So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

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Pele's life has come full circle.

Started off as a spiderling from a wild caught eggsac

Pele01.jpg


After growing up very quickly, he became a mature male in May this year

Pele22.jpg


So I sent him to Ray Gabriel for a breeding attempt just after he mature.

A couple of weeks ago - bingo!

Pele23.jpg


A total of 61 baby Pele's - half of which are now mine.

Pele24.jpg


And Pele himself is still alive and kicking ready to mate again.
 
Avicularia aren't very big generally - Pele is exactly this large:

Pele25.jpg


The babies will look like that for about 5 months, then slowly the legs will go bottle green and then the "feet" turn pink - basically, the colours reverse. They eventually lose the striped abdomen (bum) which fades into two red streaks as shown on the mother with babies above.


Licensed Devil:

Hehe, no we gave some away and I kept a 5 back to grow on myself for future breeding. When they get big enough to sex I will keep a single female for future breeding and sell any others.

So at the moment I have 21 surplus to sell. I'll flog them at the next entemological show in October, probably 3 for a fiver. :) I could ask for more but I'm not really interested in making huge amounts of dosh from breeding, I do it to help keep the hobby going.
 
Originally posted by Tried&Tested
@ Lopéz - fantastic spider! I usually hate them but that one is very cool. Even the baby spiders are funky. :cool:
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Agreed.

What breed is Pele, and is he/she poisonous? I take it the answer will be no, especially if you're holding it.

The colours are fantastic. I've never seen a spider/arachnid (sorry, unsure of proper term for that breed) with red feet.

I don't think I would be able to stand near all those baby spiders though. I would just keep thinking that they were going to all jump on me :eek: :D
 
Originally posted by agw_01
Agreed.

What breed is Pele, and is he/she poisonous? I take it the answer will be no, especially if you're holding it.
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Pele is an Avicularia avicularia - the first tarantula ever to be described scientifically.
All spiders are venomous but very few are dangerous to humans. Avicularia are normally pretty docile, and a bite is rare. IPeople who've been bitten by these generally report symptomns not even as bad as a wasp sting - a bit of throbbing and ache in the area and that's about it.

The colours are fantastic. I've never seen a spider/arachnid (sorry, unsure of proper term for that breed) with red feet.
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Spider is fine - they just aren't "true" spiders like the ones we get in this country.

Avicularia is a huge genus spread across South America, lots of different species and lots of possible natural hybrids/colour variants. Generally they are dark with pink toes, but of course there's lots of variation from species to species. :)
 
Awww, so cute :)

Update on my Chilean Rose

She's eating every day, at least a single cricket, occasionally two.

Very docile, can just pick her up straight from the tank with no fuss at all :)

Seems to have settled into the tank today, think it might be a little dry, she was drinking from her water dish just now, first time i've seen her do that.
 
I got mine 3 for £5, although prices do fluctuate. Depends where you get them from, normally I would say about £4 each for that size (trade)
 
Originally posted by St0n3y
I got mine 3 for £5, although prices do fluctuate. Depends where you get them from, normally I would say about £4 each for that size (trade)
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I'd say that was about right. £4-£5 "trade" ie at shows or from breeders, £8-£10 in a pet shop. Sometimes you get people selling 'em cheap though, like me and Ray are doing with these ones.
 
So you can get a measure of her size. Sarah has decided that we'll name her "Shelob", even though we're not sure of the gender
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Haven't posted any of mine for ages, so here you go:

Maya my Mexican Fire Leg:

normal_Maya.jpg


Had her over a year now and has moulted about three times now. I'm still not 100% on the sex though.



My adult female Greenbottle Blue:

normal_Green.jpg


Had her a few weeks over a year now. She has moulted twice, back in Feb and then about a month ago. She is quite clearly up for breeding at the momment as she has been making a lot of noise drumming her feet!



My small Mexican Red Knee and Chile Rose have moulted a number of times and are a bit bigger, but still no colours in them yet. The Redknee has made a pretty elaborate burrow considering how small its container is.
 
Do T's feed themselves up massively before a moult?
I ask because Shelob has had 14 crickets this week, 7 in the last 2 days!
She's definately eating them, as i see her jump on them all. Or perhaps was she underfed in the shop?
She's quite active for a tarantula, often walking around her tank, this would make her more hungry i'm sure, but to this level?

Crickets are the "medium" size that my shop sells, about 10mm length, and Shelob herself is about 2.5inch legspan.
 
Carefull you aren't feeding her too much, they generally will eat till they burst! The only time i've known mine not to eat is before moult. Just keep an eye on her abdomen, if it's looking to fat knock off the food for a week.
 
Originally posted by Barbie
Do T's feed themselves up massively before a moult?
I ask because Shelob has had 14 crickets this week, 7 in the last 2 days!

Crickets are the "medium" size that my shop sells, about 10mm length, and Shelob herself is about 2.5inch legspan.
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They can fit in quite a lot :D and those crickets are quite small, they will stop eating just prior to the point of bursting, but it can be a bit dodgy if they are climbers as a fall can cause a rupture.

My B.vagans, the one in the above picture which was taken when he was baby, put away 7 large crickets in one sitting a couple of weeks back ;) Greedy bugger!

-- Jon
 
Fantastic thread everyone!

I was wondering if someone could take a photograph of their spider and its moult in the same picture because I read somewhere that they look identical and you can't tell which one is the real thing :)
 
Originally posted by Mitesh
Fantastic thread everyone!

I was wondering if someone could take a photograph of their spider and its moult in the same picture because I read somewhere that they look identical and you can't tell which one is the real thing :)
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I have this old photo...

salmon.jpg
 
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