So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

Lopéz · 23 Nov 2003 at 19:13

She might actually be a sp."Vietnam" rather than sp."longipedum". I'm sending a shed skin off to Denmark for identification in a couple of weeks, then I'll know for sure what she is and can start looking for a male.
G rosea grow disgustingly slowly, as do a lot of Brachypelma.

They make up for it by living longer.

Lopéz · 23 Nov 2003 at 19:18

Originally posted by great advice
some very nice spiders mate, i havent had chance to read the whole thread but how many do you have in total and how many different species?

69 at the last count, 25 different species.

Lopéz · 23 Nov 2003 at 19:30

Originally posted by great advice
good god which is your fave? got any venomous ones?

All theraphosids are "venomous" but none are considered "medically significant". Some of the African and Asian species can deliver a painful bite that could make you somewhat unwell.

My favourite?

My adult female Haplopelma schmidti.

Lopéz · 28 Nov 2003 at 15:56

Originally posted by Repo
She is gorgeous without a doubt. Finding it hard to add any to my collection at the moment as the few about for sale arn't sp I'm that interested in

What are you after, anything in particular?

Bear in mind things quieten down this time of year, many dealers won't send out stock over Christmas due to the cold weather.

Lopéz · 30 Nov 2003 at 19:18

I get back from a weekend away to find a bit of E.cyanognathus moultage :cool:

What a cracking looking tarantula.

Lopéz · 2 Dec 2003 at 10:06

Kate can help out with the Poecilotheria pictures, as she has a large female Poecilotheria fasciata (Sri Lankan Ornamental) as well as a reasonably large Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Green Bottle Blue) - I think Repo or maybe Nexus also have pretty large GBB's.

I don't think anybody here keeps T.blondi - my pet shop owner has got an 8 or 9" specimen (ooh err), I'll ask him if I can photograph it when I go there on Wednesday. Hope that's of some help. I'd offer my pictures of P.metallica, P.miranda, P.subfusca and so on, but they aren't my spiders so I don't want to upset anyone by doing so.

Lopéz · 7 Dec 2003 at 19:09

Originally posted by St0n3y
That’s great Lopéz, like I said any help would be much appreciated

Will get those blondi pics tomorrow for ya

Lopéz · 8 Dec 2003 at 18:06

Custom Aquaria make wicked glass tanks, with or without ventilation to basically any size you want. Best part is they aren't that pricey either. I don't think they generally post though - and are based Peterborough way.
Can't remember the address and phone number, I'll ask Kate later.

Lopéz · 8 Dec 2003 at 18:46

Originally posted by -LaSeR-
is acrylic ok for tanks, or does it have to be glass?

Acrylic is fine but it can quickly get scratched, and it looks awful after that.

Lopéz · 12 Dec 2003 at 08:31

I can only echo what Kate has already said.

I've handled or dealt with P.metallica, miranda, ornata, fasciata, rufilata, subfusca, regalis and striata.
Not seen an ounce of aggression or defensiveness from any of them - just a tendancy to run away and/or hide. Another nifty trick I found for photographing them - if you put them on a piece of cork bark/tile they very rarely leave it - instead they just run around the bark stopping every now and again, which is how I got this pic:

Poecilotheria are easily spooked - ie if you open the tank and shove your hand in then that's when it's likely to give you a nip - most of the time this seems to be mistaking your hand for a prey item rather than a defensive bite. As long as they have somewhere to run they'll be fine.
Speed wise, the only one I've found to be rocket-ship fast is the baby rufilata. The others are all pretty manageable, you just need to have your wits about you. Don't get me wrong though, they will easily quadruple the pace of almost any terrestrial spiders.

I keep 4 Pokes with more on the way, and I wouldn't get rid of them for the world.

Lopéz · 16 Dec 2003 at 11:18

Speaking of the show, here are a few of the things I picked up this weekend:

Firstly, an adult female Poecilotheria regalis for myself:

And one for my Dad as well, which caused a bit of a moment when it started heading for my groin

The two regalis together - mine is the one at the bottom

Also grabbed this Pterinochilus murinus - collected from the extreme North of the range of P.murinus, this is a different colour variant to the two normally seen in the hobby.

And in more "traditional" pose:

Lopéz · 17 Dec 2003 at 17:35

Originally posted by DirtyMinx
Wow, those Regalis ones are gorgeous. Your collection must be huge now Lopez.

You could say that! I'm planning to bring in more H.schmidti (the big gold and black ones) after Christmas, they goddamn rock.

Azrael, will talk to a friend and see what I can do.

The best thing about Poecilotheria is the ventral view:

Lopéz · 17 Dec 2003 at 18:07

Originally posted by Mullen

But.... Have you had any escape? If so, ever get one crawling into your bed at night or worse wake up in the morning with one on your face?

That one

I underestimated her strength, and she pushed the lid off the tank at night.
Found her in the curtains the next day, thank christ....

Lopéz · 23 Dec 2003 at 14:27

This one's for Master Skooter....

Your favourite! Mugabe moulted last week and has turned out to be a big and beautiful female. Managed to catch most of the moulting process on camera:

When she's started taking food again, there's a male on the way for her. So hopefully we'll have baby Usambara's next year!

If you still want a cast skin , just let me know.

Lopéz · 24 Dec 2003 at 09:34

Skin's in pretty good nick at the moment, and a fair size too:

Will pack it as carefully as possible and get it sent of after the festive period

Lopéz · 24 Dec 2003 at 09:57

Originally posted by Master Skooter
Put my GFs name on it

She'd probably scream, drop it & pass out! *lol*

Did i read that you now have around 65 T's?

You are indeed barmy....i don't think that i could sleep knowing that all those T's were lurking about *lol*

Hmmm let me do a count:

32 x A.sternalis
10 x P.murinus
6 x P.regalis
4 x H.sp."longipedum"
3 x C.marshalli
3 x C.bechuanicus
3 x Homoeomma sp."blau"
2 x C.fimbriatus
2 x E.cyanognathus
2 x H.schmidti
2 x C.huahini
1 x A.avicularia
1 x P.cambridgei
1 x H.sp."aureopilosum"
1 x C.schioedtei
1 x P.lugardi
1 x C.fasciatum
1 x P.rufilata
1 x P.fasciata
1 x P.ornata
1 x C.bicolor
1 x H.lividum
1 x C.sp."burmensis"
1 x G.rosea

So that's 82, with another 2 on the way soon, and another 3 large adults in the new year hopefully :eek:

Lopéz · 24 Dec 2003 at 10:31

Originally posted by Master Skooter
32?!!!

Did one of your T's have babies then?

No, a "friend" dumped them on me :mad:

He has a habit of doing this, normally with species I don't even like

Which means I have to try and get shot of the damn things.....

Lopéz · 24 Dec 2003 at 12:55

Originally posted by St0n3y
I think they will look like this

http://www.einet.dk/galleri/Acanthoscurria_sternalis_adult_female.htm

Lopéz does ( I have to try and get shot of the damn things.....) mean you want to sell a few? let me know

Such matters are best kept to email as technically I'd be selling outside Members Market!

Yes, they do look basically like that, the adult females get redder and redder with age, they are almost rust colour just before they moult out and become black/brown again.

Lopéz · 31 Dec 2003 at 16:17

Skooter, mail me your address!

Just thought I'd share some festive copulation with you ;-)

Haplopelma minax - not many true one's in the hobby!
Anyone else get Christmas T's?

Lopéz · 1 Jan 2004 at 20:57

Originally posted by Master Skooter
Is that blood in this pic?

It's master_skooter at hotmail dot com mate

Cheers!

Nope, they are his palpal emboli, you only see them on mature males - his rogering gear