So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

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Finally got some piccies of Jezabel taken by my radiant boyfriend. Her body is about 1.5cm long, and including legs she's about 1" in diameter. She's now totally buried her limpet shell waterbowl in the night after tipping it up and digging underneath it the other day. She's also dug up her new waterbowl - I don't think she likes limpet shells very much.. little minx!

We went to my local tropical pet store yesterday and saw a full-sized emilia (same species as mine) for £85!!!! :eek:

Anyway, here she is;

jezabel1


jezabel2


jezabel3


Isn't she GORGEOUS!!!!!111
 
Well after I got back from Manchester I fed the boys.

Idi is still not interested in food, though he did come to greet me:

http://www.vsupermarket.co.uk/~lopez/MySpiders/Idi05
http://www.vsupermarket.co.uk/~lopez/MySpiders/Idi06
Look how bold the markings on his abdomen are!

Mugabe actually appeared for the first time since Wednesday - and took a cricket after a small amount of persuading:

http://www.vsupermarket.co.uk/~lopez/MySpiders/Mugabe02

That was taken with the camera resting in the dirt about 5 inches away from a very alert tarantula.

http://www.vsupermarket.co.uk/~lopez/MySpiders/Mugabe03

Check out his green/blue iridescant feet!

I noted that although he killed the cricket, it was only after it had blundered into him several times. He then put the cricket down his burrow but did not eat it.
This, coupled with a noticable darkening on the abdomen, makes me think that Mugabe is very close to a moult.

I've also given him a bark shelter to see if it encourages him to web instead of burrowing underground out of sight.

http://www.vsupermarket.co.uk/~lopez/MySpiders/Mugabe04

Only time will tell I suppose.
 
My god! And I thought Jez was fast and ferocious with her crickets. That one's almost as big as Mugabe :eek: Those are two tarantulas my fingers WON'T be going near!! Fingers crossed for Mugabe molting - he'll be even brighter and more spectacular afterwards!!
 
Bungee:
Spiders have various habits when it comes to moulting. They may refuse food, kill food but not eat it, become duller in colour, the abdomen normally darkens, and they often spin large amounts of webbing to increase humidity (it helps them shed the old skin)
Some web in a burrow, others do it in the open - it varies from species to species and indeed spider to spider.

Kendo:
A lovely smile? Well, I don't think I'll be putting him forward as the next Colgate Kid, but thanks for the sentiments. ;)

Lostkat:
Yes, his colours will be much brighter post-moult, they nearly always are. I'm going to try and grab the skin as soon as it's free from the tarantula, and straighten it for display. Skins let you get a super close look at the spider without worrying about being bitten - and they can also help determine the sex of your spider.

iam:
Errr I'm not really sure. :) I just enjoy watching them go about their business in a captive environment.

I'm still trying to ascertain the temperaments of the two.
Mugabe (orange) seems to be more defensive, but needs a lot of disturbance before he reacts at all. Once alert however, he remains so for a long time before going back into hiding.

Idi (gold) is far more easily riled, and attacks by rushing my chopstick rather than standing his ground like Mugabe does.
After being disturbed he always stomps the entire cage before climbing to the top, coming back down, and digging back underground.

So for now I'd say:

Mugabe = Defensive when provoked, with aggressive tendancies.
Idi = Aggressive when provoked.
 
Originally posted by Kendo
How are the little blighters doing?
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Well Mugabe has been generally acting strangely.
He's not eating and his abdomen appears to have darkened, which would point to a moult.
Then the other day he totally reorganised his burrow, strengthening it with huge amounts of dug up substrate.

Mugabe05


Wierd.
Idi on the other hand seemed tardy and generally uncomfortable looking.
After a lot of thinking, I came to the conclusion that the tank was far too wet and under-ventilated, so I took action.

Popped down to Leekes and got 2 small glass tanks (far easier to carry, move, clean, inspect etc.) for £7 each, and a chunk of dry bogwood for £3.
I returned home, baked a load of peat in the oven to dry it out properly, then mixed it by hand with some fine vermiculite.
While I was at it I sawed the wood in two (tough stuff!) and sterelised it in the microwave.

Using a drill on low speed, I made loads of small ventilation holes in the lids of both tanks, and then spread a layer of the vermiculite/peat mix about 3" deep in both tanks, before adding water bowls and the wood for shelter.

Now I was faced with a problem - how to get two fast aggressive little spiders from one tank into another....

Tried using various cups, glasses etc, but without success.

I eventually came up with an idea.

Lay one polythene freezer/food bag in the tank, nudge spider with chopstick, bingo. One spider-in-a-bag.

Here's Mugabe trying to hide in the corner of the bag, with my finger for scale. See, he's only a baby really!

Mugabe06


After that it was just a case of shaking them out of the bags and whacking the lids on the tanks pronto.

Both spiders seem far happier in their new habitats, the new tanks are much easier to move about and look at and weigh a fraction of the big split tank, and the lowered humidity is a weight off my mind too - I was getting a touch concerned for their well being.

Mugabe07


Idi07


Has your Baboon settled yet Yan?

People keep asking why I keep 2 tanks of dirt......Baboon spiders are frantic burrowers and mine only really explore late at night.
 
Thats class! I hadnt realised Mugabe was so small still.

How did Idi take the move? Did you have any near misses with his fangs?
 
Nice work Lopez :) You've done a great job there, hope they will both be much happier in their brand spanking new tanks.

Mugabe is very ickle :p I still wouldn't mess with him though!
 
Originally posted by iam
Good job Lopez :D

Thats amazing the way he put all that dirt above his burrow!:eek:
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Took him about 5 hours to do all that! Then I went and moved him so all his efforts were in vain, poor little sod. :(

Originally posted by DirtyMinx
Thats class! I hadnt realised Mugabe was so small still.

How did Idi take the move? Did you have any near misses with his fangs?
Click to expand...

Idi took the move remarkably well! Straight into the bag and straight out again - he can actually be very docile when he feels like it.

Originally posted by Kendo
Nice work Lopez You've done a great job there, hope they will both be much happier in their brand spanking new tanks.

Mugabe is very ickle I still wouldn't mess with him though!
Click to expand...


They certainly look a lot better, and the lower humidity suits them better.
Idi is a touch larger than Mugabe, about a cm bigger across I suppose. They should both end up roughly the same size and build. :)
 
Right! I've made an executive decision and I'm going to get my next spiderling very soon. It's going to be a Brazilian White Knee (Acanthoscurria geniculata). I just need to get myself a small piece of bark and a new tank and then I can make my order. They are suprisingly cheap seeing as they're such gorgeous tarantulas and can grow to about 8" legspan!

Here are some photos so you can see what I mean about them being absolutely stunning:

A spiderling, probably about 6 months or so old. Awwwwww how sweet! Starting to get markings already.
Ageniculata.jpg


Juvenille. Probably about 4-5cm across. Aren't they sweet little things? Beautiful markings
ageniculata3.jpg


A couple of pics of the full grown adults. These are stunning specimens - they all seem to be gorgeous from the pics I've seen. A few have bald spots on their abdomens from hair flicking, but that depends upon the individual.
Ageniculata4.jpg


Check out the mega close up of the red hairs on this.
ageniculata12a.jpg


More pics here

She'll be a bit more moody than my emilia, but they are not known to be aggressive, just a bit skittish and nervy. According to my sources, they rarely bite and prefer to flick hair at you. I think I can cope with one of these quite easily. Not sure if I'll be able to handle it or not, but nevertheless it's a gorgeous tarantula. They also grow very fast and are known to eat like horses... cool!

What do you think folks? :)
 
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