Talk:Chilean rose tarantula

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Handling

I just added a Lancet and Physorg--free summary reference to the Urticating hair page, in which some fellow apparently got his Rose irritated enough to kick hair in his eyes. They advise eye protection. Has anyone else ever been haired by a rose? Is it rare enough that we don't need that remark on this page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mnp (talk • contribs) 09:52, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

I have seen my Chilean Rose Spider kick hairs but my hands were always out of the way. But I can say from experience that she lays utricating hairs down when she lays down silk for feeding or simply laying out new silk lines. I've learned the hard way to wear gloves when I clean her vivarium because itching hands are extremely annoying and not even calamine lotion or hydro-cortisone helped. Hair-kicking is a common defense mechanism in New World tarantulas, and it's a pretty common behavior.--75.72.13.105 (talk) 07:25, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Colour forms

NCF is now g. porteri (I think, check spelling), RCF is still rosea, Blue? come across blue grammys but not blue g. rosea. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.98.99 (talk) 16:35, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Humidity

Hmm...I think I disagree with the statement about disliking humidity. It is in fact necessary for these animals, being tropical as well as needing to molt, that they live in a high humidity environment, anywhere from 55%-90%.

Me too. They sure need humidity of 55-90% ... --Goliathus 09:07, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

It's important to look closely at locality data to determine humidity requirements for this species. They are from the northern area of chile (see: http://www.eightlegs.org/rose/rose.html), which is the area of the Atacama desert (see: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html). The tropical region of chile is in the south, which is not where G. rosea is from. Therefore, this is a species that requireds LOW HUMIDTY. In addition, "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" by Schultz & Schultz, the most widely regarded book on tarantula keeping, recommends low humidity for G. rosea.

^ though that may be true, how long have they been in the US? Several generations; so perhaps they adapted to humidity in the US. I side with the other two on this one.

Just an observation, but it seems that my rosea strongly dislikes anything over 70% and will actively try to get to higher grounds whenever this happens. I've read that other people has experienced the same, so I think we can safely assume it's not a fan of high humidity. --Debolaz 03:12, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

They may have been in the US for several generations but there will be relatively few captive bred ones when they are so cheap and plentiful wild caught. They are extremly unlikely to have adapted to different humidity over just a few generations anyway. Roy

All tarantulas need a moderate-to-high amount of humidity in captivity, but keep in mind that G. rosea lives in the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world and thus its humidity doesn't need to be over 50%.--Origamikid (talk) 03:08, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

If it helps this discussion, I had a Chilean Rose and it was very comfortable in the dry climate where I live in Southern Utah, with no humidifiers or anything. Zeke64 (talk) 22:34, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

describers

F.O. Pickard-Cambridge (not O. Pickard-Cambridge, his uncle) described G. rosea in 1897 as Eurypelma spatulatum. Why include him in the taxobox? I deleted him for now. --Sarefo 21:08, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

BTW, it is Walckenaer who described Grammostola rosea in 1837 as "Mygale rosea"

reference: Walckenaer, C. A. (1837): Histoire naturelle des insectes. Aptères. Paris, 1: 1-682.

See also: PLATNICK, N. I. (2006): The world spider catalog, version 7.0. American Museum of Natural History, online at http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html.

--Martin Huber 07:41, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Water

I am the owner of a Chilean Rose Tarantula. I'm wondering what the purpose of the dish of water is for. I have put in a dish of water with a sponge in it, and he avoided it unil it was dryed out. Wondering about this,I researched it and found out that they get water from their food (which is semi-plentiful in the desert) and not from a source of liquid water.Spacecase610 03:02, 11 March 2007 (UTC)Spacecase610 March 10, 2007

I know this response is quite late, but I'd just like to say that you shouldn't give tarantulas a sponge as a water source. Sponges grow nasty stuff too easily, and they aren't easy to drink from anyway. Also, while they do get some moisture from their food, it's best for them to have a water source they can dip their fangs into (and that isn't so large they can drown.) RacieB (talk) 03:13, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

the water dish helps to maintain a minimum humidity, and they do sometimes require one to drink out of... 24.17.40.9 (talk) 06:57, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Do i take the sponge out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.92.74.50 (talk) 16:31, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Yes! Take the sponge out. Sponges are breeding grounds for bacteria and mold. Mold can kill your spider. As for water dishes: I caught my female G.Rosea drinking deeply from the water dish at the pet store I bought her from. She climbed all the way into it, dipped her fangs, and did a little pumping motion. They had the temperature pretty high there though (95 degrees) so maybe she was drying out. 70.114.133.225 (talk) 04:44, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Hey, I had a Chilean Rose, and I had to replace the water frequently. I was under the impression that spiders absorb water through their legs- not suck it through their fangs. The fangs do connect to the stomach, though, so mine may be misinformation. My spider did frequently rest her legs in the water in her dish, supporting my idea. If someone has more information on that, please tell me. Also, DO NOT put a wet sponge anywhere near your tarantula- they grow mold which is harmful to them. Zeke64 (talk) 22:49, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

Feeding video

May be offensive to some viewers. Posted here rather than on the main page.

• Video of a Chilean rose tarantula eating a mouse

-- 131.225.22.189 19:31, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Atacama?

Chilean Rose Tarantula = Grammostola rosea appears to be an ambiguous definition. I have seen lovely hairy reddish tarantulas in the Southern (Valdivian) rainforest, living and raising family in relatively sunny forest spots. It seems unlikely to me that this inhabitant of the temperate rainforest is of the same species as the one reported to be from the Atacama. --Lupo Manaro 21:34, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

But anything hairy reddish isn't automatically a Chilean rose? Debolaz 10:33, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Lifespan

As far as I know, the lifespan of these creatures aren't known and when numbers like 15 or 20 years are given, it's just because that's how long they've been available in the pet industy and nobody really knows. I'm changing the wording in the article to indicate this, but if anyone feels this is wrong, please show references before reverting. And I don't mean some random website giving a number without any justification behind i. Debolaz 22:53, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

molting

My spider has a bare spot on his back. And i was needing to know what would cause it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.92.74.50 (talk) 16:33, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Those are her/his urticating hairs most likely. They flick them off at threats. Probably nothing to worry about. 70.114.133.225 (talk) 04:45, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

This is caused when your spider kicks off urticating hairs. There will be a bald patch until your spider molts. Zeke64 (talk) 23:14, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

need advice

i need to know if loud noises bother tarantulas —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.102.110.74 (talk) 01:26, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Spelling

Goliathus created a whole mess of articles in which he misspelled "Grammastola" as "Grammostola." A *LOT* of articles. Check any reference on tarantulas and you'll find that this spelling is incorrect. 76.205.124.65 (talk) 19:36, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Tasty Treats

I found there were foods my Chilean Rose was crazy about and there were food items that weren't so hot. If people could create a list of foods they like, we can find out what worked for other peoples spiders and try it out on our own. I'll start the list:

1. Corn worms. Those worms you find when you shuck home-grown corn.

2.

3.

Zeke64 (talk) 23:29, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

Tank Floor Liner?

I keep tarantulas, and I have a tank with semi-fine, white sand in the bottom and smooth, black rocks. I've heard of other linings, such as peat or sphagum moss, substrate, and others. Is there a best lining? How good is sand compared to other linings? If someone has more information, I would be glad to hear it. Zeke64 (talk) 23:57, 11 September 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

too skewed towards pet ownership, not enough on the animal's natural behaviour/environment

Just like most articles on wikipedia on animals commonly kept as pets, this article has far too much information on the way the animal is kept in captivity and not nearly enough about its actual wild state - someone with knowledge in this area should amend it and relegate the pet care information to a subsection or to a wikibooks manual on tarantula care. --86.163.124.59 (talk) 23:47, 1 January 2010 (UTC)