So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

Status
Not open for further replies.
To Lopez. Lostkat

this might make you smile

imagine this there I am reading this thread and my daughter comes alone and bugs me to sit on the lap

now I am still reading this thread and scroll down to a picture of a Big spider well.....

My daughter who is 2 in april roars out laughing and shouting spider(she love house spider and is alwasy pointing them out) well I keep scolling down the page and another picture well the laughter is even louder

/keelystop hirstfgtting th e keyboard

anyway see really loves the picture stangley see like the one with I presume Lopez's Hand but then she not right :D

well more picture please


Cool thread

GJUK
 
Originally posted by GJUK
To Lopez. Lostkat

this might make you smile

imagine this there I am reading this thread and my daughter comes alone and bugs me to sit on the lap

now I am still reading this thread and scroll down to a picture of a Big spider well.....

My daughter who is 2 in april roars out laughing and shouting spider(she love house spider and is alwasy pointing them out) well I keep scolling down the page and another picture well the laughter is even louder

/keelystop hirstfgtting th e keyboard

anyway see really loves the picture stangley see like the one with I presume Lopez's Hand but then she not right :D

well more picture please


Cool thread

GJUK
Click to expand...

Awww. Yeah it's my hand in any of the pics I've posted.
The one sitting comfortably on my hand is a gentle old lady, who a raised from a spiderling the size of my thumbnail. She's 10 years old and mightlive another 10 or more - you never know. She literally wouldn't hurt a fly, she kills and eats crickets so selfom that you would wonder how she hasn't starved. Chilean Rose make a great first spider.

As for the orange spider sitting by my thumb, well that's an entirely different kettle of fish. Though he's not much bigger than a housespiderat themoment, that thing should grow into a 6" across ball of spitting hellfire. That's as close as my finger is ever getting to that tarantula, and I only didit then as I knew the spider was at rest. They don't make the greatest pets due to their attitude and their tendancy to dig deep burrows and hide away (although mine has spun a tree web just to be different :))

Glad you like the thread and the pictures, infact thanks to everyone who's responded and contributed to this thread. It's been really enjoyable, and it'll keep growing until people stop showing an interest. :)
 
Originally posted by Lopéz
Glad you like the thread and the pictures, infact thanks to everyone who's responded and contributed to this thread. It's been really enjoyable, and it'll keep growing until people stop showing an interest. :)
Click to expand...

Nevaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!! :p

As long as the great pics keep coming - we'll never tire of this thread :D
 
Originally posted by Lopéz


Glad you like the thread and the pictures, infact thanks to everyone who's responded and contributed to this thread. It's been really enjoyable, and it'll keep growing until people stop showing an interest. :)
Click to expand...

No way! I usually hate spiders but I have found this thread really intriguing. Please keep those pics coming:)

Hehe I'm sure Kate has told you I have been getting regular updates on Jezabel:D
 
GJUK - Makes a change for kids to actually like spiders. I think that has something to do with the parents. If they're taught from a young age to respect all animals instead of fearing them, then they won't develop phobias etc when they're older. My dad actively encouraged me to go bug hunting and rockpool dipping when I was little, and that's an interest that has stuck with me. You can only encourage her.. maybe she's destined to be a great entomologist :)


Originally posted by Master Skooter
I wish my GF was like you........she won't let me have one! :(
Click to expand...

Maybe she just needs educating? I've been talking to a lot of people at my work about this and got the impression that most people are just misinformed. When I first told them I had a tarantula they were all 'eeeeeeeeeeeeew', but by the time I'd actually had the chance to dismiss some of the silly ideas people have in their heads, they could start to see why I wanted a T, and why they're so interesting. It's amazing how much people's thoughts change - those that are willing to listen anyway.

Anyway, something I just thought may be some use of you who are genuinely interested in T's - I bought two tarantula books from an online bookstore last week. Most spider books are for kids and contain very simple information, not going into any details whatsoever. However, these two books look to be absolutely excellent so I thought I'd give you the names of them in case you were interested

Tarantulas and Other Arachnids
Marshall, Samuel D.
ISBN: 0764114638
£5.59 + p&p
A very good and thorough book for people new to the world of tarantulas. Goes into reasonable depth and tells you all you need to know about housing, food, choosing and looking after your tarantula. Also some interesting sections upon tarantula anatomy etc.

Tarantula Keepers Guide
Schultz, Stanley A.
ISBN: 0764100769
£8.38 + p&p
A book for the enthusiast. From first glance, looks like a very comprehensive guide to tarantulas. Goes into a lot of depth with loads of illustrations and pictures. Apart from the normal 'keeping a T', has some interesting sections upon tarantua ecology, wild-catching etc. I've sent this one to Leon whilst I read the first one and he was very pleased with the content.

These books are definately worth getting if you are thinking about getting a tarantula, and are very fairly priced.

Hope this is of some help :)
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Lostkat
Maybe she just needs educating? I've been talking to a lot of people at my work about this and got the impression that most people are just misinformed. When I first told them I had a tarantula they were all 'eeeeeeeeeeeeew', but by the time I'd actually had the chance to dismiss some of the silly ideas people have in their heads, they could start to see why I wanted a T, and why they're so interesting. It's amazing how much people's thoughts change - those that are willing to listen anyway.

Anyway, something I just thought may be some use of you who are genuinely interested in T's - I bought two tarantula books from an online bookstore last week.

Tarantulas and Other Arachnids
Marshall, Samuel D.
ISBN: 0764114638
£5.59 + p&p
A very good and thorough book for people new to the world of tarantulas. Goes into reasonable depth and tells you all you need to know about housing, food, choosing and looking after your tarantula. Also some interesting sections upon tarantula anatomy etc.

Hope this is of some help :)
Click to expand...


That's just it, she's not willing to listen, she has a general fear of spiders.......so to her that's the end of the matter.

I hoped that she'd read this thread..........but she doesn't have any interest in PC's. God, what on earth did i see in her? :D *lol*

Thanks for the book recommendations tho, i'm gonna order that 1st one. Even if i don't ever get the chance of owning 1, i'd like to know more about these fanastic little blighters. :)

Skoot.

[EDIT: Actually, just ordered the 2nd book]
 
Last edited:
The second book is very chunky. I can't believe it's only a fiver. Takes a while to arrive as I believe Amazon ship them from the States - Kates took 3 weeks to get here.
Full of useful info from genuine tarantula keepers - not just full of anecdotes and hear say like many books are.

Well, you wanted pictures, so here come a few.
I apologise for them being blurred, but where he's built his new lair it's tricky to get a camera in decent position to take good pics.

Feeding The Beast:

My favourite aspect of keeping T's is feeding them. Watching them sieze a cricket, sometimes after letting it walk right past them a few times never fails to amaze me - their speed is out of this world.
Just now, I managed to get a few shots of Idi catching a medium sized cricket.

1)
Idi08


Idi is resting peacefully in his new lair. He's nowhere near as constructive as Mugabe.
Note the foolish cricket to the right of the picture

2)
Idi09


Seems the cricket is more foolish than we thought, eh readers?
Somehow he's managed to stumble across a hungry Baboon spider's lair. You know those horror movies when you're screaming "turn back now, run before it's too late!".........

3)
Idi10


Too late! POW, Idi snatches the cricket up with his pedipalps (the small "mini legs" outside his jaws) and it's a case of "Fangs a lot for the free lunch Mr Cricket"
*chortle*

4)
Idi11


Idi turns his back on the camera and slowly begins to inject digestive juices into his prey, turning it into basically creamy cricket soup.

Lovely stuff. :D
 
Originally posted by Master Skooter
I don't know if i'd feel a little guilty sending the crickets to such a painful & sickening death :p

Saying that i used to feed ants to spiders when i was a lad........kids huh? :D
Click to expand...
Oh trust me, after you've listened to them rustling about all day it's easy, theraputic even, to send them scurrying off to their doom. Besides, they were specifically bred to be live food, so I have no guilt whatsoever there, :D

Idi12


That's as close as my fingers are ever getting to Idi! Even at this size, it pays to be wary of any Pterinochilus or Poecilotheria, as their venom tends to be more potent than that of most tarantulas.
 
This may have been asked before but rooting through 13 pages is going to take forever so anyway..

If he bit you what would happen? Would it be a trip to the local A&E?

And how often do you feed him one of those poor innocent crickets?;)
 
Originally posted by DirtyMinx
This may have been asked before but rooting through 13 pages is going to take forever so anyway..

If he bit you what would happen? Would it be a trip to the local A&E?

And how often do you feed him one of those poor innocent crickets?;)
Click to expand...
Most bites from pets are caused by these little buggers.

Sme of this info is adapted from the Tarantula Keepers Guide.
Tarantulas are capable of exquisite control over the amount of venom they inject in every bite.
Most bites are "dry bites" when the spider injects no venom at all.
Only when a tarantula is enraged or biting for it's life will it inject a full payload of venom.

Generally something like a P. murinus bite will result in an aching in the affected limb, often some numbness, burning sensation and perhaps swelling
Of course, nearly all tarantulas have slightly differing venom and therefore different effects.

As for feeding, I keep a diary of how often Idi eats:

Idi arrived: 22.01

22.01 - 1 cricket
23.02 - 1 cricket
25.01 - 2 crickets
28.01 - 1 cricket
11.01 - 3 crickets
12.01 - 1 cricket
13.01 - 1 cricket
15.01 - 1 cricket

sizewise, he's certainly bulked out a lot. Idi isthe larger of the two, probably over a centimeter more than Mugabe across.
He will only grow a significant amount next time he moults.
 
Jez's big moult

Well after a hellish night of serving ice cream to just about everyone in the cinema, I returned home to this sight:

jezmoult1a.jpg


A freshly moulted Jez was lieing next to her waterbowl just about to free her feet from her old skin. I'd kinda been expecting this since she hasn't eaten for the past two weeks and was being generally inactive, but to witness it actually happening was awesome.

Anyway, after she'd finally free'd herself from her old skin, she lay on her back for a good half hour, just waving her legs around, first she'd stretch them out, and then pull them in again. They do this to pump all the body fluids and haemolymph (blood) around their new skin, to fill it out so it hardens bigger than the old skin.

jezmoult2a.jpg


I carefully removed her skin from the tank and flattened it out. Skins are extremely delicate as they are only a fraction of a millimetre thick - you can only really manipulate them whilst they are still soft. Once hardened they are extremely brittle and will just break up if you try to reshape them. I measured the skin and it was 3 cms long.

jezmoult3a.jpg


I then watched as she curled herself into a tiny ball still on her back;

jezmoult4a.jpg


and then 10 minutes later rolled over onto her side and flipped upright. She instantly started stomping about and decided to climb into her waterbowl.

jezmoult5a.jpg


to be continued...
 
Jez's big moult ctd.....

And now she's completely moulted and is having a rest after all her hard work. I am amazed at how much she's grown! Her carapace (the bit that all the legs are attached to) has literally doubled in diameter compared to her old skin, and her legs look loads longer. Her abdomen is still very slim at the moment, but once the cuticle has hardened and she starts feeding again, it will grow substantially until she's a portly little madam once again. When tarantulas moult, they pump a lot of body fluid out of the abdomen and into the rest of their body. This is because the new body is a lot bigger than the old one, and virtually needs pumping up to its full size. So although her abdomen looks the same size, if not smaller than it was before the moult, if you look at her legs you can tell they're a lot stockier, and her carapace is much bigger.

Here's two pictures comparing Jez this morning to Jez now! Approximately the same scale. I'd say she's grown about a cm in diameter

jezmoult6a.jpg
jez14.jpg


The colour change is amazing, as is the change in size. Her abdomen has gone from being pinkish with black splodges, to jet black with tiny red hairs, and her legs are now properly stripey like in the adult B.emilia's. The colours in the pic are a lot duller than she looks irl at the moment. She's still only freshly moulted though, so her colours will darken the cuticle hardens up. I'll take another pic tomorrow if she's any brighter/darker.
 
Fantastic shots!

You're very lucky to see a moult - my spider has always shed overnight - I've only witnessed a moult once.
It's seriously fascinating to see the spider extract itself from the old exoskeleton and inflate themselves.
Some fast growing tarantulas have been known to almost double in size during a moult.

Now you need to give her a few days to harden up and she can start to feed again. :)
 
Jebus H! How the hell doyou tell which is which? (the skin and the spider) :eek:

Ooooh you could play so many tricks with that :D Hehe

Absolutely amazing shots Lostkat - although I have to admit I thought she looked like she was dying when she was all scrunched up :p

Nevertheless - keep them coming :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom