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  1. Joy

    LP sneak attack!...and loss

    Try placing a damp cloth on the floor at night, near the place where your spider disappeared. Check under it each morning. I have had excellent luck with this strategy. Good luck! Joy
  2. Joy

    G Pulchra Male Size?

    Most male male G. pulchra I have had were around 5" diagonal legspan. They are extremely long-lived (for male tarantulas) IME. All mine have lived about 3 years (or more) after their maturing molts. Joy
  3. Joy

    I think I may have an emergency.

    In addition to a thorough search, try laying damp towels along the baseboards and checking under them each morning. Simple and IME very effective. Don't give up in a hurry, either. I once recaptured a 1 1/2" tarantula safe and sound, more than a month after its escape. And I have 2 cats...
  4. Joy

    Mature male molts again??????

    I have had 7 or 8 males attempt post-ultimate molts. Only 3 of them survived the experience. One managed to retain a single mangled palp, but the others lost them, effectively preventing them from ever mating again :o They did seem to retain their sex drives, however. All of them would...
  5. Joy

    What the hell is going on?????

    There was an article some years back in the ATS Forum about baby Avics in vials being prone to getting tangled up in their own webs, sometimes with fatal results. It seems the smooth, circular sides of vials don't always allow firm attachment points for webbing. I have encountered this a few...
  6. Joy

    The T Keepers

    I just discovered this thread, and what a delightful surprise! Hilarious cartoons. Love the understated irony of the captions :) Joy
  7. Joy

    Cloth lid?

    I wonder if it might be because yours is an arboreal. Perhaps they are less prone to gnaw through barriers. I have never seen any of my own arboreal tarantulas using their fangs on their screen lids the way some of my burrowers do. Joy
  8. Joy

    Cloth lid?

    Unfortunately, tarantulas can chew through cloth. A friend of mine tried cloth lids last year when he got a few spiderlings and endured an anxious few days before he was able to locate the escapees. There have even been cases reported of determined obligate burrowers gnawing their way through...
  9. Joy

    Nhandu chromatus-mating, incubating, hatching...

    No, not kidding. We believe it might be a new record for a single eggsac! Breeders of N. chromatus, beware :eek: Joy
  10. Joy

    Grammostola grossa size question

    Mine topped out about 5 1/2" diagonal legspan, too. Joy
  11. Joy

    Nhandu chromatus-mating, incubating, hatching...

    I left my eggsac with the mother for 40 days. Temperature in my spider room runs about 76 degrees F. They were at the "eggs-with-legs" (post-embryo) stage when I opened the eggsac, so a little longer incubation at that temperature wouldn't have hurt. My female was a very good and...
  12. Joy

    Chilobrachys Guangxiensis?

    I have 3 of them. I was told to keep them on the dry side, and accordingly I raised mine as slings on dry substrate with only a small water dish for humidity. Once they reached 3" legspan, I put them in 5 gallon aquaria with deep substrate. They have built amazing burrows with the...
  13. Joy

    ??? I am stumped???

    Easily! I've had an A. eutylenum sling for three years that's still less than an inch legspan despite regular feeding :eek: Some species (like most North American Aphonopelma) are simply very slow growing. Brachypelma smithi aren't the slowest-growing species, but they're not what I'd...
  14. Joy

    In case of a bite...?

    First, make sure tarantula is safely back in its vivarium. If you're going to handle them, I firmly believe you should put their needs first, as they have a lot more on the line than their human handlers. Next, stay calm. Some people believe that getting excited intensifies symptoms or even...
  15. Joy

    Who Ships These Days?

    LOL Yes, this is my experience, too. I get shipments of crickets all the time. They are always plainly labeled AVOID EXTREME TEMPERATURES/KEEP OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT. We have a nice big porch. But more often than not, the DHL deliverymen leave my packages on the front steps, where they're in...
  16. Joy

    B. albopilosum male question

    If he is fed well, you can expect him to mature within the year. This is a fast-maturing species, lightning-fast for genus Brachypelma. As for lifespan after the maturing molt, you're in luck. I have/have had dozens of males of this species, and they have all lived at least a year beyond...
  17. Joy

    Advice needed A. versicolor w/ egg sac

    The Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz and Schultz is by far the best book in this regard. I would also recommend your reading the sticky message on this site on making a hammock-type incubator. The nicest thing about leaving the eggsac with the mother tarantula is that SHE does all the...
  18. Joy

    Advice needed A. versicolor w/ egg sac

    That's another tough call. In my case, I left the sac with the mother until the offspring emerged (baby Avics are comparatively large, so I didn't have to worry about their getting through the mesh and dispersing through the house). I have friends, however, who have had versi eggsacs eaten...
  19. Joy

    Advice needed A. versicolor w/ egg sac

    There are 2 schools of thought on this issue, unfortunately, so you will get no clear-cut answer. One school holds that feeding the mother spider during incubation may prevent her from eating the eggsac. The other school holds that feeding during incubation is unnecessary, and that the...
  20. Joy

    Burrow & Feeding

    I agree. IME (which is considerable with this species), when one of these guys refuses a meal and starts silking up the place, it's a nearly 100% certain sign of an impending molt. Just make sure water is available (in a dish or in the form of a small amount of moisture in the substrate for...
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