My tarantula is very small!

[Suzanne cartmale]

Hi
I am new to the forum so hope somebody can help me. I bought a Chile Rose as a six week old (approx) spiderling. It is now five years old and is still extremely small! I am talking no bigger than the pad of my thumb. It has shed its skin three times in the five years, and has noticably grown in that time, but I thought that they reached full size around five years old and Elmo (my name for him/her) is still extremely small!

I have had a Chile Rose before, and a Mexican Red leg, both bought when pretty much full grown, and my fella has got some serious growing to do, to match them.

Anybody any thoughts on this? I wondered if he is a she, and perhaps because they live longer, that perhaps they take longer to reach maturity?

 

[eminart]

What sort of feeding schedule do you have it on?

 

[Nicolas C]

And what temps?

 

[Scoolman]

Many factors influence growth rate, feeding and ambient temperature being the most prominent effect. more food, warmer temps will result in faster growth.

 

[Suzanne cartmale]

What sort of feeding schedule do you have it on?

Hi Eminart

I tend to feed him a cricket every day if he will take it, sometimes he is not interested, but he does not go on to molt. I do sometimes go several weeks without feeding, as I have read they can go long periods and not eat.

 

[Suzanne cartmale]

And what temps?

Hi
His tank is quite small to hold the heat. He is a small plastic box, the kind crickets are bought in. He is kept upstairs on the side in my bedroom (not window sill) where the temperature is pretty stable all day, even though the heating is off in the day. It does get warmer at night when the heating is on, altough he is not anywhere near it. I would say the stable temperature is around 16 to 18 degrees at most times.

 

[MassExodus]

Could you post a pic of the spider please? It would help. Just so you are aware, it takes some spiders (like female G rosea and porteri, up to 8-9 years to fully mature, depending on the factors listed above and the species/sex of the tarantula.

 

[Nicolas C]

Maybe the small size could be explained by the low temperatures. 16-18°C (= 60-64°F) is rather low, even for a hardy tarantula as a rosea. As tarantulas are poikilotherm (cold blooded), when temps are low, the metabolism slows down, which means: less eating, slow digestion, etc. The molts are less frequent (and more risky, as slowing down when molting isn't a ggod idea if the T wants to avoid being stuck) and the growth rate isn't very high. If you couple this with a specie which takes many years before maturing (slow grower), it's no wonder that your tarantula is still small. What puzzles me is the fact that you say it's eating on a regular basis. Normally, it shouldn't eat very often with low temps; if it eats regularly, it should grow. Maybe the preys are too small? Don't know...

As Mass asked, a picture could help, if possible for you to take one.

 

[RedCapTrio]

Thumb-size after 5 years, now that is pretty small. A photo would surely help. May be increasing your temps through a space heater to around 74degF to 78degF will surely help as what @Nicolas C have stated.

 

[Suzanne cartmale]

Just a quick update on my boy. I did as several people suggested and changed his tank to a slighter larger tank, and provided constant heat, but not directly. The temperature in his tank is a fairly constant 80 degrees c, and I make sure his water bowl and a bit of his substrate is always damp to provide humidity. He went on to feed quite well and hey presto a couple of days ago he shed his skin!

thanks for all the advice everbody

 

[RedCapTrio]

Yey congrats! With the larger enclosure, it may not be a "bonsai" rosea anymore.

 

[Chubbs]

The substrate doesn't have to be damp if you're providing a water dish. This species prefers its substrate bone-dry. Slings can be kept more moist, but it should really only be one corner of the terrarium, not all of the substrate.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[Phil]

Come to the post late. Great news on the molt. Welcome to the forum @Suzanne cartmale, as yu have already seen, great bunch on here. Please post pics of the freshly molted little fella ☺. We love pics

 

[Suzanne cartmale]

Its been quite a while since I posted an update on the forum in response to my very small Chilli Rose. On my last post I advised that I had made changes to his environment, and he had shed quite quickly. Blimey, what a difference a few months make! He has shed his skin three times since April, has increased in size literally by 200%, and I think is pretty much full size now. He is quite happy in his tank, and feeds daily!. I will get a photo and try to get it posted on the forum. I call him "him" but am not completely sure, as I am constantly looking for the "hooks" on his legs to confirm he is in fact he, but cannot see any, so he maybe a she!.

 

[kormath]

Its been quite a while since I posted an update on the forum in response to my very small Chilli Rose. On my last post I advised that I had made changes to his environment, and he had shed quite quickly. Blimey, what a difference a few months make! He has shed his skin three times since April, has increased in size literally by 200%, and I think is pretty much full size now. He is quite happy in his tank, and feeds daily!. I will get a photo and try to get it posted on the forum. I call him "him" but am not completely sure, as I am constantly looking for the "hooks" on his legs to confirm he is in fact he, but cannot see any, so he maybe a she!.

good to hear. rosea get about 5 or 6 inches dls at full size, measure him (or her) from the front leg tip to the tip of the opposite back leg to get the diagonal leg span (dls).

Also if you have one of the molts, add a drop of dish soap to a bowl of water then put a few drops on the molt where the abdomen joins the carapace. Post pics of that and we can help see what the sex is. If you don't have a molt a couple clear pics of his stomach will work, the area between the book lungs is what we'd need to see.