Alynn's Little Monster(s)

[AlynnBity]

Hello!

I introduced myself a while ago and would like to use the purchase of my second tarantula as an opportunity to finally set up my own thread for my little monsters, which is currently only my B. boehmei male "Orenji".
I would like to use the thread to share stories, pictures and questions.
But first something more detailed to my person:

As I already wrote, I wasn't excited about spiders and insects at all, until a few months ago. Although I have no arachnophobia, but still found them always disgusting and scary. In the end, more through the influence of society, than through my own experiences and views.

Last year my boyfriend started to be interested in keeping tarantulas. My first thought was "Oh, no!" I was absolutely against it and didn't want to have to deal with a tarantula in his apartment.
We often went to the 'largest pet shop in the world', which is near my boyfriends home, to look at the animals, especially the tarantulas. I was still not thrilled until he spontaneously bought a 4cm B. hamorii with all the accessories. I was allowed to (and had to) hold her in her box in the car during the return journey. I examined her with respect and curiosity, less with disgust or fear. After all, I've never held such an animal in my hand, so to speak.
And for whatever reason, I had closed this tarantula into my heart.
I got used to her (or him, we don't know the sex yet) pretty quickly and took over changing the water and feeding until I drove back home. No trace of fear or disgust.
Since then I have dealt with the topic, learned the latin names of the spiders and much more.

4 years ago I lost my beloved 2 year old cats and still suffer from it today. They were my life...
Since then, something important was missing in my life. Something that makes me happy. I know that I can't get the two back. But I missed to take care of one ore more animals. The responsibility and the joy of caring for a living being. To love it. And yes, even if it's a spider.

Since it isn't possible for me to keep cats again in the near future, I came up with the idea that keeping tarantulas would also be something for me. They are - with the right knowledge and the right attitude - easy to care for and hardly cost anything.
So it didn't take long and in November 2017 I got my first own tarantula. My B. boehmei male with cute 3cm.

I batized him Orenji because of his enchanting stunning orange colored legs.
Among all the spiders, this species enchanted me most by the orange-red / black color. Because that has always been my absolute favorite colors. :wideyed:

I never thought that such a passive animal could give me so much pleasure. Although spiders can't interact socially with humans like cats or dogs, he often makes me laugh with his actions. Although he only does what a tarantula does.
See for yourself:

Very creative...

That's an evil look!

Morning acrobatics xD

Nom nom!

Are you looking at me?!?!

To show only the best

I talk to him, wish him good morning and good night. It's such a nice feeling to take care of this little creature, which I lovingly call 'my little monster' or 'Jiji'.
For me, all animals are worth the same. That's why it's not a hobby for me, it's animal husbandry. A tarantula is for me just as much a family member as a cat or a dog. And I would cry and grieve for him as well.

In December he successfully molted for the first time. Unfortunately the exuvie broke after successful preparation and 2 legs broke off
Maybe I can glue them back with super glue if I've found a frame where I can hang the exuvia.
Here's a picture:

I mainly feed him with crickets, but I also have small Dubias here. He is very piggish / greedy (?) and right now I'm waiting for him to molt again. (Hopefully not in the middle of the move. )

As the next spider, I chose a female B. emilia for the same reasons. I find her pattern, her coloring so breathtakingly beautiful!
Since I like her name so much, I decided to take a female and call her Emilia (nickname "Emmi"). And yeah, I bought her on Friday. She should arrive next week before my birthday. I'm so excited and hope she survives the journey.

I'll keep you updated as much as possible... I'm in relocation stress. But at least I finally managed to open a thread. Whohoo!

Until then ... another picture at the end.

Look at this sweet booty

Warm greetings from Germany

 

[cold blood]

Welcome to the hobby and the Arachnoboards community

 

[johnny quango]

Welcome onboard the crazy weirdo train and also the hobby

 

[YellowBelly]

Cute Spooder.

 

[AlynnBity]

After getting up today, I looked into the terrarium with no expectations, as I did every morning, to see if Jiji is fine.
I was completely surprised and full of joy when I saw an exuvie under him. He molted successfully overnight! I'm so happy!
At the next look in he has already pushed the exuvie to the exit. My chance!

This time I was able to unfold the abdomen well and try myself at the sex determination. I didn't find a spermatheca, so it's definitely a male.
Nevertheless, I will study every exuvie for the learning process, if possible. I also enjoy preparing it. ^-^

Now I just have to wait until I can feed him again in 14 days. Yay!

This is the terrarium (or the box) for the B. emilia.
Yesterday the breeder wrote me that she suddenly is in premolt.
So I'll have to wait another 3-4 weeks. But that isn't a problem for me. The health of the animal is always the most important to me.

Simple but nice, I think.

And finally another funny picture that I've found.

Greetings!

 

[AlynnBity]

Hey guys, I'm scared to go to bed. Have just looked, as always, after Jiji and he sat with partially drawn under the body legs in his cave. I got panic and wanted to blow it on, if he is still alive. When I pushed the glass door open, he reacted and got up again.
Now I'm worried if I'll find a dead spider tomorrow. I only know that spiders do that when they die. But I've never heard of them doing that to rest after molting. The C. cyaneo of my friend did that shortly after her arrival, but she is fine.
Can someone maybe tell me what that means? I've never heard or read about this. He has become quite thin, but this should'nt be a problem, he has water.

 

[FrDoc]

You should rest easy. Molting takes a lot out of spiders and they need a few days to rest and recover. My A. Geniculata molted last week and she is still resting in her hide, which is very out of character for her normally. However, after seeing her do this several times, I know this is “normal” for her, and in a couple of days she will be posing as usual. Also, it seems like the rest periods after molting get longer as the tarantula gets older and larger.

 

[AlynnBity]

@FrDoc
I want to thank you. I really didn't think anyone would answer me at this time. Your words have calmed me a lot!
And yes, Jiji is fine. I'm so relieved! He lies mostly flat in his cave today. I think she's a bit too narrow for him now. But... does he care about this?

 

[FrDoc]

That's what we are here for, Ma'am. Regarding the enclosure, from the images you posted it looks fine. Tarantulas acrtually feel secure in a confined hide, especially if it has two entry/exit points.

 

[cold blood]

This is the terrarium (or the box) for the B. emilia.
Yesterday the breeder wrote me that she suddenly is in premolt.
So I'll have to wait another 3-4 weeks

That t could be in pre-molt for 6 months or more...lmao

 

[AlynnBity]

That's what we are here for, Ma'am. Regarding the enclosure, from the images you posted it looks fine. Tarantulas acrtually feel secure in a confined hide, especially if it has two entry/exit points.

Thank you! I like this forum a lot better, here you get help when you need it.
I didn't know that, but immediately thought that he must have 2 of it. I think like a spider...

That t could be in pre-molt for 6 months or more...lmao

The breeder told me that her abdomen is dark. So it shouldn't take too long. I will see it.

 

[AlynnBity]

A little update from me. Meanwhile, Jiji is sitting colorfully in his cave. On Friday I will try to feed him, then 10 days have passed.

Unfortunately, I also have bad news. It doesn't affect me directly, but my boyfriend.
His two tarantulas (C. cyaneo and B. hamorii) died during the night from Sunday to Monday. Both. Nobody knows why. The evening before, they were still active.
Although not my spiders, it hurts me.
I can't judge from here if he made a mistake. He only told me that they both had water. And even if it was dehydration, the death of only the hamorii would have made sense, but both?
I suspect a poisoning of the food animals. By unwashed salad for example. The tarantulas got feed last Thursday, then my boyfriend was with me from Friday to Sunday, both of them were still properly supplied with water.

I don't want to talk bad about him, but I've been saying for months that he has to put both in the final terra size. Especially the hamorii. She was much too big for the box after her molt 2 months ago and was constantly burying the water bowl because she had no room.
He didn't worry so much about that, unlike me or other people. That's why I think that's the punishment for it... to the chagrin of the animals. I get very angry at something like that!

In addition to the food animals I suspect a bad air circulation, dehydration, lack of temperature reductions at night (although I'm not sure about this).
It makes me sad and slightly paranoid about my little monster.
I ventilate the entire apartment at night and have a temperature reduction of 27 degrees daytime to 22 degrees over night. The humidity is over 60%.

What do you think about why they died suddenly?

 

[AlynnBity]

My B. emilia came quite unexpectedly by mail today.
Unexpected, because the breeder wanted to let me know when he would sent her. But now she is here and I'm really happy.

She is jet black and a real beauty. I'm still totally flashed that I have this species now as well. The two are my absolute dream tarantulas.

Unwrapping her and get her in the box was a very different feeling to my little B. boehmei dwarf. The good Emmi, as she is now called, has a proud 5 cm body length. I already have a lot of respect. Especially since I didn't know how to lift the goods with the can. You should have seen me. My heart beat wildly, I was totally nervous and thought all the time "please do not turn around". I was hoping all the time that she doesn't come up with the idea to run in the direction of my hand. Shortly she tried, but I stopped her with my brush. This moment...
When I had her in her box, Madame wanted out on the other side. I took the lid and pushed her back in carefully. She was very cooperative.
When I wanted to put the lid back on, she suddenly jumped forward a bit. I was totally scared and then had to laugh at myself.
I'm really glad that I have already watched so many videos and thus knew how to react best in which situation.

And here is the beauty:

I couldn't take a lot of pictures because she is very active and I was afraid she would manage to get away.

 

[AlynnBity]

I've already read a lot of it and have even been told by others that tarantulas can completely change their behavior / character after molting.
Now I'm experiencing this myself.
Jiji was always very jumpy, despite the fact that he showed himself a lot. At first he disappeared into the cave when I got closer to the box. Over time, it took a while until he didn't get the idea to go inside when I opened the box for changing water. I even had to push him away so I wouldn't spray him wet.
He was generally very easy to handle (not handling this way), never threw stinging hair.

Over time, you get to know your pet and can assess it a bit.

Now he seems to be aware of his size. Since he shows himself again after molt and sits mainly at his exit, he lifts his abdomen in the air, the body far away from the ground. As I've already read, this pose means that he is irritable and ready to attack at any moment.
I had already fed him 2 Dubias before his charakter change, he eat them without problems. Since yesterday I try to feed one again, but he prefers to attack the tweezers.
He is still thin, but he doesn't want to eat. Either he attacks or is jumpy.
I think I have to get crickets again. But I'll get Dubias this week. Come on Jiji...

 

[Tearsacid]

You have some beautiful arachnids & I love the story of how you came to love & respect tarantulas after your initial fears. Its great to see someone care so much about life on earth that many others see as insignificant. They're so interesting & amazing. The way you talk about them really shows how interested you are and how much you care for them equally to other pets. =)
The way you did the enclosures looks great by the way.

 

[AlynnBity]

@Tearsacid
Thank you for you kind words
And thanks for the compliment about the enclosures. That means a lot to me as beginner.
I still have to work on the appearance of the enclosure. It's okay for the beginning, but not quite what I want to achieve. I still have much to learn and I want to keep improving so that one day it will look like something out of nature.
btw I love your avatar ^^

 

[AlynnBity]

In the terrarium of my Emmi I discovered mold on the wood. I hate this stuff! All the time you only have problems with it. I probably accidentally sprayed too much. What should I do now? Some say it isn't dangerous for spiders, others say it can kill them.
Should I just wait until it gets drier again or do I have to get the wood out?
I can't make the box new again, I have nothing left for it.

 

[Tearsacid]

Thats a great outlook & I agree. Also, thanks!
Many people say that mold is harmless for Ts based on their experience. I don't know about you but I'd rather be safe than sorry dealing with my own pets. Some fungi is harmless & others very harmful to humans and many other animals. Mold spreads fast & most spores are invisible to the naked eye.
You should add more ventilation to your enclusure so it doesn't keep happening or spreading. Personally, I would remove the wood & remove the visible mold with some peroxide, vinegar, or mixture of both & some cotton swabs/q-tips. Let it dry outside of the terrarium then add it back.
With added ventilation you'll be fine spot cleaning & won't see spreading. I have a fan circulating the room where my T's are & don't have any mold problems.I also bake or microwave everything that goes into an enclosure including substrate. I grow many plants, tissue culture, and grow gourmet mushrooms so I'm really a stickler for keeping things sterile to prevent bad mold & fungus gnat outbreaks. Overkill some say but saves a lot of energy in the future. =P

 

[AlynnBity]

Then I'll probably have to take it out
I'm not a fan of tarantulas having no cave. But given the constant problems with mold on wood, I would almost prefer to keep them just on the substrate. What don't you do for your animals? ^^'' It's almost as exhausting as with cats
In Jiji's home, there are no problems with mold. He only gets water over a large flat bowl and I spray in a corner. I do this once a week and fill the bowl only when there is hardly any water in it.
Tomorrow I have to see if I can find something as an alternative cave for Emmi. It doesn't work that way with the bark, even if it looks really nice.
I'm a bit scared to have to do it again. I still can't assess her behavior and have a lot of respect of her size.

EDIT:
Have just removed the wood and cleaned the stones. Emmi was very cooperative. With my trick that was also very easy I was still unwell anyway to have my hand in the box while she is still in there. Although in a corner, but you never know.
Now she has no more cave, but she shows up a lot, hopefully she will not bother so much.
After the move, I make her a really nice home.

 

[Tearsacid]

Congrats on your bravery! Lol
You can reuse the same hide after cleaning it. It should dry pretty fast. Unless it was really bad mold and you don't want to use it anymore. If it has bark, then its really hard to keep the mold gone. It may just keep coming back once the mold takes hold in bark unless its all peeled off. The main thing is getting better ventilation.