Originally posted by Repo
My Tigertrump moulted over a week ago now, lanky little sod he is
Has yours got iridescent blue patches on the femurs now?
I'll try and get some pics of my new arrivals soon.
So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?
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Has yours got iridescent blue patches on the femurs now?
I'll try and get some pics of my new arrivals soon.
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No, they are still black, but the orange stripes on it's arse are quite thick - nice colouring
My Regalis moulted today; thought it was going to as it was quite chubby and going dark. I noticed when I put a crick in last night, after a few mins I thought the better of the idea and took it out again. The markings are gorgous
If you get mine in the light you can see it's got steely blue legs. They used to be more of a moss green shade.Originally posted by Repo
No, they are still black, but the orange stripes on it's arse are quite thick - nice colouring
The only thing about C fasciatum is that they always look a bit "scruffy", even right after a moult.
Soldato
You might remember that I re-housed Rio, Jez and Sanchez in some larger tanks about a month ago and painstakingly arranged their tanks beautifully, landscaping and draping sphagnum moss over their bark for the added 'natural' effect etc.
Well... some rearranging has taken place. The first thing that all three T's decided to do was to take the delicately placed sphagnum moss, throw it around their tanks, and then dump a load in the water bowl. Ungrateful little....
Anyway, I opened up Sanchez's tank this afternoon to found that she's gone back to her old burrowing ways and has dug out the entire contents of her little hide. She's even dug through to the plastic at the rear, so I now have a great view of her inside her burrow (cheers Sanch!). I was quite pleased to find this. I'd much rather my T's burrowed or climbed, than just sitting around all day. All her hard work looks pretty cool too...
The pile of peat in the top right is what she's removed from under the cork bark. That's a fair old amount for a spider with no spade!!
Also, I don't usually take pics of my little slings, because they're too small and fiddley, and pics never come out right BUT I just had to show off my freshly moulted baby blue fang (E. cyanognathus). He's GORGEOUS. I can't believe a sling so small can be so intricately pattened. Even poke slings look dull at this size! He has bring pink legs, bold orange tarsal striping, a vivid metallic lime streak across his abdomen and deep blue chelicera (which you can just make out on the pics). He's the coolest!
Well... some rearranging has taken place. The first thing that all three T's decided to do was to take the delicately placed sphagnum moss, throw it around their tanks, and then dump a load in the water bowl. Ungrateful little....
Anyway, I opened up Sanchez's tank this afternoon to found that she's gone back to her old burrowing ways and has dug out the entire contents of her little hide. She's even dug through to the plastic at the rear, so I now have a great view of her inside her burrow (cheers Sanch!). I was quite pleased to find this. I'd much rather my T's burrowed or climbed, than just sitting around all day. All her hard work looks pretty cool too...
The pile of peat in the top right is what she's removed from under the cork bark. That's a fair old amount for a spider with no spade!!
Also, I don't usually take pics of my little slings, because they're too small and fiddley, and pics never come out right BUT I just had to show off my freshly moulted baby blue fang (E. cyanognathus). He's GORGEOUS. I can't believe a sling so small can be so intricately pattened. Even poke slings look dull at this size! He has bring pink legs, bold orange tarsal striping, a vivid metallic lime streak across his abdomen and deep blue chelicera (which you can just make out on the pics). He's the coolest!
Had a bit of a moult-fest over the past couple of days.
Firstly, my Haplopelma lividum shed for the first time in ages, I've sexed her as a female.
Bright, isn't she?
Also, my C. fimbriatus shed, and again is a definite female. She's probably almost adult now, at around 4 inches. I've found a male for her and I'll be picking him up in November.
So fingers crossed for some cheap Indian Violet spiderlings in a few months.
Oh, and I've just received 20 Blaberus roaches (False Death's Heads) to start a breeding and feeding colony.
I test fed one to the schmidti, she's still chewing it after almost 24 hours....
Yum yum.
Firstly, my Haplopelma lividum shed for the first time in ages, I've sexed her as a female.
Bright, isn't she?
Also, my C. fimbriatus shed, and again is a definite female. She's probably almost adult now, at around 4 inches. I've found a male for her and I'll be picking him up in November.
So fingers crossed for some cheap Indian Violet spiderlings in a few months.
Oh, and I've just received 20 Blaberus roaches (False Death's Heads) to start a breeding and feeding colony.
I test fed one to the schmidti, she's still chewing it after almost 24 hours....
Yum yum.
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Well my Lasiodora parahybana moulted yesterday now shes starting to take on some size .
Can one of our resident experts please confirm that she is really a she and not a he
I'm right in guessing that the D shaped flap between the first set of book lungs is what i'm looking for?
.Can one of our resident experts please confirm that she is really a she and not a he
I'm right in guessing that the D shaped flap between the first set of book lungs is what i'm looking for?
That's just about as female as they get! Yes, the D shaped flap with the little lobes sticking out is what you are looking for. Not all species have the lobes, sometimes the flap is different shaped or less obvious.
No noise, and the only smell comes from what you feed them (dry dog food/bran flakes/veg/fruit etc)
My 20 B.discoidales are doing very well for now, they like it very warm and reasonably humid. My Haplopelma schmidti certainly enjoyed the one I fed her, even if it took her the whole weekend to eat.
They should be at least as nutricious as crickets, if not more.
My 20 B.discoidales are doing very well for now, they like it very warm and reasonably humid. My Haplopelma schmidti certainly enjoyed the one I fed her, even if it took her the whole weekend to eat.
They should be at least as nutricious as crickets, if not more.
Soldato
Well I've been doing very well so far with respect to T's dying on me, but on Thursday I came home to check my slings and found my little A. metallica all curled up and dead as a dodo. I'd checked him the previous evening and he was walking across the roof of his tank, looking fine. I've no idea what killed him. The humidity was fine, he had plenty of ventilation and no mould. He'd only just moulted, but had eaten a crick since the moult so I don't think it was posst-moult problems. I've just put it down to bad experience anyway. These things jus happen sometimes.
Anyway on a brighter note, I've just come home from a weekend at Leon's celebrating his birthday to discover that two of my pokie slings have moulted. One of the ornatas, and my P. fasciata sling. The ornata is huge now, probably almost 2" in legspan. He now has the yellow patterns on the underside of his legs. Looks gorgeous!
I've also acquired a male P. fasciata to mate my adult female (Tamil) with, and hope to manage that at some point this week. I just need to find something large enough to put them in. I'm terrified she'll have him for breakfast.
The colour difference between the male and female is amazing. Leon said he looks just like someone's taken a picture of a female through some tracing paper. He's so dull!!
Tamil
Her new boyfriend
Anyway on a brighter note, I've just come home from a weekend at Leon's celebrating his birthday to discover that two of my pokie slings have moulted. One of the ornatas, and my P. fasciata sling. The ornata is huge now, probably almost 2" in legspan. He now has the yellow patterns on the underside of his legs. Looks gorgeous!
I've also acquired a male P. fasciata to mate my adult female (Tamil) with, and hope to manage that at some point this week. I just need to find something large enough to put them in. I'm terrified she'll have him for breakfast.
The colour difference between the male and female is amazing. Leon said he looks just like someone's taken a picture of a female through some tracing paper. He's so dull!!
Tamil
Her new boyfriend
Permabanned
First time I've actually looked in on this thread, and must say 
Many a hairy spider to be seen!
All very interesting though, cool hobby.
A few questions, no doubt already covered, but 63 pages, c'mon!
1. Can you pick them up and stroke them? or will they bite you?
2. Do you have to keep antidote lying around, in case they bite you?
And happy Birthday Leon, for yesterday. Hope you had a good one. I'll be celebrating mine on Tuesday
Many a hairy spider to be seen!
All very interesting though, cool hobby.
A few questions, no doubt already covered, but 63 pages, c'mon!
1. Can you pick them up and stroke them? or will they bite you?
2. Do you have to keep antidote lying around, in case they bite you?
And happy Birthday Leon, for yesterday. Hope you had a good one. I'll be celebrating mine on Tuesday
you can pick them up yes but it depends on the temprement of your spider, but as far as stroking goes that's a no. i'm sure that someone somewhere in the world has done it but it's likely your tarantula wouldn't like it. Respecting them is an important part of the hobby i feel, after all they aren't toys.
As for antidote, there isn't any like there is snake anti-venom or some of the true spiders, as t's aren't considered medically significant (except in cases of hyperreactions like anaphylaxtic shock but that's a different matter) It can give you a bad mechanical wound and a sore wound from the venom but it's like a sting of a hornet, it's bad but not bad enough to kill you (having said that i've been stung by a hornet before and the pain is something to scream about but all things considered it's not the end of the world.)
As for antidote, there isn't any like there is snake anti-venom or some of the true spiders, as t's aren't considered medically significant (except in cases of hyperreactions like anaphylaxtic shock but that's a different matter) It can give you a bad mechanical wound and a sore wound from the venom but it's like a sting of a hornet, it's bad but not bad enough to kill you
(having said that i've been stung by a hornet before and the pain is something to scream about but all things considered it's not the end of the world.)
Some species can be picked up. Generally the scrubland-dwelling New World spiders (ie the Americas) are medium-sized, docile and slow moving. Generally
You always get the odd rogue.Larger tarantulas from South American wet-forests tend to be a bit of a no-go area, with attitudes to match their size. The biggest problem with New World spiders is urticating hairs. Most have an iridescent patch on the abdomen that carries very loose barbed hairs. The spider can dislodge these at will when they get annoyed, which is why they get bald patches. They stick in your skin and can make you itch for days afterwards. Get them in your eyes and it can be a lot nastier.
African tarantulas shouldn't really be held either - fast moving, very defensive, light sensitive and a reputedly painful bite. Asian/Indian spiders can be put in the same category.
Nope, there have been no recorded deaths from a tarantula bite, ever. Some Asian and African species have reputedly bitten dogs and cats, resulting in the death of the animal, and I did find an unconfirmed medical report of a baby dying after being bitten whilst playing in a garden. This was in a foreign journal so I couldn't really get much more information, other than it seems the cause of death was an allergic reaction like people get with bee-stings.
If you get bitten by an adult it will generally hurt - the fangs are large and go in deep, and most species likely to bite are multiple biters - they strike 3 or 4 times a second in bursts which is spectacular to watch. Wouldn't fancy being on the receiving end mind you.
Venom wise, you're only likely to get an itching or swelling, though this tends to be combined with cramps and aches with some Asian and African species. There aren't many good bite reports out there, so we don't know what to expect.
There are a couple of good ones from generally trusted sources though (please note they are of what is considered as the "worst" genus to be bitten by"
HERE
HERE HERE
Yes thanks, just feeling very old nowAnd happy Birthday Leon, for yesterday. Hope you had a good one. I'll be celebrating mine on Tuesday
Hope you have a goodun
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Lopéz remember the other week when I bought a P.Regalis from a pet store and I thought that maybe it was a P.Ornata instead?
Well it moulted on Saturday and here is 2 photos of it what do u think..? (I used a sheet of white paper to help show up the colour better - didnt show up too well on the vermic)
Well it moulted on Saturday and here is 2 photos of it what do u think..? (I used a sheet of white paper to help show up the colour better - didnt show up too well on the vermic)
Soldato
That's definitely a P. ornata. Those markings are WAY to dark and yellowy to be a regalis. The colouring of P. regalis is more neuted and faded.
I can't get a photo of my P. ornatas at the moment because they're both in their burrows (pokies often burrow as slings), but here's a pic of my regalis.
I can't get a photo of my P. ornatas at the moment because they're both in their burrows (pokies often burrow as slings), but here's a pic of my regalis.
That's definitely an ornata (or rather, definitely NOT a regalis!)
Note the bold yellow dorsal stripe in the centre of the cephelathorax, this is grey to white in regalis.
Regalis generally look like greyscale ornatas as spiderlings
Note the bold yellow dorsal stripe in the centre of the cephelathorax, this is grey to white in regalis.
Regalis generally look like greyscale ornatas as spiderlings
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That’s what I thought when I first got it out of the box
Just and update photo of my female L.Parahybana, she’s finally started to get aggressive choosing to bite rather than run and flick hairs...
As you can see I've gone back to using vermic and not peat for most of my T’s... not a big fan of peat but thought I'd give it a go. I found that the peat gets everywhere, smells not too good and allows mites to run riot. I've got 2 H.Lividum's coming next week so I guess I will have to use peat for them burrow in unless there is an alternative?
Just and update photo of my female L.Parahybana, she’s finally started to get aggressive choosing to bite rather than run and flick hairs...
As you can see I've gone back to using vermic and not peat for most of my T’s... not a big fan of peat but thought I'd give it a go. I found that the peat gets everywhere, smells not too good and allows mites to run riot. I've got 2 H.Lividum's coming next week so I guess I will have to use peat for them burrow in unless there is an alternative?
Yep, peat does smell a bit rank but I guess I'm used to it now. Mites are a problem, as is mould (you won't often get either in vermiculite) A good way of controlling mites is to leave a few woodlice in the tank. Generally the spiders ignore them and they eat the mites and any other remains in the tank.
As for burrowing, some people do use vermiculite for burrowers - not sure how that works, because vermiculite needs to be densely packed and very moist to be diggable-in, and sodden vermiculite is pretty manky stuff after a while. I know a few people who have got a big block of Oasis (that stufff you arrange dried flowers in) and carved out a burrow. The spider can then enlarge this as it sees fit. Works well, no mould either.
What size are the lividums, and where are they coming from? Even as slings they need deep vertical or horizontal burrows, and are very very secretive.
As for burrowing, some people do use vermiculite for burrowers - not sure how that works, because vermiculite needs to be densely packed and very moist to be diggable-in, and sodden vermiculite is pretty manky stuff after a while. I know a few people who have got a big block of Oasis (that stufff you arrange dried flowers in) and carved out a burrow. The spider can then enlarge this as it sees fit. Works well, no mould either.
What size are the lividums, and where are they coming from? Even as slings they need deep vertical or horizontal burrows, and are very very secretive.
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I'm getting them from a guy down Devon/Cornwall way, named Brian (you may know him? as he posts on the BTS website now and then) He sent me some pictures last week and both are around 2 - 3 inches... I’ve done a trade with him for 2 of my Arboreal spiderlings, A.Avicularia & P.Cambridgei. I send mine out on Monday and both arrived safe and sound Tuesday, I'm not getting mine until next week on my request as I have time off next week so I can look out for the post etc..
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