chilie rose help

[mr stroudy]

ok first things first i know nothing about spiders and to be honest not a fan at all but my daughter really wants a chilie rose.do they need to be handeled regular how often do you need to feed.and is it a good or bad idea,my daughter is 8 she comes over every wednessday and every other weekend.any advice is good thanks

[Incubuss]

They don't need any form of handling, and tbh, it is always best not to handle them. A chili is a great first spider (even for an 8yr old). I would advise that you keep an eye on her when cleaning and feeding as all tarantulas have venom, but it's usually pretty mild (the one in question is said to be like a bee sting).

Tarantulas don't really eat much, they only need to be fed once a week (amount depends on its size). They are also VERY cheap to keep. I worked out that it costs me less to keep my 150ish tarantulas then my 2 dogs.

[george dobson]

well, they are a good starter spicies but, in my optinion your daughter will get bored of this spicies because they do like to fast, one of mine hasnt eaten in just over a year, and is not accepting food, i would recommend a brachypelma spicies, they are a little bit more than a chilean rose but they do like their food, if they turn down food its usually because they are about to shed their skin, i would reccomend (brachypelma smithi - mexican redknee) because they are generally fairly calm and predictable, where as chilean rose's are often unpredictable. or a (brachypelma vagans- mexican redrump are also verygood as a starter spicies, and if you want to get a realy cool spider in my optinion any pinktoe ( avicularia spicies ) are good they are faster than other tarantulas that i have mentioned, but they are generally calm and docile, hope this helps , also i would not recomment holding tarantulas because they are somewhat unpredictable and if you happen to drop one it will most proberably die, also think of them as fish, you dont touch them, the pleasure comes from watching them and seting up elaberate enclosures
good luck mate
george

[Incubuss]

Avics imo are not a great started for an 8yr old, they are arboreal and can jump. They also need higher humidty. Also the brachy's are prone for hair flicking and can be very itchy, so I would say for someone who is 8yrs old it is best to stick with the chili (G. rosea). All a chili needs is a water bowl, a hide and food. they can even be kept at room temp if you're house is a reasonable temp. G. roseas are prone for fasting, but I personally haven't seen one die because of this.

[mr stroudy]

its only the chilie rose she likes as she handeled one the other day but to be honest i dont like them i have a bit of a fear of spiders dont really mind looking at them but that is as far as it goes

[Hedgewitch]

Well, having T in the house is meant to be good for lessening your fear of spiders.

[elliot ness]

You or your daughter don't have to handle it......just put it in a nice escape proof tank and just sit back and enjoy.
You will have to carry out some maintenance though.....at some time but you can get all the advice you need here.
Go for it
You will not be sorry and your daughter will worship you
paul

[LincsReps]

with reference to the not eating, it's not too bad when you've got others to feed, but I'd imagine it would get quite annoying with all the wasted crickets and locusts when it decides to be fussy. Shouldn't be a problem though if you've got reptiles and what not that can use up the wastage

[elliot ness]

Originally Posted by LincsReps

with reference to the not eating, it's not too bad when you've got others to feed, but I'd imagine it would get quite annoying with all the wasted crickets and locusts when it decides to be fussy. Shouldn't be a problem though if you've got reptiles and what not that can use up the wastage

Or just get more spids no wastage then

[mr stroudy]

so how am i suppose to clean it out and how often is recomended