Avicularia bicegoi molted

[beetleman]

those amazonicas are awesome! can't wait see when they get some size on them, i gotta get some:drool:

 

[BinarySpider2]

The Molt Fest Continues

They just keep on molting. Another one of my Avicularia versicolors are on their second molt since I got them. This was a very recent molt within the last 12 hours. You can see the red hairs have started coming in on the abdomen...

Thanks For Looking At My Photos Everyone. As my time permits I will continue to post photos as they molt into adults.

BinarySpider2

 

[BinarySpider2]

And The Molt Fest Still Continues

I would bet that all of the tarantula dealers out there have several molts per day in there line of business. Well I just now found that another one of my Avicularia amazonicas had recently molted.

You can clearly see the cloudy whitish color on the legs of a fresh molt within the last 6 hours. You can also see the red undercoat hairs on the abdomen that are typical of the Avicularia amazonica which is a good sign. I had placed several 1/4_inch crickets inside of his/her home last night. I raced to get my 12_inch tweezers and I plucked all of the crickets out just few minutes ago.

This is the one who molted during the overnight trip from...

http://www.southernspiderworks.com

...and it is now on the second molt which takes it up the size of 3 of my other Avicularia amazonicas. I still have one A.amazonica that has not molted yet but it is acting like it wants to.

those amazonicas are awesome! can't wait see when they get some size on them, i gotta get some:drool:

Thanks beetleman,

BinarySpider2

 

[BinarySpider2]

My last Avicularia bicegoi molted

Finally my 8th and last Avicularia bicegoi molted last night. All I would normally have left to molt since they have arrived here would be my 5th Avicularia amazonica but now I have 8 Avicularia minatrix to start watching.

Anyway here is picture of my 8th Avicularia bicegoi beginning to darken up after the molt. Definitely a frosted tarantula...

And here is close up of those frosted hairs...

BinarySpider2

 

[neanyoe]

what kind of camera do you use?

and.. how do you get them out of their tubes without ruining them?

i have trouble taking pics of mine as they wont come out.. my versi just molted and i cant even get to its exo! haha

 

[BinarySpider2]

3 Way Tube

what kind of camera do you use?

and.. how do you get them out of their tubes without ruining them?

i have trouble taking pics of mine as they wont come out.. my versi just molted and i cant even get to its exo! haha

For the Avicularia bicegoi that I have they are between...

2.5 inches / 63.5 mm and 3.0 inches / 76.2 mm

...which is a respectable size. I NEVER EVER TOUCH THEM! I will let them crawl on my hand and arm but I will never touch them. If I did they may want to touch me back and I would rather not have their venom inside of me today.
I use 12 inch / 304.8 mm tweezers that I found on Ebay. I am keeping them in Lee's Herp Haven Rectangular Small Cage Model: 20084
...

http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=70

...which is refered to as and labeled as the small size in most pet shops. They build these triple hole tube tunnels right up to the lid in the corner. One tube goes down to the coconut substrate and two other tubes go left and right at the very top in the corner so instead of left and right I would say east and south from the top view. Those cages also have a smaller clear plastic lid in the center of the larger lid.

I use the tweezers to remove the old exoskeleton. If I gently tap the tube with my tweezers and they will come out on their own. Most of the time they are allready outside of the tube wandering about so that makes it easy. I coax them over to my photographing platform by holding their cage parallel with the platform. I then take the photos. They will easily will go back into their cages and many times back into their tubes. I move very very slowly with them especially after a molt. I take extreme care for their safety. The extra time is worth it. I use very gentle light nudges, NOT POKES, with the tweezers.

Most of my Avicularia are now going on their second molts.

My camera is a cheesy very old 4.7 meg camera. Nothing special except for the modified Frankenstein lens setup that I pieced together. I found some cheesy lens made in China for under $50 bucks that are NOT for photography so for a grand total of around $200 bucks I am taking quality photos like a $5000+ camera takes. Of course for $5000+ on a camera I would expect so many bells and whistles I would never learn them all in a year.

I am getting very good at photographing these guys with my Frankenstein camera lens...

BinarySpider2

 

[BinarySpider2]

Magnifier lens

what kind of camera do you use?

and.. how do you get them out of their tubes without ruining them?

i have trouble taking pics of mine as they wont come out.. my versi just molted and i cant even get to its exo! haha

Here is a link to some lens. The company I used has long since gone out of business...

http://www.safepub.com/Catalog/General/pocktmag.htm

...mine are over 7 years old and were purchased before I got the camera. They are very cheesy are were very cheap in price. Those 7 year old lens just happen to fit the front of my camera perfectly. Search the net and you may find what you are after.

BinarySpider

 

[BinarySpider2]

Some More Molts

Here are some more of my molts. One of my Avicularia bicegoi just molted again. They are molting out much larger over 3 inches in this molt...

My collection of 1/2 inch Avicularia minatrix have just begun to molt out at about 3/4 of an inch...

Here is another one of my Avicularia amazonica that has just molted. You can see that a 1.25 inch amazonica looks about the same as a .75 inch minatrix. I find it very hard to see any difference at this young of an age between the Avicularia species...

BinarySpider2

 

[christin]

Wow, thanks for the info! Yeah, I don't have the guts to try to coax slings the way you do...but who know's, I may change my mind. I'll have to stick the info away somewhere for later. Thanks for the camera recomendation. Yeah, the whole "you get what you pay for" is certainly not true with cameras. I prefer my walmart special 4.0 megapixel to my friend's pricey 10 megapixel olympus.

 

[BinarySpider2]

Avicularia versicolor

Wow, thanks for the info! Yeah, I don't have the guts to try to coax slings the way you do...but who know's, I may change my mind. I'll have to stick the info away somewhere for later. Thanks for the camera recomendation. Yeah, the whole "you get what you pay for" is certainly not true with cameras. I prefer my walmart special 4.0 megapixel to my friend's pricey 10 megapixel olympus.

Thanks. I figure since I am only photographing at home on a platform it is good enough for me. If I ever find myself in the deep amazon jungle then I would consider a $5,000+ camera for use.

Here is a picture of one of my Avicularia versicolors. This tarantula just molted yesturday and now has what looks like the typical A.versi coloration. At over 3 inches it is becoming a respectable size...

BinayrSpider2

 

[Elaine]

Your Avics's are all gorgeous. I have read this thread with interest as my collection of Avic's grows. Its great to see the changes yours have gone through with each moult. Excellent pics and Tarantulas's as always :clap:

Elaine

 

[beetleman]

:clap: yes that versi is awesome! luv em:drool:

 

[BinarySpider2]

Thanks!

Your Avics's are all gorgeous. I have read this thread with interest as my collection of Avic's grows. Its great to see the changes yours have gone through with each moult. Excellent pics and Tarantulas's as always :clap:

Elaine

Thanks so much. I will continue to post pictures of them as they become adults. That way anybody whi is interested can get an idea of how their slings will turn outas they grow.

:clap: yes that versi is awesome! luv em:drool:

Thanks. I can not wait for my Amazonicas to get larger. 9 inches is huge for an Avicularia. I will need a cage that is 18x18x36 inches for an animal as large as them. Some other people are interested in how they are going to turn out and I do not mind placing the pictures online for everybody to see. Right now three of them have have huge abdomens so I expect a nice molt in the next few weeks. I expect to see some coloration really coming through within their next molt or two. My other two are a little bit smaller so they will eat and molt at a later time.

HEY, did anybody else get some of the blue/green version of the Avicularia sp. amazonica from...

http://www.southernspiderworks.com

???

BinarySpider2

 

[beetleman]

i just saw on his list he has a purple amazonica 4" sounds nice,but ofcourse the money thing i think someone here just picked up 1 at arachnocon. very awesome avic.

 

[BinarySpider2]

amazonica

i just saw on his list he has a purple amazonica 4" sounds nice,but ofcourse the money thing i think someone here just picked up 1 at arachnocon. very awesome avic.

I spoke with Jason Magnusson at...

http://www.southernspiderworks.com

...via email a few days ago about that tarantula and mine. He said that the amazonica that massmorels has was from the exact same person that the 5 Avicularia_sp._amazonica that I bought from him. So mine should be the blue/green version just like massmorels is that you can see pictured in this thread a few pages ago.

That other one that Jason Magnusson has on his site...

Avicularia Sp. Purple Amazonica Recently Updated!

...is a completely different species of tarantula alltogether. It is probably from a different country or area within the amazon jungle. The amazon jungle spans several South American countries. My species which is the blue/green version came from Brazil in the amazon jungle. Look at the spider that is fifth up from the bottom of the page at...

http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=8120

and you can see this is what an adult blue/green version looks like. My 5 should start to look a lot like massmorels actually within the next molt or three. Not far away like within the next six months or so.

There is also an issue in Europe about the amazonica name being used on other Avicularia species that is causing a disruption...

http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=9870

..so hopefully the amazonica name issue will get resolved.

Anyway, if mine turn out like massmorels, huge 9 inch, very very dense hair, blue/green carapace and legs, white frosted hair tips, and red based hair abdomen I will be extremely happy! Even one step further if I end up with 2 or more of both males and females I will be bouncing off of the walls.

WARNING: On another note 2 of my 8 Avicularia minatrix are dead. With half inch slings you MUST keep their cage damp. It looked like they died trying to shed their exoskeleton. 5 out of 6 of my remaining minatrix have recently molted with one minatrix left to molt. The substrate was damp but obviously living in the Western USA I should of spayed the inside more frequently like every other day instead of every 3 or 4 days. Any new sling owners of half inchers should take this into consideration. While I spent only $35 each on them I could of very easily gotten $200+ for an Avicularia minatrix adult when they got to that size. That hurts the pocket. I want to keep a couple of males and a couple of females of each species then sale what is left to pay for the hobby expense.

BinarySpider2

 

[ShadowBlade]

Don't take this like a kick in the butt.. You shouldn't be taking them out so quickly after a molt for pics. They're too fresh, and avic slings are fragile enough. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason for losing your minatrix.

-Sean

 

[beetleman]

I spoke with Jason Magnusson at...

http://www.southernspiderworks.com

...via email a few days ago about that tarantula and mine. He said that the amazonica that massmorels has was from the exact same person that the 5 Avicularia_sp._amazonica that I bought from him. So mine should be the blue/green version just like massmorels is that you can see pictured in this thread a few pages ago.

That other one that Jason Magnusson has on his site...

Avicularia Sp. Purple Amazonica Recently Updated!

...is a completely different species of tarantula alltogether. It is probably from a different country or area within the amazon jungle. The amazon jungle spans several South American countries. My species which is the blue/green version came from Brazil in the amazon jungle. Look at the spider that is fifth up from the bottom of the page at...

http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=8120

and you can see this is what an adult blue/green version looks like. My 5 should start to look a lot like massmorels actually within the next molt or three. Not far away like within the next six months or so.

There is also an issue in Europe about the amazonica name being used on other Avicularia species that is causing a disruption...

http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=9870

..so hopefully the amazonica name issue will get resolved.

Anyway, if mine turn out like massmorels, huge 9 inch, very very dense hair, blue/green carapace and legs, white frosted hair tips, and red based hair abdomen I will be extremely happy! Even one step further if I end up with 2 or more of both males and females I will be bouncing off of the walls.

WARNING: On another note 2 of my 8 Avicularia minatrix are dead. With half inch slings you MUST keep their cage damp. It looked like they died trying to shed their exoskeleton. 5 out of 6 of my remaining minatrix have recently molted with one minatrix left to molt. The substrate was damp but obviously living in the Western USA I should of spayed the inside more frequently like every other day instead of every 3 or 4 days. Any new sling owners of half inchers should take this into consideration. While I spent only $35 each on them I could of very easily gotten $200+ for an Avicularia minatrix adult when they got to that size. That hurts the pocket. I want to keep a couple of males and a couple of females of each species then sale what is left to pay for the hobby expense.

BinarySpider2

awesome,thanks for the info,yeah it was afew pages back, oh and sorry on your minatrix dying those spiderlings are fragile,goodluck on your remaining ones.

 

[BinarySpider2]

No Problem

Don't take this like a kick in the butt.. You shouldn't be taking them out so quickly after a molt for pics. They're too fresh, and avic slings are fragile enough. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason for losing your minatrix.

-Sean

No problem ShadowBlade, the two that died were not the ones that I have been photographing but thanks for the advice anyway. I will admit that I probably rush it a little bit to much but I am EXTREMELY GENTLE with them even after their exoskeleton gets hard. I will just nudge them, NOT POKING AND NOT PUSHING, with my 12 inch tweezers. Just grazing the hairs will cause them to move in the opposite direction so you do not even have to touch their phisical body at all. The one that I have been photographing is still alive and doing just fine. Like I said, the 2 that died looked like a failed molt. I am now spraying down the inside of their cage every two days. I am going to watch the 5 out 6 remaining minatrix to eat since they molted several days ago. I have to order some more pinheads since my minatrix slings are still small even at what they are now which is about 3/4_inch long. I will be feeding them this week after their exoskeleton gets a little bit harder.

awesome,thanks for the info,yeah it was afew pages back, oh and sorry on your minatrix dying those spiderlings are fragile,goodluck on your remaining ones.

Thanks, I also wish that they were still alive. I get attached to my tarantulas. So many find it hard to believe that somebody could like a tarantula that much but I like mine. So far after spraying the minatrix cages down every other day the 1/2_inch slings are doing well and 5 have successfully molted. I am waiting for the last one to molt. I like to make sure they eat a few days after their exoskeleton hardens up.

1/2 inch slings seem to require more attention and detailed control over their enviroment. My others that are much larger seem to be a lot tougher and can handle changes that they are not accustomed to in their enviroment. This has been a lesson for me. Live and learn. I will use it as I begin to breed mine in a year or two.

BinarySpider2

 

[BinarySpider2]

Dinner

One of my Avicularia minatrix having only molted just 3 days ago is allready taking down crickets with a body size about the same as they are. These 1/2 inch A.minatrix are molting out at about 3/4 inch long. Here is a picture of this one...

JMO but I would always keep any of the tiny Avic slings in a high humidity until they get large enough to handle a lower humidity.

BinarySpider2

 

[Becky]

Avics are never large enough to handle lower humidity... they require good, quite high levels all the time, even as adults.
The most popular cases of avics dying, as spiderlings and adults is dehydration, and getting stuck in moults due to lack of humidity.
They should also have plenty of ventilation. I spray my avics everyday if possible, if not, every other day. I keep the substrate moist, and spray webbing and the sides of the tank.

Sorry to hear of your losses, but handling a spider after its moulted, whether you're delicate or not, is risky. What if the spider is to jump? Fall? The skin is not hard enough to warrant even the slighest touch... very fragile.

Nice, fat little spiderling though Looks good.