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Scientific Name: Grammostola rosea

They have a calm and docile nature. Chilean Roses are usually skittish, running away from danger rather than acting defensively, but they have been known to raise their front legs and present their fangs in preparation to defend themselves. They are slow growing and long lived. Females have been known to live as long as 20 years.

Did You Know? The Chilean Rose can be found in two different colour phases. One of the colour phases is a tan to brown overall colour with pink hairs and a pink carapace, while the other is a tarantula with red hairs all over it's body.

Habitat: Roses come from the borders of the Atacama Desert in southern Peru and northern Chile at least as far south as Santiago. Chilean rose tarantulas were thought to be a burrowing species, but current observations indicate that they may hide out or make retreats above ground and hunt at night. Tarantulas generally live in burrows or trees.

Diet: On average they have small amounts of food once a week. It is fairly common for this particular species to refuse food. They eat invertebrates such as crickets, mealworms, wax-moth larvae, locusts, cockroaches and even earthworms.

Reproduction: Mating can occur anytime of the year, and is highly dependent on the species or its environmental conditions. Burrowing species of tarantulas do not have good vision, so mating proceeds by sense of touch, smell and vibration. Before laying her eggs, the female makes a silk egg capsule to protect them from predators and fluctuating environmental conditions. She then lays 100-300 eggs hatching between one and a half to two and a half months. The young are called spiderlings.