New Tarantulas

[Cidah]

Well, after much thought I purchased two t's at a local show today. I got a rosehair, and an "orange baboon"..
They didn't give me any species info at the show, but upon further investigation it seems the baboom is pretty aggressive species. That's fine, I don't mind be careful, and not handling the t. My question is, since I can't find any species specific care sheets, how should i set up the enclosures for each spider. any tips about t's would be helpful as well. I bought a book today, "Arachnomania, General care and maintenance of Tarantulas & Scorpions by Plilippe de Vosjoli

[AstroZombie]

Usumbara Orange Baboon (Pterinochilus sp.) is a terrestrial burrower that can reach 6". Orange baboons like it warm (80-80F) , low-moderate humidity (60-70%), and they like deep substrate for burrowing (3-5" depth). Floor space is more important than height.

Rose Hair (Grammastola rosea) is terrestrial, so floor space is more important than height, and not much of a burrower.
Rosies can reach up 5.5", but are slow growing. Rosies can handle temperatures from 70-85 F (room temps are fine) with moderate humidity (60-70%) making them easy to keep. Substrate only needs to be 1-2" in depth because they don't tend to burrow, but mine sure do like their hides (flower pots and silk plants).

Both T's can be kept on a substrate of potting soil/peat moss, bed-a-beast, jungle earth, terra fiber (ground coconut husk), vermiculite, or vermiculite/potting soil combo.
I personally use terra fiber, sometimes mixed with vermiculite depending on the individual T's needs for humidity. usually my T's are kept on the low end of the humidity scale until I notice pre-molt signs, I then mist the tanks well (never mist your T directly) and keep 3/4 of the screen top covered with a damp bathroom towel. Not a bad molt yet:D

Things I use in some of my T's tanks:

silk plants (more visually appealing for me, I like natural set ups)

terracotta flower pots (on the side and partially burried, cheap too).

glazed terracotta water dish (with layer of pea gravel for the smaller T's, sponges are bad and harbour bacteria but the gravel can be cleaned and disinfected regularily. It also looks nicer in a natural set up than a big honking peice of sponge).

small peices of corkbark (some T's like to sit on em and web em all up).

river stones (they just look pretty)

Exo Terra Reptile Den ( GREAT for burrowers, dunno if you've seen em...the caves with the magnetic peice for outside the tank that can be removed to look into the den...I have it for a few of my burrowers and take to it just fine...and I can look at them whenever I want. I also don't so bad when cleaning out the tank because I haven't destroyed the burrow).



:skull: Jenn:skull:

[AstroZombie]

Forgot to give you some links....:rolleyes:

www.tarantulas.com

www.arachnopets.com

www.centralpets.com

www.insecthobbyist.com

They all have info, pics, caresheets, and invertebrate forums to help you with your new eight legged freaks
:medlotsae

:skull: Jenn:skull:

[Cidah]

Thank you very much..

[OttawaChris]

Bottom line... these are probably the 2 easiest tarantulas of them all for care.

Just be careful about the usambara... they are fast, mean, and pack a pretty hot bite as compared to most other species. Keep your wits about you when you are in the cage.