First Tarantula

1

1Riotmaker7

Guest
Alright its kinda weird that i have a spider, if you know me at all you would know im deathly afraid of them and so is myboyfriend. Well one of our friends came over one day talking about his tarantulas and my boyfriend got curious, and as he got curious I got scared. We went to ***** the next day to get rat food and they had a very small rose haired sittin in the corner of a tank that little kids were tapping on.

So we went over and asked to look at her, all three of us me, my boyfriend and the guy who worked at ***** would not put our hands in there. My boyfriend finally got the courage to touch one of her legs in she got in a defensive pose. So anywho we ended up leaving with her, my boyfriend got over his fear of holding her pretty quickly, me on the other hand had to convince myself it was a dwarf hamster and i named it Wuzzy to try and make it sound cute.


So we have had her for about a month and ahalf now, im not sure that she has eaten yet. Im over my fear of handleing her completly now I want to all the time especially since im pretty sure my boyfriend has lsot interest in her.Iv definitly gained interest but i was told not to handle her to much right now until she settles in. Any tips? I wanna hold her but I dont want her to stress out and not eat.

Wuzzy_by_RiotMaker17.jpg
 
T&KBrouse

T&KBrouse

K, the Crazy Snake Lady
Messages
1,560
Welcome to "The Dark Side", Kat. I swear, these are the most addicting animals I have ever had.

At a month and a half, she should be good a settled by now. If you have someone close by that can handle Ts, have them come over and give you and your boyfriend a quick T-101 on picking her up.
If you don't have someone to show you, you can use a capture cup method until you build up your confidence. All you have to do is take a cup big enough to hold her comfortably and carefully but firmly corral her in to the cup. You can do this by hand or you can use long feeding tongs or chopsticks (again, its what you're comfortable with to build your confidence). Once you have her in the cup, you can sit down and tip the cup sideways and sort of shake her out delicately on to your hand. Shes a terrestrial species, so you have to be sure she can't fall more than an inch or two, if she should. A good fall can easily kill a terrestrial spider. When you want to put her back, you can either put her back in the cup, or just put your hand down in to her tank and nudge her to walk off. You will be amazed how well a T will respond to you when they know what you expect and are confident when you handle them. (Sounds crazy, I know. But its true)

These guys are awesome to watch and are known (like alot of spiders) to be meticulous housekeepers.

All of my girls get 8 crickets a week and Rosies are usually pretty good at catching them as they hit the dirt. Other than molting, I don't think my girl has ever missed a meal. LOL

Hopefully ink_scorpion will add to your thread. He was an immense help to me when I started keeping Ts.

Congrats on your new little gal! Shes beautiful! :D
 
Sunrise Reptile

Sunrise Reptile

SunriseReptile.com
Messages
3,520
Location
New Haven, IN
K, now why should I want to add anything? :D You did a wonderful job. :main_yes:

I would agree that, after having that Rosie for 4 to 6 weeks, it's definitely settled in and OK to handle. If you handle it once daily, it'll learn quite quickly that you're no threat. The only two tips I have when you do handle your new "fuzzy friend" are:

1.) Be carefull when moving around, as they can spook. You definitely don't want it falling and hurting itself.

2.) Watch for things that will produce a breeze, like a fan or open window, as this too will spook them.

Otherwise, Congrats and Enjoy! It's a beautiful Theraphosid!
 
Boanerges

Boanerges

New Member
Messages
306
Location
New Jersey
She is beautiful!!! A lot of people happen to think rose hairs are ugly. I am not one of those people. I just sold off and shipped out the last of my tarantula collection this week. I kept 5 of my favorite tarantula's for myself and a rose hair adult female (my first one from a long time ago, my only animal I have left from my house fire. A lot of animals I saved but had to be rehomed when I went into the hospital. My good friend kept her for me while I was in there.) was one of the ones I kept for myself. She is a total sweetheart and definately one of my favorites. She will be with me and treated like a queen until her end of days. Anways, Congrats on your beauty :main_thumbsup:
 
HepCatMoe

HepCatMoe

Escaped A.I.
Messages
758
Location
Tempe Az
i recently got a tarantula. i caught it in the desert here in az.

anyway for lots of good info go talk to the T nerds over at arachnoboards.com
 
D

daleo

Guest
nice find! just a warning tho, rosies are very bad about not eating for months on end. my female went for 4 months without food when i first got her, and she goes off food often. just remmeber that rosies are a desert species, they like it dry. dont mist the tank. all they need to be happy is a hide, sub, and a small water bowl with just plain water, DONT use water crystals! they cant drink water crystals!

great find and you should have her for a LONG time! lol rosies can live over 25 years! lolol

dale
 
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