the right place.

Anyway, when we went to Super Reps last week and I paid a deposit for my spider, I wasn't expecting to be able to get it for a few weeks (expecting a pretty frightening winter heating bill to get out of the way first) but it's arrived and is £100 less than I expected, or near enough. Looks like my little 8 legged friend will be joining me this Saturday. I'm so excited!

**Scott Pritchard** · 17-02-10, 03:57 PM

I know the feeling, I am waiting for a little Pamphobeteus sp. (I think its a Nigricolor) to be delivered on Friday. I feel like a 10 year old on Christmas Eve I can't wait haha!

**Mike_Strick** · 17-02-10, 03:58 PM

£100 less?! How much were you planning to pay for your rosie? Pet shops generally tend not to be the best possible source for spiders, partly due to price and partly due to lack of husbandry knowledge by the staff. Of course there are always exceptions, and hopefully you've found someone there who knows their tarantulas.

Just to back up what's been said, low humidity is best for G.rosea. They will get stressed and climb the walls (literally) if the substrate becomes too moist. If you feel you need a heatpad, I'd personally suggest having it on one wall of the viv (outside!) rather than underneath, but as you've already discovered, there are various schools of thought on this.

Enjoy your new spider. Be warned that it's likely to be the first of many!

**Scott Pritchard** · 17-02-10, 04:04 PM

Originally posted by Mike_Strick View Post

£100 less?! How much were you planning to pay for your rosie? Pet shops generally tend not to be the best possible source for spiders, partly due to price and partly due to lack of husbandry knowledge by the staff. Of course there are always exceptions, and hopefully you've found someone there who knows their tarantulas.

Just to back up what's been said, low humidity is best for G.rosea. They will get stressed and climb the walls (literally) if the substrate becomes too moist. If you feel you need a heatpad, I'd personally suggest having it on one wall of the viv (outside!) rather than underneath, but as you've already discovered, there are various schools of thought on this.

Enjoy your new spider. Be warned that it's likely to be the first of many!

I think she was refferring to the bill Mike, atleast I hope so

**Mike_Strick** · 17-02-10, 04:07 PM

Reading Sarah's post again I rather think you're right. Oops. Still, wouldn't be the first time someone had been charged £100 for a rosea in a petshop!

**James Box** · 17-02-10, 04:53 PM

haha i thought so too!

though TSS has them for 16.95: http://www.thespidershop.co.uk/insec...roducts_id=253

**Sarah Willis** · 17-02-10, 07:46 PM

Oh no, I just typed a really long post and it vanished just as I got to the last word!

Anyway, I had to laugh at the last couple of posts - it is indeed the heating bill which is £100 less than expected, thus leaving me spare cash enough to get the last few supplies for my spider and fill up the car with fuel for the 240 mile round trip to collect it. I'm sure there are closer shops, but I'm in a long distance relationship (80-odd miles) and other half lives three-quarters of the way to the spider shop so it makes sense to me.

The Rosie is £30 by the way and it's a beautiful specimen.

Anyway, since I have a few days before I get it and I have most of the equipment, I have set up its home so I can see how I go with the temperature and everything rather than shock the poor spider with my inexperience when it gets here!

So the container has 2.5 - 3 inches of substrate in, a water dish with a couple of pebbles in and a cover draped over the top, back and one end so not too much bright light gets in and a heavy glass ornament on top in case the newcomer's name is Houdini! The heatmat is on at one end and I have temperature gauges at the warm end and the cool end. After 3 hours the warm end is only 21 degrees so I will leave it on until the morning and see how it's doing then. My thermometers are half above and half below the substrate. Just waiting for a hide to go at the cool end and a hygrometer which I should get tomorrow.

Hopefully by Saturday night when my pet gets here I won't be doing too badly!

**Scott Pritchard** · 17-02-10, 09:47 PM

I wouldn't worry too much about the bright light unless you have your lights on all the time in the room you will be keeping it in. I keep mine in a separate room with only the natural light coming through the window. If ever at night I want to check on mine i just the light on the back of my phone.

Also 21 degrees will be fine with regards to temperature. I keep the majority of the tank at 20 but with the heat mat at one end it gets warmer down that end, so if she ever wants more heat all she has to do is walk to the other side. I can't remember where I read it or how accurate it is but apparently the aggressive Rosea's are generally the ones whose tanks are too warm. Again don't take this as definitive as I don't know how reliable this is.

**Denny Teasdale** · 18-02-10, 04:50 AM

Hi Sarah,

I got my G. rosea in January and, after some deliberation and forum users telling me, I put a heat mat on the side of her terrarium, I'm using children's play sand as a substrate, half a 4" plant pot on it's side as a retreat and she seems quite content with it. I've got a little water dish in there too...the temperature rarely goes below 20C in the room she's in.

I did the same too...trawled the internet and read books but the most helpful advice was sought off this forum..!

Good luck...!

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