Male rosie near the end?

PonderosaPower · #1 04-14-2009, 02:01 AM

I've had my male Chilean rose hair tarantula for a year and a half now. The store owner was "90% sure it was a female" but it molted 4 months later and he was definately male. So he reached sexual maturity a little over a year ago. He hasn't eaten in a couple months but is still very active. I know since he's a male he won't live much longer, but is this why he doesn't have a strong appetite? Is there anything I can do to further entice him to eat the crickets?

HepCatMoe · #2 06-25-2009, 02:10 AM

i would go to arachnoboards.com and talk to the T nerds.

naturalwonderz · #3 07-06-2009, 04:12 AM

If my memory serves, Rose hairs have an average lifespan in captivity of 3-4 years on average. As they age, the potency of their venom drops accordingly and they literally starve to death in the final stage of life because their venom is no longer effective enough to kill the prey items.

My husband's will go a period without eating then pick right up again.

I have heard of buying a secondary rose hair for venom milking - injecting a small amount of the potent venom into the prey and enticing the aging rosie to eat with some success.

Good luck

scolopendra · #4 07-20-2009, 02:12 PM

After male tarantulas go through their ultimate molt they have about a year to live, so do him a favor and get him some. I just found out my G. pulchripes is a male, although he isn't near maturity, it is still depressing.

scolopendra · #5 07-20-2009, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturalwonderz

If my memory serves, Rose hairs have an average lifespan in captivity of 3-4 years on average. As they age, the potency of their venom drops accordingly and they literally starve to death in the final stage of life because their venom is no longer effective enough to kill the prey items.

My husband's will go a period without eating then pick right up again.

I have heard of buying a secondary rose hair for venom milking - injecting a small amount of the potent venom into the prey and enticing the aging rosie to eat with some success.

Good luck

The reason a rose stops eating for periods of time is that where they are from, around the Atacama desert of Chile, there is long periods of drought where nothing to prey on comes around, so they kindof hibernate. They are extremely slow growers, like most of the species in the Grammostola genus (females living 20 years + from what i understand. Most of the ones you would find in the pet store I predict are at least 3 years old and are wild caught. In my opinion rosies are boring and not a good tarantula to start out with and get you into the hobby. The peeps on arachnoboards and other invert hobbyists nick named them the "pet rock".

Plits · #6 07-30-2009, 01:43 PM

The adulte male G.rosea dont eat to much also because if he do, he die prematurely in his last molt.

PonderosaPower · #7 11-05-2009, 03:40 AM

Well...he's still hanging in there and doing well

He enjoyed his hot summer down in phx and that really jumpstarted his metabolism and appetite. We've been back in Flagstaff for a while now and he's eating less again (probably due to the cold) but I'm not really worried.

PonderosaPower · #8 05-13-2010, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scolopendra

In my opinion rosies are boring and not a good tarantula to start out with and get you into the hobby. The peeps on arachnoboards and other invert hobbyists nick named them the "pet rock".

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I don't mind if its incredibly active or "cool" or whatever. I wanted something more docile but still pretty and that was exactly what mine gave me.

Mine went through periods of inactivity and then traversing all over the terrarium, trying to climb out for days. He died last week, but was in his active phase up until his death. Goodbye rosie!

scolopendra · #9 01-11-2011, 12:05 PM

Ya "boring" was probably the wrong word, my bad. All Ts got they're own unique attributes.

Matusallem · #10 01-26-2011, 11:05 AM

I've had my Rosie for 6 years now. She is a female and is doing great. She is her maximum size already. According to books like The tarantula keeper's guide, female rosies can live up to 40 years and males up to 5. Their venom doesn't really decrease with age as it is made by protein synthesis, and either way rosies don't really hunt thanks to their venom. Most of the time their prey is eaten alive. Mine has a staple of superworms and once in a blue moon receives a pinky.