ive been trying to find these two items but i cant seem to find them anywhere locally. i live in a decent sized town of like roughly 50,000 people so i have plenty of stores but i checked almost all of them Menard's, Wal-mart, IGA, K-Mart, Rual King, and im going to our local Equity and Ace hardware tomorrow....
Rose Hair Tarantula Habitat
Hello first off its never recomended that you don't hold any trarantula for yours and there safty as they can still bite if startled and fall as they can jump and even though a bite won't kill you you can have a nasty alergic reaction to th venom. However if you do want to handle your tarantula herar are som good tips. 1- use a soft paint brush to coax your tarantula out of the enclosure never put you hand inside have you hand laying flat and move the tarantula onto your hand. 2- if the tarantula goes into the threat posture leave it alone. 3- If it acts agitated moves away or strikes leave it alone. 4 - You can have him out as long as you want there isnt a time guide however i would at first keep it to 10-15mins 2x a week just to allow your self and the tarantula to get used to being handled and build up your confidence. 5- keep your tarantla low down in case it jumps or falls this will reduce the risk of injury. 6- If it runs see where it has gone use the paint brush to move it out if it turns defensive use a half cut bottle (large coke bottle) and move him into the bottle and put him back into the enclosure. 7- if he escapes use a heat sorce he should go to it as they go to warm spots. Mine escaped once and we couldent find him i put he microwave on to cook some food and when i went back he was sat on top of the microwave. The tarantula will rear up on to its back legs if its going into a defence mode and will strike. When it molts a good sign is boldness on the abdomen it will go its food and may become agitated and hide away. It will flip onto its back so don't touch it its not dead. make sure there is no food inside the enclosure the moltng can take up to 48hrs make sure you do not feed it up to a week to allow the new body to harden. If you need any more info please ask me i have lots of experience.
Rose hairs, Grammastola rosea, are from one of the driest climates on earth, the Atacama desert region.. I'm assuming that your mixture of horticultural vermiculite and potting soil is too damp for his liking. Of course, it will dry out eventually. For now, make sure the substrate is high enough in the tank that he cannot fall more then 1.5 times his leg span from the highest point in the tank. Also, make sure there's nothing sharp right along the walls of his tank that he could puncture himself against if he fell. I had to change out my rose hairs tank recently and unfortunately, that meant putting in rehydrated coconut fiber. I will also put long fiber sphagnum moss on top of that so that there is a dry spot for her to stand. You can find spahgnum moss wherever indoor plant stuff is sold, normally it's stocked with items used with orchids and bromeliads. I find it easiest at Lowes or Home Depot. That stuff is dry as can be and will make for a nice soft and dry surface for your rose hair in the weeks it takes for the potting soil to dry out.
