Pet store that sell tarantulas

Males: 4-5 years
Females: up to 15-20 years

AVERAGE ADULT SIZE:

5-6 inches

CAGE TEMPS:

Warm side - 75-90 ℉
* If room temperature falls below 70℉ at night, may need supplemental infrared or ceramic heat for night-time

WILD HISTORY:

Rose hair tarantulas are from the deserts of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. This species dig burrows to hide away from the hot sun of the day and then comes out at night to hunt.

NORMAL BEHAVIOR & INTERACTION:

Nocturnal. Docile and tolerant, rose hairs can be handled, but handling may cause stress to the animal. Rose hair tarantulas can bite and their bites do deliver a tiny bit of venom. It is possible that some people may have an anaphylactic reaction to the venom from a rose hair, but the odds are low, as the venom is not very strong. Most bite victims suffer only a bit of pain, itching and burning.

Tarantulas are invertebrate arachnids. Arachnids are terrestrial arthropods, which have simple eyes and four pairs of legs. Scorpions, ticks and mites are also arachnids.

NOTE: Rose Hair tarantulas should be housed alone with no exceptions.

FEEDING:

Carnivorous, live food Protein sources such as: gut-loaded crickets, mealworms, cockroaches, kingworms, and wax worms dusted with a supplement should be offered. Wild caught insects should never be fed, since they can carry disease. All insects should be gut loaded (fed a nutritious diet about 24-hours before being offered to your scorpion - see our cricket care sheet). Adults should be fed about 3-6 large crickets per week (or other prey equaling about this amount) Feed about twice a week, at night, as they are nocturnal. It is not uncommon for a tarantula to feast heavily for several weeks and then fast for a few weeks after.

SHEDDING (MOLTING):

Tarantulas need good humidity in their habitats in order to molt properly. If the humidity is not adequate, your pet may not be able to shed completely, which can be deadly. The interesting thing about tarantula molts is that the spider may regenerate lost legs during the process. A tarantula on its back is not a dead tarantula; it is a molting tarantula! So, don’t panic if you see your spider upside down with its legs sticking straight up in the air. It is very important not to disturb your pet during this time, or you may stress him/her to the point where he abandons the molting process. This can be very dangerous and possibly fatal. Prior to a molt, your tarantula may not accept food for a week or so and he may spin a small web on the floor of the enclosure and sit around it during this time. The web will serve as a bed to lie on during the molt; it also is an attempt to deter insects from disturbing him. Immediately after his molt, your spider’s new skin will be very soft and vulnerable, so it is very important that nothing comes in contact with him that might hurt him - including insects - so remove any uneaten prey from the cage as soon as you suspect he may be molting. Your tarantula’s molt will only take from one to three hours to complete. It usually happens during the night, so if you want to see it happen, you’ll have to try to stay awake! When finished, the old molted skin will look exactly like your spider. DO NOT feed your spider for at least three days after the molt. A cricket bite on the new, soft skin can be painful and dangerous.

SUPPLEMENTS:

No supplements are needed for your rose hair, just be sure to gut-load the crickets well.

WATER:

A shallow dish of clean fresh chlorine-free water must always be available. Place it on the cool side of your spider’s enclosure. Change it daily, or as needed. All water given to your pet for drinking, as well as water used for misting, soaking or bathing must be 100% free of chlorine and heavy metals. (Not all home water filtration systems remove 100% of the chlorine and heavy metals from tap water). We recommend that you use unflavored bottled drinking water or bottled natural spring water; never untreated tap water. If tap water is used, you should treat it with a de-chlorinating treatment. Do not use distilled water, which can cause severe medical problems, since it lacks minerals that are essential to important body functions. If only tap water can be used, at least de-chlorinate the water. De-chlorinator is available in the pet store fish department. If you do not want to chemically de-chlorinate the water, you can leave an open container of tap water out for at least 24 hours. The chlorine will naturally dissipate.

A daily misting or two with chlorine-free water will also be appreciated. However, care should be taken not to allow the enclosure to become damp. Also, do not mist less than two hours before turning the heat lamps off for the day.

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