Rosalinda

[RandomWiktor]

Ok, I know at least half of you are going to yell "ew" or want to squish her, so hands off ::swats:: This is my ~ 6 year old Chilean Rosehair Tarantula, Rosalinda. I got her while volunteering at the zoo. Someone brought in 5 tarantulas that a pet store was keeping in very poor conditions (think, paper cup, no food). They were all emaciated, full of mites, and one had even burst his exoskeleton open trying to shed in a confined space. Two died from their poor health, and the zoo could only keep one on display (v. territorial), so they needed homes for the other two. I jumped all over the opprotunity of getting "Rosie."
Of course, it soon turned out that she was insanely agressive from being starved. I've never seen a spider eat so voraciously; she was going through as many crickets in a day as most go through in a week! She gave me a few nasty bites, being very fast moving and ornery. But she has since calmed down now that she is a proper weight.
We had a bad scare with her while I was at college. My mom switched her to SAND. While some tarantulas are desert-dwellers, Rosehairs live on the damp forest floor of Chile. The poor girl stopped eating for months and looked like hell until I came home and discovered the problem. Thankfully she recovered, though the lack of moisture for all that time caused her to have a difficult molt recently.
Anyhoo, here are some pictures of my special little lady. Let's hope she lives that full 15 years; she is an awesome pet!

Looking rather beautiful after her most recent molt.

Pre-molt, and fat to near bursting!

Rosie's digs. Not as small as it looks; the angle made a lot of distortion.

 

[kimbowee]

Eww is right But I do love her coloring in the first pic, it really shows of the Rosy Rosie. A spider is one thing I could never rescue, I'm too chicken.

 

[Jessica13]

She's beautiful

I was thinking of a chilean rose but i dont think it would get on so well with my very inquisitive little birds!

 

[Angel Lady]

I think she is beautiful I would love to have a spider for a pet but my boyfriend is terrified of them. But I am not I have wanted one for the longest time..I was wondering are you going to college???If so you need to be a vet you would make a very good one plus you care about the animal and not how much it is going to cost to treat it like these vets here in our neck of the woods are..

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Awww she's a very pretty spidey
I find all arachnids fascinating, but my irrational phobia prevents me from keeping them. Perhaps one day I'll go and get hypnotised or something so that I can fully appreciate spiders!

 

[RandomWiktor]

I think she is beautiful I would love to have a spider for a pet but my boyfriend is terrified of them. But I am not I have wanted one for the longest time..I was wondering are you going to college???If so you need to be a vet you would make a very good one plus you care about the animal and not how much it is going to cost to treat it like these vets here in our neck of the woods are..

Thank you! I've been having such a lousy week, and hearing you say so many nice things about me really perked me up.
I am currently in college to be a veterinary technician, which is basically a nurse for animals. We do everything a vet does except for performing surgeries, diagnosing, and writing percriptions (though we do monitor anesthesia and assist in surgery, hand the vet all of the info he needs to diagnose, and fill all of the perscriptions, hehe). I was thinking of continuing education to become a veterinarian, but due to some of my rather intense moral beliefs regarding how we treat animals, I actually will be changing course to teach biology. I will be working as a vet tech summers for some extra money. I think I would be much happier making other people understand why animals and other living things are so wonderful instead of turning what I love - animals - into work. I've been getting great practice this year and school with some lessons to my fellow students, and as the leader of the exotics club. I've even bee making it a point to educate about fish

Glad everyone likes Rosie! I'd like to get a spiderling one day so I can raise one from a younger age, but I probably will not do so until Rosie has passed on due to their rather long lifespan. Males may only live to be 4-5, but females like Rosalinda can live to be some 15 years old. I don't know how old she was when I got her (she was pretty large), but I've had her for 6 allready.

 

[Puffer_freak]

I have to say, that although I am scared of spiders, I am trying to get over it and seeing beautiful spiders like Rosie does help. She is gorgeous!

I'm pretty sure we have never had a spider in the POTM contest, but I think there should be. POTM for any picture you like of Rosie!

 

[morgan]

We had a taruntula loose in a nearby town a couple of weeks ago. It ran out of the grass in front of a passer by. Luckily the person who saw it called an animal rescue charity and they are looking after it until the owner claims it. It wouldn't have survived out in the open in the UK - too cold! Your spider is very nice.

 

[black angel]

Fascinating!! what did it feel like when she bit you, a bee sting??
Would love one myself one day too..

 

[RandomWiktor]

It felt like two wasp stings right next to each other. So, it was very painful, but didn't do much buy make my hand mildly swollen and cramped for a day. I hear most people do not react to the bite unless they also get very bad reactions to bee stings.
Some people de-fang their tarantulas. I am totally against this, as it makes getting proper nutrition very very difficult for them. If you can't take an animal that bites - don't get a tarantula! (Or a parrot, dog, mouse, and anything else with a mouth )

 

[prankster705]

Males may only live to be 4-5, but females like Rosalinda can live to be some 15 years old.

I have to disagree with that mostly males live for about three years (longer is uncomon, BUT can live for up to 7) and females from 10 - 30 (depending on the species).Have fun with it.
And Black angel if it bites you it's supposed to feel like a wasp sting (plus the two big fangs).

 

[RandomWiktor]

::shrugs:: That's what I've always heard for the average, and what is written on the exhibit at the zoo, but hey - if she lives long, I'll be thrilled.

 

[rainyg]

Gorgeous! POTM for the first picture.

 

[moray]

I'll second that nomination, lovely spider, I've got a young brachypelma smithi (mexican red knee) love them all, cfc is not fond of spiders (tee hee, I think petrified is the word) the next one I want is a theraphosa blondi (goliath). But Rosie is lovely I hope she does well in the potm.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Thanks for the compliments on my girl ^^ I see a red knee in your ava; is that yours? If so - lovely! There was a goliath for adoption on Petfinder in my area recently. If it wasn't for the fact that my mom can barely tollerate a tarantula of Rosie's size, I'd have gone for it.