OMG I kind of "rescued" a tarantula-- help!

[Charlet_2007]

i WOULD NOT let her eat a pinky ever!!!!! crickets are enough for her.. pinkies contain to much haserious crap to give to a spider... who told you can give her a pink once a week?

[GarterGuy]

i WOULD NOT let her eat a pinky ever!!!!! crickets are enough for her.. pinkies contain to much haserious crap to give to a spider... who told you can give her a pink once a week?

I agree that it shouldn't be a staple, but an occasional pinky does no harm to a T. Especially after having fasted before a molt, it's a good start to get them going again. My Redrump bird eater and my Rose hair have both taken pinks before, and my Rose hair is going on 15yrs. now. There's really nothing wrong with them, it's just a bit of a lot of food for them all at once to be giving it on a regular basis.

[Snake lover 3-25]

my 2nd grade teacher had one in the classroom and he used to let us feed it crickets!

[ssssnakeluvr]

pinkies and rodents are ok to feed them, they eat animals like that in the wild, have seen videos of them eating birds and ufortunately even a snake!!! It's just a bigger meal and takes longer to eat.

[garterman07]

feed them onlyt crickets and every know and again give her a meal worm they like them. and remember when ur holding her and she flares her front legs up she almost certainly wont bite u. they do that to grab on, but remember u have to be firm with her or you will never get her undercontrol. when i was learning how to take care of my rossie along time ago 8 years now =) i kept a hat with me so when she was geting tempermental i could scoop her up in it and put her back till she cooled down. and about they only time you would ever get bit is if your fingers smelled like food ( t food crickets things like that) or if you sat there and wiggled your pinkie finger infront of her like a worm. but if they feel like they are going to fall off your hand they may bite in to hold on but wont use venom, if u do get bit dont panic and squish her or drop her, just bite the bullet and set her down. cause if they fall they will die. if you think u might have gotten some venom in ur arm or hand get an alcohal pad scrub the cut then wash it out with soap and put a band aid on it. also if ur alergic to bees really try not to get bitten cause the venom is really close to a bees. and what ever you do dont think you can get her defanged cause thats cruel and it will almost certainly kill her. i hate it when people ask me if i got her defanged and how i could keep a dangerous pet like that with a permit...its insulting and makes me wana slap those people silly. well any ways
good luck with ur rossie they are great pets. and yeah no more pinkies those are pretty bad, just stick with the meal worms, and crickets, u can even give her some night crawlers every now and again. idk if my rossie ate apples but when i would put half an apple in her cage she would go and lay down ontop of it. and when u clean her cage remember to rearange the stuff in there so its completely new or every now and again go through and put new stuff in and take old stuff out. the rose hair is a wandering tarantula and needs different things to stimulate her because they dont make permanant homes.

[Lori P]

Thanks so much for all of the great info!! I have read so many different opinions on feeding them, it's hard to know what's right. Soooooo many people seem to feed theirs a pinky every now and then, or even baby quail. I do have crickets and lobster roaches for her to eat, and can easily get mealworms.

Thanks for the info on getting bit, too. I would never drop her or overreact if she did bite me, no worries. Getting bit is just part of animal ownership, it's bound to happen from time to time. I just don't ever want to stress her to where she feels she has to bite, so I'm going slow with her. :-)

I'm curious about the apple now-- will have to put a piece in there and see what she does!!

I'm thinking it's time to move her to a 10 gallon, and I have lots of ideas for climbs and hides. She is moving around more in her little 5.5 gallon, and I want to keep her stimulated and busy. Should be fun setting her up some new things. :-)

OMG-- defanged??!!! I would NEVER. I don't declaw cats or debark dogs, either. I do however know a lot of humans who should be debarked, declawed, defanged, and sterilized!!!!

[Charlet_2007]

ok so your telling me this one i have the female shes not traying to bite me lmao ummm i dont think so joe lol

[tarantula_man]

the only food items i would feed any of my spiders would be cockroaches, locusts or crickets main one would be cockroaches as they are cleaner, there has been some debate on feeding mice to tarantulas those including the large T. blondi where people have been having problems with moults in which the T has deformed fangs this i think is something to do with the feeding on mice, i think the article is on Arachnoboards - Powered by vBulletin but i would recommend feeding all t's on insects but thats just my opinion. cheers Roger aka ( tarantula_man )

[Haerodiel]

I havn't read every page, but did we ever hear of what became of that unfortunate store keeper? It sounds like he may end up needing rescuing! Certainly if I were to get at him...

[Lori P]

Well, today I moved Tatiana to her new 10 gallon tank, in the living room. She has become so active and was going all over her 5.5, so I thought the timing was right. I have become rediculously attached to this spider-- who'd of thunk it??!!

Before I show you the pics, I want you to know that the goat skull in her tank was hubby's addition-- at first I told him NO, but, now I think it looks pretty cool. I still think she needs a bigger tank... would a 20 really truly be too much space for her???

Hey, how often do they generally shed? She's got another thick matt going in front of her log, and I was careful to move it into the new tank. I wasn't sure if they only build matts when they're about to shed.

Here's her new abode:







She came right out to explore... she's probably checking out the feng shui... LOL