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**Craig Mackay** · 19-03-13, 09:13 AM

She looks fine to me so don't worry. Give her some dry substrate and a water bowl and leave her to it and she may start eating once she's settled in a week or two. She might not though but don't worry about that either. They really don't need a lot of food. She could easily go a few months without a meal.

**Szandra Speier** · 19-03-13, 09:57 AM

I have too a 6 years old rosea and she does'nt ate for a month. She maked that once already a half year ago and than just began to eating. Don't worry, that's normally I think!

**Peter Roach** · 19-03-13, 08:48 PM

The photo's show a normal looking tarantula.
The usual fat abdomen that many hobbyists seem to think is normal is the abnormality.
If you look at ANY photo of ANY species of wild tarantula you will see that their abdomen's are all much smaller than yours.

If she hasnt eaten sometime in the next 12-14 months then possibly you might start to think something isnt quite right.

Just leave her alone for a few weeks or months to settle in.

Whether she needs to be placed in an ICU perhaps,or I'm being a worrywort

As far as i'm aware (as i've never used or seen one), the ICU involves higher than normal humidity and raised temperatures . . both of which can possibly contribute to the death of a species like G rosea which prefers cooler temperatures and low humidity.

**Mandy James** · 20-03-13, 02:13 PM

Thanks all. You've put my mind at ease there. I'd put up pics on facebook and someone messaged me saying she was too thin which had me worried! Knew I'd get a proper response on here

I replaced her substrate with some that was drier yesterday and gave her a plant pot hide so she's the choice to use it or not. She was fine through the whole process so I'm just going to enjoy her now. Going to leave her a couple of weeks and try her with a roach. I have snakes so I'm used to animals not feeding! Never thought I'd end up with 3 tarantulas!!

**Tim Gibbons** · 22-03-13, 10:26 PM

I never thought I'd end up with over 40 Tarantulas.

**Peter Roach** · 22-03-13, 10:47 PM

Originally posted by Tim Gibbons View Post

I never thought I'd end up with over 40 Tarantulas.

.....and this has exactly what to do with the original post ?

PS. If you add another few hundred to your total, you may catch up to some of the other people who use the forum

**Stanley A. Schultz** · 23-03-13, 12:52 AM

Originally posted by Mandy James View Post

... One of which isn't feeding at present and although I know this can be a normal thing for g.roseas I'd rather be sure she's ok. ...

If you haven't read Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula recently, perhaps you might now as a refresher.

Enjoy your little 8-legged wonder-spider!

**Stanley A. Schultz** · 23-03-13, 12:54 AM

Originally posted by Peter Roach View Post

... As far as i'm aware (as i've never used or seen one), the ICU involves higher than normal humidity and raised temperatures . . both of which can possibly contribute to the death of a species like G rosea which prefers cooler temperatures and low humidity.

Just some additional comments to avoid possible problems down the road...

You would probably be correct if you kept a G. rosea in an ICU for weeks or months. However, the guidelines recommend stints less than 6 days long with one to several days in a dry cage between them. See the ICU.

And, while cooler temperatures do them no harm if kept within reason, neither do warmer temperatures. See Temperature...

Note as well that the guidelines recommend only a very slight rise in temperature: "Place the ICU with its tarantula in a warm part of the house. In these authors' home the default position was on top of the refrigerator because of the gentle, low heat from the heat exchanger coils on the back. But, your home may be different. Protect it from sunlight and excessive heat."

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your little 8-legged Yoda!

**Tim Gibbons** · 23-03-13, 09:05 AM

Originally posted by Mandy James View Post

Thanks all. You've put my mind at ease there. I'd put up pics on facebook and someone messaged me saying she was too thin which had me worried! Knew I'd get a proper response on here

I replaced her substrate with some that was drier yesterday and gave her a plant pot hide so she's the choice to use it or not. She was fine through the whole process so I'm just going to enjoy her now. Going to leave her a couple of weeks and try her with a roach.I have snakes so I'm used to animals not feeding! Never thought I'd end up with 3 tarantulas!!

@ Peter Roach. That was the point. It is called having a sense of humour. Cheers.

For the record, I have a very old Chile Rose female who looks not unlikethe one Mandy has, body shape wise. She has not fed all winter and seems pretty 'sleepy' and relatively inactive a lot of the time. I am not concerned though as this is not unusual winter behaviour for her. She drinks every now and then from her water bowl and then trundles off to her flower pot hide. I put it down to her going in to a bit of a dormant phase so I think she has adjusted to our northern seasons as best she can, but she is also just an old lady now. As Peter rightly pointed out, and Stanley in his book, most pic's of T's we see are actually overfed. So long as the abdomen is roughly the same size as the cephalothorax then appearance should not be a concern. The behaviour of the animal can be a more telling sign that something could be wrong.

**Tim Gibbons** · 23-03-13, 09:11 AM

Originally posted by Peter Roach View Post

.....and this has exactly what to do with the original post ?

PS. If you add another few hundred to your total, you may catch up to some of the other people who use the forum

If I had the room LOL, If I had the room....

We are lucky because these are just fantastic animals and have captivated me ever since I was young. The fascination and wonder remains to this day. My 5 year old daughter is also hooked and gives names to most of my spiders.

**Mandy James** · 25-03-13, 07:09 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone. Had a bit of a shock last night as I checked on her and discovered this: I really wasn't expecting it at all. Despite me being her second new owner in just over a month and being recently moved about she has moulted perfectly

She's hidden away in the flower pot now and hopefully she'll start feeding again once fully hardened. Her moult will be going to my kids young cousin who is absolutely fascinated with spiders, unlike me as I was always terrified

**Tim Gibbons** · 25-03-13, 07:16 PM

Showing nice colour as well. Excellent news.

**Peter Roach** · 25-03-13, 08:27 PM

Now that you have the moult it will be easy to check if she is actually a female.

>>> LINK to sexing <<<

**Stanley A. Schultz** · 26-03-13, 01:59 AM

Originally posted by Mandy James View Post

Thanks for the advice everyone. Had a bit of a shock last night as I checked on her and discovered this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]3696[/ATTACH] I really wasn't expecting it at all. Despite me being her second new owner in just over a month and being recently moved about she has moulted perfectly

She's hidden away in the flower pot now and hopefully she'll start feeding again once fully hardened. Her moult will be going to my kids young cousin who is absolutely fascinated with spiders, unlike me as I was always terrified

As soon as you can, we need photos of the tarantula from the front and sides (as opposed to from the top). It looks suspiciously like a male to me.

Enjoy your little 8-legged surprise package!

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Thin g.rosea. Shoud I worry?

Thin g.rosea. Shoud I worry?

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