grammostola aureostriata

[dimitris vrontamitis]

Hello there abou 7 days ago i bought a grammostla aureostriata about 2.5-3 inches,i was told i got a golden knee but after some reaserch looks more like i got an argentina..dont know if there is a big difference.
I am having problems with humidity care sheet says that it should be about 75% and many times it goes to 90% inside the terrarium,so i have to remove the lead for a while to make it go back to 75% again.Also tempreture is is about 18-19 and it should be at least 22.
The truth is that i dont yet have the right equipmet cause i live in a small island of greece and the guy at the petshop i bought the tarantula was very much like give me the money take the insect and go.I have ordered though internet the right equipmnt for the proper housing i just wonna ask if there is a big problem that her environment is like that at the moment.She hasnt stoped eating,however she was innactive yesterday she stayed all day in the small cave but today she was v active climping and walking a lot.
I am just v stressed if she is suffering or if its ok for her to be like that until i get delivered all the stuff i bought.

p.s one last thing atm i am feeding her mealwarms about 1 inch each i didnt know how much to feed her so i gave 1 per day..looks like i m ovrfeeding her though after some reaserch i have made.should i drop it to 1 every other day?

thank you very much!

[R Thomas]

Hi Dimitris,

The new name is Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee). Now if you look at the threads on this forum you will see that both temperature and humidity can be considered to be best guess estimations and that a number of species will do just fine with a lot lower humidity and a lower temperature. Does humidity go up to 90% because you are overwatering or because the substrate is too wet and when it gets warm the enclosure mists up? I would suggest that you try to decrease humidity to 75% or lower in preference to 90% to try to avoid mould issues. I would stop panicing about your tarantula and let it get on with aclimatising to its new surroundings.

Richard

[dimitris vrontamitis]

Humidity is up because substrate is 2 wet.I have placed some new one on the top so to make it go down and that has helped a bit.No the enclosure doesnt mist up and so far there is no mould.i thought to remove the tarantula from inside and dry it out a bit with the hair dryer but i dont wonna disturb her.I have ordered a heater for terrariums and a new twrrarium that has much better ventilation.I just wanted to hear someones oppinion cause i feel like i make my tarantula suffer,Thanks a lot for calming me down..i ll make some extra holes to the lead ,maybe it will fix the humidity lvl.

About the feeding,would 4 mealwarms of one inch each per week be ok?

thanks again,this site is a treasure hehe i have been reading for the last 3 hours!!

[R Thomas]

Well welcome Dimitris and yes this forum is a wealth of useful information. I would not worry too much about a few days worth of too high humidity and it should soon dry out in a warm room anyway. Take a deep breath and calm yourself down a bit. I do not think either you or the tarantula has any major issues to overcome and remember they are quite tolerant of fluctuations. I find my Chaco Golden Knee to be a fairly big eater so you will only know how much to feed by waiting to see if it eats them. Not all tarantulas like mealworms especially if they get to burrow into the substrate and disappear lol

I feed crickets to mine and on the odd occasions a cockroach from my colony that is starting to expand. I have fed meal worms, locusts and bean weevils also depending on whats available and the size of the tarantula.

Enjoy your reading and relax,

Richard

[dimitris vrontamitis]

You are a legend Richard thanks a lot man you really helped me.I didnt sleep much for like 2 days kept waking up to see how shes doing hehehe.

Take care and thanks again.