So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?
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Hmmm....that would be one BIG update....here goes!
Bear with me as this will take some time and stretch over a number of posts!
Aphonopelma sp. "Guatemalan Blue"
Has moulted once since I bought it, and still microscopic. It's nervy and digs, just like most spiderlings. Looks like a ghost tarantula.
Avicularia avicularia
Pelé is now about 4 inches in legspan having moulted 5 times since I bought him, and due to moult again any minute now. I think it's a male (crap at sexing Avics), so I'll either be looking for a female or sending him away to get laid in a couple of months.
Ceratogyrus marshalli x 3
I was given 3 of these today by Ray Gabriel. They are a fresh bloodline, hatched from a gravid wild-caught female owned by Richard Gallon. They are currently dark blue and very fast! The horn is virtually invisible, but will become apparent over the coming moults.
Chilobrachys fimbriatus
Now sexually mature, Maz has moulted 4 times since I got her and is about 4 inches. I got a boyfriend for her today, after much searching.
Chilobrachys fimbriatus MALE
This male came from a bloke I know called Chid. I shall be putting the little blighter in with Maz this week, so fingers crossed for him. I did have a second male that came from Hong Kong, but he was very very small - so we put him in with Ray Gabriel's small female last night. They appeared to mate succesfully, but she had killed him by the morning. I wonder if this male suffers the same fate?
Bear with me as this will take some time and stretch over a number of posts!
Aphonopelma sp. "Guatemalan Blue"
Has moulted once since I bought it, and still microscopic. It's nervy and digs, just like most spiderlings. Looks like a ghost tarantula.
Avicularia avicularia
Pelé is now about 4 inches in legspan having moulted 5 times since I bought him, and due to moult again any minute now. I think it's a male (crap at sexing Avics), so I'll either be looking for a female or sending him away to get laid in a couple of months.
Ceratogyrus marshalli x 3
I was given 3 of these today by Ray Gabriel. They are a fresh bloodline, hatched from a gravid wild-caught female owned by Richard Gallon. They are currently dark blue and very fast! The horn is virtually invisible, but will become apparent over the coming moults.
Chilobrachys fimbriatus
Now sexually mature, Maz has moulted 4 times since I got her and is about 4 inches. I got a boyfriend for her today, after much searching.
Chilobrachys fimbriatus MALE
This male came from a bloke I know called Chid. I shall be putting the little blighter in with Maz this week, so fingers crossed for him. I did have a second male that came from Hong Kong, but he was very very small - so we put him in with Ray Gabriel's small female last night. They appeared to mate succesfully, but she had killed him by the morning. I wonder if this male suffers the same fate?
Chilobrachys huahini
This fast Asian devil has shed once since I got her around a month ago. Still too small to sex.
Chilobrachys huahini
Larger than the other one, this huahini has also shed once. Like it's sacmate, it has webbed profusely but also built a deep burrow.
Chilobrachys sp."bicolor"
Yet to shed, but I think one is impending for this fast-growing Asian burrower. I'm hoping this one is going to grow fast as I have a mature male waiting in the wings. Despite growing up to 8 or 9 inches, Chilobrachys can be sexually mature at just 3"!
Chilobrachys sp."burmensis"
Now I would have a male ready for this 3" ball of evil too, but some naming confusion means she isn't the same "burmensis" as kept by Ray Gabriel, so mating will have to wait. Of course, she may just be a colour variant of andersoni, but it's best to keep such variations as pure as possible in my opinion.
Cyclosternum fasciatum
Fast moving but slow growing. Despite 4 moults since May, she's still very small, though possibly sexually mature. Developed nice blue colouration of the femurs at the last moult. Very pretty spider but a bit boring really.
This fast Asian devil has shed once since I got her around a month ago. Still too small to sex.
Chilobrachys huahini
Larger than the other one, this huahini has also shed once. Like it's sacmate, it has webbed profusely but also built a deep burrow.
Chilobrachys sp."bicolor"
Yet to shed, but I think one is impending for this fast-growing Asian burrower. I'm hoping this one is going to grow fast as I have a mature male waiting in the wings. Despite growing up to 8 or 9 inches, Chilobrachys can be sexually mature at just 3"!
Chilobrachys sp."burmensis"
Now I would have a male ready for this 3" ball of evil too, but some naming confusion means she isn't the same "burmensis" as kept by Ray Gabriel, so mating will have to wait. Of course, she may just be a colour variant of andersoni, but it's best to keep such variations as pure as possible in my opinion.
Cyclosternum fasciatum
Fast moving but slow growing. Despite 4 moults since May, she's still very small, though possibly sexually mature. Developed nice blue colouration of the femurs at the last moult. Very pretty spider but a bit boring really.
Cyriopagopus schioedtei
This semi-arboreal beauty moulted Saturday morning. A definite female, it'll be a while until she matures - these grow up to 9 inches! I have 2 males (still young) lined up for the future though. Not often bred, so I'd like to be successful with this species. One of my favourite tarantulas.
Ephebopus cyanognathus
Growing like a weed and bright pink! Hoping it's a male for my adult female, but I'll have a fair old wait to find out.
Ephebopus cyanognathus
This one is from the same guy in Holland, but a 2 year old adult. She's sexually mature and ready to breed, but will still grow far larger. Female tarantulas don't need to be fully sized to mate.
Grammostola rosea
Good old Pepper is the same as always. Slow, docile, doesn't do a lot. She was mated many months ago, but Chile Rose tend to hold the eggsac until spring, so I'm not expecting babies for a good few months yet.
This semi-arboreal beauty moulted Saturday morning. A definite female, it'll be a while until she matures - these grow up to 9 inches! I have 2 males (still young) lined up for the future though. Not often bred, so I'd like to be successful with this species. One of my favourite tarantulas.
Ephebopus cyanognathus
Growing like a weed and bright pink! Hoping it's a male for my adult female, but I'll have a fair old wait to find out.
Ephebopus cyanognathus
This one is from the same guy in Holland, but a 2 year old adult. She's sexually mature and ready to breed, but will still grow far larger. Female tarantulas don't need to be fully sized to mate.
Grammostola rosea
Good old Pepper is the same as always. Slow, docile, doesn't do a lot. She was mated many months ago, but Chile Rose tend to hold the eggsac until spring, so I'm not expecting babies for a good few months yet.
Haplopelma sp."aureopilosum"
Another fast-growing, fast-moving spiderling, this one has just acquired it's trademark golden setae. Full of attitude whenever I see it, it generally stays deep underground.
Haplopelma lividum
Well this one was a fast grower - I was hoping to have her ready for breeding by Christmas but her growth rate has virtually stopped over the last few months. Still, a gorgeous spider - might be after more of these soon. Another deep digging misery guts.
Haplopelma sp."longipedum"
Miserable as sin, black and very quick, here's another tank of dirt for a pet - I hardly ever see her.
Still some debate over what she is - sp."longipedum" and sp."vietnam" are virtually identical, so I need to send a cast exuvium to Soren or Volker to get a positive ID. Then she can be bred!
Haplopelma sp."longipedum"
This is basically a miniature version of the above tarantula!
I have two of these little monsters
Another fast-growing, fast-moving spiderling, this one has just acquired it's trademark golden setae. Full of attitude whenever I see it, it generally stays deep underground.
Haplopelma lividum
Well this one was a fast grower - I was hoping to have her ready for breeding by Christmas but her growth rate has virtually stopped over the last few months. Still, a gorgeous spider - might be after more of these soon. Another deep digging misery guts.
Haplopelma sp."longipedum"
Miserable as sin, black and very quick, here's another tank of dirt for a pet - I hardly ever see her.
Still some debate over what she is - sp."longipedum" and sp."vietnam" are virtually identical, so I need to send a cast exuvium to Soren or Volker to get a positive ID. Then she can be bred!
Haplopelma sp."longipedum"
This is basically a miniature version of the above tarantula!
I have two of these little monsters
Haplopelma schmidti
This is a subadult male from Ray Gabriel. He was bred a couple of years ago by Volker von Wirth and should be mature within a couple of moults. Schmidti spiderlings are not bred very often and males are hard to come by.
Haplopelma schmidti
My big HK female has settled in nicely. Still got one hell of a temper, but that's true of all Haplopelmas. All I can do is keep her fed up and wait for the male to mature....
Homoeomma sp."blue"
Unidentified fleas from Peru. Still got 9 left. Anybody want one?
Poecilotheria fasciata
Another Dutch import, this thing eats like crazy. Hopefully it will become a male for Kate's female to use in the future.
Poecilotheria regalis
We got 3 of these from Germany, and this one is growing at about a third the rate of one of them. So this one looks like it will be female. I might be picking up an adult regalis soon to go with it.
This is a subadult male from Ray Gabriel. He was bred a couple of years ago by Volker von Wirth and should be mature within a couple of moults. Schmidti spiderlings are not bred very often and males are hard to come by.
Haplopelma schmidti
My big HK female has settled in nicely. Still got one hell of a temper, but that's true of all Haplopelmas. All I can do is keep her fed up and wait for the male to mature....
Homoeomma sp."blue"
Unidentified fleas from Peru. Still got 9 left. Anybody want one?
Poecilotheria fasciata
Another Dutch import, this thing eats like crazy. Hopefully it will become a male for Kate's female to use in the future.
Poecilotheria regalis
We got 3 of these from Germany, and this one is growing at about a third the rate of one of them. So this one looks like it will be female. I might be picking up an adult regalis soon to go with it.
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that is one scary spider
how big does that 1 grow to?
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Ditto - what are they ?
My collection is currently steady at 8. Went away a few weeks ago and the local petshop doesn't have anything interesting. Still after that I.Hirsutum tho
Having said that I was very tempted by a sub-adult Orange Baboon for £15 on Saturday. Had £80 in my pocket too... was hard to resist! Couldn't really see the little devil properly as it webbed up the aquazoo 1 it was in quite a lot.
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Soldato
I aquired a group of 3 P. formosa at the weekend. They came as a trio of sisters from the same eggsack and I intend to keep them as such.
They're absolutely fascinating. I can't help but sit and watch them. They hang around in a group and are obviously very social. They're all about 3" in legspan, and we sexed them all as females before I took them. They were supposed to be a male and 2 females, but I don't mind at all. I'm sure I can find a lucky male who's up for 3 lovely ladies
The guy I bought them off is extremely well experienced with pokies, and he has several groups of P. formosa as well as P. regalis living peacefully together. I bought them with the sole intent of rearing them communally, but I will still keep a close eye. The second I see any aggression, they've being separated.
From what I've read heard and observed, pokies are very social creatures. Family groups of P. rufilata have even been found living communally in the wild!
They're absolutely fascinating. I can't help but sit and watch them. They hang around in a group and are obviously very social. They're all about 3" in legspan, and we sexed them all as females before I took them. They were supposed to be a male and 2 females, but I don't mind at all. I'm sure I can find a lucky male who's up for 3 lovely ladies
The guy I bought them off is extremely well experienced with pokies, and he has several groups of P. formosa as well as P. regalis living peacefully together. I bought them with the sole intent of rearing them communally, but I will still keep a close eye. The second I see any aggression, they've being separated.
From what I've read heard and observed, pokies are very social creatures. Family groups of P. rufilata have even been found living communally in the wild!
Haplopelma schmidti vs Blaberus roach.
Click for larger versions!
Click for larger versions!
Soldato
One freshly moulted female Chromatopelma cyanopubescens
She's coming up to 5" now, so a few more moults and I'll have to start looking for a male for her.
She's coming up to 5" now, so a few more moults and I'll have to start looking for a male for her.
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Lopez.. what were the mystery Peruvian fleas?
Oops, forgot about that.
They are Homeomma spec. "Blau" from Peru. Grow pretty damn big, look almost like a blue-grey Chile Rose. If anybody wants a freebie I have 2 spare, or you can wait a few weeks and have some Acanthoscurria sternalis for free (big all black S.American terrestrial)
Lasiodora Parahybana
Well my little Salmon Pink spidering is coming along nicely.
Could anyone tell me what these things are like when they're bigger. I believe they get to a fair old size when fully grown.
Does anyone on the board have a adult sammy pink?
Well my little Salmon Pink spidering is coming along nicely.
Could anyone tell me what these things are like when they're bigger. I believe they get to a fair old size when fully grown.
Does anyone on the board have a adult sammy pink?
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My Tigerrump has disappeared from sight... this means only one thing; he's dug himself a hole to moult
Has been a bit cooler in the house the last week or so, think I'll up the humidity and heat in his tank a touch to help things along
Has been a bit cooler in the house the last week or so, think I'll up the humidity and heat in his tank a touch to help things along
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.
G rosea grow disgustingly slowly, as do a lot of Brachypelma.
They make up for it by living longer. 
Soldato
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?
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