So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?
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Thought I'd give another girlie update seeing as they aren't really doing anything interesting at the moment. Both of them are off their food and generally inactive, so I'm hoping they're both coming up for a moult. Timing seems about right because they are supposed to moult about every month at this size, and Rio last moulted 5 weeks ago, Jez about a month ago. I'm still offering crickets every other day but they are completely uninterested. Jez even showed a half-hearted threat posture to one the other day because it jumped on her 
I'm sure Rio has grown since I got her. She's a bit porky at the moment too. Here she is sitting in her fave spot at the back of her tank in a very odd position. Her front two pairs of legs are all hunched around her carapace ('head') and her back legs are lifted right up, resting on the tank. Weirdo
Jez has darkened quite a lot since her last pic the other week. Her feet and abdomen are much darker now and you can definitely see the stripes on her legs beginning to emerge! She looks tiny compared to Rio though. Isn't she cute!
I'm sure Rio has grown since I got her. She's a bit porky at the moment too. Here she is sitting in her fave spot at the back of her tank in a very odd position. Her front two pairs of legs are all hunched around her carapace ('head') and her back legs are lifted right up, resting on the tank. Weirdo
Jez has darkened quite a lot since her last pic the other week. Her feet and abdomen are much darker now and you can definitely see the stripes on her legs beginning to emerge! She looks tiny compared to Rio though. Isn't she cute!
Darkening and swelling of the abdomen are both classical signs of an impending moult.
Judging by that shot, Rio is in pre-moult for sure. I'd say a shed within the next week or so is likely.
My own Idi is also in premoult. Swollen abdomen despite refusing food, complete loss of appetite, extreme inactivity to the point that you'd think he was dead, and he's completely sealed himself into his burrow.
I'm hoping he'll shed this week and that his missing leg regenerates. It could be a tough moult for him
Judging by that shot, Rio is in pre-moult for sure. I'd say a shed within the next week or so is likely.
My own Idi is also in premoult. Swollen abdomen despite refusing food, complete loss of appetite, extreme inactivity to the point that you'd think he was dead, and he's completely sealed himself into his burrow.
I'm hoping he'll shed this week and that his missing leg regenerates. It could be a tough moult for him
Well I am certain Rio is going to moult any second because her abdomen is now black, so I was up every few hours during the night just to see. I really want to watch her moult, it's fascinating. Anyway I woke up this morning and guess who'd sneakily moulted? Bloomin Jezabel I looked in her tank and saw a freshly moulted, pale and fragile looking Jezzie sitting on her shed skin. Anyway I fished it out and it was looking a bit crumped so I dabbed some water on the leg joints as advised be Leon and managed to get it fairly straight.
This is the old skin from 15th Jan compared to the new skin she moulted today. As you can see, there was a pretty big size increase. She got generally chunkier and her colours started to show. I don't think there's been a huge size increase with this moult, but I haven't seen her fully stretched out yet. She's all huddled in the corner.
And here's the new, improved Jez looking all soft and vulnerable. Still obviously very baby though It'll be a while before she reaches Miguel proportions!
I looked in her tank and saw a freshly moulted, pale and fragile looking Jezzie sitting on her shed skin. Anyway I fished it out and it was looking a bit crumped so I dabbed some water on the leg joints as advised be Leon and managed to get it fairly straight.This is the old skin from 15th Jan compared to the new skin she moulted today. As you can see, there was a pretty big size increase. She got generally chunkier and her colours started to show. I don't think there's been a huge size increase with this moult, but I haven't seen her fully stretched out yet. She's all huddled in the corner.
And here's the new, improved Jez looking all soft and vulnerable. Still obviously very baby though
It'll be a while before she reaches Miguel proportions!
Don
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I mentioned this in the mantid thread, but do u think an exotic pets forum would be worth having?
Is it worth asking spie, or is there not enough demand?
Might mean we dont lose the threads soo quickly
Is it worth asking spie, or is there not enough demand?
Might mean we dont lose the threads soo quickly
Originally posted by Lostkat
With eachother they'll fight to the death, but seeing as my T's are in seperate tanks, they can't get to eachother
me = dumb
I was picturing the scene, where one T would go over to the others lair and asking for sugar etc
Originally posted by iam
me = dumb
I was picturing the scene, where one T would go over to the others lair and asking for sugar etc
They would literally kill eachother in the face, tbh
I'm still waiting for this damn spider to moult! Everytime she MOVES it's like 'pleeease flip upsidown Rio'.. little sod
quite scared of spiders but kinda like the idea of gettin a t but id never have the nerve to hold it.Well about bloody time! I knew Rio was going to moult any second.
She started webbing up the side of her tank earlier like mad and then just sat there in a VERY weird position. She was kind of leaning her right side against the side of the tank, with her left side stuck out in mid air, almost hanging off the side of the tank;
very bizarre position for a spider to moult in!
I looked closely and could see her very gently moving her legs up and down a fraction of a millimetre, so I thought ‘ey up, she’s moulting now’. Anyway she did that for an hour or so and I got tired and went to sleep for a while. Came back to her and she was half out, the little minx!
Here she is fully out, with her old skin at the top of the photo
And here she’s pumping her legs in and out to get the haemolymph circulating in them.
She’s grown one hell of a lot! She I’m going to move her to a bigger tank that I have when she’s all hardened off because she’s grown so much. I really can’t believe how much bigger she is. Have just this second managed to get a full-length shot of her because she’s come out of hiding and is now filling her water bowl in.
ISN'T SHE CUTE!!!!!!
She started webbing up the side of her tank earlier like mad and then just sat there in a VERY weird position. She was kind of leaning her right side against the side of the tank, with her left side stuck out in mid air, almost hanging off the side of the tank;
very bizarre position for a spider to moult in!
I looked closely and could see her very gently moving her legs up and down a fraction of a millimetre, so I thought ‘ey up, she’s moulting now’. Anyway she did that for an hour or so and I got tired and went to sleep for a while. Came back to her and she was half out, the little minx!
Here she is fully out, with her old skin at the top of the photo
And here she’s pumping her legs in and out to get the haemolymph circulating in them.
She’s grown one hell of a lot! She I’m going to move her to a bigger tank that I have when she’s all hardened off because she’s grown so much. I really can’t believe how much bigger she is. Have just this second managed to get a full-length shot of her because she’s come out of hiding and is now filling her water bowl in.
ISN'T SHE CUTE!!!!!!
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Don
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ooo, nice ruler
Good to see shes growing well
Good to see shes growing well
Soldato
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Wayhey!
Great pics LK.
She's a beauty all right
Great pics LK.
She's a beauty all right
T's don't lack a single hair on their entire body... it's actually all part of the cuticle that makes up the exoskeleton of the tarantula. Fangs, legs, body, and 'hairs' are all part of one continuous layer of cuticle covering the tarantula's entire body. A clear piece of cuticle even covers the eyes! So these outgrowths are not separate, removable hairs with a follicle like you or I know them. Now you might think I'm being pedantic to point this out, but there is a reason I say this
These little outgrowths are uber sensitive to all vibrations. You can tell this when you blow on a T softly. They can detect the slightest of winds. Tarantulas of course also detect all their prey by sensing the vibrations that they make when they move. They can tell the location and even the size of their prey just by the vibrations it produces. Perhaps the function of these tarantula 'hairs' is to give them a highly accurate vibration detection system which enables precise tracking of prey. It's a possibility anyway... suppose I better read up on it really!
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