So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

hsp70 · 4 Sep 2003 at 03:07

wow those suntiger males look great mature. i didn't know they turned into fuzzballs

Leon ygm

i forgot to add if you can send me a list of the dealer you are ordering from if it's ok with what i asked in the email

DHR · 4 Sep 2003 at 08:54

Ziggy's moulted on me again this morning just as i got up (5.55). He was having a little trouble with the last part of the moult and i didn't want to leave him stuck all day so i gave the tank a bit of a mist (very gently) then within 10-20 seconds he was free. He's got around 4.5cm's in leg span now, quite different from the 1cm spiderling i got of him! Ico and Rez are still all very small though, 2cm-3cms.

St0n3y · 4 Sep 2003 at 10:44

Well my new Spiderlings are all settling in nicely. They are also feeding well but only after I had to chop up a cricket as 3 of the slings (B.Smithi B.Auratum & L.Cristatus) are only around 5mm+ in length!

It was funny watching my 1cm P.Cambridgei running round its little pot with a large “turkey drummer” size cricket leg in its jaws..

George: good luck with the replacement B.Auratum from Sven, more than likely it will be from the same batch as mine and be around 5mm – 8mm. I found that a blob of chopped up cricket was fine for the little fellow.

DHR: You might wanna chop your sig down a wee bit dude (new rules)

DHR · 4 Sep 2003 at 13:53

Will do mate, wasn't aware, will sort it out tonight when i get home

St0n3y · 4 Sep 2003 at 19:31

few photos of the spiderlings...

Brachypelma Auratum

Brachypelma Smithi

Poecilotheria Ornata (This one moulted in transit) [Cheers Lostkat & Lopez

]

Psalmopoeus Cambridgei (This one i'm looking after for a m8)

The Lasiodora Cristatus was being shy..

Lostkat · 4 Sep 2003 at 19:37

Originally posted by St0n3y
Psalmopoeus Cambridgei (This one moulted in transit)

Errrrrr... you've got a pokie there mate :eek:

I'm 99% sure

Could you post a couple of pics please?

Those markings, especially on the carapace and abdomen are distinctively pokie.

Lopéz · 4 Sep 2003 at 19:38

Ston3y, I would say that the "P cambridgei that moulted in transit" is actually a Poecilotheria (ornata or possibly regalis)

Heres my little P ornata (excuse the missing legs and palps

)

St0n3y · 4 Sep 2003 at 20:44

Well after a quick chat with Lopez on MSN it looks like what i thought was a P.Cambridgei is actually a Poecilotheria Ornata.

I ordered both P.Cambridgei & P.Ornata from Sven but received 2 labeled up as "P.Cambridgei" so thats what I thought they both were.. Luck has it there are some well trained eyes on this forum

(cheers)

Had some fun trying to get it back in its tub, man can they run lol..

Repo · 5 Sep 2003 at 04:16

Originally posted by St0n3y
Well after a quick chat with Lopez on MSN it looks like what i thought was a P.Cambridgei is actually a Poecilotheria Ornata.

I ordered both P.Cambridgei & P.Ornata from Sven but received 2 labeled up as "P.Cambridgei" so thats what I thought they both were.. Luck has it there are some well trained eyes on this forum (cheers)

Had some fun trying to get it back in its tub, man can they run lol..

Yup, looks v similar to my ornata - and yes they can run and jump like nobodys business. Mine shot out of the photo film tub off the kitchen worksurface and was trying to make an escape under the kitchen work units when I first got it and was trying to transfer him to his new home. Great sling though - settled in very quickly

Lostkat · 5 Sep 2003 at 06:51

Originally posted by Repo
Yup, looks v similar to my ornata - and yes they can run and jump like nobodys business. Mine shot out of the photo film tub off the kitchen worksurface and was trying to make an escape under the kitchen work units when I first got it and was trying to transfer him to his new home. Great sling though - settled in very quickly

Hehehe

Leon's shot out of his container, across the bed and under my legs when I was trying to transfer it from film carton to a tank. I really thought I was going to lose it because it was so small and fast.

Hopefully I should be receiving 3 ornatas and 3 regalis in the post any time now.... It's gonna be great fun trying to get them all into their new homes.. ERK! :eek:

Scarfacé · 5 Sep 2003 at 16:17

Got my a.metallica and b.auratum. My new b.auratum must have come out the same batch as stoneys, because it's brown, no red yet, my last one was a bit bigger and was red/black.

The a.metallica is red with black toes, do they mature into blue?

thanks,

Lostkat · 5 Sep 2003 at 17:22

Originally posted by George
Got my a.metallica and b.auratum. My new b.auratum must have come out the same batch as stoneys, because it's brown, no red yet, my last one was a bit bigger and was red/black.

The a.metallica is red with black toes, do they mature into blue?

thanks,

Yes, they go through a total colour change at about 2-3 inches. My A.metallica is still pink with black toes at the moment. He'll turn a petroly green/blue with white flecks and white toes eventually. Though I would have thought you'd know this if you're reading the care sheets before you buy

Spiderling;

Adult;

Scarfacé · 5 Sep 2003 at 17:42

The caresheets usually don't have pics, if they do, it's usually of of them when their blue.

Thanks Lostkat.

What about the b.aurtatum, are they supposed to be brown when first born and then turn into the red/black?

Thanks,

Lostkat · 5 Sep 2003 at 17:50

Originally posted by George
The caresheets usually don't have pics, if they do, it's usually of of them when their blue.

Thanks Lostkat.

What about the b.aurtatum, are they supposed to be brown when first born and then turn into the red/black?

Thanks,

I usually do a google picture search on my chosen T and browse for any information whatsoever on them when I'm ordering. It helps to know you've got the right thing when it arrives, hehe.

Yes, your auratum will turn red/black with age. All Brachypelmas do.

Lopéz · 7 Sep 2003 at 17:42

Another good idea is to search the Arachnopets forum for the species you are buying. I always do loads of Google and Google Image searches before I buy a new beast. Sometimes, info is really scarce, so I ask Steve Nunn or Martin Huber, or maybe Soren Rafn in Denmark

So si, do we get a full review on the invert show? Any bigwigs there? And when are you starting the H gigas project?

Repo · 7 Sep 2003 at 19:11

PICCY TIME!!!!

Arse end of Frida (A.Seemani). It's taken me 3 or 4 different setups until she's finally settled in - this is about 70/30 peat/vermiculite, not too heavily packed & she seems to like 75f-80f - she was at 80f-85f before. Will NOT eat cricks for some reason - but she chomps on the mealworms quite happily.

Houdini (B.Vagans) was hiding under his cork bark

Likes it warm & dry eat likes horse - he's a bit fat here & I haven't even fed him for a week.

Repo · 7 Sep 2003 at 19:15

Blackie (C.Fasciatum)still can't make his mind up whether he's arboreal or a burrower. Seems to like mostly vermiculite & any temperature range.

Daisy (P.Ornata) ignoring a mealworm.. but then she seems to have chubbed out a bit). She settled in instantly; 100% peat, moderately packed, slightly damp, any temp range from 75f to 85f suits her & she made several burrows under that cork within just a few days of arriving. Temprement at the moment is very nervous, as soon as you touch the jar she's down a burrow.

Repo · 7 Sep 2003 at 19:19

Piccy of Twist (A.Avic) will follow - just trying to tease her out of the box for a handling session at the moment

EDIT: She ain't coming - so how about this one - doesn't show off her colours very well though. She's a lot greener than that & the hairs on her rump are quite red.

Clark Nova · 7 Sep 2003 at 20:24

Originally posted by Lopéz
So si, do we get a full review on the invert show? Any bigwigs there? And when are you starting the H gigas project?

H gigas project? Perhaps when my gigas is big enough, I'll give it a go but it ain't happenin' for a while yet. My gigas is currently about 1/2" sized so I'd have to put him in with sea monkeys

Not so sure if there were any bigwigs there, I saw some people with giantspiders.com that were there. There were loads of T stand but to be honest I thought some of them were a bit overpriced. They were asking £15-£20 for B smithis that were only about 1 1/2" which I thought was a bit steep. I wanted to get an adult male to try breeding with my female but they were out of my price range. There were also some Theraphosa blondis there but they were also pretty expensive for the size they were. I think they were about £20 for a 1 1/2" spider. I'd like one just for the sheer size they reach but at the end of the day it's only a big brown spider. If they were colourful T's like Brachypelma and Avics then I might have got one but like I said, just a big brown spider. I was after an avic but I didn't see any there. There was a real big Salmon pink (about 8.5 inches!) but I couldn't see any price on it and it was in a display tank so I guess it wasn't for sale. There were also stands with scorpions (mainly Emporer scorp's like Lopez's) and also stands with some fantastic looking stick insects, some fruit beetles and lots of millipedes.

Did you see that show on bbc1 last week about people with unusual pets? Well the people with the meerkat were there selling things. My friend Julian took a photo of my girlfriend and the meerkat which I will show you when he emails it to me. I bought an aquarium for my P regalis from them as the small petpal it's been living in has gotten a bit small now.

I also bought a mantid from one of the stands. I've wanted one for a while since I saw Malty's video of his. The girl who was selling them runs the www.mantisuk.com website. It's a Giant Asian mantis. When it's fully grown it will look like this:

It's a good eater and has eaten two small crickets so far today. I won't take a photo of my mantis just yet because it is still very small, about 1" in length. There were loads of other mantids there too, some of them really incredble looking. My favourites were the Malaysian Orchid mantis:

and the Wandering Violin mantis:

Anyway, I had a good time even if I was only there for less than an hour. My friend Julian and my girlfriend Fiona aren't into exotic pets and were more interested in getting to Pizza Hut that I had promised to pay for if Julian drove.

I'll take a picture of the new tank I got for my P regalis and post it later after my camera batteries have charged up.

DHR · 8 Sep 2003 at 17:12

Any A.metallica going spare locally

wouldn't mind one of them