Well, I mentioned in my last post about molting, have had two recently. First off, the G.aureostriata molted through the night on Sunday 1st June, and then the following Thursday, the 5th June Junior the B.smithi molted as well.
Both spiders have grown massively, and I am especially pleased with Junior for two reasons.. first off he has regrown his missing pedipalp and secondly he now actually looks like a little Red Knee as his proper orange colouring is starting to shine through on the knees.
As for webbing, the G.rosea has put down a load of silk this last couple of weeks, webbing up his water bowl as well as his hide, building a small construction of dirt and web to the side of the entrance. Also the H.maculata has now completely barricaded its self into the cork tube, again with dirt and webs, and has been ignoring all food for about a week now so fingers crossed hes in pre-molt!
Saving the best for last I have also received 4 new tarantulas today!
First one is a lovely Poecilotheria rufilata (Redslate Ornamental) which is a large juvenile, amazing yellow and blue striping on the underside of the front legs, next up is an adult female Ceratogyrus bechuanicus (Rhino Horned Baboon) who has a great light grey carapace with the namesake horn coming out the top with darker grey markings elsewhere. Would be very interested in breeding with her once she has settled into her new home and established a new burrow. She has already laid down quite a bit of webbing, covering up half the floorspace in her tank. Lastly two little ones have arrived, both are Haplopelma sp. "Vietnam Earth Tiger" possibly 1.5 to 2cm leg span and are little dark speed demons ;)
Some photos will follow later on tonight
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Thursday 12 June 2008
Wee update
Since I moved house I dont yet have the internet in yet so updates havent really been happening, but I can ow check from the library so as soon as I can I will be updating properly in the next few days.
Loads happening, couple of molts, lots of webbing, lots of eating... all good!
Loads happening, couple of molts, lots of webbing, lots of eating... all good!
Thursday 29 May 2008
Monday 26 May 2008
The Tarantula Mapping Project
This has come about after I had an idea earlier in the week to utilise Google Maps to show the geographical distribution of our favourite beasties.. the tarantulas.
To find out all about it I have set up its own blog which is viewable at http://tarantulamaps.blogspot.com
Please feel free to head over to have a look :)
To find out all about it I have set up its own blog which is viewable at http://tarantulamaps.blogspot.com
Please feel free to head over to have a look :)
Saturday 24 May 2008
P.imperator catches a locust
First time I've managed to catch her eating, she has grabbed prey while I've watched but never eaten
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Fangs is Female?
After I caught that photo of Fangs the P.murinus on the side of the glass last night I put a close up on Arachnoboards to see if I can get a guess at its sex, so far the opinions show that people are thinking that shes female :)
Will wait until I get a molt from her to hopefully confirm it 100% though
Will wait until I get a molt from her to hopefully confirm it 100% though
Tuesday 20 May 2008
P.murinus (RCF) hiding on cork bark
Pterinochilus Murinus (RCF) - Usumbara Red Baboon (aka Orange Bitey Thing ;)
Pterinochilus Murinus (RCF) (Usumbara Red Baboon) "Fangs"
Well, the post arrived nice and early today so had a chance to take my time and get him properly settled into his new home before work.
Decided within a minute that Fangs would indeed be an appropriate name for him.. I put his shipping container inside the new enclosure, opened the lid and with the long tweezers carefully opened up the packing with him inside After he took few seconds to think about things he bounded out with fangs on display and proceeded to attack the packing. Tried him on a cricket which he pounced straight away. On checking him later the cricket was gone and hes off exploring.
Being semi arborial he has been set up in Skittles's old exo terra (after a good clean out and new substrate) so he should have plenty of ground room as well as height, which he at first impression seems keen to use as he headed off up the plant at the side to hide in. i've also offered him cork to climb around, as well as a flowerpot hide so he can decide himself if he wants to go up or down :)
Decided within a minute that Fangs would indeed be an appropriate name for him.. I put his shipping container inside the new enclosure, opened the lid and with the long tweezers carefully opened up the packing with him inside After he took few seconds to think about things he bounded out with fangs on display and proceeded to attack the packing. Tried him on a cricket which he pounced straight away. On checking him later the cricket was gone and hes off exploring.
Being semi arborial he has been set up in Skittles's old exo terra (after a good clean out and new substrate) so he should have plenty of ground room as well as height, which he at first impression seems keen to use as he headed off up the plant at the side to hide in. i've also offered him cork to climb around, as well as a flowerpot hide so he can decide himself if he wants to go up or down :)
Sunday 18 May 2008
Large brown cricket molts
This cricket which I put in with the scorpion hasnt been eaten yet, however when I checked it just now I was lucky? enough to find it mid molt, heres a photo of it nearly finished, you can clearly see that it now has full wings on it.
Saturday 17 May 2008
Skittles passes away
Sadly I found my Avic "Skittles" curled up dead last saturday (10th May). Although he had been off his food for a bit he had seemed to be quite happy the last few days so came as a bit of a surprise to find him like that, tried ICU just in case but no luck. :(
Going to clean out his exo terra this weekend with new substrate for its new occupant who is arriving next week (An OBT)
Going to clean out his exo terra this weekend with new substrate for its new occupant who is arriving next week (An OBT)
Spiderman grabs a locust
Thats his third feeding this week, decided to give him a juicy locust for a change, this will do him for a few days now
Thursday 15 May 2008
Spiderman catches a cricket
Here we have my Grammostola Rosea (Chile Rose) tarantula called Spiderman catching a nice big juicy brown cricket :)
Thursday 8 May 2008
Augacephalus sp. "Mozambique" (sling)
Just arrived today (cheers Phil!)
This is about the best photo I could get before he went into his new home as he seems to be quite quick at running, and good at going up as well as along ;)
This is about the best photo I could get before he went into his new home as he seems to be quite quick at running, and good at going up as well as along ;)
3rd Smithi Molted
Thats the 3rd one in 3 days ;)
This one is certainly larger than the other two, I'll get some photos on tonight, just waiting for the post to arrive before I go to work..
.. posts been .. spiders here and well :)
This one is certainly larger than the other two, I'll get some photos on tonight, just waiting for the post to arrive before I go to work..
.. posts been .. spiders here and well :)
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Snip Snip
P. Imperator guards his home, hes actually dug right down to the bottom, I think I will get him a deeper tub tomorrow give him some more space to burrow
B. Smithi (sling 2) Exuvium 07/05/08
Awww another ickle wittle one molted today, must be something in the air, everyones Smithi's are molting over at the BTS forum this week :D
B. Smithi (sling 2) molted today 07/05/08
Second one in two days, will there be a third tomorrow? There is one that didnt eat yesterdays food so that has been removed, wait and see!
Tuesday 6 May 2008
H. Maculata
Not so good photo but took the chance while he was out, bit blurred but wasnt going to keep the lid off longer than needed
Updates..
Well, over the weekend the little Smithi did pass away, he had been showing little signs of life in his ICU and ended being curled up :( The others are all getting on well though, Spiderman (G. Rosea) has been very active and hungry, happy to be munching his was through crickets all weekend, Spongebob (G. Aureostriata) has been out and about a lot more again, still not eating though so perhaps could still be going to molt, case of wait and see there.
I had some spare cork bark left so put a couple of bits into Skittles' enclosure (A. Avic) and he really likes them, either choosing to hide under the bottom or to sit up on top, certainly a lot more active since they have arrived.
Monster munch (H. Maculata) has been out and about at night, lots of new webbing shooting off from his cork tube to various places and he was even out for a walk on Sunday through the day. Tried to get some pictures but had difficulty in getting it focused on him, he was doing a fair bit of wandering so trying to take a photo and not let him escape was proving hard!
After some advice on the Arachnoboards forum, the P. Imerator has had a change of substrate and is now much happier, I've added in a spare exo-terra hide that I had so she's taken to that as her new home well, and has been doing a fair bit of digging in it, and adding a new entrance out the back. Her crickets have also been disappearing so she seems to be taking to her food too!
try and get some photos later on this afternoon
I had some spare cork bark left so put a couple of bits into Skittles' enclosure (A. Avic) and he really likes them, either choosing to hide under the bottom or to sit up on top, certainly a lot more active since they have arrived.
Monster munch (H. Maculata) has been out and about at night, lots of new webbing shooting off from his cork tube to various places and he was even out for a walk on Sunday through the day. Tried to get some pictures but had difficulty in getting it focused on him, he was doing a fair bit of wandering so trying to take a photo and not let him escape was proving hard!
After some advice on the Arachnoboards forum, the P. Imerator has had a change of substrate and is now much happier, I've added in a spare exo-terra hide that I had so she's taken to that as her new home well, and has been doing a fair bit of digging in it, and adding a new entrance out the back. Her crickets have also been disappearing so she seems to be taking to her food too!
try and get some photos later on this afternoon
Saturday 3 May 2008
Pandinas Imperator (Imperial Scorpion)
Well.. I wasnt thinking of getting one of these but there was one out with the keeper in the shop and um..
This is the P. Imperator scorpion and comes from Western Africa. Similar to the B. Smithi tarantulas these are also on the CITES appendix 2 list. Its a perfect beginners scorpion as they are quite calm.
They are one of the largest scorpions and can grow up to 20cm long, and weigh up to 30 grams.
This is the P. Imperator scorpion and comes from Western Africa. Similar to the B. Smithi tarantulas these are also on the CITES appendix 2 list. Its a perfect beginners scorpion as they are quite calm.
They are one of the largest scorpions and can grow up to 20cm long, and weigh up to 30 grams.
P. Regalis escaped again
I normally wouldnt agree with handling him, but its feeding time and hes out again, I'll need to rethink the best way to feed him he just runs out as soon as the lid is opened, the fastest thing on 8 legs, perhaps feed him within a larger container just in case?
dont worry he went safely back into his home :)
dont worry he went safely back into his home :)
Friday 2 May 2008
Poecilotheria Regalis (Indian Ornamental)
Heres my little P. Regalis who arrived this morning. Has settled in nicely :)
Poecilotheria Regalis is here...
... and I thought the H. Maculata was fast ...
As I mentioned the other day I had a little home ready for him, however when he arrived and I unpacked him into his new home I soon discovered that he was a bit bigger than I was expecting with a legspan of perhaps at least 5cm, not to worry though I did also get a slightly larger pot from ASDA as well (with change from 40 pence..) so set to making a larger house, substrate in, cork in, little bit misting and some holes in the lid and we're all set.
Time to move him
He had other ideas..
Obviously quite enjoying his freedom from his packaging when he was in the post, having a bit stretch of the legs and decided to take a morning run! had the old container right inside the new one with the only gap uncovered where I was using my long tweezers to tempt him gently out, which he did, out and up the side, through the gap before I could get the tweezers out, up the tweezers, up my arm, then turned round, back down and across the table and luckily came to a rest on a table mat. All in about the space of a second.
I thought for a moment of getting the camera to take a picture while he was out on the table but thought better of it and got him quickly into his pot, to which he took off for a couple of laps and settled behind the cork.
So for now his pot is in the Exo Terra warming up a bit, see what hes doing later on hopefully get a photo without stressing him too much then just leave him to it.
As I mentioned the other day I had a little home ready for him, however when he arrived and I unpacked him into his new home I soon discovered that he was a bit bigger than I was expecting with a legspan of perhaps at least 5cm, not to worry though I did also get a slightly larger pot from ASDA as well (with change from 40 pence..) so set to making a larger house, substrate in, cork in, little bit misting and some holes in the lid and we're all set.
Time to move him
He had other ideas..
Obviously quite enjoying his freedom from his packaging when he was in the post, having a bit stretch of the legs and decided to take a morning run! had the old container right inside the new one with the only gap uncovered where I was using my long tweezers to tempt him gently out, which he did, out and up the side, through the gap before I could get the tweezers out, up the tweezers, up my arm, then turned round, back down and across the table and luckily came to a rest on a table mat. All in about the space of a second.
I thought for a moment of getting the camera to take a picture while he was out on the table but thought better of it and got him quickly into his pot, to which he took off for a couple of laps and settled behind the cork.
So for now his pot is in the Exo Terra warming up a bit, see what hes doing later on hopefully get a photo without stressing him too much then just leave him to it.
Still Alive
Checked on the little B. Smithi this morning and first thing I saw was no death curl so looking hopeful and there was a little movement from him. He's back in ICU for the day so fingers crossed hope he pulls through.
Thursday 1 May 2008
B. Smithi on its last legs?
During tonights round of feeding I noticed that the smallest of the B. Smithi slings was not reacting in any way and eventually gave a slight leg movement. He has been moistured and moved to a dark warm place to see if a little heat and water can help revive him, fingers crossed for the morning..
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Orders away!
Well, I mentioned in an earlier post about something in the pipeline for more Old World tarantulas so today I ordered a couple more little slings, first of all an Augacephalus species 'Mozambique' who should be here next Wednesday. It is a burrowing terrestrial spider from Mozambique in Southern Africa and is a very new arrival in the hobby, with this being one from the first batch of spiderlings available in the UK. I have no idea at present how large he will grow to, but photos I have seen of adult specimens are a golden colour, with amazing darker patterns similar to those which can be found on many of the African tarantulas. The full taxonomy of this tarantula is still being explored and as yet there is no scientific species name for it.
Secondly having seen a Pokie on holiday last year (The photo of it is my Blogger profile picture) in a moment of madness ordered one of those as well. The Poecilotheria Regalis (Indian Ornamental) comes, as its common name suggests from Southern India. It is a very beautiful and very fast arboreal tarantula with ornate white, grey and brown patterns, and has a striking threat pose when it has its adult colouration: the undersides of its first two sets of legs have black and yellow stripes which are displayed when it throws its legs in the air. Similar to a wasp's colours, its telling a predator to beware! I'd rather take the wasp.. they dont grow up to 9 inches!
I already spent 10 minutes making a very small arboreal setup ready for its arrival with some cork bark and substrate in a taller vial. ASDA has some very cheap but useful housing for tarantulas, not bad for 25p. Monster Munch's arboreal setup was also purchased very cheaply from there as he is still smaller, so not yet ready for a large glass enclosure. I'll perhaps do a small tutorial on that tomorrow to show just how easy and cost effective they are to make.
(note to self.. talking of African spiders.. I quite fancy a Pterinochilus Murinus, affectionatly known as the OBT (Orange Bitey Thing) because erm.. they are orange... and bitey.. Lee has slings for £3 at the Spider Shop or 5 for £12, its a good job he is closed for a couple of weeks :)
Secondly having seen a Pokie on holiday last year (The photo of it is my Blogger profile picture) in a moment of madness ordered one of those as well. The Poecilotheria Regalis (Indian Ornamental) comes, as its common name suggests from Southern India. It is a very beautiful and very fast arboreal tarantula with ornate white, grey and brown patterns, and has a striking threat pose when it has its adult colouration: the undersides of its first two sets of legs have black and yellow stripes which are displayed when it throws its legs in the air. Similar to a wasp's colours, its telling a predator to beware! I'd rather take the wasp.. they dont grow up to 9 inches!
I already spent 10 minutes making a very small arboreal setup ready for its arrival with some cork bark and substrate in a taller vial. ASDA has some very cheap but useful housing for tarantulas, not bad for 25p. Monster Munch's arboreal setup was also purchased very cheaply from there as he is still smaller, so not yet ready for a large glass enclosure. I'll perhaps do a small tutorial on that tomorrow to show just how easy and cost effective they are to make.
(note to self.. talking of African spiders.. I quite fancy a Pterinochilus Murinus, affectionatly known as the OBT (Orange Bitey Thing) because erm.. they are orange... and bitey.. Lee has slings for £3 at the Spider Shop or 5 for £12, its a good job he is closed for a couple of weeks :)
Heteroscodra Maculata (Togo Starburst) "Monster Munch"
First time I've seen him since he arrived. He does seem to come out during the dead of night judging by his webs, but tonight he was halfway up his cork bark just above his web and dirt wall, so took the opportunity.
Hope I can get a better one when he gets braver and comes out into the open. He is definitely a spider I will be leaving well alone, and will come out in his own time when he is ready.
Hope I can get a better one when he gets braver and comes out into the open. He is definitely a spider I will be leaving well alone, and will come out in his own time when he is ready.
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Yum yum!
second cricket of the night, first proper feed that hes taken in a few weeks due to him reciently molting
Spiderman enjoys a munch
Spiderman seems to be back eating again as he jumped on a medium/large black cricket which is the first time I have seen him eating straight away, usually he leaves them and eats through the night, he even done the happy dance and wiggled and turned around :D
Sunday 27 April 2008
The Euathlus slings get their names
Having watched them eating so enthusiastically, decided to name the E. vulpinus "Nipper" and the E. truculentus "Nibbler".
As well as food for Nipper I also popped in a little cork bark as he is semi arboreal and he seems to have made a little use of it already with strands of silk anchoring it to the ground.
As a side note, Junior seems to be waiting at the end of his hide, perhaps waiting for a passing cricket, so while its light I'm going to see if I can catch it on video. edit: no hes not hungry just now, try again another time..
As well as food for Nipper I also popped in a little cork bark as he is semi arboreal and he seems to have made a little use of it already with strands of silk anchoring it to the ground.
As a side note, Junior seems to be waiting at the end of his hide, perhaps waiting for a passing cricket, so while its light I'm going to see if I can catch it on video. edit: no hes not hungry just now, try again another time..
Saturday 26 April 2008
Friday 25 April 2008
"Junior" the B. smithi tucks into a black cricket
sorry for the slightly blurred photo but look inside and you can see Junior enjoying his supper
Seven hungry pairs of fangs
Another successful feeding, the small B. smithi's did their usual sit and wait, again Junior stole the show by having one half done before I was finished feeding the rest. The two new slings from yesterday also pounced their prey and are eating well
Dinners out, come and get it!
1st instar brown micro crickets on the left, small to medium black crickets on the right. The small slings will eat the micros whereas Junior loves the small black ones
About my T's
Part of this blog will be to go into more info on each of my Tarantulas, what they are up to, photos, sizes etc, so I thought I should first of all take the opportunity to say a little about each one. I refer to them all as He, even if they are unsexed ;)
I'll start off with Skittles, the A. avicularia.
Avics come from South America and are arboreal which means that they like to live off the ground and should grow to about 5 inches. Being arboreal they have slimmer bodies to carry less weight and longer legs fo climbing about. You can also notice the differences with their feet, being flatter and larger, again adapted for their climbing nature. Saying that, skittles usually thinks that he is terrestrial (lives on the ground) and enjoys hiding under some cork where he has made his home, but does sometimes come out to venture up the plant to sit in the leaves. He is the fuzziest of my fuzzy friends, on the whole black but with some dark red on his abdomen, and of course, he has pink toes! hence the common name of the Pinktoe Tarantula. Avics are generally docile, and dont really bite or flick hairs, but Skittles is quite skittish so not really one to be held as he will readily jump from your hand to something else nearby in his tank. He has never been brought out, I'd be too afraid of loosing him :)
On the whole tarantulas should be kept alone, otherwise they can fight and possibly eat each other, only a couple can be kept communally, of which Skittles is one, however unfortunatly he doesnt have any friends at the moment, but not ruling it out for the future.. there was another Avic which he lived with before I got him so.. perhaps that one is getting lonely? He lives in a 12" glass Exo Terra terranium which he also shares with my (currently 7) spiderlings, who are kept individually in vials and kept seperate from Skittles in a well ventilated cricket box.
Junior and the other B. smithi's
I currently have 5 spiderlings, all residing with Skittles, 4 are really small about 1 to 1.5 centimeters in legspan and live in vials, and dont really look anything like a Red Knee at the moment, and dont seem to do much except eat, and possibly sleep! A couple of them have laid down slight webbing on the ground but not alot yet. The largest is called Junior, he has a legspan of perhaps just over an inch and is starting to show his proper colouring with his knees being lighter than the rest of him, but still pretty much brown. In his past life he was a JCB digger as everyday there is new excavations in his box, he seems to enjoy digging about, and filling in the holes again, and if your lucky you might catch him stomping about with a cricket in his jaws doing the happy dance.. looks like he will be quite an active spider, should be interesting to see how he is when he grows a bit more. In the wild, this species is on the CITES II list of endangered animals, and it is illegal to catch a wild specimin, however they are regularly bred in captivity so are still very much available. They are a terrestrial tarantula and come (as their name suggests) from Mexico. They can grow up to perhaps 6 inches and are generally the thing most people think of when they imagine a tarantula, again they dont really bite but are known to flick their urticating hairs into the air. The purpose of this is to ward off an attacker, causing itching in the eyes or irritation to the skin.
Euathlus Truculentus and Euathlus Vulpinus
Having just recieved these two yesterday I dont really have a huge amount to write about them as individuals. Although both come from Chile and will grow to about 12cm, the end spiders couldnt be more different. E. truculentus is a terrestrial spider with a docile temperament and will eventually have a wonderful metallic green carapace and femurs, and fluffy pink and red hair on his abdomen. He should certainly live up to his common name of Chile Beautiful.
E. vulpinus on the other hand is a different kettle of fish, although all tarantulas from Chile are nice and calm, there has to be an exception and this is it! He is semi arboreal and can make the most of both ground cover as well as in the trees, and very much unlike any other tarantulas who are generally nocturnal, he should enjoy coming out in the daytime so in order to survive in the open he must be able to defend himself well, which equates to flashing his fangs and biting predators. Tarantulas like this will use a threat pose which is their way of saying back off or you will be hurt, by spreading their front legs into the air and raising their fangs to put them on display. Sometimes they will also thump the ground for added effect. In this case when I was unpacking him yesterday he threw his legs up in the air, but I'm not convinced if it was this, or just a reaction to get out of the way.
Spiderman the Grammostola Rosea
Rosies are one of the most popular beginner species of tarantula, and this was the same for me, again these come from Chile and are usually docile, but they can change their temperament just like that and can grow up to 14/15 cm. Although he has a burrow in his flowerpot, he prefers to be out on display most of the time, and enjoys sitting on his web molting mat which he made for his recient molt. He doesnt really eat alot, and will just .. well, hes a hairy pet rock, but what a lovely rock he is! After his recient molt the his colours are much brighter, with mainly brown colouring but with a brighter rose coloured hairs on his carapace. Ive also noticed since then that in the correct light he has a dark metallic blue colouring to the top of his legs. Its likely that he will mature first as he is the largest in my collection, however being male, he will not live for very long once he matures and so will hopefully be sent away to get a special friend to breed with.
Spongebob the Grammostola Aureostriata
Spongebob is one of my favourite T's, he looks great with his dark colouring and golden stripes on his legs, most prominantly on his legs. He comes from Argentina and is one of the larger species of tarantula, growing up to 9 inches, although Spongebob has some catching up to do to get there! Being quite docile, he and Spiderman are really the only two which, with care, I will occasionally handle.
Usually he is quite active, exploring his home, but for the last couple of weeks, Spongebob has been digging within his burrow, building a large mound covering most of the entrance, and in the mornings he will either have filled the rest of the gap with webbing, or taken it down to leave an opening. Hes not been seen out in the open for a little while, and has been off his food a bit so, expect to find him slightly larger and shinier one morning ;)
Monster Munch the Heteroscodra Maculata
Again Monster Munch just arrived yesterday so theres not too much I can say about him other than.. he's fast! He is currently the only Old World tarantula that I own (I say currently, something else is in the pipeline lol) and comes originally from Africa where tarantulas are often known as Baboon Spiders. Their difference is that they lack the urticating hairs of the New World species from America and so have to rely on speed and aggression, and are not afraid to bite if they feel threatened. He is dark brown in colour, with lighter brown ornamental markings on his abdomen and carapace and is about half grown, he should reach up to 13cm. He is the one spider that will never be brought out or handled in any way.
He is a fast arborial spider and has been set up in a higher tank to give him climbing space, and quickly set up home inside some hollow cork bark with the entrance at the top. He seems to have settled in nicely, as can be seen by the trails of web where he has been exploring through the night and also the amazing wall that he has constructed at the back of his home using web with dirt mixed in. Being quite a webbing tarantula it will be interesting to see what renovations he has planned for his house!
I'll start off with Skittles, the A. avicularia.
Avics come from South America and are arboreal which means that they like to live off the ground and should grow to about 5 inches. Being arboreal they have slimmer bodies to carry less weight and longer legs fo climbing about. You can also notice the differences with their feet, being flatter and larger, again adapted for their climbing nature. Saying that, skittles usually thinks that he is terrestrial (lives on the ground) and enjoys hiding under some cork where he has made his home, but does sometimes come out to venture up the plant to sit in the leaves. He is the fuzziest of my fuzzy friends, on the whole black but with some dark red on his abdomen, and of course, he has pink toes! hence the common name of the Pinktoe Tarantula. Avics are generally docile, and dont really bite or flick hairs, but Skittles is quite skittish so not really one to be held as he will readily jump from your hand to something else nearby in his tank. He has never been brought out, I'd be too afraid of loosing him :)
On the whole tarantulas should be kept alone, otherwise they can fight and possibly eat each other, only a couple can be kept communally, of which Skittles is one, however unfortunatly he doesnt have any friends at the moment, but not ruling it out for the future.. there was another Avic which he lived with before I got him so.. perhaps that one is getting lonely? He lives in a 12" glass Exo Terra terranium which he also shares with my (currently 7) spiderlings, who are kept individually in vials and kept seperate from Skittles in a well ventilated cricket box.
Junior and the other B. smithi's
I currently have 5 spiderlings, all residing with Skittles, 4 are really small about 1 to 1.5 centimeters in legspan and live in vials, and dont really look anything like a Red Knee at the moment, and dont seem to do much except eat, and possibly sleep! A couple of them have laid down slight webbing on the ground but not alot yet. The largest is called Junior, he has a legspan of perhaps just over an inch and is starting to show his proper colouring with his knees being lighter than the rest of him, but still pretty much brown. In his past life he was a JCB digger as everyday there is new excavations in his box, he seems to enjoy digging about, and filling in the holes again, and if your lucky you might catch him stomping about with a cricket in his jaws doing the happy dance.. looks like he will be quite an active spider, should be interesting to see how he is when he grows a bit more. In the wild, this species is on the CITES II list of endangered animals, and it is illegal to catch a wild specimin, however they are regularly bred in captivity so are still very much available. They are a terrestrial tarantula and come (as their name suggests) from Mexico. They can grow up to perhaps 6 inches and are generally the thing most people think of when they imagine a tarantula, again they dont really bite but are known to flick their urticating hairs into the air. The purpose of this is to ward off an attacker, causing itching in the eyes or irritation to the skin.
Euathlus Truculentus and Euathlus Vulpinus
Having just recieved these two yesterday I dont really have a huge amount to write about them as individuals. Although both come from Chile and will grow to about 12cm, the end spiders couldnt be more different. E. truculentus is a terrestrial spider with a docile temperament and will eventually have a wonderful metallic green carapace and femurs, and fluffy pink and red hair on his abdomen. He should certainly live up to his common name of Chile Beautiful.
E. vulpinus on the other hand is a different kettle of fish, although all tarantulas from Chile are nice and calm, there has to be an exception and this is it! He is semi arboreal and can make the most of both ground cover as well as in the trees, and very much unlike any other tarantulas who are generally nocturnal, he should enjoy coming out in the daytime so in order to survive in the open he must be able to defend himself well, which equates to flashing his fangs and biting predators. Tarantulas like this will use a threat pose which is their way of saying back off or you will be hurt, by spreading their front legs into the air and raising their fangs to put them on display. Sometimes they will also thump the ground for added effect. In this case when I was unpacking him yesterday he threw his legs up in the air, but I'm not convinced if it was this, or just a reaction to get out of the way.
Spiderman the Grammostola Rosea
Rosies are one of the most popular beginner species of tarantula, and this was the same for me, again these come from Chile and are usually docile, but they can change their temperament just like that and can grow up to 14/15 cm. Although he has a burrow in his flowerpot, he prefers to be out on display most of the time, and enjoys sitting on his web molting mat which he made for his recient molt. He doesnt really eat alot, and will just .. well, hes a hairy pet rock, but what a lovely rock he is! After his recient molt the his colours are much brighter, with mainly brown colouring but with a brighter rose coloured hairs on his carapace. Ive also noticed since then that in the correct light he has a dark metallic blue colouring to the top of his legs. Its likely that he will mature first as he is the largest in my collection, however being male, he will not live for very long once he matures and so will hopefully be sent away to get a special friend to breed with.
Spongebob the Grammostola Aureostriata
Spongebob is one of my favourite T's, he looks great with his dark colouring and golden stripes on his legs, most prominantly on his legs. He comes from Argentina and is one of the larger species of tarantula, growing up to 9 inches, although Spongebob has some catching up to do to get there! Being quite docile, he and Spiderman are really the only two which, with care, I will occasionally handle.
Usually he is quite active, exploring his home, but for the last couple of weeks, Spongebob has been digging within his burrow, building a large mound covering most of the entrance, and in the mornings he will either have filled the rest of the gap with webbing, or taken it down to leave an opening. Hes not been seen out in the open for a little while, and has been off his food a bit so, expect to find him slightly larger and shinier one morning ;)
Monster Munch the Heteroscodra Maculata
Again Monster Munch just arrived yesterday so theres not too much I can say about him other than.. he's fast! He is currently the only Old World tarantula that I own (I say currently, something else is in the pipeline lol) and comes originally from Africa where tarantulas are often known as Baboon Spiders. Their difference is that they lack the urticating hairs of the New World species from America and so have to rely on speed and aggression, and are not afraid to bite if they feel threatened. He is dark brown in colour, with lighter brown ornamental markings on his abdomen and carapace and is about half grown, he should reach up to 13cm. He is the one spider that will never be brought out or handled in any way.
He is a fast arborial spider and has been set up in a higher tank to give him climbing space, and quickly set up home inside some hollow cork bark with the entrance at the top. He seems to have settled in nicely, as can be seen by the trails of web where he has been exploring through the night and also the amazing wall that he has constructed at the back of his home using web with dirt mixed in. Being quite a webbing tarantula it will be interesting to see what renovations he has planned for his house!
Thursday 24 April 2008
Todays Photos
My Avic "Skittles" decided to come out and pose for some photos tonight so there's a couple of him been posted, also below are two of today's new arrivals, both spiderlings of the Euathlus genus, an E. Vulpinus and an E. Truculentus.
Unfortunately the Heteroscoda Maculata (Togo Starburst) didn't fancy getting his picture taken, but took to his new home quickly with an amazing display of speed as he shot up the cork bark and over the top into the hole where he has resided ever since... I'm sure he will come out sometime soon when he is hungry or wants a drink, hopefully I'll be there to get a pic! ;)
Unfortunately the Heteroscoda Maculata (Togo Starburst) didn't fancy getting his picture taken, but took to his new home quickly with an amazing display of speed as he shot up the cork bark and over the top into the hole where he has resided ever since... I'm sure he will come out sometime soon when he is hungry or wants a drink, hopefully I'll be there to get a pic! ;)
New Arrivals
well, the postie has just arrived and brought with him 3 little friends:
Heteroscodra Maculata (Togo Starburst) Juvenile
Euathlus Truculentus (Chile Beautiful) Sling
Euathlus Vulpinus (Chile Ocellated) Sling
Pictures to hopefully follow later in the day :)
Heteroscodra Maculata (Togo Starburst) Juvenile
Euathlus Truculentus (Chile Beautiful) Sling
Euathlus Vulpinus (Chile Ocellated) Sling
Pictures to hopefully follow later in the day :)
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Sleepless nights....
Its like Christmas Eve tonight no sleeping for me ;)
3 new friends arriving tomorrow, pictures and info when they get here! (thanks to Lee at The Spidershop for the extra spiderling!)
3 new friends arriving tomorrow, pictures and info when they get here! (thanks to Lee at The Spidershop for the extra spiderling!)
Brachypelma Smithi (Mexican Red Knee) small sling
this one is the smallest of my B. Smithi slings :D
Grammostola Aureostriata (Chaco Golden Knee) "Spongebob"
whooo lives in a flowerpot under the soil........
Brachypelma Smithi (Mexican Red Knee) "Junior"
This is a photo of the largest of my B. Smithi slings called Junior, he is currently the only one large enough to have a small box of his own, the others are still living in their vials.
Grammostola Rosea (Chile Rose) Exuvium, Molted 15/04/08
Spiderman molted last Tuesday, unfortunatly he lost a leg which got stuck during his molt
Tuesday 22 April 2008
Current Tarantulas
Currently my tarantula collection is as follows, this post will be updated as and when so should always reflect my collection accurately.
The numbers represent both the number of the species that I have as well as the sex in the order of Male.Female.Unknown followed by their scientific name and their common name in brackets
0.0.1 Augacephalus sp. "Mozambique"
0.0.4 Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Redknee)
0.1.0 Ceratogyrus bechuanicus (Rhino Horned Baboon)
0.0.1 Euathlus truculentus (Chile Beautiful)
0.0.1 Euathlus vulpinus (Chile Ocellated)
1.0.0 Grammostola rosea (Chile Rose)
0.0.1 Grammostola aureostriata (Chaco Golden Knee)
0.0.2 Haplopelma sp. "Vietnam Earth Tiger"
0.0.1 Heteroscodra maculata (Togo Starburst)
0.0.1 Pterinochilus murinus (RCF) - (Usumbara Red Baboon)
0.0.1 Poecilotheria regalis (Indian Ornamental)
0.0.1 Poecilotheria rufilata (Redslate Ornamental)
0.1.0 Pandinus Imperator (Imperial Scorpion)
More to follow......
The numbers represent both the number of the species that I have as well as the sex in the order of Male.Female.Unknown followed by their scientific name and their common name in brackets
0.0.1 Augacephalus sp. "Mozambique"
0.0.4 Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Redknee)
0.1.0 Ceratogyrus bechuanicus (Rhino Horned Baboon)
0.0.1 Euathlus truculentus (Chile Beautiful)
0.0.1 Euathlus vulpinus (Chile Ocellated)
1.0.0 Grammostola rosea (Chile Rose)
0.0.1 Grammostola aureostriata (Chaco Golden Knee)
0.0.2 Haplopelma sp. "Vietnam Earth Tiger"
0.0.1 Heteroscodra maculata (Togo Starburst)
0.0.1 Pterinochilus murinus (RCF) - (Usumbara Red Baboon)
0.0.1 Poecilotheria regalis (Indian Ornamental)
0.0.1 Poecilotheria rufilata (Redslate Ornamental)
0.1.0 Pandinus Imperator (Imperial Scorpion)
More to follow......
hello
Hi, I'm Stuart, quite new to the world of Tarantulas but with a growing collection :)
I hope to record the progress of my little friends on this blog as I watch them grow up!
I hope to record the progress of my little friends on this blog as I watch them grow up!
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