Verified answer

First off, welcome to the hobby! Already planning for your next T huh? That won't be your last either!

For everything to do with taking care of tarantulas, I recommend getting your hands on The Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Stanley A. Schultz and Marguerite J. Schultz, and/or Tarantulas and Other Arachnids by Samuel D Marshall. These are the two best books in the tarantula hobby, the former being considered the bible on tarantula care. You might be able to check them out through your local library, or through your local Barns&Noble, or you can order either of them off of Amazon.

I have seen people use sand for Roses before, but most tarantula enthusiasts don't recommend it. I recommend dry cocofiber, like eco earth. It's what I use for all of my tarantulas. Peat Moss is another very popular substrate, but you can actually use pesticide free potting soil if you wish. I actually use that for my Rose (although I may switch her out soon, just because).

You will also need a hide and a wide water dish for your tarantula. Chilean roses might be a desert animal, but they still need water.

For reading about Chilean Roses, here is an excellent page on how to care for these interesting tarantulas, written by the writer of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide.

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html

The Mexican red knee is often treated very similar to roses, but they are not actually a desert species. They come from the foothills of the western forested mountain ranges. In their native habitat, they have a monsoon season, and a dry season. They should be kept on dry substrate, with occasional misting of the side of the cage on the opposite side the Tarantula has set up as home. Like the rose, though, these tarantulas will burrow in the wild, but as adults they don't seem to burrow so much in captivity. They will make use of a hide though.

Taking care of tarantulas isn't difficult at all, it's just different than a hamster or a corn snake.

Most people use a cork bark substrate or a combination of the bark with peat.

These spiders will want to burrow a bit and something like a half log or coconut hide is suggested.

The main idea is the substrate must be free of chemicals or fertilizers, and be able to absorb some water to help maintain a stable humidity level in the cage.

Being a new keeper, I recommend you do some reading about keeping tarantulas in general, and read care sheets for the specific spiders you will be keeping. You will find these very easy pets to keep, clean, quiet, and low maintenance, but mistakes can be costly.

Here are a few sites, with information you need, and forums are a great place to ask experienced keepers questions, or browse threads to glean information.

http://www.tarantulas.com/

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/tarantulas/a/tarant...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/

These sites also have links to other resources, and a great place to start.

Keeping tarantulas is more a responsibility thing, they can live many years,(decades) so is a long term commitment to properly care for your pet and keep it healthy and stress free.

Your photo looks to be a Chilean rose hair tarantula, these and the Mexican red knee do make excellent beginner pets. Good luck with your new friends.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Rose hair tarantula substrate?

I just bought a tarantula yesterday (my first tarantula and I am very inexperienced) we used play sand for substrate with aquarium stuff I can't remember the exact name, but the pet shop recommended it. However, I have read from internet sources that play sand isn't a suitable substrate? I...

Tarantula Bedding

Most keepers usually use Coco fiber (comes dry in a bag or compressed in a brick) you can also get a bug bale of dry peat at a garden center for around 10$ (just make sure there are no additives or fertilizers in it) potting soil (also without fertilizers) can be used as well. (or any mixture of these)

You'll probably soon find that the pet shop employees are not always a good source if information on what you are buying, so always be sure to check it out for yourself :)

Lastly, as the others have said, allow me also to welcome you to this great hobby :) B. smithi (mexican red knee) is an excellent species and Brachypelma is my favorite genus, you can't go wrong with them.

Congratulations on your new spider, and good luck in the arachnohobby world!

My female Chilean Rosehair tarantula HATES anything but fine sand. I ve tried just about everything else, and all other materials she tries to climb on her rocks and sticks to keep off it. She will eventually spin a web carpet over it before she will walk on it. She likes the fine sand and will snuggle down into it. I ve had her for 15 years, and I believe she was at least 5 years old when I got her.

Use coco fiber, DO NOT KEEP these guys substrate wet! they prefer dry

If the eco earth is still damp this will explain why your chile is climbing the walls, it may be too damp for it as you do have to make it up in water first. If you have enough ventilation it will dry off soon enough.