# The 'kids'



## Formerphobe

Freshly molted LP "Llaves"






"Huevos", the previous LPs sac-mate taking offense at me filling the water bowl.  Or, maybe it's been taking OBT lessons from its neighbor...






I do believe little B. smithi "Ruatha" will be wearing new clothes soon.






One of the B. emelias.  Unfortunately I didn't mark the pic, but it is probably "Telgar" who has been the most cooperative for photos.






Freshly molted B. verdezi, "Aramina".






G. rosea "Orlith" showing her 4-legged side.






Recently molted G. pulchra, "Faranth".






The late "Ramoth", RIP






My newest addition, and largest in the collection...

Reactions: Like 7


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## EndlessForms

beautiful T's!


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## Formerphobe

_Brachypelma smithi_ pre molt





Freshly molted





New clothes


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## Formerphobe

3.0" _Grammostola pulchra_


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## Nanchantress

Love the _B.smithi_ molt picture!  Sure hope I am able to see that when one of mine molt.  I think my 1" _B.albopilosum _is getting ready...   p.s. Where did you find that big plastic anatomically correct model???


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## Optic

Very nice, I want some Smithi babies or Chile Rose babies  Nice pictures!

9/10


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## Formerphobe

> Where did you find that big plastic anatomically correct model???


Amazon.com, but I've seen it on other sites, too.
Brachyplastico anatomicus...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Rue

Nice pics!

I'm looking forward to my _G. pulchra _looking like a _G. pulchra _vs. a small tan spider with a really big butt...


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## Formerphobe

> I'm looking forward to my G. pulchra looking like a G. pulchra vs. a small tan spider with a really big butt...


LOL  I've got some Brachys and a G. pulchripes that I'm waiting for the same thing.  They'll grow.


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## Formerphobe

0.0.1 GBB "Pitufo" molted 4/23/11











0.0.1 Brachypelma boehmei "Lessa" molted today!  It also molted 32 days ago.  This came a little earlier than expected.  The sac mate is half this size with same feeding schedule and same number of molts.


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## Formerphobe

OBT abode





OBT "Ananse" recently molted to ~2"





G. rosea RCF





Recently molted B. emelia "Telgar" clinging to roof of hide.





Freshly molted B. vagans "Brekke"  I made note last night that it appeared to be in pre-molt.  Didn't expect it this soon!  It almost doubled its size to ~2"!


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## grayzone

love the lps... especially that pic of huevos lol.... reminds me of my 1st t           ( lasiadora parahybana) Lunchbox.   He used to HATE me for fillin his water dish... what a jerk right? Hed fly out of his hide and attack his dish, often snatchin one of the flat colored glass rocks i kept in it.  hed move those things all over the cage redecorating...


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## Formerphobe

Yeah, both my LPs are on the defensive side.  Huevos, in the defensive pose, is in serious pre-molt at the moment.  Llaves just flipped its water bowl as I was trying to fill it.  
More pics tomorrow.  One B. emelia on its back, two more emelia, a vagans, the verdezi, a G. rosea and the other B. boehmei all in pre-molt.  I just love molting parties!

---------- Post added at 11:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------

B. emelia "Igen"


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## Formerphobe

_Grammostola pulchra_ juvenile male "Faranth"


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## Formerphobe

*Recent molt*

LP "Llaves" recent molt















Don't know what it was doing with its face pushed up against the side...






---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------

GBB "Pitufo" stuffing its face.





G. pulchra "Faranth" enjoying a discoid





OBT "Ananse" is always out ready to pose for the camera.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

*Recent molts*

A. genic





GBB





OBT, a little obscured by webbing...











---------- Post added at 09:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 PM ----------
B. smithi molt sequence


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma crinirufum: Costa Rican blue front





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' "Moreta"





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' "Belinda"










Brachypelma schroederi: Mexican black velvet





Brachypelma verdezi: Mexican rose gray





Brachypelma vagans: Mexican red rump - showing off its red rump





Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi: Blue femur beauty


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma sp "Belinda" enjoying first post-molt meal.  The picture doesn't do her justice.





Recent addition - GBB "Crayola"

Reactions: Like 1


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## advan

Nice collection.


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## Formerphobe

advan said:


> Nice collection.


Thank you!    Every time I add to my collection and shorten my wish list, I see another species I have to add to it...


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## Kraine

I love your pics! Especially your pulchra. I'll check back for more of that one.


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## advan

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you!    Every time I add to my collection and shorten my wish list, I see another species I have to add to it...


Yep, thats just how it goes.


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## Formerphobe

> I love your pics! Especially your pulchra. I'll check back for more of that one.


Thanks. :smile:  Now that his winter is over, he should be molting again before too long.  I hope to catch him in the act this time.


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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted B. verdezi, juvenile female, ~2.5"











Molted upright.  E. pulcherimaklaasi sling


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## Formerphobe

*Water front dining...*

Not sure why he felt compelled to hover over his water bowl to eat his cricket.  :laugh:  He grabbed the cricket in a different area of the enclosure and carried it to the bowl.


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## Formerphobe

G. rosea 0.1.0, ~5" DLS,  "Orlith"  





G. rosea 0.1.0, ~4" DLS "Alaranth"  -  Note the black divot next to the fovea.  She was wild caught.  That spot has been there since I acquired her in December 2010.  She's doing well otherwise.  I'm hoping for a molt...





G. pulchra 1.0.0, ~6" DLS "Faranth"  Every time I take the lid off his enclosure he comes out and poses.  Never tries to flee, never a threat pose, just strikes various poses then returns to his hide when I replace the lid.  





B. boehmei 0.0.1, ~3", acquired in July 2011.  2007 reported as hatch year.  Within last 24 hours had a small cystic type lesion appear at pedicel.  :unhappy:


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## Formerphobe

"Belinda" Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'





"Sorka" Brachypelma boehmei due for a molt





"Lessa" B. boehmei first threat display at 2", it didn't like me topping the water bowl.





Recently molted "Crayola"










Another one due for a molt - Unknown red rump sp





"Ruatha" eating over the water bowl again... this time balancing on the marbles instead of the edge.  What a goof!


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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei, "Sorka" - finally molted!





OBT, "Ananse"


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## JODECS

nice Ts...


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## Formerphobe

*Recent molts*

LP ~6" 0.1.0
















Unknown sp red rump


























Monocentropus balfouri
















Aphonopelma burica






G. pulchripes






Avicularia versicolor






---------- Post added 09-24-2011 at 11:09 PM ----------

A couple more
B. emilia






A. geniculata






---------- Post added 09-24-2011 at 11:22 PM ----------

These H. liv are becoming real social critters.  I've seen more of them in the past week than I have since I got them 3 months ago.  And growing like weeds!


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## Formerphobe

*The 23 species I am owned by*

Tried to take pics of all of them today in natural light.  Some were not overly cooperative...
There was a recent major molting party, and it looks like another in the not too distant future.  
Acanthoscurria geniculata 0.0.1 "Aranha" (1 of 1) ~2"





Aphonopelma burica 0.0.1 "Briar" (1 of 5) ~1/3"





Aphonopelma seemanni 0.0.1 "Zaranth" (1 of 1) ~1"





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' 0.1.0 "Belinda" (1 of 2) ~5"





Avicularia versicolor 0.0.1 "Chipara" (1 of 4) ~1"





Brachypelma boehmei 0.0.1 "Manora" (1 of 3) ~3.5"





Brachypelma emilia 0.0.1 "Igen" (1 of 5) ~2"





Brachypelma schroederi 0.0.1 "Caylith" (1 of 1) ~0.5"





Brachypelma smithi 1.0.0 "Ruatha" (1 of 1) ~2.5"





Brachypelma vagans 0.0.1 "Brekke" (1 of 2) ~2.5"





Brachypelma verdezi 0.1.0 "Aramina" (1 of 1) ~2.5"





Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens 0.1.0 "Crayola" (1 of 2) ~3.5"





Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi 0.0.1 "Kira" (1 of 3) ~0.75"





Grammostola pulchra 1.0.0 "Faranth" (1 of 1) ~5.5"





Grammostola pulchripes 0.0.1 "Piemur" (1 of 1) ~2"





Grammostola rosea RCF 0.0.1 "Alaranth" (1 of 1) ~3.5"





Grammostola rosea BCF 0.1.0 "Orlith" (1 of 1) ~4.5"





Haplopelma lividum 0.0.1 "Sambal" (1 of 3) ~1.5"





Lasiodora parahybana 0.1.0 "Huevos" (1 of 2) ~6.5"





Monocentropus balfouri 0.0.1 "Denim" (1 of 2) ~3"





Nhandu chromatus 0.0.1 "Nerilka" (1 of 1) ~1"





Pterinochilus murinus 1.0.0 "Ananse" (1 of 3) ~3"





Unknown sp red rump 1?.0.0 "UNKle" (1 of 1) ~5"


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## Formerphobe

B. vagans 0.1.0 "Menolly" molted 9/30/2011  Now ~3"
Heavy pre-molt on 9/29, even ate a cricket





Early a.m. 9/30





Done!





Recently molted (9/19/11) GBB 0.1.0 "Pitufo"  ~3.5"










E. pulcherimaklaasi 0.0.1 "Guinan" ~1.25"





Heavy fog last night made the many spider webs in this boxwood hedge at my job really stand out this morning


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## annabelle

I love this photo thread! Beautiful tarantulas!


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## Formerphobe

Thank you!  One of these days I'll get a real camera so I don't have to juggle flashlight and phone...

---------- Post added 10-07-2011 at 09:09 AM ----------

OMG!  B. emilia "Benden" caught all the way out of her burrow!





Not a death curl... LP "Huevos" trying to use all eight legs to stuff a cricket in her mouth.





A. genic "Aranha" Eyes bigger than stomach?  Nope!





OBT "Meph baby" is starting to pose for the camera.


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## Formerphobe

*Orlith's molt*

MF WC G. rosea, 5" prior to molt.  She was on her back at least 12 hours before things started visibly happening.  Another ~2 hours to upright and cleaning herself.
Orlith has eight legs again!  


























Here she was 'fixing' her fangs and pedipalps.  















Girly bits.






---------- Post added 10-08-2011 at 09:39 PM ----------

B. emilia "Honshu". Now approximately 3".  Exuvium sort of a mess, I think male.


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## Formerphobe

Immature male G. pulchra "Faranth"


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## Formerphobe

Within 12 hours of molting G. rosea "Orlith" was back in her favorite spot on top of her hide.






"Belinda", Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta', peeking at me from between her pedipalps.






Recently molted LP, "Huevos".  Acquired 1 May 2010 as a 0.25" sling, she's now about 6"






I got brave (or stupid...) and took the lid off "Denim's" enclosure to snap some pics.  It's teleportation abilities were hindered by the mouthful of cricket.


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## Formerphobe

*Recently molted MF G. rosea "Orlith"*

She's got eight legs again.


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## Formerphobe

*New babies!*

B. albo





C. ritae - I can almost make them out with the naked eye.  





And... drum roll please... :
E. murinus  











---------- Post added 10-27-2011 at 06:43 PM ----------

G. rosea 'Alaranth', must have remembered she stashed a roach in her hide and decided to dig it up...


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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei "Manora" getting a drink.










B. emilia "Honshu" in her not so hidden burrow.


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## fartbreath

Nice T's you got there. Thanks for posting.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks for looking.


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## Formerphobe

Recently molted C. ritae.  If it reeeeally stretches, it *might* be 1.0 cm.





It's smaller sac mate taking on a cricket half again its size.





E. murinus sling.  Looks like it's contemplating a molt.





Freshly molted A. burica. Fourth molt since I got it in July, now just shy of 2.0 cm.  It is one of the larger of its sac mates.





Nifty sling containers I picked up at the Dollar Store, 10 for $1


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## Formerphobe

Molting party!:
Brachypelma schroederi - 'Caylith'





Aphonopelma burica - 'Holly', 'Nettle' and 'Briar'





Cyriocosmus ritae - 'Mariska'





Not a recent molt, but since he molted last on 10/13/2011, this is about all I get to see of ~3.5" 'Ananse'...  He used to be visible 24/7


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## Formerphobe

G. rosea mirror patch





Owner of the patch - MF "Orlith"





Juvenile female B. boehmei, "Manora"





Hard to think of a 6" spider as 'juvenile'...  but she is.  LP "Huevos" on her plumbing hide.





I didn't have crickets the 'appropriate' size, but that didn't matter to my daughter's A. versicolor sling "Amadeus".





H. liv "Vindaloo" appears to have molted recently showing new blue colors





A. seemanni sling "Zaranth" is growing much faster than its A. burica cousins!





B. verdezi "Aramina" in heavy pre-molt.


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## Formerphobe

Yep, she was definitely in pre-molt!











Ephebopus murinus "Ossa" molted earlier today, too.
















B. emilia "Telgar" is much more visible these days, no longer scooting down its burrow at every little sound or movement.


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## Formerphobe

B. verdezi post-molt


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## Formerphobe

"Acacia" ~0.75" Aphonopelma burica (Costa Rican Bluefront)





"Telgar" ~3.0" Brachypelma emilia (Mexican Red Leg)





"Tannasg" ~1.0" freshly molted Ephebopus murinus (Skeleton Tarantula)





"Caylith" ~1.0" Brachypelma schroederi (Mexican Black Velvet) (One of my favorites)





"Orlith" ~6.0" MF Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rosehair) (Another of my favorites... OMG!  They are all my favorites!)





"Pitufo" 3+" 0.1.0 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Green bottle blue)





"Crayola" 3+" 0.1.0 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Green bottle blue)





"Ananse" ~4" 1.0.0 Pterinochilus murinus (Usambara Starburst Baboon/Orange Baboon Tarantula/Orange Bitey Thing)





"Belinda" ~5.0" MF Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' - I LOVE this spider!  I rarely handle my Ts, but she took it upon herself to stroll out onto my hand yesterday.  She was ever so gentle and calm and settled in like she was planning on just hanging out there for awhile.


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## Shell

Great collection and pics, Formerphobe. 

Your H. lividum isn't a pet hole??


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## Formerphobe

> Great collection and pics, Formerphobe.


Thank you!  If I'd quit buying spiders I could afford a real camera.  LOL



> Your H. lividum isn't a pet hole??


Normally all three of them are.  Occasionally I will see a couple of legs sticking out of burrow entrances.  The day I got the pic of the whole spider was the first time I've seen any of them in their entirety since rehousing on the first of August.  The only time I saw them before that was at unpacking in early May.  I see people posting pics of H. liv and wonder, "How do they get those?", opportunity just doesn't present very often!


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## Shell

Formerphobe said:


> Normally all three of them are.  Occasionally I will see a couple of legs sticking out of burrow entrances.  The day I got the pic of the whole spider was the first time I've seen any of them in their entirety since rehousing on the first of August.  The only time I saw them before that was at unpacking in early May.  I see people posting pics of H. liv and wonder, "How do they get those?", opportunity just doesn't present very often!


I have 2 real cameras and yet I seem to use the camera on my Blackberry more than anything....lol.

That makes sense about the lividum, at least you got some opportunity for pics.  I often wonder too how people get regular pics aside from when they are unpacking/rehousing etc.


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## Formerphobe

Yet another H. liv sighting and it is noticeably bigger than last sighting about a week ago.  These things grow like weeds!





This M. balfouri spends the bulk of the daylight hours 'basking' on the highest point in its enclosure.





Its sac mate can occasionally be seen in the bowels of its labyrinthe.


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## Formerphobe

*Upcoming molts...*

B. smithi - one of my slowest growing Brachypelma





E. pulcherimaklaasi





A. genic





G. pulchripes





B. boehmei - both sac mates have the big darkening butt look right now, though they have been on dramatically different molt schedules since arrival in January.


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## Formerphobe

A. genic molt.  I think it needs a bigger hide...















Came home from work last night to find G. rosea like this:


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## Formerphobe

One of the two new babies that arrived today.    Thanks, Rodie, they made the trip great!


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## Formerphobe

_Euathlus pulcheramaklaasi_ "Guinan" pre-molt





And freshly molted.  Starting to see some color differences on those legs.  










_Brachypelma boehmei_ "Manora"  










Watched tarantulas never molt...  neither of these has eaten in a month.  Their butts just keep getting bigger and blacker.
_B. boehmei_ "Sorka" I noted on 11/10 that she appeared to be in pre-molt... 





_B. boehmei_ "Lessa" sac mate to "Sorka". Notes on 9/15 say "early pre-molt?"  






---------- Post added 12-04-2011 at 09:49 PM ----------

_B. emilia_ "Telgar" 0.0.1





Unknown red rump species, immature male





He doesn't like for me to watch him eat...





LP "Huevos" 0.1.0





_G. rosea_ "Orlith" 0.1.0





_Nhandu chromatus_ "Nerilka" starting to be a little more 'social'


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## Formerphobe

Finally!!!  And once again, shredded the exuvium before I could retrieve it...  Who's good at ventral sexing?  I'm thinking male.

























Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi a couple days post molt.  I think this one is going to be a beauty!  Not that I'm biased or anything...





Love those blue feet!





One of the new babies.


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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted B. albopilosum sling.  ~2 cm





C. ritae





Another E. pulcher molts





2 of 3 H. liv come out almost daily now... (they didn't read the pet hole book...)





New GBB likes to hang out on its straw hide





OBT and its ever changing web maze


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## Trogdora

I love your OBT's web maze! Mine has something similar going on, except in a cube.

Very nice collection, you have some very good looking Brachys.


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## Formerphobe

Thank you!    My two younger OBTs are currently in cubes. I'm hoping to find more acrylic candy jars...


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## Formerphobe

LP "Huevos"





and her brother "Llaves", who was a bit feisty today and refused his roach.  Hopefully he is contemplating a molt.





At the other end of the size spectrum...  GBB "Gem", with an LP appetite!





Look at that cute little heiny and spinnerets!  





New G. pulchripes "Sebell"





Love this spider!  E. pulcherimaklaasi "Guinan"





G. rosea "Orlith" doing her best pokie imitation





B. boehmei "Sorka"  recently molted to ~3+ inches





What I see of B. vagans "Menolly" between dawn and dusk





I think this is one of the 'babies', all grown up and drinking from the big bowl.


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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei "Lessa" finally on its back!  Hope the molt goes as smoothly as its sister's did last week.





C. ritae "Mariska" finally deigned to pose for a pic





New G. pulchra "Ramoth II".  Appears this one will soon be joining the molting party.


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## Formerphobe

Recent molts
0.1.0 B. boehmei





1.0.0 B. boehmei





0.0.1 A. genic





0.1.0 GBB






0.0.1 M. balfouri on 12/13





Same M. balfouri this evening


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## Trogdora

Your balfouri is looking good! I think we got ours from the same batch... mine is just starting to get color.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks!  I got two of those.  The other one looks like this:





LOL


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## Formerphobe

For Christmas my 3 H. lividum got new homes.  
















After carefully scooping out dirt for what seemed like forever, I finally got down to each of them in the deepest recesses of their tunnels.  Amazing how small a space they can squeeze themselves into.  Then I just spooned them into their new abodes.





















This is H. liv #3 "Sambal".  I hadn't seen it in months and its prey didn't disappear the last two feedings.  Because I wanted to confirm that it was alive, and because I like playing with fire, I opened its little cocoon.  Yep, alive!  And none too thrilled with me at the moment.  All three rehousings went well.  Whew!











---------- Post added 12-19-2011 at 01:22 PM ----------

My daughters A. versicolor "Amadeus" wanted a new home, too.  The other three will have to harden up first, but their new enclosures await.


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## Formerphobe

G. pulchra 0.0.1, ~2.5"





First post-molt meal.





B. vagans - instead of going into hiding in prep for molt, she and her big butt have vacated the burrow...





G. pulchripes also thinking about a molt


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## Formerphobe

Ephebopus murinus - recently molted and getting its 'bones'










Waiting on sac mate to molt





Four of five Aphonopelma burica.  Now a whopping 0.75"





Lured out with a cricket, I got one shot before C. ritae grabbed cricket and dove back into its webbing.





B. albopilosum with an appetite to rival the LPs





Pterinochilus murinus 0.0.1 juvie, ~2.0"





P. murinus immature 1.0.0, ~4+ in





Pretty girl - Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'





Recently molted 0.1.0 GBB.  She's probably 4" now.


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## Formerphobe

Brachypelma vagans finishing her molt





Molt measures a solid 3.0 inches





All scrunched up she measures at 2.5 inches





Definitely a girl!





Exuvium potpourri


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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted B. smithi.  Boy spider.





N. chromatus - gangly teenaged stage





C. ritae - molted about 24 hours after this pic was taken





B. emelia


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## Formerphobe




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## Formerphobe

Rehoused three more A. versi.  I was a container short, so one of them is in an oddball container.  Two of the three took their crickets within moments of being rehoused.  Guess they weren't too stressed by the rehousing.




















"Amadeus" on the left, was rehoused last week and has had more time to redecorate.


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## Formerphobe

B. vagans - taking awhile to recover from molt.  No doubt!  She grew hugely!  Exuvium measured solid 3".  As positioned here, DLS with legs not fully extended is almost 4".  





Her sac mate





Freshly molted GBB





Cheeky juvenile male B. boehmei










C. ritae feeding frenzy... These guys are characters


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## jbm150

I love that A. sp. Murietta, has a certain klaasi look to it


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## Formerphobe

> I love that A. sp. Murietta, has a certain klaasi look to it


I hadn't thought of that.  She does have a muted klassi appearance.  Dr. Hendrixson was doing DNA on some of this bunch.  May turn out to be a chalcodes variation.


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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted GBB female





Freshly molted GBB sling.  All four GBBs (three different sacs and ages) have molted within the past week.





Mystery T gives me a single slow motion hair kick with the off hind leg...





I fed him anyway.  LOL





E. murinus fresh molt





"Belinda"


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## Formerphobe

Another fresh molt





Look at that mirror patch!





What I normally see of my N. chromatus





Cocky little C. ritae





A. seemanni thinking about pre-molt... hoping to see some more colors with this next molt.





G. pulchra youngster






---------- Post added 01-06-2012 at 10:19 PM ----------

Monocentropus balfouri peeking at me from its web tunnel.


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma seemanni molt.  Looks like a boy (?)


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## Formerphobe

A. seemanni





B. vagans, immature male


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## arachnidtobias

*Envious*

Jesus, you have so many! My o my you're fortunate. I only own two..


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## Formerphobe

They're a bit addictive...


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## jbm150

Formerphobe said:


>


Haha i like this shot


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## Formerphobe

> Haha i like this shot


Thanks.  This spider is a real character and has allowed me to get some decent pics.


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## Formerphobe

Unexpected molt from B. emilia, "Honshu"





Exuvium measured solid 3 inches





He came out of his burrow where he spends most of his time and constructed a molt mat over the burrow entrance





B. verdezi





E. murinus





Recently molted G. pulchripes


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## Shrike

Nice pictures!  "Ramoth II."  Is that a Pern reference?


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## Formerphobe

> "Ramoth II." Is that a Pern reference?


Guilty as charged.    I have multiple Ts named after dragons, riders, harpers, holds/weyrs, etc.


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## Shrike

Formerphobe said:


> Guilty as charged.    I have multiple Ts named after dragons, riders, harpers, holds/weyrs, etc.


Nice.  I'm actually reading that trilogy right now, so I couldn't help but notice


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## Formerphobe

Have you read the other Pern novels besides the original trilogy?  I think I have all of them except the last two.  A lot of names to choose from!


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## Formerphobe




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## matt82

Great thread, Formerphobe.  The E. murinus and A. seemani molting pics being among my favourites  

Looking at the "dissected" Brachy, for a second, I thought you were a a dab hand with a scalpel   Cool toy.


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## Formerphobe

Three days, three molts - Aphonopelma burica
"Acacia"





"Holly"





"Thistle"


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## Formerphobe

E. murinus baby





A. versi





P. cambridgei


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## Formerphobe

Was able to get a good dls measurement on this girl today.  Five+ inches!  





M. balfouri peeping out of its burrow





B. albo baby





A. seemanni - good color showing after last molt  





N. chromatus juvenile





Easy rehousing of this 4+ inch male today.  He's a bit of a coward...





Rehousing didn't phase this one!  "Please pass the crickets!"


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## Ludedor24

falling in love with the versicolor i see.... hahaha.


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## Formerphobe

They're pretty spiders, I won't deny that.    Just don't see enough of them to get pics unless during or right after rehousing.


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## matt82

Some more great shots of some lovely spiders there, Formerphobe; really like the E. murinus sling, and the M. balfouri shot is very cool!!  I had an L1 N. chromatus but it died, would have liked to raise that one up, one of my favourites!

as Ludedor24 said, that A. versi is so cool at that stage, great loooking T in adult colouration too, but that is the best stage for me; just before the red starts emerging, an adult versi that looked like that would be interesting to see.  I remember seeing very little of mine at that stage too!


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Matt.  I probably won't be seeing much of the E. murinus slings for awhile.  I recently rehoused them and they are loving redecorating their pre-made burrows.    Both did come out to grab a cricket last night, but my phone camera doesn't catch >>>blur<<<.
N. chromatus is in its scruffy 'teenaged' stage.  I'm amazed at how fast it's grown!  I'd have to put it in the LP growth rate category.


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## Formerphobe

B. emilia molted yesterday.  Once it righted itself this cyst was apparent on its dorsal abdomen.  :-(










One of the sac mates to the above emilia


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## mmfh

Great pictures. Great variety of spiders.


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## Formerphobe

Thank you, mmfh!  
M. balfouri at feeding time





Less than flattering picture of MF G. rosea





A little more flattering picture of her stuffing her face





Immature male G. pulchra





MF Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' - standing on her head... 





A. seemanni basking





H. lividum makes a rare appearance





GBB baby





E. murinus decided to come out of its deep burrow and molt in the burrow entrance


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## Trogdora

Your E. murinus are molting again? I need to tell mine to catch up! :laugh: That's an incredible photo.


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## Formerphobe

> Your E. murinus are molting again? I need to tell mine to catch up!


LOL  This is the third molt in my care for #1 ("Ossa") [11/19, 12/20, 2/12).  When I went to feed this morning, it took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at.  If it's really hungry, I see its face at the burrow entrance, but not upside down!

#2 ("Tannasg") started a different schedule... [11/23, 1/2].  It came tearing out of its burrow today looking for food!


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## Formerphobe

Pretty girl!















Right after the following pic was taken, this M. balfouri said, "Excuse me, I am coming OUT of this enclosure..."


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## Formerphobe

Cyriocosmus ritae now a whopping 0.75"





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' practicing her head stands...










My pretty girl "Orlith"





Rehoused A. genic about 3 weeks ago.  It recently completed a tunnel that goes from it's hide to its water bowl.  Sneaky drinker!





Got a good measurement on GBB "Crayola" while she was up on the side - 5" dls!





And stuffing her face.  She took this cricket out of mid air before it even had a chance to hit the ground.





Ephebopus murinus "Ossa" molted 6 days ago and was at burrow entrance begging for food this evening.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

*Some of the Brachys*

0.75" B. albo 0.0.1





4.0" B. boehmei 0.1





3.5" B. emilia 1.0





Another B. emilia decided to molt today.  Hopefully it won't mangle the molt again.





1.5" B. schroederi  0.0.1





3.0" B. smithi 1.0 playing with his marbles.





~6.0" 1.0 Mystery Brachy (most likely vagans) thinking about kicking hairs





3.0" B. verdezi in her tunnel...





...which wraps around most of the tank.





And she continues to excavate.


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## Formerphobe

A. versi





Recently molted E. pulcherrimaklaasi










Recently molted N. chromatus.  This guy grew hugely!





Another fresh molt - G. pulchripes





The last of five B. emilia to molt.  This one put all its efforts into size, not color... MUCH larger than its sac mates now, but pretty washed out looking.





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'










Another Aphonopelma sp in her pre-made burrow


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## Formerphobe

~5" 0.1 C. cyaneopubescens "Crayola"





~5" 0.1 G. rosea "Orlith"





~6" 1.0 G. pulchra "Faranth"





Bookends "Belinda" and "Moreta" - ~4 - 4.5" 0.2 Aphonopelma sp










~4.0" 0.0.1 N. chromatus "Nerilka"


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma species likes her pre-fab burrow





as does this B. emilia





E. murinus sling heiney





Look who came out for an evening stroll!  This one is usually a daytime basker.


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## Protectyaaaneck

Nice shot of the balfouri!


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## Formerphobe

Thanks.  This one is bold and out in the open frequently.  The other one, well, I see it next to never.  LOL


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## matt82

Very impressive selection of Ts there, lots of species I'd like to keep!!  Those N. chromatus are looking great, +1 on the M. balfouri pic too, very nice.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Matt.  The N. chromatus is my first of the Nhandu genus.  I'm becoming quickly enamored...   If the growth rate is gender related, this one must be a boy.  Guess I'll have to get some more to test my theory...


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## Formerphobe

B. emilia in her water bowl...





P. cam baby





Recently molted E. murinus out for a stroll





Consequence of over feeding... (Note that she came to me with this butt and has been on a diet in my care.)





H. mac.  Wow, there really is something in that enclosure!


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## Formerphobe

Just doesn't get much prettier than this.    Cyriocosmus ritae "Silhouette" 










Brachypelma ostrich, I mean albopilosum





Aphonopelma burica sac mates










Grammostola pulchripes "Piemur" says, "I'll molt when I dang well feel like it and not a day sooner..."





Aphonopelma seemanni "Zaranth"


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## Formerphobe

*Recent additions*

I apologize for the picture quality, neither the spiders nor my camera were very cooperative today...
Brachypelma albiceps 0.0.2 @ 1+ inch





Hapolopus sp Columbia/Large "Pumpkin Patch" 0.0.1 @ ~0.5"





Cyriocosmus elegans 0.0.2 @ ~0.25"





Ephebopus cyanognathus 0.0.2 @ ~0.75"





Nhandu coloratovillosus 0.0.1 @ ~0.5"


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## Formerphobe

*B. smithi molt*

























































---------- Post added 03-14-2012 at 10:47 PM ----------

E. cyanognathus










GBB





N. chromatus





A. versi





GBB


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## Formerphobe

*Feeding time at the pig farm...*

A. burica





The three stooges





B. albiceps





B. emilia





B. schroederi





E. cyanognathus















H. liv on rare display





Clean up crew


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## Formerphobe

Recently molted B. smithi 1.0





Recently molted G. pulchripes 0.1





Recently molted 0.1. A. genic allowed me this fleeting leg shot





E. murinus sac mates










E. cyanognathus





G. pulchra 1.0





LP pushing her ping pong ball around


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## Storm76

You have a nice collection there. Jealous on your smithi molting, really wish mine would do so finally after having been in pre-molt for over 2 weeks now and having that black butt the whole time, lol . 

You E. pulcherimaklaasi is what size now? Just curious since I'd like to know when I can expect mine to start showing some adult colorations already.


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> You have a nice collection there. Jealous on your smithi molting, really wish mine would do so finally after having been in pre-molt for over 2 weeks now and having that black butt the whole time, lol .
> 
> You E. pulcherimaklaasi is what size now? Just curious since I'd like to know when I can expect mine to start showing some adult colorations already.


I've had a couple of Brachy sp juveniles appear to be in 'heavy' premolt for more than a month.  They're on spider time...  
E. pulcher is ~2.0 inches.  Slow growers.  It's taken them 8 months and three molts to grow from 1.0 to 2.0 inches.  I keep hoping to see some blue femurs, but hasn't happened yet.  Still an attractive T, I think.

---------- Post added 03-21-2012 at 10:51 PM ----------

Pumpkin Patch molted!


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## Storm76

Certainly "spider-time"! I am just curious how much (if at all) size she'll gain AND if I can recover the molt in time to sex her (suspecting it's a female...)


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## Formerphobe

Mine have been molt munchers.


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## Formerphobe

B. albopilosum.  Those are some loooong spinnerets!





E. cyanognathus





My very 'dull and boring' G. rosea.





A. versi - came out of it's enclosure to grab the mealworm from the tongs, then dashed back in to eat its catch.  I wasn't expecting the dash-n-grab and almost dropped the tongs.  LOL





B. smithi recovered from his molt and strutting his stuff.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

G. pulchripes.  It's a girl!










Playing tug-o-war with the water bowl...


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## Formerphobe

~3.0" H. liv










~1.0" B. albo





~1.0" GBB not fond of photo shoots





Recently molted N. coloratovillosus - maybe 0.5" if it really stretches


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## Formerphobe

*New additions*

Homoeomma sp Blue Peruvian Zebra





N. chromatus - too tiny for my phone to focus on.  LOL

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Is your H. spec. "blue" as fast and skittish like mine? That little bugger is so quick it's not funny anymore


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Is your H. spec. "blue" as fast and skittish like mine? That little bugger is so quick it's not funny anymore


Not yet... I got two of them, about 1.0" DLS.  Both unpacked very nicely and went calmly into their new homes.  Hope I won't be chasing more blue teleporting spiders around my room!  (My M. balfouri are speed demons!)  LOL

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta' 





Subadult female LP





G. rosea










E. cyanognathus





OBT





GBB















Brachypelma schroederi










Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

Avicularia versicolor





Brachypelma albopilosum





Brachypelma emilia





Cyriocosmus ritae





Ephebopus cyanognathus





Ephebopus murinus





Hapalopus sp Columbia large





Homoeomma sp blue Peru





OBTs















Mystery T

Reactions: Like 1


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## JOHN 3:16

Mystery T





[/QUOTE]


Storm76, How what sixe is this T? Does it have a black round spot on the back part of the abdomen?


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## Storm76

JOHN 3:16 said:


> Mystery T



Storm76, How what sixe is this T? Does it have a black round spot on the back part of the abdomen?[/QUOTE]

Forgive me, but I don't understand what you want you're asking me there?! This is Formerphobe's thread


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## Formerphobe

It's an immature male.  Here's a couple other views:










Right after molt in September 2011.  He measures ~6.0" DLS






Tentative IDs have included:
Sericopelma rubronitens
Brachypelma kahlenbergi
Brachypelma vagans

I just call him UNKle... (for Unknown)

I've had him for ~9 months.  He's almost always calm and undemonstrative.  On one occasion I must have surprised him.  He threw up a threat so hard he turned himself over on his back and rolled down a little 'embankment' he had created.  Scared us both!  LOL  I always give him fair warning now that I'm going to be opening his enclosure.


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## matt82

Great collection of eye catching Ts here, love the sling feeding photos, the E. cyanognathus is an amazing looking species...!!


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Matt.  I'm pretty pleased with them.    My wish list is rather short now.  LOL


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## matt82

That G. rosea is a very impressive T too, I saw a RCF for sale recently and I  was tempted to buy it, very nice spiders I'll get one some day!


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## Formerphobe

matt82 said:


> That G. rosea is a very impressive T too, I saw a RCF for sale recently and I  was tempted to buy it, very nice spiders I'll get one some day!


This girl is a real sweetie.  If I were ever forced to minimize my collection, she would be one of my keepers.  She may not be vibrantly colored, but is stunning in her own right.  And is not the pet rock that so many are purported to be.  She does have a daily routine that she follows, which includes a brief 'conversation' with my mom every morning.  LOL

Reactions: Like 1


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## advan

I love your _Aphonopelma_ sp. 'Murietta' She is gorgeous!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Hendersoniana

UNKle is beautiful! And the Cyanognanthus is really beautiful as well, too bad they turn brown when they're fully grown.

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## Formerphobe

Newly molted B. albiceps ~1.75"










B. boehmei female joining the molting party, ~4" (molt measured 3.5")










B. verdezi female, molted 3/20 and finally venturing out of her maze of burrows





GBB, should be coming up on a molt

Reactions: Like 1


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## crawltech

awsome thread man!....love the rosea shots!...some nice pics!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Nice pictures. I really like that verdezi. Is she that reclusive, or just during molts?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

Thank you.  
The verdezi is normally out and about and very visible and active.  I rehoused her in mid February and she spent the next month 'redecorating', which included a significant burrow system.  (As significant as a ~3.5" spider can create in a 2.5 gal tank a little over half full of substrate...)  Ten days before she molted, she webbed over both burrow entrances.  (I didn't tell her that I could still see her if I pulled out the neighboring tank and peeked.)  Six days after molting she opened one entrance and was out on the hunt.  Since last week she appears to have deliberately collapsed part of one of her tunnels so as to have a new wide-mouthed entrance and 'basking' area.  
This is the only verdezi I've had any experience with.  If they are all like her, I recommend them highly.


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## Storm76

Guess at some point this or next year I'll have to get some more Brachys...despite their annoying hair-kicking, I really like them


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## Hendersoniana

Nice boehmi! I need to get one .


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## Formerphobe

> Guess at some point this or next year I'll have to get some more Brachys...despite their annoying hair-kicking, I really like them


I luv my Brachys!  LOL  None of mine have been hair kickers, except on rare occasion.  They leave that to the Demon Spawn LPs.

---------- Post added 04-12-2012 at 09:17 PM ----------

B. albiceps










C. elegans





C. ritae


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## Low

Very nice cyriocosmus sp.s....im seriously considering getting a handful...esp. Elegans

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk


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## Storm76

C. ritae is one of the dwarfs that I really like, too...


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## Formerphobe

Anyone good at ventral sexing?










C. ritae rehoused















E. pulcherimaklaasi, still wearing juvenile colors.  Love the wooly carapace.  










Recently molted juvenile female B. boehmei.  First post-molt meal.










Juvenile male B. smithi, 'eating in' 





Dang!  H. liv puts in a mid-day appearance!





Subadult male B. vagans, carapace noticeably darkened with this past molt.















Class clown B. verdezi, subadult female showing me her water bowl is empty.  (I filled it not two hours before this pic was taken...)

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Interesting, my E. pulcherimaklaasi is showing already blue legs although being that small...wondering why yours isn't?


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Interesting, my E. pulcherimaklaasi is showing already blue legs although being that small...wondering why yours isn't?


I noted on your photo thread that the one you refer to as E. pulcherimaklaasi is what I call Homoeomma sp blue Peru.  I know these two sp and a couple of other sp were sort of in a 'Who-knows-what-it-is-but-it-has-blue-on-it-grab-bag' for a few years.  I think most American hobbyists have settled on the blue or green femurs with rust colored patella stripes to be E. pulcher.  My E. pulcher are ~2.5 inch dls and still dirt colored (they came out of a blue femured female mated to a green femured male).  My Homoeomma sp blue are ~1.0" and already showing blue.


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## Hendersoniana

Ur lucky to see ur H lividum mid day! Beautiful collection .


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> I noted on your photo thread that the one you refer to as E. pulcherimaklaasi is what I call Homoeomma sp blue Peru.  I know these two sp and a couple of other sp were sort of in a 'Who-knows-what-it-is-but-it-has-blue-on-it-grab-bag' for a few years.  I think most American hobbyists have settled on the blue or green femurs with rust colored patella stripes to be E. pulcher.  My E. pulcher are ~2.5 inch dls and still dirt colored (they came out of a blue femured female mated to a green femured male).  My Homoeomma sp blue are ~1.0" and already showing blue.


I have one of each actually. I have an Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi (which is the one that just molted) and I also have a Homoeomma spec. "blue" - there are some distinct differences with those two actually. 

The E. pulcherimaklaasi has more of an greenish carapace while the Homoeomma has a steely blueish one for example. Another is that E. pulcherimaklaasi has only the femurs with a metallic blue with more reddish stripes on the legs, while  Homoeomma though has completely steely-blue legs with more like beige stripes. They do look certainly different.


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## Formerphobe

H. mac juvenile.  Had to rehouse it to get a picture...  May never see it again!  LOL





B. albiceps sling





Homoeomma sp blue Peru recently molted





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'





E. murinus youngster at burrow entrance in hopes of a hand out.





GBB baby





C. elegans - just ate yesterday, but back out of its burrow looking for more.  Greedy little thing.





N. chromatus - recently molted, may be 1/4 in





H. lividum. Another recent molt, and out for an evening stroll.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

B. verdezi appears to be having a bad hair day... or is doing her B. albo imitation.  





G. rosea, always posing.





G. pulchra, immature male in need of a molt.  Will probably mature.  :-(





E. cyanognathus





E. murinus.  We scared each other when I opened its lid.  Its usually in its burrow, but apparently was out getting a drink.  I almost dropped the lid, it stuck its face in the moss.  LOL I would call these fast growers: 1.0 inch to 3.5 inches in 5 months.





G. pulchripes baby

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Homoeomma sp blue Peru recently molted


This T seriously looks like my E. pulcherimaklaasi sling. My Homoeomma spec. "blue" hasn't molted yet, but I'm sure they both look very similiar as slings. However, I wouldn't be surprised if yours turns out to be E. pulcherimaklaasi instead of the Homoeomma...


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## Formerphobe

I have both E. pulcherimaklaasi and Homoeomma sp blue.  They look nothing alike as slings, except for having eight legs, mirror patch, etc... 
Here is a pic of one of the E. pulchers when about the same size as the H. sp blue in the post above (~1.0 inch)





What the E. pulcherimaklaasi look like now at about 2.5 inches:





An adult E. pulcher, posted by AB member Atlas824:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=14546&c=29

Like you said, 


> The E. pulcherimaklaasi has more of an greenish carapace while the Homoeomma has a steely blueish one for example. Another is that E. pulcherimaklaasi has only the femurs with a metallic blue with more reddish stripes on the legs, while Homoeomma though has completely steely-blue legs with more like beige stripes.


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## Storm76

Funpart about that statement of mine though is, that as far as I'm aware (and the breeder I got mine from basically acknowledged that) as spiderlings it's sometimes the other way around. Meaning E. pulcherimaklaasi as spiderling has the whole leg blue and goes back to only the femurs later, while Homoeomma only has the femurs are spiderling and starts getting the whole leg later. It's actually kinda weird. However, both of us will see once our specimens get bigger


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## Formerphobe

Yesterday morning I found one of my A. versi hanging awkwardly in it's webbing.  I figured it was getting ready to either molt or die.  When I've caught them molting previously, they were always in a more 'traditional' position.  It was a molt!  Getting adult colors.










Recently molted 'Pumpkin Patch'










Rarely seen P. cam sling.  Don't know as I'll ever get a decent pic of this one.





This morning E. murinus 'Ossa' was out for a photo shoot, allowed a few pics, then said, "I'm done!"  LOL




















Sac mate 'Tannasg' said to just pass the crickets, no photos please.





Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru' sac mates, 'Fantome' and 'Spectre' - noticeable size difference after last molt

Reactions: Like 2


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## Storm76

Really need an E. murinus at some point myself...


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## Formerphobe

G. rosea really had a time with her ping pong ball today.  No pet rock, this one!  LOL





E. murinus out of its burrow for the second day in a row.





P. cam out and about, too.





Female?


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## Formerphobe

GBB sling





GBB immature female















Homoeomma sp blue Peru





Recently molted A. versi





M. balfouri pedipalp.  Hmmm, looks like he matured at that last molt.

Reactions: Like 1


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## matt82

Great GBB moulting pics, nicely captured!  Too may great pics to mention them all, really like the E. murinus, and the SA B. vagans drinking shot though!  
I am intrigued by that G. rosea on the ping-pong ball!  Is that in the enclosure?


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Matt.  The GBB was kind enough to leave a small window in her webbing for photos.  

I gave six of my larger Ts ping pong balls to see what they would do with them.  Two completely ignored them.  The MF G. rosea pictured and a juvenile male LP move theirs around their enclosures on a regular basis.  I caught the rosea trying to drag hers up the side of the enclosure.  I'm not sure what plans she had for it.  

I don't think any of them mistake the ping pong balls for egg sacs or are stressed by them, which was suggested to me.  None of the Ts with balls appear stressed, none have flicked hairs at the balls, none are defensive, none have declined prey items since receiving their balls.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

B. albiceps





B. schroederi - hoping to see a molt soon





Mystery T - should have named him Groucho.  He's been a real grouch since his molt back in September, and getting more so, more reactive and defensive than any of my OW Ts.





LP sub adult female





LP sub adult male





G. pulchra juvenile





Recently molted C. elegans





Recently rehoused C. ritae starting to feel more comfortable in its new digs.


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## Jared781

Nice Ts here bru! some of my favs...
E. murinus, basically all the L. parahybana, C. ritae, and C. cyanognathus!! 

Your T which is labeled "Mystery T" a few photos up.. have you made any guesses towards the sp. ?


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## Formerphobe

> have you made any guesses towards the sp. ?


Sericopelma rubronitens
Brachypelma kahlenbergi
Brachypelma sabulosum
Brachypelma vagans.....

Most likely B. vagans.  This guy has an interesting story.  He was found 'at large' somewhere on the west coast and relinquished to a T enthusiast who donated him to the ATS for the conference raffle.  I won him at the raffle last year.  He molted in September to ~5.5 inches.  Hasn't matured yet.  Pictures don't do him justice.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

*Meet "Denim"*

OW feeding day.  Thought I'd feed them real quick, finish laundry, pay bills, get ready for work...  I'm easily led astray...
I was excited to get at least a partial picture of my recently matured M. balfouri















Then I broke my own protocol of Do Not Harass the Spiders and teased him out with a stalk of sweetgrass:















Didn't expect to get this lucky:















I am just in awe...





He's at least 4", maybe bigger.  I didn't think the males got that big.

Reactions: Like 2


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## jbm150

Man I love the looks of that species, just can't get over how good they look.  Niiiiice pics!


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## grayzone

wow... nice balfouri... I just got offered a female for my mature regalis pair, but im hesitantly turning it down. These pics ARENT helping me make my decision


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## Formerphobe

Immature male LP





Still immature





Sucking on his molt





Bathing beauty, A. genic





Dolomedes tenabrosus

Reactions: Like 1


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## Jared781

Formerphobe said:


> Sericopelma rubronitens
> Brachypelma kahlenbergi
> Brachypelma sabulosum
> Brachypelma vagans.....
> 
> Most likely B. vagans.  This guy has an interesting story.  He was found 'at large' somewhere on the west coast and relinquished to a T enthusiast who donated him to the ATS for the conference raffle.  I won him at the raffle last year.  He molted in September to ~5.5 inches.  Hasn't matured yet.  Pictures don't do him justice.


I was focused on B. vagans as well  Found at large eh! lol thats funny!!!


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## Hendersoniana

Nice M balfouri shots, gives the elusive feel! Nice Ts, im jealous of ur collection!


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## Formerphobe

Still immature male L. parahybana.  Molt measured 5.5", again.





Sub adult female A. geniculata.  She's been spending a lot more time out of her burrow of late.





Just molted today - Brachypelma schroederi





Recently molted A. versicolor





Another boy OBT, molted early this morning.  My older male molted last week.


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## matt82

M. balfouri is an excellent genus in my book - the colour of the MM is fantastic.  Do you have a female for him?  If not hopefully you get a chance to loan him out


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## Formerphobe

He took a little trip to go meet his harem.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Awesome M. balfouri, that's a male, right?


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## mcluskyisms

Storm76 said:


> Awesome M. balfouri, that's a male, right?


2nd this^^

Love how the males get that bright blue carapace upon maturity!


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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei





B. vagans





GBB










Unexpected molt from G. pulchripes





Dolomedes tenabrosus


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## Formerphobe

B. schroederi sling got some color and some attitude with recent molt.










A. seemanni





C. ritae peeping out after its recent molt










A. versi, shrouded in web





GBB baby


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## Formerphobe

Surprise molt from Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'































---------- Post added 05-26-2012 at 03:26 PM ----------

Juvenile male LP





His salmon pink is showing





Juvenile female LP stuffing her face





Mystery Brachy





Ephebopus cyanognathus





Ephebopus murinus





G. pulchra youngster





GBB - this girl snatches prey out of the air before it hits her web.





B. verdezi juvenile female.  The pale area beneath her is her coconut shell hide that she buried.





More of her decorating scheme which she changes weekly





A. genic






---------- Post added 05-26-2012 at 05:23 PM ----------


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## Storm76

I like that idea of keeping the molts sorted like that, but I guess over time it'll become very space demanding  I keep mine all in a box, except the really tiny ones, those go to the trash usually as it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to keep them.

That E. cyanognathus reminds me of the phonecall I had last weekend with the breeder I got my spiders from. We were talking about the P. pulcher stuff and he suddenly burst out "Oh, crap! I gotta go, Jan - I have E. cyanognathus spiderlings all over the ceiling! Guess they broke out. Oh, damn - on the floor, too" - couldn't help but laugh about it...pretty funny.


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## naychur

@Formerphobe:  I like the biological modle that lets you see inside and out of the T.  Where did you get that?


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## Formerphobe

> the biological modle that lets you see inside and out of the T. Where did you get that?


Amazon.com
I had one repair guy freak out over it.... I forgot it was on the shelf.  He leaned over to look at something behind the shelf then realized his face was just an inch or so away from a 14 inch tarantula.  I think he had to go home and change his clothes... 



> I like that idea of keeping the molts sorted like that, but I guess over time it'll become very space demanding I keep mine all in a box, except the really tiny ones, those go to the trash usually as it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to keep them.


The display case was a freebie - came as part of a tea gift set.  I just keep the larger, more intact molts in there to use for educational lectures.  As I get a better one, one of the not so better ones gets bumped.  
The spider molt 'potpourri' box was an idea I borrowed from a friend.  I just started collecting the molts last year.  They keep settling, so filling it up could take awhile.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

A. seemanni





B. boehmei





G. pulchripes - out and about after recent molt





Recently molted Pumpkin Patch





Homoeomma sp blue molted today





Its sac mate is contemplating a molt





N. chromatus was also in the recent molting party





H. liv





Another not so good pic of another shy boy

Reactions: Like 1


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## Formerphobe

*Rehouse of E. murinus*

Pre-start burrow in Container Store shoe box





Add water bowl and burrow entrance 'roof'





And a little moss





'Ossa', not ecstatic about being rehoused.  I noted that it looked to be in pre-molt.





In its new abode





Four hours later... hmmm, 'pre-molt' was a bit of an understatement...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Four hours later... hmmm, 'pre-molt' was a bit of an understatement...


Slightly...


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## Formerphobe

One of my favorite girls










sub-adult male B. smithi





sub-adult female G. pulchripes





Immature male LP





Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta', recently molted















Another Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'










My daughter's A. versi

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## Formerphobe

My little boy done all growed up.  >>sniff, sniff<<
My first OBT, acquired from Patrick86 8February2011 @ ~0.75"
I thought I was all prepared to unpack the little sling... NOT!  He led me a merry chase all over my work place, doing spiral laps around my arms when I finally somewhat corralled him!  LOL
He's been good as gold ever since.  Never a threat pose, almost always visible and willing to pose for pictures.  
I hadn't seen much of him since I rehoused him in January.  He molted in early May, exuvium measured 4.25 inches when he pitched it out of his burrow.  
This evening he was out in all his mature male glory.  He measures a solid 5.0 inches dls.  (Wish I had a better camera...)





















---------- Post added 06-10-2012 at 11:56 PM ----------

Psalmopoeus cambridgei got rehoused today.  It's grown from 0.75" to ~3.0"  over 5 months and 5 molts.  It seems to like it's new 2 gallon pretzel jar.  No hiding or burrowing, just hanging out doing creepy arboreal spider things.

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## Formerphobe

Got a chance to peruse the P. cams molt this evening.  She's a girl!


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Got a chance to peruse the P. cams molt this evening.  She's a girl!


Congrats! Mine is a beast, however  Hope your's is more mellow 

I noticed that your H. spec. "blue" seems to web quite a bit - at least it does look like that in the latest pictures. Mine doesn't at all, but burrows actually. Interesting...


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## Formerphobe

> Congrats! Mine is a beast, however Hope your's is more mellow


About 24 hours after I rehoused her she burrowed and has stayed that way.  Came out to snag a cricket yesterday, then right back in her burrow...



> I noticed that your H. spec. "blue" seems to web quite a bit - at least it does look like that in the latest pictures. Mine doesn't at all, but burrows actually. Interesting...


Both have created a fair amount of webbing since rehoused in early May.  One makes full use of its enclosure, the other has a little web lair at the very top.  GBB behavior wasn't what I was expecting from these guys.

---------- Post added 06-16-2012 at 09:28 AM ----------

G. pulchripes is much more 'inquisitive' since last molt.  She used to rarely leave her burrow.  





G. pulchra





E. cyanognathus





Should have named this LP 'Bruiser'...  Except that he's a male, and an arachnid, I would suspect that he suffers from terminal PMS...  Ill-tempered cuss, he is.  I wish I could have gotten a decent shot of him throwing me a threat pose while standing in his water bowl with a mouthful of crickets.


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## Formerphobe

Today's molts: 
B. albiceps - it's a female!  Yay!










Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru' - it's a molt muncher!  AARRGGHH!


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## advan

I love your _Aphonopelma_ sp. 'Murietta'! She is gorgeous! I wouldn't mind more pics of her!


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## Formerphobe

Thank, Chad.  She hasn't been too cooperative in the photo dept since this last molt.  I'm sort of partial, but I think she's one of the best looking Ts I have.


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## Formerphobe

> I love your Aphonopelma sp. 'Murietta'! She is gorgeous! I wouldn't mind more pics of her!


For you, Chad.  





She took offense at this photo.  Until today, I could claim that the number of my NW tarantulas who have flicked hair at me could be counted on one hand... In a cloud of hair, she made number six.  LOL

GBB female still a little shy in her new clothes.





Her also recently molted neighbor behind a web veil.





G. pulchripes strutting her stuff















Juvenile female E. murinus, going to be as pretty as her mama.





Female B. albiceps, feeling a little more sure of her new legs.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> About 24 hours after I rehoused her she burrowed and has stayed that way.  Came out to snag a cricket yesterday, then right back in her burrow...
> 
> 
> Both have created a fair amount of webbing since rehoused in early May.  One makes full use of its enclosure, the other has a little web lair at the very top.  GBB behavior wasn't what I was expecting from these guys.


This is interesting to know, like I said, mine don't web except for the molting mat. The Euathlus has dug a hideout in the substrate under the corkbark whereas the Homoeomma loves to climb around on the plastic plant, but sometimes retreats to a little pre-provided burrow, too. Let's see how those fare in the future just for comparison. I find it rather interesting how differnt those specimens are...


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## Formerphobe

> This is interesting to know, like I said, mine don't web except for the molting mat. The Euathlus has dug a hideout in the substrate under the corkbark whereas the Homoeomma loves to climb around on the plastic plant, but sometimes retreats to a little pre-provided burrow, too. Let's see how those fare in the future just for comparison. I find it rather interesting how differnt those specimens are...


My Euathlus seem to be definite ground bodies, too, always excavating.  But, I've always had them in a more terrestrial style set up, more ground space than height.  The Homoeommas got cubes when they graduated from their condiment cups.  Maybe they are more opportunistic at different stages of their development(?)  Perhaps the Euathlus would have been, too, if given the opportunity.  Though, even as slings, they seemed more heavy bodied (classic terrestrial) than the Homoeommas.  Will definitely be interesting to see how things pan out.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> My Euathlus seem to be definite ground bodies, too, always excavating.  But, I've always had them in a more terrestrial style set up, more ground space than height.  The Homoeommas got cubes when they graduated from their condiment cups.  Maybe they are more opportunistic at different stages of their development(?)  Perhaps the Euathlus would have been, too, if given the opportunity.  Though, even as slings, they seemed more heavy bodied (classic terrestrial) than the Homoeommas.  Will definitely be interesting to see how things pan out.


One thing that I forgot to mention, is that at least my E. pulcherimaklaasi is quite defensive. At a certain point, for example when taking the waterdish out, she slaps the tongs in 1/4th of times. On the other hand, the Homoeomma seems to be as inquisitive as an E. spec. "fire" so far, with no aggression at all, yet. Interesting about that is, that at least what I read over here, this behavior is normaly the other way around, with the Euathlus being laid back and the Homoeomma being defensive... ::


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## Formerphobe

None of mine have exhibited defensiveness, to date...    My E. pulchers tend to be more skittish than the H. blues, but that also seems to vary with where they are in their molt cycle.  My E. pulchers are slow growers for sure.  They've molted 3 times in the last year and are ~2.0 inch dls (from ~1.0").  The H. blues have molted twice in the past 3 months and are ~1.5" (from ~1.0").

'Inquisitive' is a good description!

"Oh, my lid is off."  
"Whatcha doing?" 
"Do you have crickets?"
"Can I help?"
"Is that water?"

Busybodies is what they are!  LOL  Right up there with my G. pulchra, G. rosea and B. verdezi!


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> None of mine have exhibited defensiveness, to date...    My E. pulchers tend to be more skittish than the H. blues, but that also seems to vary with where they are in their molt cycle.  My E. pulchers are slow growers for sure.  They've molted 3 times in the last year and are ~2.0 inch dls (from ~1.0").  The H. blues have molted twice in the past 3 months and are ~1.5" (from ~1.0").
> 
> 'Inquisitive' is a good description.  [ITALIC]"Oh, my lid is off.  Whatcha doing? Do you have crickets?  Can I help?  Is that water?"[/ITALIC]  Busybodies is what they are!  LOL  Right up there with my G. pulchra, G. rosea and B. verdezi!


 LOL That's exactly like my Homoeomma act what you wrote there! Especially the "Oh my lid is off - whatcha doing?" part  "She" (suspect female) is not a big eater, but certainly sooo curious and likes to walk out. Both are somewhat skittish, but I consider that to be the case because of their age. 

As for molts:

E. pulcherimaklaasi: April 10th, 2012 / June 4th, 2012 so far. Acquired the one with a body-length of approx. 2cm ~ 1". It's now at 2.5" DLS.
H. spec. "blue": April 29th, 2012 - I'm pretty much awaiting for her to molt again. She's currently at like 2.25-2.5", too. DLS that is.


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## Gilberator

I just went through this whole thread today and all I can say is WOW. Great looking Ts. Getting my first tomorrow  . Brachy Albo 1"  toooooooo excited. Debating on going with a Avic. Urticans after that. Love the purple


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## Formerphobe

Thank you, Gil.    Congrats on your new B. albo.  Mine are still pretty small, too.  We'll be waiting awhile for them to grow up.  They do grow faster than some of the other Brachys, though.  (btw - genus is capitalized, species is lower case.  i.e. - B. albopilosum; A. urticans)


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## advan

Formerphobe said:


> For you, Chad.


She is awesome! I really wish she was gravid when she was collected! Thanks for the pic!


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## Gilberator

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you, Gil.    Congrats on your new B. albo.  Mine are still pretty small, too.  We'll be waiting awhile for them to grow up.  They do grow faster than some of the other Brachys, though.  (btw - genus is capitalized, species is lower case.  i.e. - B. albopilosum; A. urticans)


GOT IT!!! haha you can see i'm just a mere peon  Brachy albo ***. She's coming in a few hours!!!!! I say she because thats what im hoping it is


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## Formerphobe

> She's coming in a few hours!!!!! I say she because thats what im hoping it is


Even if it's a male, you'll still have fun watching it grow.  Enjoy!  Don't forget to post pics!




> I love your Aphonopelma sp. 'Murietta'! She is gorgeous! I wouldn't mind more pics of her!


Won't be any more pics of this pretty girl.  I came home from work this evening to find her deceased.  :-(  
No obvious cause.  She seemed fine this morning.  Not even in a death curl, just limp.  She was in one of her favorite basking spots.  Looks like she just up and died.


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## Formerphobe

A. seemanni





B. emilia.  This one had a cyst and molted out of most of it.  If you don't know where it was, it's almost impossible to see now.





E. cyanognathus





This girl is a beauty in any light.










Almost glow-in-the-dark N. chromatus





Homoeomma sp blue Peru grew some loooong legs at last molt.





G. rosea, one of my favorite girls


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## Formerphobe

Large female B. boehmei molt










Wish I had a better camera...










A little post molt yoga

Reactions: Like 1


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## advan

Formerphobe said:


> Won't be any more pics of this pretty girl.  I came home from work this evening to find her deceased.  :-(
> No obvious cause.  She seemed fine this morning.  Not even in a death curl, just limp.  She was in one of her favorite basking spots.  Looks like she just up and died.


Aww, I'm so sorry FP. She will be missed.


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## Formerphobe

> Aww, I'm so sorry FP. She will be missed


Thanks, Chad.  She surely will be missed.  Pulled from a construction site as an adult, she'd been in captivity for 16 years.  She could have been a very old lady.  I was very pleased to have had her this past year.  Her spot on the shelf remains empty.


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## Storm76

Really love the last pic of the boehmei doing her yoga hour  Awesome!

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## jbm150

I too am sorry for the loss of your Murietta.  She was such an intriguing looking T, they seem to be nonexistent in the hobby.  Truly a gem

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## Hendersoniana

I love ur ephebopus murinus and cyagnonanthus. And im really sorry to hear about ur T. At least u gave her a good life .

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## Formerphobe

Broke down the scorpion tank last night.  Found Big Bertha just molted.















Some of the other females appear as though they might be gravid.


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## Formerphobe

C. elegans. I don't see this one very often.  It wasn't quite sure where it was going with its cricket.










Personal decor of E. cyanognathus






ETA:  oops... 'pears I misspelled Acanthoscurria...

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## Formerphobe

Sub adult female OBT















Female GBB





C. ritae





Dolomedes tenebrosus





Eacles imperialis (I think)





Oh, look!  There really is a H. mac in that enclosure!





E. murinus















A. genic sub adult female

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Really like that E. murinus of yours...


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## Formerphobe

Thanks.    They have quickly became one of my favorites.  They hang out in their burrow entrances on a regular basis.  If I open the lid, they run to ground.  No surprise, right?  But, wait a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and they come creeping back out to see what is going on.  Not only beautiful, but entertaining as well.  LOL

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks.    They have quickly became one of my favorites.  They hang out in their burrow entrances on a regular basis.  If I open the lid, they run to ground.  No surprise, right?  But, wait a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and they come creeping back out to see what is going on.  Not only beautiful, but entertaining as well.  LOL


Yep, sounds entertaining. Let me guess - crickets are suiciding running straight into the burrow?
I had the chance on an unsexed 2" for EUR 18.- but passed on it. Oh well, sometime in the future, I'm in no hurry


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## Formerphobe

> Let me guess - crickets are suiciding running straight into the burrow?


Sometimes.  Spiders know as soon as the crickets hit their substrate.  If they are going to eat, they come out on the hunt immediately!



> I had the chance on an unsexed 2" for EUR 18.- but passed on it. Oh well, sometime in the future, I'm in no hurry


I waited a long time for mine.  I wanted babies from a specific female that belongs to a friend.  She ate her first sac, so I had to wait for the next go round.    It was worth the wait!


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## Formerphobe

*Recent molts*

Hapalopus sp Columbia grossa 'Pumpkin Patch'  
This one completely destroyed its exuvium!  Not just chewed it up, dismembered it!  Had parts scattered all over its condiment cup.





Brachypelma albiceps - 2 out of 2 slings are female!  Yay!  Tiny consolation for having to cancel my trip to the ATS conference...










Aphonopelma burica (aka crinirufum)  Raffle baby from ATS 2011.  These guys burrowed deep after last rehousing.  This is the first one I have seen topside since January.  They were ~0.75" in January.  Now nearly 2"!  Not sure how many molts in between.

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## Trogdora

Sheesh, what are you feeding your spiders? :laugh: My E. murinus slings are still around 1.5", and my raffle crinirufum are barely .75"! Your tarantulas are beautiful, congrats on those albiceps females! I have a cute little male who will be looking for a date eventually...


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## paassatt

Formerphobe said:


> Hapalopus sp Columbia grossa 'Pumpkin Patch'
> This one completely destroyed its exuvium!  Not just chewed it up, dismembered it!  Had parts scattered all over its condiment cup.


My E. murinus girl did this after her last molt a few months ago. Luckily I was able to sex her exuvium after a molt over a year ago, so it's not like I really needed her to preserve it for me or anything. It was just astonishing to see...like you said, there were parts scattered all over the place. It was like she was mad at the world and took out all of her pent-up frustration on it. It would've been cool to actually see her in action doing it.


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## Formerphobe

> Sheesh, what are you feeding your spiders?


Mostly power fed crickets with the occasional mealworm.  Slings get fed once a week, juvies to adults every 2 to 6 weeks.


> My E. murinus slings are still around 1.5",


Do you have 'Bones' babies, too, from Heartland? I've been surprised, myself, at how fast these have grown!


> and my raffle crinirufum are barely .75"!


And these, too!  I thought they were supposed to be slow growers?!


> Your tarantulas are beautiful, congrats on those albiceps females! I have a cute little male who will be looking for a date eventually...


Thank you!  The albiceps were labeled as 1.5".  When they arrived in March, there was a good half inch size difference between them.  The size difference is not so appreciable now, but they, too, have grown far faster than I expected.  This last one came out of her molt very weak.  I was a little concerned for a day or so.  She's looking better now.  Keep me posted on that boy spider.    Though these girls won't be mature for a long while yet.

---------- Post added 07-17-2012 at 10:58 PM ----------




> It was like she was mad at the world and took out all of her pent-up frustration on it. It would've been cool to actually see her in action doing it.


Exactly!  This one *is* a little feisty.  Maybe it's telling me it's time for bigger digs.


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## Trogdora

Formerphobe said:


> Mostly power fed crickets with the occasional mealworm.  Slings get fed once a week, juvies to adults every 2 to 6 weeks.


Okay, so we're on the same feeding schedule... must be that tropical VA weather that's doing the trick. 



> Do you have 'Bones' babies, too, from Heartland? I've been surprised, myself, at how fast these have grown!


I do! Such a beautiful mommy, I had to get some of her slings.



> And these, too!  I thought they were supposed to be slow growers?!


I thought that too! Aphonopelma have always been my slowest growers.



> Thank you!  The albiceps were labeled as 1.5".  When they arrived in March, there was a good half inch size difference between them.  The size difference is not so appreciable now, but they, too, have grown far faster than I expected.  This last one came out of her molt very weak.  I was a little concerned for a day or so.  She's looking better now.  Keep me posted on that boy spider.    Though these girls won't be mature for a long while yet.


He's got a ways to go too, I'd say he's around the 2.5" mark now and given how slowly Ts grow at my house... :laugh:


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## Formerphobe

> must be that tropical VA weather that's doing the trick.


LOL Sure has felt tropical here recently!  I was hoping for some respite from the humidity at the ATS Conference, but plans fell through.  :-(
My house actually gets pretty chilly in the winter time.  Not sure I could even speculate why many of my Ts grow so fast.  I know the A. burica seemed to take off when I rehoused them with lots of substrate depth and they promptly burrowed to the bottom and stayed there for months.



> I do! Such a beautiful mommy, I had to get some of her slings.


Yup!  Yup! Me, too!


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## Formerphobe

Sub-adult female OBT





Juvenile female E. murinus





Sub-adult unsexed H. liv





Juvenile H. mac - second sighting this week!

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## Formerphobe

Recent addition: N. tripepii





Another new addition: P. scrofa





E. cyanognathus - first meal in new abode





Homoeomma sp blue showing what's for dinner.  These have grown much faster than I expected.





B. schroederi premolt





GBB





Hmmm... one of G. rosea's roaches escaped her jaws, wants to run away and join the circus..

Reactions: Like 2


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## Trogdora

Formerphobe said:


> LOL Sure has felt tropical here recently!  I was hoping for some respite from the humidity at the ATS Conference, but plans fell through.  :-(
> My house actually gets pretty chilly in the winter time.  Not sure I could even speculate why many of my Ts grow so fast.  I know the A. burica seemed to take off when I rehoused them with lots of substrate depth and they promptly burrowed to the bottom and stayed there for months.


We missed you.  Next year you'll be back, hopefully!
I won another A. burica in the raffle, heh. It's the same size as the ones I currently have, so apparently yours are just fast growers.


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## Formerphobe

> We missed you. Next year you'll be back, hopefully!
> I won another A. burica in the raffle, heh. It's the same size as the ones I currently have, so apparently yours are just fast growers.


Next year is *heavily* penciled in on my calendar! (I think Murphy's Law kicked in when I wrote it in with a Sharpie this year...)
I've been greatly enjoying the photos from the conference!  Looks like a great time was had by all, as was expected.  

I don't know what's up with my A. burica.  They even seem to be showing some blue since this last molt.  But, apparently, many of my arachnids are turning blue on me. Or maybe it's just my imagination working overtime...

---------- Post added 07-27-2012 at 08:45 PM ----------

I got this T back in December.  It molted the day I got it to just about 0.5 inch.  Today was it's fourth molt with me.
I bought it for a G. pulchripes.  It has looked and behaved like other G. pulchripes slings I have raised.  I previously had no reason to believe it was other than a G. pulchripes.

I partook of a little T therapy this afternoon.  When I peeked into this container I saw a freshly molted dark blue spider.  :?  
I thought perhaps I had rearranged containers by accident.  Nope, right container, right label... blue spider.
It grew tremendously with this molt - from 1.5" to at least 2.5".
This picture taken in natural light which is the best my phone camera can come to capturing true colors, and it still fails.  In actuality, the spider is much more blue than the photo depicts.
Do G. pulchripes come in blue?


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## Formerphobe

Haplopelma lividum.  Should have named this one 'Curious George'.  If I take the lid off and stay quiet, it will come creeping out to see what's going on.

























Ephebopus murinus





Ephebopus cyanognathus





Pterinochilus murinus










Hapalopus sp Columbia large





Grammostola pulchripes, still showing a blue tint

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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma seemanni - recently molted juvenile female, first foray out of the burrow post molt





Aphonopelma burica - this one and its sac mates stayed burrowed for almost 6 months.  Must have molted a few times, much bigger now and living up to common name: 'Costa Rican Blue Front'





Less colorful sac mate





Brachypelma albiceps - surprise molt today!  She's still a girl.  LOL





Brachypelma boehmei - she hasn't yet decided if she wants that ping pong ball in the water bowl or out... today it is in.





Up close





Brachypelma smithi - one of my many Brachys who may be joining the molting party





Brachypelma verdezi - another potential 'party goer'.  She spent the day busily rearranging all of her substrate.





GBB baby, well, juvenile.  This one spent two months free range in my house.  It continues to do well in 'captivity'...





Grammostola pulchripes - juvenile female, 'helping' with tank maintenance.










Homoeomma sp blue Peru - molted today.  Still a molt-muncher, still unsexed...





LP teenaged boy






---------- Post added 08-04-2012 at 12:44 AM ----------

Paraphysa scrofa baby - every time I take off the lid this one comes crawling out.  It must have smelled the mealworm and pulled an immediate U-turn for a change.





P. scrofa sac mate thinking about a molt.





Teeny tiny Nhandu tripepii showed absolutely no fear of the freshly killed 'colossal' mealworm, unlike some of its cowardly Nhandu cousins...

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## Storm76

Looks like your H. sp. "blue" gained way more blue in that last molt, too? Congrats!


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## Formerphobe

> Looks like your H. sp. "blue" gained way more blue in that last molt, too? Congrats!


Thanks, Jan.  Seems everything is turning blue at my house!  A. burica, A. seemanni, H. blue Peru, even G. pulchripes!  As long as my red Brachys and my OBTs stay their proper color.  LOL  Hmmm, a blue OBT...  One of our Canadian members has an orange creamsicle colored OBT.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Jan.  Seems everything is turning blue at my house!  A. burica, A. seemanni, H. blue Peru, even G. pulchripes!  As long as my red Brachys and my OBTs stay their proper color.  LOL  Hmmm, a blue OBT...  One of our Canadian members has an orange creamsicle colored OBT.


LOL! I have to admit, that blue G. pulchripes made me go "wth?" here. Never seen that happen before. Then again, up to a few hours after a molt the colors seem to be just "settling" in and chance once hardened?


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## Formerphobe

> LOL! I have to admit, that blue G. pulchripes made me go "wth?" here. Never seen that happen before. Then again, up to a few hours after a molt the colors seem to be just "settling" in and chance once hardened?


Me neither.  It's been 9 days since it molted and it still has a deep blue hue to it.  If I had to pick a specific color, I'd call it navy.  I don't remember my older one ever looking like that.  Just have to see what it does through it's next molt or two.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Me neither.  It's been 9 days since it molted and it still has a deep blue hue to it.  If I had to pick a specific color, I'd call it navy.  I don't remember my older one ever looking like that.  Just have to see what it does through it's next molt or two.


Very interesting, to say the least. I'll keep an eye on the progress of that one as you post...it's certainly looks nothign like I've ever seen of that species...


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## Formerphobe

E. murinus, a daily sighting complete with 'dewdrops'.





N. chromatus has been remodeling its burrow in preparation for a molt.





Freshly molted B. boehmei





Recently molted A. seemanni





Another recent molt, the previously free-range GBB





A. versi 'britches'





B. emilia will probably molt within the month.

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## Trogdora

I'm so glad the GBB has returned!  I lost a T for over 12 hours yesterday and my first thought was of you and that little bugger.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, me, too!  It was gone for right at 2 months.  It may have had a far greater adventure than what I could possibly imagine.  I found it in my mom's laundry that I had just brought home from the rehab hospital to wash.


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## Formerphobe

Recently molted B. schroederi - female!





A. seemanni - love this spider!  (In the first pic, toward top right corner, you can see her neighboring G. pulchra's butt.)










P. cam that I don't see very often - still doing its fossorial imitation.





P. scrofa - these little guys are eating machines!






---------- Post added 08-12-2012 at 06:07 PM ----------

I didn't realize what a molting party has been going on at my house.  Molted in the last thirty days:
1 P. scrofa
2 N. chromatus
2 G. pulchripes
3 A. burica
1 A. seemanni
3 A. versi
2 B. albiceps
2 B. albopilosum
1 B. boehmei
1 B. schroederi
2 GBB
2 C. ritae
1 E. pulcherimaklaasi
2 Homoeomma sp blue
1 N. coloratovillosus
1 P. cam
1 LP

Strongly suspect, but haven't found the exuviums.  Brief glimpses show bigger, brighter spiders:
2 C. elegans
2 E. cyanognathus
1 H. mac

Those currently showing signs of pre-molt:
2 B. emilia
1 B. smithi
2 B. vagans
1 B. verdezi
1 GBB
1 E. pulcherimaklaasi
2 G. pulchra
1 G. rosea
1 N. chromatus
2 H. lividum - one sealed its burrow entrance on 8/3, the other webbed over its entrance while I was at work today.  'Closed doors' generally = impending molt

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## Storm76

That P. cam sure it isn't a wrongly labeled Haplopelma sp.?  Never seen them really DIGGING that much, yours seems to have a real burrow actually...


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## Formerphobe

Yep, she has a real burrow.  There is maybe 1.5 inches of substrate in the bottom of the container with corkbark and 'foliage' throughout the top part.  She has a U shaped burrow that goes to the bottom of the container and she has built up the 'arms' of the U so the entire structure is ~4 wide with the 'front door' and 'back door' rising ~4 inches.  I have it on good authority that she really is a P. cam.  LOL  None of my animals ever follow the rules...

---------- Post added 08-13-2012 at 10:44 PM ----------




> Those currently showing signs of pre-molt:
> 2 B. emilia
> 1 B. smithi
> 2 B. vagans - 8/13/2012
> 1 B. verdezi
> 1 GBB
> 1 E. pulcherimaklaasi
> 2 G. pulchra
> 1 G. rosea
> 1 N. chromatus
> 2 H. lividum


Add one of those B. vagans to the 'done molted' list.    Her size rivals that of my just-molted-the-day-before LP who is more than a year older.  Pics of both to come when they are back out in the open again.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Yep, she has a real burrow.  There is maybe 1.5 inches of substrate in the bottom of the container with corkbark and 'foliage' throughout the top part.  She has a U shaped burrow that goes to the bottom of the container and she has built up the 'arms' of the U so the entire structure is ~4 wide with the 'front door' and 'back door' rising ~4 inches.  I have it on good authority that she really is a P. cam.  LOL  None of my animals ever follow the rules...




Awesome! I hear you on the "follow the rules thing" - pretty much most of my T's are the opposite temperament-wise than their respective genus. It's interesting, to say the least. Owning a B. smithi that outright attacks you in 50% of the time you want to get the waterdish out for cleaning is keeping you on your toes, though


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## papilio

Hey Joyce!    Sorry, I only now realized that you're on AB too when I saw your post on Chad's thread!  You know I love your shots, and it really is a great collection ... I can see why you'd affectionately call them the 'kids'!!  
I'm amazed by the pseudo-BlueFang you have!!!  

p.s.  Love the poolside N. tripepii shot too!    I'll be receiving a couple of the same slings early next week.  :TBounce:


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## Crysta

nice pictures man!!! cute cam.... i miss olive when she was that cute lol


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## Formerphobe

> You know I love your shots, and it really is a great collection
> p.s. Love the poolside N. tripepii shot too! I'll be receiving a couple of the same slings early next week. :TBounce:


Thanks, Michael.   
_"Poolside N. tripepii shot?.?.?."_  I had to go back, look and see what I posted.  It *does* look like a poolside shot!  That 's the green wool blanket on my bed.  LOL
(I'm still working on that camera...)



> nice pictures man!!! cute cam..


Thanks, Crysta.


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## Formerphobe

Lasiodora parahybana, female, acquired 5-1-2010 @ 0.25", has molted 11 times in my care.
Brachypelma vagans, female, acquired 1/20/2011 @ 0.25", has molted 8 times in my care.

I think it can be safely said that B. vagans are fast growing Brachys...

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## Formerphobe

A better picture of B. schroederi.  Here I've been calling it a 'he'.  He be a she!





Recently molted female LP 6+ inches





How does everyone get whole spider pics of their A. versicolors?  I just get 'parts'...















A. seemanni subadult female





P. cambridgei juvenile female

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## papilio

Wow, lots of nice photos posted here Joyce!!     I love the colors and lighting on the _B. schroederi_!  Nice macros of your versi too!

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## advan

That's a lot of arboreals in one post Joyce!  Nice pics!

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## Formerphobe

advan said:


> That's a lot of arboreals in one post Joyce!  Nice pics!


Two arboreals, Chad, just two species.  I still haven't been won over.  LOL  The versis are usually so swathed in webbing and their walls painted in spider poo that I rarely get the opportunity to see them clearly, much less take pics.  And I happened to catch the P. cam out of its subterranean burrow for a change.  Oh, and I have a token H. mac, too.  It's lived here for almost a year and is a better fossorial than my true fossorials.  LOL  I'm still waiting to see what all the arboreal hullabaloo is about.  

I do love my semi-arboreals, though.  Up to four GBBs and three OBTs.  At this stage in their development, I also have to include the two Homoeomma sp blue Peru as semi-arboreals.  Both have webbed hammocks high in their enclosures.  One only leaves its aerie for food and drink.  (They didn't read 'the book' either...LOL)

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## Formerphobe

At about 8 a.m. immature male G. pulchra was busily constructing his molting mat.  He turned over about 11:30 a.m.  He finally righted himself about 10:00 this evening.  Exuvium measured 5.5 inches.  And NO emboli or hooks, so I get to keep him at least another year!  He is beautiful!

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## papilio

Nice work Joyce!    Good clear molt pictures like this are pretty exciting to get aren't they?!


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## Formerphobe

Picked up a few new ones today: Aphonopelma chalcodes, Aphonopelma moderatum and Nhandu carapoenisis.
I can already tell the A. chalcodes is going to be a favorite.    She is very photogenic.  N. carapoenisis is still in its shy stage.


























---------- Post added 08-26-2012 at 12:21 AM ----------

G. pulchripes was spending entirely too much time walking the walls and dangling from her ceiling, so I rehoused her today to an enclosure where she can't do the ceiling dangle.  I do believe she threw a temper tantrum... This is her before the rehouse.





B. vagans out of her burrow for the first time post-molt, still stretching.





Female LP





A. burica

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


>


!!!!  Whew!  

Photogenic indeed!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Nice work Joyce!    Good clear molt pictures like this are pretty exciting to get aren't they?!


Sure are, Michael!  I took over one hundred shots of 'Faranth's' molt.  Watching the ecdysis process never gets boring, even if it takes 10 hours!    I postponed multiple errands today (one of which was camera shopping...) to scoot home so I wouldn't miss anything.  LOL

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## Formerphobe

I thought he was being a little overzealous building a molting mat that big...  I guess not.

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## Formerphobe

Recently molted, and still immature, G. pulchra male





A. genic, one of my favorite girls





GBB, another of my favorite girls.





Oh, who am I kidding?  They're all my favorites!  Dunno what this B. boehmei was doing with her ping pong ball, she stayed in that position the better part of the day.  LOL





P. cambridgei female.  Still not sure how I feel about this one.  It's nice that she finally came out of her burrow, though.  





A little newbie P. scrofa.

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## Formerphobe

The three Stooges, I mean versis... Not even on the blue moon could I get a decent picture.  They're ~18 months old, DLS ~4"















B. boehmei female, ~2 years old, ~4" DLS





B. boehmei female, ~5 years old, ~5" DLS





B. verdezi female recent molt










Recently molted Hapalopus sp Columbian large, through the web shot





A. genic female at her favorite past time





B. albiceps juvenile female - "Where did that cricket go?"





A. chalcodes





P. scrofa sling





A. burica, actual color difference between sac mates









A. burica - until today, these have seemed pretty tractable.  This picture was taken right before the subject leaped at me!  Guess it was done with the photo shoot...  LOL

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## Formerphobe

My pretty girl - B. verdezi






---------- Post added 09-19-2012 at 08:12 AM ----------

Not spiders but, my two youngest at the Ramin Karimloo concert last night.

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## mcluskyisms

Awesome little P. scrofa, also liking the A. chalcodes shot.  

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

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## Formerphobe

mcluskyisms said:


> Awesome little P. scrofa, also liking the A. chalcodes shot.


Thank you!  

---------- Post added 09-28-2012 at 01:01 AM ----------

A. geniculata - this girl has become very 'social', she is out and about nearly all the time.





G. rosea female





G. pulchra immature male





B. schroederi with her britches in a twist.





Guess she wanted food, not water...





E. murinus female





E. murinus unsexed until today.  I think I see some boxing gloves...





B. verdezi female





E. cyanognathus










Glow in the dark knees on N. coloratovillosus





A. chalcodes





Rehousing of juvenile B. albo





Lots of new containers





I need another set of shelves...






---------- Post added 09-28-2012 at 01:49 AM ----------

P. scrofa sling - eyes bigger than stomach?

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## Storm76

Nice new pics - that last one is hilarious


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## Formerphobe

My crickets are growing faster than my spiders, so I pinch the crickets heads then let the slings eat what they will.  It amazes me that even when the slings 'scavenge', they still go through the motions of grabbing the prey by the head to disable it.


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## Formerphobe

*Packing the Cowardly Cobalts*

So, three out of three Haplopelma lividum slings were male.  I sent the last two out of here today to meet their dates.  
The three arrived here May 4, 2011 at 0.5 inch (reportedly 1st instar).  They've been rehoused twice and packed for shipping once.  I never received the first threat pose from any of them at any time.  (Maybe the females are more defensive?.?.?)  Their response to negative stimuli has always been to huddle and cover their eyes.  Even though they are typical Haplo homebodies, I saw them nearly every day in the mouths of their respective burrows, and one or more would usually be all the way out of the burrow after nightfall.

Packing stuff, including my highly specialized excavation tools...










Removing mouth of burrow










Marking with masking tape approximate location of 'victim'





Last layer





Taking precautions despite cowardly history...





Peeled out of webbed tunnel




















In transfer bottle










All spiders, including burrowers seem to want to go 'up'.  With only two hands I couldn't take a picture of me inverting this to encourage them to go 'away from the light'.





Wasabe went in head first.





Vindaloo decided to back in






Bye guys!  Go out and make lots of little blue babies!  LOL

---------- Post added 10-01-2012 at 11:35 AM ----------

G. pulchripes lounging on hide





Homeomma sp blue





MM E. murinus










Poor shot of embolus

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## Storm76

Very nice documenting getting those Haplos out there. This will help people owning them, I guess. It's one of the species that I'll stay away from as frankly, these kinda scare me. I don't really know why, given that they're just another fast OW spider, but that's how it is. :bruised:

At least my Brachys and Grammostola don't really climb once out of their habitat, they much rather settle down and in peek-a-boo pose. Once again one of the "depends on specimen" things I assume. I've had to redo the enclosure of the versi that molted a week ago and she instantly went up. After trying to get her out of the catchcup back in her home again for like 4 times (and she running back UP inside the catchcup) I decided to plain simply put those cups next to each other and just guide her over. Was -way- simpler that way. With arboreals it seems to be easier to "guide" them over, rather than gently prodding them out of a catchcup that's pointed downward into the enclosure. However, I'm sure it'll be fun once I have to do that stuff with my Poeci


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## LucasNorth

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you!




I have same spray bottle with exact same dent in it


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## Formerphobe

LucasNorth said:


> I have same spray bottle with exact same dent in it


LOL  And how many times did you pop out the dent before you finally gave up?

---------- Post added 10-01-2012 at 10:36 PM ----------

>>> It's one of the species that I'll stay away from <<<
I avoided OW for a long time, just admired them from afar.  You have a Pokie, just go for the H. liv, Jan.  You know you want one.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> I avoided OW for a long time, just admired them from afar.  You have a Pokie, just go for the H. liv, Jan.  You know you want one.


No way. I don't know what it is, but something is creeping me out about them.


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## Shrike

Nice collection you've got there Formerphobe!  I'm loving the bluefang.


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## Formerphobe

> Nice collection you've got there Formerphobe!


Thank you, neighbor!  I don't get to see the blue fangs very often, but always impressive when I do.


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## Formerphobe

I'm really not overfeeding this little C. elegans.  The last time it was fed was the last time I saw it on 24 Aug.  





"MY waterbowl!"





Waterfront dining...





G. pulchra





G. rosea





A. versi





E .murinus MM,when he realized there was no food forthcoming.

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## Formerphobe

*Recent molts*

B. emilia female.  Exuvium measured ~4.0".  I noted on August 3rd that she appeared to be in early pre-molt. She last accepted food on August 24th and molted yesterday.





B. smithi male.  Exuvium meas ~4.5".  Must be on same schedule as B. emilia above: noted early pre-molt on 8/3.  Last accepted food on 8/25, molted early this morning.















Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi.  ~DLS 2.0" Last accepted prey on June 22nd, noted early pre-molt on June 30.  Molted yesterday.  It's sac mate molted on August 2nd after refusing prey for 2 months and appearing to be in pre-molt for 3 months.  These guys/gals are slooooow growers.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi.  ~DLS 2.0" Last accepted prey on June 22nd, noted early pre-molt on June 30.  Molted yesterday.  It's sac mate molted on August 2nd after refusing prey for 2 months and appearing to be in pre-molt for 3 months.  These guys/gals are slooooow growers.


Looks like the same goes for ALL Euathlus, Homoeomma and Thrixopelma spp. - at least you'll own them a long time  Do you have a pic of the one that molted -after- it did?


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Looks like the same goes for ALL Euathlus, Homoeomma and Thrixopelma spp. - at least you'll own them a long time  Do you have a pic of the one that molted -after- it did?





Storm76 said:


> Looks like the same goes for ALL Euathlus, Homoeomma and Thrixopelma spp. - at least you'll own them a long time  Do you have a pic of the one that molted -after- it did?


These guys hatched fall of 2010, I got them July 2011 at ~1.0 inch and they are right at 2 inches now.  They've each molted four times in my care.  
The Homoeomma sp blue I think were hatched in fall of 2011, I got them in March 2012 at ~1.0 inch.  They, too, have molted four times in my care and are 3 in +.  Definitely faster than the E. pulchers.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> These guys hatched fall of 2010, I got them July 2011 at ~1.0 inch and they are right at 2 inches now.  They've each molted four times in my care.
> The Homoeomma sp blue I think were hatched in fall of 2011, I got them in March 2012 at ~1.0 inch.  They, too, have molted four times in my care and are 3 in +.  Definitely faster than the E. pulchers.


I see, so there's at least a difference in growth-rate species-wise in those genera. Interesting. Thanks!


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## Formerphobe

And the Homoeomma sp want to be arboreal.  When I moved them from 'infant vials' to cubes, neither used the hides provided, nor did they attempt to burrow.  One spent most of its time on the sides or on its corkbark hide, but would molt on the ground.  The other made a web hammock in the top of its fake plant where it spent most of its time and even molted twice up there.  I recently moved them to larger terrestrial quarters where both spend most of their time on the sides or on top of stuff.  I don't think it's the substrate, they're just looking for the height.  I think I should offer them an arboreal set up even though they're built like terrestrials...

The E. pulcherrimaklaasi are definite terrestrials, though neither has burrowed. They rarely if ever used the hides provided and I've never seen either on the sides or on top of stuff.  They are excavators, though, regularly shifting dirt around.

Neither species is skittish.  H. blues are better eaters and more active.

What are you seeing with yours?


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## Alltheworld601

They're all so beautiful, but I have to say that face on your versicolor is just adorable, such a good capture.  I also love the C. Elegans.  I really want one but I'm too afraid I'd lose it due to the size.


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## Trogdora

Such lovely Ts.  Your B. emilia female is stunning, but I've always been partial to that species.


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## Formerphobe

> Alltheworld601
> They're all so beautiful, but I have to say that face on your versicolor is just adorable, such a good capture. I also love the C. Elegans. I really want one but I'm too afraid I'd lose it due to the size.


Thank you!  The color on the versi didn't come out well, but I liked the face, too.    Yeah, the C. elegans started out really tiny!  I can see them now without a magnifying glass, when they deign to make an appearance.  LOL



> Trogdora
> Such lovely Ts. Your B. emilia female is stunning, but I've always been partial to that species.


Thanks!  The emilia's colors really popped with this molt.  Now waiting for her sister to molt.


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## Silberrücken

*Formerphobe, your T's are looking very good! Love your B. emilia...  she looks just like Igen. :biggrin:*


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> *Formerphobe, your T's are looking very good! Love your B. emilia...  she looks just like Igen. :biggrin:*


She should, they be kinfolk!  LOL  The last one pictured is Telgar.  I'm anxiously awaiting a molt from Benden - the one with the cyst.  How is Igen, and the rest of your crew?


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## Silberrücken

*LOL! :biggrin:

Igen is a gorgeous girl now, but has become a reclusive one... she built a tunnel with a HUGE chamber, and spends her time in it. I have caught her out and about late at night, tho. Luckily she built the chamber's end right up to the wall, and I can observe her. 

Chipara is getting big too... poor girl is pre-molt. Can't wait to see her new look!

Alcatraz...  this one is indeed a female, and a beautiful one at that. Such a cool girl. Last night I got to see her speed...  had a cricket in tongs and she teleported onto the cricket, spun around so she was on the tongs and my hand, ripped the cricket off, and teleported into her tunnel. *heart*attack*   

The rest of my girls are doing well also. All fat & chillin' T-style. :laugh:*


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## Formerphobe

Ah!  Molt munching Igen turned out to be a girl!  Congrats!

LOL @ Alcatraz!  I'll bet you had visions of a much larger free range P. cam!  Her sister molted this past week, in her well lined even if up against the wall web tube.  I got a half a glimpse of her today.  OMG!  Legs as far as the eye can see!

Did you see that Faranth molted?  Still immature...  Maybe next year.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> And the Homoeomma sp want to be arboreal.  When I moved them from 'infant vials' to cubes, neither used the hides provided, nor did they attempt to burrow.  One spent most of its time on the sides or on its corkbark hide, but would molt on the ground.  The other made a web hammock in the top of its fake plant where it spent most of its time and even molted twice up there.  I recently moved them to larger terrestrial quarters where both spend most of their time on the sides or on top of stuff.  I don't think it's the substrate, they're just looking for the height.  I think I should offer them an arboreal set up even though they're built like terrestrials...
> 
> The E. pulcherrimaklaasi are definite terrestrials, though neither has burrowed. They rarely if ever used the hides provided and I've never seen either on the sides or on top of stuff.  They are excavators, though, regularly shifting dirt around.
> 
> Neither species is skittish.  H. blues are better eaters and more active.
> 
> What are you seeing with yours?


I can certainly sign what you write there. My 4,5" E. pulcherrimaklaasi girl is shifting dirt and enclosure details around regularly! Every morning I find the plastic plants in another part of the enclosure. She rarely, if ever, goes into her hide and stays mostly outside. She doesn't seem to like the substrate too much however, and is often on the walls of the enclosure (though I changed it already once).

Both of my Homoeomma spp. seem to like to climb, too. They are less on the substrate than actually on the ceiling or wall. The smaller one digs a little sometimes, but the bigger (suspect male) made himself a web-hammock between a batch of fake plants that I formed into a circle. Interesting enough, he molted within there. After that, he seemingly likes to climb and sit on higher spots, than on the ground. I agree it's not the substrate and they simply seem to like the heigth. The AF the breeder I got them from is very much terrestrial though - weird, but maybe once they mature they change behaviour.


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## Formerphobe

A. versi










Freshly molted A. burica





Same A. burica in the shadow of a 'leaf'





GBB










P. cam anticipating a meal





Half-hearted threat pose?





She got food.  I am dismissed.  LOL






---------- Post added 10-12-2012 at 08:56 PM ----------

New blue Soqotri babies.    "Denim's" children: 'Oracle', 'Talisman', 'Sorciere'

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## Storm76

Gotta love P. cam temperaments...though personally I'd wish my girl would mellow out some more


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## Apollo Justice

Storm76 said:


> I see, so there's at least a difference in growth-rate species-wise in those genera. Interesting. Thanks!


Funny enough I have 4 Homoeomma sp blue from the first hatching in 2011 and within a matter of 6 months my largest female grew from 3/4" spiderling to about 5". I have another female I got at the same time that's only at the 3" mark and the last time either of them molted was last year in October. Oh and I was not power feeding I kept them on a once a week feeding schedule. And for the longest time I thought the largest female was a male cause of how fast she was growing.


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## Formerphobe

Apollo Justice said:


> Funny enough I have 4 Homoeomma sp blue from the first hatching in 2011 and within a matter of 6 months my largest female grew from 3/4" spiderling to about 5". I have another female I got at the same time that's only at the 3" mark and the last time either of them molted was last year in October. Oh and I was not power feeding I kept them on a once a week feeding schedule. And for the longest time I thought the largest female was a male cause of how fast she was growing.


Wow!  That's a significant difference!  Mine are on approximately once a week, too.  Even though they are comparable leg span, one seems to pack on weight faster than the other, so it sometimes skips a meal.  Still no idea of the sexes as they keep shredding their molts.

---------- Post added 10-13-2012 at 05:12 PM ----------

I went and did it... (pardon the poor pictures, camera wanted to focus on the vent holes)

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## Storm76

Apollo Justice said:


> Funny enough I have 4 Homoeomma sp blue from the first hatching in 2011 and within a matter of 6 months my largest female grew from 3/4" spiderling to about 5". I have another female I got at the same time that's only at the 3" mark and the last time either of them molted was last year in October. Oh and I was not power feeding I kept them on a once a week feeding schedule. And for the longest time I thought the largest female was a male cause of how fast she was growing.


6 months from 0.75" to 5" ? That doesn't seem possible with Homoeomma sp. "blue" they grow slow as chewing gum and like to skip meals like Joyce mentioned (mine do too - not the best eaters and slow growers). Especially without power-feeding that sounds close to impossible, sorry but I just doubt it really -was- that species in that case? Do you have any pictures as documentiation maybe?


@Joyce:
Haha, guess you just couldn't stand seing others posting those pics of beautiful Poecies anymore! That and Michael's / Chad's / JFB's advice was what eventually made me come around to get one! Congrats!

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## Apollo Justice

Storm76 said:


> 6 months from 0.75" to 5" ? That doesn't seem possible with Homoeomma sp. "blue" they grow slow as chewing gum and like to skip meals like Joyce mentioned (mine do too - not the best eaters and slow growers). Especially without power-feeding that sounds close to impossible, sorry but I just doubt it really -was- that species in that case? Do you have any pictures as documentiation maybe?
> 
> 
> @Joyce:
> Haha, guess you just couldn't stand seing others posting those pics of beautiful Poecies anymore! That and Michael's / Chad's / JFB's advice was what eventually made me come around to get one! Congrats!


I may have pics I'll have to check my photo albums. I did keep in close contact with the original US breeder of the sp if you want to pm him he'll also vouch for the growth rate of this T his user name is RB40.

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## advan

It's about time Joyce! Congrats!


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## papilio

YAY Joyce, WTG!!!    Is it a regalis?  The new babies look wonderful too, congrats!  Still hoping for my first successful sac one day!

All your pics look wonderful, love esp the closeups of course!  

Hoping my B. emilia molts soon, hasn't since May.  Just wonderful aren't they?!


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## Formerphobe

> That doesn't seem possible with Homoeomma sp. "blue" they grow slow as chewing gum and like to skip meals like Joyce mentioned (mine do too - not the best eaters and slow growers).


I think we have our spiders mixed up again...  The Homoeommas rarely if ever turn down a meal and are growing like weeds.  I withhold meals from the chunky one to keep it from getting too heavy. The Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi will skip meals of their own accord and are growing only slightly more quickly than cave formations.



> Haha, guess you just couldn't stand seing others posting those pics of beautiful Poecies anymore!


I decided I needed to get over the goosebumps and crawling skin every time I see one in stick formation.  LOL  I stood at Arachnidsrva table for quite awhile yesterday watching the adult poecies and managed to quell some of my involuntary response.  They're just creepy when they do that!  LOL  The new sling is sort of acclimation therapy.



> It's about time Joyce! Congrats!


Thanks, Chad.  



> YAY Joyce, WTG!!! Is it a regalis? The new babies look wonderful too, congrats! Still hoping for my first successful sac one day!
> 
> All your pics look wonderful, love esp the closeups of course!
> 
> Hoping my B. emilia molts soon, hasn't since May. Just wonderful aren't they?!


Thanks, Michael.  It's a P. rufilata.  They had some P. metallica, too.  I just couldn't justify (or afford) spending that much on a single spider. 

I'm going to try keeping the M. balfouri communal for awhile.  It was so neat to watch them all descend on the pre-killed cricket I offered them.  And they have started a burrow of their own within the pre-fab that I made them.

That particular emilia scared the pants off of me this evening.  I got home from an all day long road trip to see my father and checked on the spiders, the emilia was lying there limp with a couple of her legs at awkward angles.  She didn't budge when I moved her enclosure from the bookcase.  I reached in and had her partially in hand when she suddenly leapt up and yelled, "SURPRISE!!!"  Well, not really...  But, you know what I mean.    The last spider I found like that had indeed expired.


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## papilio

> Thanks, Michael.  It's a P. rufilata.  They had some P. metallica, too.  I just couldn't justify (or afford) spending that much on a single spider.
> 
> I'm going to try keeping the M. balfouri communal for awhile.  It was so neat to watch them all descend on the pre-killed cricket I offered them.  And they have started a burrow of their own within the pre-fab that I made them.
> 
> That particular emilia scared the pants off of me this evening.  I got home from an all day long road trip to see my father and checked on the spiders, the emilia was lying there limp with a couple of her legs at awkward angles.  She didn't budge when I moved her enclosure from the bookcase.  I reached in and had her partially in hand when she suddenly leapt up and yelled, "SURPRISE!!!"  Well, not really...  But, you know what I mean.    The last spider I found like that had indeed expired.


Well Chad just told me that _P. metallicas_ have dropped now to about half their previous price ... so maybe _next_ time!!  lol  Rufis are gorgeous, can be a bit hyper tempered but mine have always been fairly shy, almost as mellow as my regalis.

Whew!  Amazing story about your emilia, so glad she's okay Joyce!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Well Chad just told me that _P. metallicas_ have dropped now to about half their previous price ... so maybe _next_ time!!  lol  Rufis are gorgeous, can be a bit hyper tempered but mine have always been fairly shy, almost as mellow as my regalis.
> 
> Whew!  Amazing story about your emilia, so glad she's okay Joyce!


I'll see how the little rufi and I get along, but good to know about the $ on P. metallica.  It's been 'good' so far, transferred easily, and no stick posturing.    Love its big feet!


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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> I'll see how the little rufi and I get along, but good to know about the $ on P. metallica.  It's been 'good' so far, transferred easily, and no stick posturing.    Love its big feet!


Haha!  Too funny about you and the 'stick pose' !    Mine actually don't seem to go into that pose all that often, usually only when they're out of their enclosures and feeling insecure.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> I think we have our spiders mixed up again...  The Homoeommas rarely if ever turn down a meal and are growing like weeds.  I withhold meals from the chunky one to keep it from getting too heavy. The Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi will skip meals of their own accord and are growing only slightly more quickly than cave formations.


Mine (H. sp. "blue") have been with me since Feb/March this year and went from ~2" to 3" only so far (the male to 3.25" possibly) - they aren't the biggerst eaters and like to skip meals quite some. I've them on a "one cricket per 2 weeks" feeding schedule and they like to skip that one or two times in a row (the little suspect female actually didn't eat for over a month now - she's fasting and at least not visibly in premolt). The breeder I got them from told me they'd grow very slow and so far, he seems to be correct with that. It's what've read about them before I acquired them, anyways.

My E. pulcherrimaklaasi female is just a picky eater and most times only eats at night when no one's watching her. As for growth I can't tell so far, since I haven't had her long enough to judge that and at her current size of 4.5" I certainly hope she'll molt some soon (her colors look really washed out by now), as I'd like to see her colors in their full glory


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## Formerphobe

> Mine (H. sp. "blue") have been with me since Feb/March this year and went from ~2" to 3" only so far (the male to 3.25" possibly)


My two arrived on March 29, 2012 @ ~1.0".  Both are now ~3.5".  One has molted 4 x, the other is preparing for its 4th molt with me.  I suspect the slightly smaller one to be male, but they are such molt shredders I'd have to call them both unsexed for now.


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## papilio

Hey Joyce I just noticed, in one of the rufi pics I think you can already see its John Deere colors!!


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## Formerphobe

John Deere!  Oh, no!  I've always been a Case or International kind of girl!  LOL  Yeah, it is looking a little mossy green, even at ~1.25".


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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> John Deere!  Oh, no!  I've always been a Case or International kind of girl!  LOL  Yeah, it is looking a little mossy green, even at ~1.25".


Oops SORRY about that!  hehe  I was raised on the green.  

Rufilatas look great 'on film' even as little slings and juvies!


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## Formerphobe

I should really just go to bed and go to sleep at night instead of checking on the spiders... But, then I might not have salvaged an intact molt from this molt munching now confirmed female.  She has grown tremendously!  Exuvium measured 2.75".  Rough measurement of stretching spider ~4.0"!
Homoeomma sp blue Peru, "Spectre" (acquired 3/29/12 @ ~1.0")

























"Ruatha" subadult male B. smithi - molted on 10/9/2012.  Has been spending his days on his molting mat at the front of the tank and his nights either in his hide that he hadn't used in months, or in a far back hollowed out corner of the tank.





"Aramina" subadult female B. verdezi - since her last molt is out and about always.





"Tannasg" subadult female E. murinus - not a pet hole.  





"Huevos" subadult female LP (half of "Demon Spawn")

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## Storm76

WTH...your H. sp. "blue" obviously prove me wrong there...IF they molt, they take on size big-time... I'm placing my bets on a male - so what is it?


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## papilio

Wow, that's some incredible growth on Spectre!!    Really beautiful too!  I love the way Ts so often stretch out like that after molting .... mmmm, feels GOOD!

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## Formerphobe

> I'm placing my bets on a male - so what is it?


You lose!  LOL


> _ salvaged [the] intact molt from this molt munching now confirmed female._


_
Paired spermathacae present and accounted for!
Sometimes it pays to be up at odd hours to 'rescue' a molt from its owner.  Usually these two leave theirs in tatters.  I snatched 'Spectre's' before she did and while it was still soft enough to not need any soaking.  

The other, smaller and quicker to molt H. blue, 'Fantome', I suspect to be male, though it has yet to leave a molt intact for me to tell beyond a shadow of a doubt._

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> You lose!  LOL
> 
> Paired spermathacae present and accounted for!
> Sometimes it pays to be up at odd hours to 'rescue' a molt from its owner.  Usually these two leave theirs in tatters.  I snatched 'Spectre's' before she did and while it was still soft enough to not need any soaking.
> 
> The other, smaller and quicker to molt H. blue, 'Fantome', I suspect to be male, though it has yet to leave a molt intact for me to tell beyond a shadow of a doubt.


Nice! Congrats on a confirmed female then  Can you do me a favor and maybe post a pic of the spermathecae? Thanks!


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Nice! Congrats on a confirmed female then  Can you do me a favor and maybe post a pic of the spermathecae? Thanks!


Thank you, and I'd love to post pics; however, that will have to wait until I get a camera that will take decent close up shots.   
Looked like immature version of the picture on this site:  http://terra-li-ma-en.de.tl/H_L.htm

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you, and I'd love to post pics; however, that will have to wait until I get a camera that will take decent close up shots.
> Looked like immature version of the picture on this site:  http://terra-li-ma-en.de.tl/H_L.htm


Oh, yeah I'm aware of that site. Wasn't aware they added that stuff, though! Thanks for the link, Joyce!


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## Formerphobe

Another blue spider molt!  Aphonopelma burica.  Same spider, same light, just different angles and focal distance.  Mangled exuvium is soaking...

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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei female "Sorka"





B. emilia female "Telgar"





B. smithi male "Ruatha"





G. pulchripes female "Piemur"










A. chalcodes female "Matilda"










E. murinus female "Tannasg"





N. coloratovillosus "Nadira"





C. ritae MM "Mariskan" (going on trip Monday to meet some 'wimmins')





M. balfouri babies - they wasted no time dragging the beheaded cricket deeper into their burrow.





P. cambridgei female "Cosira"  (I need an endoscope to get good burrow shots...)





P. rufilata





Alien in my back yard





Leaf colors have really popped this week

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## Storm76

Great pictures, love the ones from your backyard! I hope those aliens don't steal T's? 

Just wished your "Tannasg" would show himself completely once, but I only see the front legs or maybe even the carapace of my little guy / gal either. In comparison - so far, I don't think of these as "petholes". I see mine every single evening (except for the premolt time)...


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## Tonys spiders

The Balfouri babies look amazing Joyce. They are quite the eaters. Mine are extremely plump, probably also because the mom is still feeding them.


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## Formerphobe

> Great pictures, love the ones from your backyard! I hope those aliens don't steal T's?


I believe they would try, given the opportunity.  LOL  



> Just wished your "Tannasg" would show himself completely once, but I only see the front legs or maybe even the carapace of my little guy / gal either. In comparison - so far, I don't think of these as "petholes". I see mine every single evening (except for the premolt time)...


Tannasg does come all the way out of her burrow pretty regularly.  But, by the time I get phone camera and light situated and get her lid off, she only shows me legs.   Sometime when I have awhile to sit and watch an open enclosure I'll get full body shots.  



> The Balfouri babies look amazing Joyce. They are quite the eaters. Mine are extremely plump, probably also because the mom is still feeding them.


They are totally amazing, Tony!  (Come from good stock and a good breeder...  )  I think two have molted as they are bigger than the third.  I find them just outside their burrow a couple of times a day, just haven't been able to get pics yet.  The first cricket I gave them I placed down in the burrow.  This one I left at the opening.  They wasted no time at all dragging it down in!  Definitely good eaters!


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## Tonys spiders

A few more molts and those little guys will be webbing machines.


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## Formerphobe

Tonys spiders said:


> A few more molts and those little guys will be webbing machines.


Oh, they're already webbing fools!  I think they've got nearly every bit of substrate and inside burrow covered.  It's just not as visible as it will be.


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## Formerphobe

For Jan - not a very good pic, but I managed to catch her almost all the way out of her burrow:





Rock throwing E. cyanognathus declining to show its blue fangs.

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## Storm76

Thanks, Joyce! She looks awesome  I hope my little sling turns out female, too. Curious as to what temperament he/she will show, too.


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## Formerphobe

P. rufilata





P. formosa





P. pulcher





P. cambridgei





A. metallica





(OMG!  Where did all these arboreals come from!)
E. pulcherimaklaasi





B. emilia





E. murinus





E. cyanognathus





A. chalcodes





Homoeomma sp blue Peru





H. sp blue stretched out to her full 4"

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## papilio

I really am envious of so much of your collection Joyce!    Ahhh, balfouri, balfouri .....  

 ... now, are we meant to believe you went and bought a _P. formosa_ too???!!!!!  
LOL I hope so!!


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## Formerphobe

The P. formosa came labeled as 'Surprise!'  LOL (Chad's doings.)  She really is gorgeous, but shy. And has been kind enough, thus far, to not do the 'stick' posturing.  
Okay, y'all are winning me over to arboreals.  Enablers...

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> The P. formosa came labeled as 'Surprise!'  LOL (Chad's doings.)  She really is gorgeous, but shy. And has been kind enough, thus far, to not do the 'stick' posturing.
> Okay, y'all are winning me over to arboreals.  Enablers...


HA!!  So happy for you!
Mr. Chad is the Sultan of Enablers!  :worship:

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## Formerphobe

It's not very clear through the acrylic... P. formosa





G. pulchripes recently molted juvenile male





E. cyanognathus





A. burica





GBB juvie

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## papilio

Wicked, Joyce!  lol  Happy Halloween!!


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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted B. albo, juvenile female










Sub adult male P. murinus.  So tickled to see this shy guy AND get a halfway decent pic!   





Pictures aren't very good, but I hardly ever see H. mac and P. cam out of their hidey holes.














Freshly molted P. muticus sling





Sub adult male B. smithi

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## papilio

Love the albo photos Joyce!  I got mine as a sub-adult, never got to see how curly they already are at a young age.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Michael.  This one is probably pushing 3" now, getting to that gawky stage.  LOL  She was much curlier during last instar.

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## advan

Look at all those Arbs!  The pulcher is so cute with the cricket jammed in it's mouth.

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## Storm76

Love that smithi - looks very nice, Joyce! You got quite some arboreals now in your collection...who's to blame? Chad?

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## Formerphobe

advan said:


> Look at all those Arbs!  The pulcher is so cute with the cricket jammed in it's mouth.


Yeah, just look at them all....  LOL  That pulcher is quite the character. Much different than its sac mate.  Hoping it is female.



> You got quite some arboreals now in your collection...who's to blame? Chad?


Well, Jan, I can't blame Chad 100%, but he was instrumental in the last several additions.  

---------- Post added 11-08-2012 at 10:33 PM ----------

Look who was out posing this evening.  Sorry for the redundancy, I love it when a spider finally sits still for a picture.

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## papilio

Gorgeous looking P. cam you got there Joyce.


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Gorgeous looking P. cam you got there Joyce.


Thanks, Michael.  She was one of several in a 'care package' I got from a friend in CA about a year ago.  My intro to Psalms.  She's about 4" now and just recently out of her fossorial stage.  The tube web below her still leads to her burrow entrance.


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## Storm76

Fully agree to Michael, gorgeous looking cambridgei, Joyce!

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## Mattyb

Very nice. Love the G.pulchra


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## Formerphobe

I've recently been working some ungodly hours, and been sick to boot.  Then I lost my big beautiful mystery T in his maturing molt.  :-(
I raised 3 H. lividum over the last year plus from 0.5 inch, and all turned out to be male.  I rarely buy adult tarantulas, preferring to raise slings, but I treated myself to this beautiful girl:















The pictures don't do her justice.  I'm told she is a devil, but she gave me absolutely no trouble during unpacking.

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## papilio

What a beaut Joyce!!    I've recently decided that, when possible, it's probably best to get a juvie or sub-adult of what I want rather than getting ten slings at a time and hoping!  hehe
I may be getting an older H. liv myself as well soon.  I got one once a long time ago when I was a pre-newbie, decided it was waaaay too much for me and returned it.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Michael.  I've been fortunate, thus far, and have ended up with a large percentage of females from all the slings I've raised.  Just didn't get so lucky with the H. livs.  I'm also having problems finding shelf space for all of them....  LOL

A 'pre-newbie'?  Is that a Michaelism?  

---------- Post added 12-01-2012 at 04:19 PM ----------

P. muticus baby





My MM OBT stuffing his face.  He matured back in April and is still going strong.





Homoeomma sp blue Peru, sub adult female. She'd apparently been rolling in the dirt.





Maybe she figures standing on her hind legs while eating will aid digestion...





Nhandu coloratovillosus.  Recent molt confirms female.





G. rosea, female





G. pulchripes, juvenile, suspect male





Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi





B. verdezi, sub adult female





B. smithi, sub adult male










B. emilia, sub adult female










B. boehmei, adult female

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## papilio

Yeah, I guess it must be since my spell-check flagged it.   That was back when I thought all Ts should be as mega-handleable as my B. smithi, if not they must have a wire loose or perhaps be in dire need of an exorcist.    Live and learn.  And learn.  
Now here I am with almost all OW arboreals, and can't even get my H. mac or OBT to throw me a threat pose for a quick pic!  lol


p.s.  Any chance of Santa bringing you a shiny new camera ?


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## Formerphobe

You mean H macs and OBTs are supposed to throw threat poses?   Doesn't happen at my house either.  Now, the Demon Spawn LP is a different story...

I've actually been looking at cameras and hoping Santa sends a check to cover at least a portion of one of the nicer ones.  It will have to be a camera for dummies.  For me, taking on one of them new-fangled pitchur-takers is about as scarey as reaching blindly into a communal enclosure of poecis with their britches in a twist.  

Speaking of poecis, my little rufilata molted and nearly doubled its size!  Is that normal for the little ones?


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## Hydrazine

ahh...the emilia...every time I see a pic it makes me want it more..


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## papilio

Yes, in my experience that is extremely unusual!  WOW!  Biggest change I've seen was when my P. metallica increased her carapace size by 50% one molt.  But they molt frequently and grow very quickly, can mature in a year if you power-feed them.

I sometimes think we only hear about the wild Ts, nearly every one of mine is pretty mild-mannered ... funnily enough my meanest beast by far is my 7-inch L. difficilis!

If you want a good camera on the (relatively) cheap, I'd suggest looking on eBay for an old D40.  They were excellent and Nikons last forever.    DSLRs are really no more complicated/confusing than point and shoots, honestly.  And I could help you learn all you need to know in just one or two PMs!  I don't know how you feel about eBay, but I've gotten literally every major toy I own from there ... all computer and photo stuff ... and have had nothing but the best results.

-- Self proclaimed DSLR enabler

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## Formerphobe

> ahh...the emilia...every time I see a pic it makes me want it more..


They are quite nice looking spiders.  When you get one, you will not be disappointed.  



> But they molt frequently and grow very quickly, can mature in a year if you power-feed them.


I figured once every 7 to 10 days for a one inch sling was satisfactory.  It's never turned down food. 



> I sometimes think we only hear about the wild Ts, nearly every one of mine is pretty mild-mannered ...


Or the ones that get poked and prodded to aggravate a threat response...



> funnily enough my meanest beast by far is my 7-inch L. difficilis!


What is it with the Lasiodoras?  



> Self proclaimed DSLR enabler


ROFL  I should have you do my shopping.  You find what you think I can operate, give me the page and I'll go buy it.  Then you just have to teach this technologically challenged person to use it.  Last time you and I talked cameras, you had my eyes glazing over.  LOL

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## papilio

Hey Joyce, I vote that the first thing we see with your new eye is that monster _rufilata!!_


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## Formerphobe

You mean the two inch 'monster'?  LOL  I'm hoping for some decent shots of the new H. liv.  She made herself to home in the pre-fab burrow last night, has already created a nice webbed 'foyer' and is peeking out.

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## Silberrücken

*Beautiful photos of your collection, Formerphobe! *applause*

Congrats on your new H. lividum... she is a looker! *


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## papilio

You're right Joyce, your new liv would make a great maiden voyage for the camera!    If all goes as planned I should have my juvie lividum girl in a couple of weeks as well, just in time for a photo-fest of the two!!


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## Formerphobe

Thank you, 'Silver'!  

Well, Michael, we'll see if I can figure out the new camera AND catch Miss H. liv out of her hole.  LOL

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## papilio

LOL  Good luck Joyce, Chad hasn't seen his since re-housing her, I'm told.  hehe


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## Formerphobe

I can see feet and a hint of eyes, so she's not at the depths of her burrow.  She created a webbed lattice over her burrow entrance during the night last night.  I may have to finesse her out with a tethered cricket.


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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> I may have to finesse her out with a tethered cricket.


*Get a video! :laugh:

That would be awesome!*


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## Formerphobe

I got home from work last night and found Ms. H. liv standing on top of her burrow grooming.  She is still out this morning.  Has the new camera arrived yet?  Of course not!  
Murphy's Law = when camera arrives, spider will be deep in burrow....  LOL

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## Formerphobe

*New camera, bear with me...*

G. pulchripes juvenile male










B. emilia sub adult female










B. schroederi juvenile female





A. chalcodes subadult female




















A. genic subadult female




















G. pulchra subadult male





G. pulchra juvenile unsexed





A. burica juvenile unsexed





B. albopilosum juvenile female





H. lividum feet mature female





P. scrofa sling

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## papilio

Oh Joyce, how wonderful!!!!   You did it, they look great!!!!  
Congrats!   :worship:


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## Storm76

YAY! Joyce has a new cam! These pictures are already SO much better than before! Can't wait until you fully figured that new toy out! Awesome!

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## Formerphobe

Thanks, guys.    Slowly adapting.  Maybe you can teach old dogs new tricks.  LOL
MF G. rosea





Subadult female B. boehmei





Subadult female Homoeomma sp blue Peru





Note the arc of cricket guts she left on the side of her enclosure at last feeding.  No manners...





Subadult female B. verdezi










Subadult N. chromatus in her burrow





Guess who likes to sunbathe?  Or maybe she was after the cricket. Had to snap a quick pic before she shot back down her burrow.





P. rufilata sling

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## papilio

Great seeing the lividum, and EXCELLENT shot of the rufilata!!


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Michael.  

This has been one busy H. liv today.  Awhile ago I found her upside down in her burrow webbing its ceiling.  





Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi juvenile





E. murinus sub adult female





LP sub adult female

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## Trogdora

I can tell a big difference with the new camera! The spiders look like they're doing great, that's too funny about the H. liv decorating the burrow.

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## Storm76

These pics do your T's waaaaay more justice than the ones before! Awesome !

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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei





Recently molted GBB





B. albo





N. coloratovillosus





B, smithi missed the cricket!  Pausing against the wall to regroup.





A. burica





Homoeomma sp blue Peru - thought it was a boy, molt confirmed female!

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## Storm76

Congrats on the female Homoeomma! I'm still waiting for my second one to molt and HOPEFULLY being able to confirm my suspicion of that one being a female! Great pictures, Joyce!


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## Hydrazine

Your smithi looks just like mine!  Even does a similar pose in the corner


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## Formerphobe

> Congrats on the female Homoeomma! I'm still waiting for my second one to molt and HOPEFULLY being able to confirm my suspicion of that one being a female! Great pictures, Joyce!


Thanks, Jan.  My two have been molt munchers from the get go, leaving me with shreds to try to piece together.  From its last molt, I was pretty sure this one was a male, but I've ended up with two females.  I'm pretty tickled.    This one looks to have put on some good size, too.  



> Your smithi looks just like mine! Even does a similar pose in the corner


"Ruatha" can usually be found spread-eagled on top of his hide.  He's in that awkward teenaged phase and missed snagging his cricket.  He paused against the glass as though hoping no one saw him do that.  LOL


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## MarkmD

Loving the T's and brilliant pics.

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## papilio

Wow Joyce, you're really going to town with that thing!    Absolutely stunning images ... the boehmei and GBB shots are especially wonderful!!


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Michael.  That particular boehmei has always been very photogenic, even with a cell phone and a flash light.  LOL So, the subject gets much of that credit.

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## Alltheworld601

LOL!  The B. smithi is doing the sulking thing my B. emilia does when things just don't go her way....She does it in her flower pot...never uses it for a hide, just uses it to pout.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Jan.  My two have been molt munchers from the get go, leaving me with shreds to try to piece together.  From its last molt, I was pretty sure this one was a male, but I've ended up with two females.  I'm pretty tickled.    This one looks to have put on some good size, too.


Sweet! Will you try to acquire males to breed them?


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## VirgoVixen82

Awesome picture thread, what I like the most about your thread is how you got so many pics of your T's in molt.


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## Formerphobe

> Sweet! Will you try to acquire males to breed them?


I may.  Breeding tarantulas wasn't on my To Do List, but I really like this species.  Wouldn't hurt for there to be more of them out there.  



> Awesome picture thread, what I like the most about your thread is how you got so many pics of your T's in molt.


Thank you.    I've been fortunate that many of them elected to molt in locations that were easy to get pics of them.

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## Formerphobe

Homoeomma sp blue Peru, immature female, "Fantome"





Grammostola rosea, mature female, "Orlith"





Haplopelma lividum, mature female, "Indigo" - allowed me one picture before she scooted back down the burrow.





Pterinochilus murinus, geriatric male, "Ananse" - another one that only allowed one picture before disappearing.





Brachypelma vagans, immature female, "Menolly" - rarely out of her burrow, but she had a cave in and was doing repairs.





Nhandu chromatus, immature female, "Nerilka" - another burrower that I rarely see.










Then she threw me a threat pose!  I rarely get a threat pose from *any* of my spiders!





I felt bad because she was so distressed, but took a few more pics anyway...  I think the flash set her off.

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## Storm76

With that new cam you got, it's even more enjoyable to look through all the new pictures you post up, Joyce. What did you get camera-wise, btw?
That Nhandu is obviously as easy threatened as my A. geni...you look at them wrong and they throw you a threatposture...really need to take pics of her when she does it the next time.


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Jan.    The camera is a Nikon D40, Michael's recommendation.  And, I figured out how to use the flash diffuser by myself.  LOL

The Nhandu isn't usually so easily threatened.  It sort of took my by surprise.  And she held the pose for so long!  My spider's are used to a flashlight, not sudden flashes.  I may have to figure out some other lighting and not use the flash to minimize stress.  I was pretty neat to see a threat posture for a change, though.  

I'm just amazed at the colors on the H. sp blue Peru!  And tickled that I now have a camera that comes close to conveying them.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Jan.    The camera is a Nikon D40, Michael's recommendation.  And, I figured out how to use the flash diffuser by myself.  LOL
> 
> The Nhandu isn't usually so easily threatened.  It sort of took my by surprise.  And she held the pose for so long!  My spider's are used to a flashlight, not sudden flashes.  I may have to figure out some other lighting and not use the flash to minimize stress.  I was pretty neat to see a threat posture for a change, though.
> 
> I'm just amazed at the colors on the H. sp blue Peru!  And tickled that I now have a camera that comes close to conveying them.


Thanks for the heads-up on the cam. Guess I'll start looking into something like that next year myself. 

As for the flash / flashlight: I usually use a flashlight when checking on them during evening, too. None of mine got really annoyed about the flash from my cam either - but some instantly disappear after one pic (A. purpurea for example). I'd send you the male I have if I'd be in the US - pity. Gotta find someone over here next year who'll breed them.


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## papilio

Great shots Joyce, especially the Nhandu!  Love it!!    Glad you got the diffuser to work!  I can tell the difference.  

p.s. I wouldn't give up on the flash just yet ... other than the very few who use just natural light, everyone I know uses them ... I often have two (one for backlighting) and rarely see any sort of reaction from the spider.


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## Formerphobe

> rarely see any sort of reaction from the spider.


This girl could have just been having a teenaged 'moment'...  LOL  I've had her since she was ~0.25" and have never seen a threat pose from her.  From that size on, she has been harassed on a regular basis with a flashlight and a cell phone.  Her current container has a pre-made burrow against the side with a 'window' that I can open and peek in at her.  Usually after a couple of pics she runs down her burrow, which was right behind her during that photo shoot.  The only thing different yesterday was the camera flash and louder click of the camera's shutter.  She stayed 'frozen' for a bit, then went wild spider on me.  We've also had a change of weather here, which could have contributed to her angst.  (If angst can be applied to a spider...)  

I've had a couple of others do the 'frozen' thing on me after a couple of camera flashes, which they didn't do with the flashlight.  My previously bold and 'interactive' B. verdezi cleaned out her hide and runs into it whenever I take her lid off now.  :-(

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## papilio

Thanks Joyce, that's quite interesting!  It's not often that we have a chance to compare behavior under different lighting conditions!  I wish that I had even the smallest bit of natural light in my tiny apt., a friend of mine does wonderful work using only the morning sun.


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## Formerphobe

Camouflaged in his equally orange water bowl.  LOL





My daughter's A. versi 'Charlotte' turns out to be 'Charles'.










Subadult female G. pulchripes










B. boehmei MF





Homoeomma sp blue Peru subadult female with pootie on her foot...  what a pig.

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## papilio

Joyce, those soft colors you're getting are unreal!!!


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## Storm76

Very nice shots! Love the one of the OBT camouflaged  My 2nd Homoeomma turned out a girl btw


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## Formerphobe

> Joyce, those soft colors you're getting are unreal!!!


Thanks, Michael.  I have a good tutor.  



> My 2nd Homoeomma turned out a girl btw


Congrats, Jan!
Nhandu carapoensis sling





Nhandu chromatus dining in her water bowl.  What a goof!





I guess she decided it was too wet to lay a dining web...





0.1 B. verdezi





0.1 A. seemanni





0.1 B. schroederi





Mystery sling

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## Storm76

This is certainly one of the Top 10 pic threads in my opinion - especially after you got that new cam of yours, Joyce!


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## papilio

Agreed!  ^


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## Formerphobe

Thank you Jan and Michael!  Still tweaking my technique.  Guess that is a never-ending thing.    Now I need a macro lens or reversing ring or something...

MM A. versicolor





A. metallica sling










P. cambridgei feet





Newest baby: P. metallica





P. scrofa juvenile female





G. pulchra immature male (Probably didn't need the diffuser for this shot...)

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## advan

Nice shots Joyce! I like the _A. metallica_, it's got a very nice rump! 

Wait a minute, did I just see a blue _Poecilotheria_?

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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Chad.  Yeah, that A. metallica comes from good stock... ;-)  It's pretty calm for a flighty little tree spider, too.  
You thought you saw another Poeci in my collection?  No way!  I will have to investigate this...  Hmmm, guilty as charged.  LOL


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## Hydrazine

The pulchra...the pulchra...can't wait till my little Shiro grows up


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## Storm76

So much for the "poecie stance creeps me out" situation. Guess someone else is getting into Poecies there 

Nice new set of pics


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> So much for the "poecie stance creeps me out" situation. Guess someone else is getting into Poecies there
> 
> Nice new set of pics


LOL  Thanks, Jan.  That stretched out "_I am a limb_" thing does still creep me out.  I even have trouble looking at my terrestrials when they do their post-molt 'Poeci stretches'.  So far my few Poecis have been kind enough to not do it frequently, or I have been fortunate enough to miss seeing it.  And the P. met, well, I would put up with a lot for a nice blue spider.  

Little rufilata molted yesterday and getting some adult coloration.  I'm anxious to try to get pics of her/him.


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## papilio

See Joyce, I told you that you've got a natural talent for photography, these are superb and just keep getting better!!  

Don't worry, my poecis rarely go into a poeci stance unless I take them out of their enclosures.  
Now let's see that P. met photo!!!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> See Joyce, I told you that you've got a natural talent for photography, these are superb and just keep getting better!!
> 
> Don't worry, my poecis rarely go into a poeci stance unless I take them out of their enclosures.
> Now let's see that P. met photo!!!


Thank you, Michael.  >>blush<<
P. met is in frame 385.  It doesn't look like a P. met yet, just a little blue/gray poeci-esque baby.  I did get a few more pics if it today, will post tomorrow it they turned out decent.  
Whew!  That's good!  I'll just leave them in their enclosures!  LOL

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## BrettG

Some great pictures in here!
I love the pink color you got to come out in your pulchripes picture. Good stuff!

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## papilio

Most welcome!  :worship:

When you feel ready to reverse the kit lens ask Chad for some tips ... he's the master!  

p.s.  Oops sorry, meant the new rufilata pics!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> When you feel ready to reverse the kit lens ask Chad for some tips ... he's the master!
> 
> p.s.  Oops sorry, meant the new rufilata pics!


Ohhh, Chaaa-aaad.....!  

I think I may have to monopolize the bathroom one day and coerce some of them out of their enclosures for a photo shoot.  Too many places for the little boogers to hide if they get away from me in my bedroom.    I'm currently playing with fire: have the lid to my MF H. liv ajar so I can remove it easily in an attempt to get pics of her when she is out of her burrow.  She's onto me though...  She doesn't mind me looking, but is camera shy.

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## papilio

Be forewarned though ... using the reverse lens requires having your fingers near the front of the lens, I'd guess it requires nerves of steel to dispel worries of getting tagged!    I go the safer Raynox route.

Not so long ago I took all of my photos through the enclosures, way too much clutter in my main room where an errant T could escape just as you said.  Then I worked up the huevos to take them out in the bathroom with all likely crawlspaces packed with bath towels, rags, longjohns and the like.  Now at last I'm confident enough to photograph all but the wildest ones back in the living room ... the more pleasant ambiance enhances creativity vs. the bathroom I figure.


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## Formerphobe

Doing manual focus I have my fingers right out there now.  Will they be even closer with the reversing kit?  Oh, well, I'm bound to get tagged sooner or later anyway.  LOL

What is Raynox?

I did have the pulchra, versi and A. met out the other day for pics.  The versi was a little skittish, but didn't seem inclined to leave the corkbark.  And, except for the poop factor, if one of those were to go free range for a bit it would be no big deal.  Don't know that I want to chance a free range poeci or baboon, etc....

When I used to rehouse in the bathroom, I sealed all the spigots, overflows, toilet, air ducts, etc with plastic wrap, as well as towels and such under the door.  FYI - don't forget to remove the plastic wrap from the toilet.  The daughters get upset...


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## papilio

LOL!  I hadn't even though of sealing the toilet!

You're right, taking the smaller Ts out is generally pretty safe ... except that they seem to have longer endurance for sprint distance than older Ts.  But not really anything to seriously worry about.

With the reverse lens you'll have your fingers a mere inch or so from the T ... but as you'll generally be photographing slings there's really not so much concern.  Chad gets some of his dripping fang shots this way though I believe!  LOL

Raynox is a front clip-on lens to increase magnification ... check eBay or Amazon for the DCR-250 (around $75).  Superb optical quality for the price!  Trouble is that the magnification is proportional to the focal length of the main lens, and the 55mm of the kit lens won't get you too far.  Should you decide to try this, I highly recommend the superb Nikkor 55-200mm for just over $100 ... that'll give you an effective zoom macro, with a LOT of power at the 200mm setting!


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## Zevian

What a beautiful collection you have! I love the P. murinus' name "Ananse". The trickster spider in Jamaican?African folklore. Fitting, haha.

James

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## Formerphobe

GBB juvie





E. cyanognathus - patience paid off and I finally got pics of this shy juvenile










G. pulchra juvenile, eventually it will molt...





Freshly molted P. rufilata sling





P. met sling with its first meal in my care.  Not shy with its feeding response!





Freshly molted female P. cambridgei behind her web veil.

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> LOL  Thanks, Jan.  That stretched out "_I am a limb_" thing does still creep me out.  I even have trouble looking at my terrestrials when they do their post-molt 'Poeci stretches'.  So far my few Poecis have been kind enough to not do it frequently, or I have been fortunate enough to miss seeing it.  And the P. met, well, I would put up with a lot for a nice blue spider.
> 
> Little rufilata molted yesterday and getting some adult coloration.  I'm anxious to try to get pics of her/him.


I figure once my little P. subfusca molts next time, I'll try taking it out and do some pictures too. It's fast, but so far only gave me a threat posture once when I intruded it's corkbark to try remove that last molt, lol. Less concerned about that one, than my P. cam so far. Just like most say...Poecies seem to be more predictable than Psalmos...


AWESOME new set of shots. So sharp and great colors.

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## Formerphobe

MF H. liv.  (Yes, I know, she has some interesting fungus growing in her enclosure...)





P. muticus sling (aka Cowardly Lion)





Juvenile female Nhandu coloratovillosus.  Anxious to see the colors pop with her next molt.





Subadult female A. chalcodes





One of my all time favorites - subadult female B. verdezi





Another favorite - subadult A. genic looking a bit dull.  She should be molting sometime in the next few months.





Even my new camera can't capture the true colors on this juvenile female Homoeomma sp blue Peru





Lucky single shot of C. darlingi sling





P. rufilata sling through acrylic and web...















Subadult female G. pulchripes has become another favorite with her peek-a-boo antics.

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## psohn703

Lovely pictures! I especially like the G. pul's colors. Haha aww the p met is sooo cute.


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## Shrike

Nice pulchripes! As an aside, I hate auto correct on my phone. If it had its way my comment would have read "nice pup bridles."


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## advan

I agree with Matt, nice pup bridles!


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## Storm76

With the Homoeommo sp. "blue", try different ISO settings (80 - 400) - with 400 you get nicely vivid colors, while 80 blends out most of the flash. Trial and error


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, guys.  I appreciate the encouraging comments on my pup bridles.  LOL


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## papilio

You're _awing_ me with these photos Joyce!    Great work.

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> With the Homoeommo sp. "blue", try different ISO settings (80 - 400) - with 400 you get nicely vivid colors, while 80 blends out most of the flash. Trial and error


I'll try that, Jan.  (...breaking out camera for dummies manual...LOL)  Her pics do turn out nicer when I use a light diffuser.  I'm definitely experimenting.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> I'll try that, Jan.  (...breaking out camera for dummies manual...LOL)  Her pics do turn out nicer when I use a light diffuser.  I'm definitely experimenting.


I wouldn't be too surprised if you get some really nice shots due to the diffuser. I don't have a -real- one, but I'm curious if those settings will help you


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## Formerphobe

Sub adult female LP with a 'tude.  She didn't like me adding water to her bowl so she beat up her ping pong ball.  What a piece of work she is...





MF Aphonopelma sp 'Murietta'.  Acquired July 2011. Took her over a year to become acclimated to her new home.  She started webbing and customizing her pre-fab burrow in September 2012.  Took her first meal with me in November 2012.  Took another cricket today.  





Subadult female A. seemanni





Subadult female E. murinus was out basking today.





Looks male, huh?  E. cyanognathus.  I eased the container over the edge of the shelf and laid on my back in the floor to get this 'deep in the burrow' pic.  My kids laughed at me.   










N. chromatus subadult female





Thirsty juvenile E. pulcherimaklaasi





Juvenile A. burica





Subadult B. vagans female peeked out of her burrow for a change.  Appears to be due a molt.










B. smithi subadult male has been walking the walls the last couple of days with the recent weather change.










P. irminia sling - not very cooperative for photos...





P. pulcher sling





P. rufilata sling





A. versi MM looking for dinner





P. formosa juvenile/subadult female - finally settled in and doesn't bolt every time I look in her direction.

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## Storm76

Great pics again, Joyce! That Euathlus taking a drink there made me think about a discussion I had today: Basically, I was told that "any T that drinks from a waterdish is kept wrong" and that "no T needs a waterdish if kept correctly, since they get all the moisture they need from their prey - they only go drink if the humidity is wrong" - frankly - I'm kinda like :: - I've never heard of such reasons for it...question is there any whatsoever truth to it? Not to my knowledge...


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## Formerphobe

Jan, I too, have heard that Ts don't need water bowls if kept 'correctly' and know of people that keep them quite nicely for years without.  Well, they certainly don't find formal water bowls in nature, but they do have other sources that we don't provide within the confines of an acrylic enclosure.  I don't think there is an absolute right or wrong.  Just different methods.  

Today was the first time in 18 months that I'd seen either E. pulcherimaklaasi actually drink from their bowls.  (Usually they bury them...)   I just filled them up two days ago.  When I refilled today, both spiders jumped in for a good long drink!  They abhor the slightest dampness in their substrate so I usually barely overflow their bowls whenever they're empty.  It's got to be the wacky weather we're having.  I've also got spiders walking the walls who have never done so before.  
H. sp blue Peru played Hide and Seek with me today - in the tank, out of the tank, over and over.  She'd pop in, I'd go to put the lid on and she'd pop out on a different side.  Took me a good 10 minutes to corral her.  
B. vagans was out during the day - totally uncharacteristic of her.
LP is a nut job anyway, but attacked her ping pong ball today.  Never seen her do that!  She moves it around, buries it, uncovers it, moves it again, but I've never seen her attack it.

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## papilio

This Winter is the first time, with most of my Ts, that I've caught them using their water dishes ... but even so I too find that they just fill them with substrate and boluses.  It's kind of amusing -- and impressive actually -- to see them come out of their hides, head straight for the water dish and flick the bolus in.  I notice that certain Ts do keep them clean, interestingly.  I went for about my first year and a half of keeping Ts without using any water dishes, and without a single loss that I recall.  This Winter, even with the dishes (misting for the slings) I've still lost 8, most of them slings and juvies, apparently from dehydration.  The only adult that I've lost to dehydration, sadly, was my MM P. subfusca which appeared to neither drink nor eat.

Another thing that I just now remembered is that during those first years I also tended to power-feed.

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## Formerphobe

I've noticed that who fills up their water bowl with substrate is very individual.  Doesn't seem to be dictated by genus, species, climate of origin, etc.  
Wow, sorry to hear about your losses, Michael.  The only one I've lost this winter (knock on wood...) was a Brachypelma mystery T in his maturing molt. Really disheartening.


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## Formerphobe

I caught an awkward shot of P. cambridgei in her awkward 'just hanging out' position - head down, abdomen flopped over like it's about to fall off.





What I normally see of her





OBT





One of the M. balfouri clan out for a stroll.  Two of them were trying to get a disabled cricket through the burrow entrance the other day.  What team work!  One was on the inside pulling, the other was on the outside pushing!










P. rufilata











---------- Post added 02-05-2013 at 10:55 PM ----------

GBB photo shoot was a bust... Big female 'Pitufo' refused to come out of her enclosure. Finally finessed juvenile 'Jewell' out onto the corkbark, but she was none too pleased.  I felt bad stressing them just to get some pictures.  :-(  















Male A. versi 'Amadeus' sort of posed from the confines of his abode.




















After a few pics, he slowly turned and gave me 'The Disgusted Look'










Then slowly turned again and presented me his rump again.  LOL

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## Storm76

Awesome colors you captured on that versi! Did you try a different setting that time? It looks like higher ISO than before to me.

And that's how my P. cam girl hangs out often, too  The moment I disturb her she instantly focusses on what I do though...


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Awesome colors you captured on that versi! Did you try a different setting that time? It looks like higher ISO than before to me.
> 
> And that's how my P. cam girl hangs out often, too  The moment I disturb her she instantly focusses on what I do though...


Thanks, Jan!  Ummm, settings... uh, I turned the camera on, I think I pushed a button or two by accident, so who knows what it's set on.  LOL  There are different little pictures in the window now...  (I need to get that owner's manual out...)

I set P. cambridgei up to get pics of her and was finally able to do so this morning before she gave me the T version of an unpleasant hand gesture.  If they turned out, I will post.

---------- Post added 02-06-2013 at 08:39 AM ----------

My 'stake out' worked, but she caught on pretty quick.

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## Storm76

Psalmos in general seem to really dislike being the subject of a photograph


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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma eutylenum, mature female doing the Aphonopelma head press.





The bald spot she rubbed during shipping two years ago has darkened a shade.  I believe this girl may molt in 2013, or maybe 2014!  LOL





GBB mature female, 6.0" DLS





P. scrofa juvenile female










P. cambridgei sling - love those fuzzy leg warmers!





Subadult male OBT - no light diffuser





With light diffuser





Take 2 with diffuser.  His true colors are captured here.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Storm76

That shot of the GBB is priceless


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> That shot of the GBB is priceless


This girl bolts at a speck of dust.  I was trying to go very slow and lightly tape a folded (lengthwise) dollar bill against the container to show her size.  I was too cocky at my success.  As I raised the camera to take the picture, she fled.  LOL


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## papilio

Yikes! Guess all GBBs are not the same, huh?  :shrug:  Too bad, mine are so friendly.  Maybe it's just another example of a T mellowing once away from its territory, mine are pretty quick inside their enclosures too. (Though they _love_ to kick!)


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Yikes! Guess all GBBs are not the same, huh?  :shrug:  Too bad, mine are so friendly.  Maybe it's just another example of a T mellowing once away from its territory, mine are pretty quick inside their enclosures too. (Though they _love_ to kick!)


This was the one I couldn't get out of her enclosure the other evening.  I wanted to try the 'away from her comfort zone' theory.  I would have had to destroy every bit of her webbing to get her out. She was also the first of my Ts to ever kick hairs at me when she was less than 1.0 inch.  Took me a minute to figure out what she was doing.  LOL  She hasn't kicked since.  They each have their own agenda.


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## Storm76

papilio said:


> Yikes! Guess all GBBs are not the same, huh?  :shrug:  Too bad, mine are so friendly.  Maybe it's just another example of a T mellowing once away from its territory, mine are pretty quick inside their enclosures too. (Though they _love_ to kick!)


My couple males tend to threaten sometimes, but for the most part they simply spaz out


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## Formerphobe

I am so gonna get bit...  This has got to be a female.  It had mealworm in fangs and when I turned the enclosure top over on its side to get a pic, she came toward me...





Before I turned her, she gently eased the mealworm through the vent hole through which it was offered.  These pokies are a hoot!










H. liv female.  Subtle cleaning and isopods have not alleviated the fungi.  Her enclosure is actually a little on the dry side, and until today, the only one with this growth.  Now the arid OBT enclosure next to her has some hints of it.

Reactions: Like 3


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## papilio

That first shot is amazing Joyce!   


I'd like to think you're fairly safe with the working distance you've got now ... hopefully!  
Chad's the real dare-devil ... When he shoots his close-ups with his reversed kit lens he has to keep his fingers up front to control the aperture, a scant 2 inches from his subjects!!

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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Michael.    My fingers weren't much further than that from her while trying to focus.  And she kept moving forward, and I kept peeking over the camera between shots (this was the only one worth sharing) to see how close she really was... >>gulp<<   Glad no one had a camera trained on me!  LOL

---------- Post added 02-14-2013 at 01:01 AM ----------

My goofy E. murinus soaking her feet.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Storm76

Great new shots, my subfusca is very skittish at times, but other than that doesn't do anything really. No threats, no tries to bite or the like. I'm still hoping I lucked out and got yet another oddball! *knock on wood*



papilio said:


> That first shot is amazing Joyce!
> I'd like to think you're fairly safe with the working distance you've got now ... hopefully!
> Chad's the real dare-devil ... When he shoots his close-ups with his reversed kit lens he has to keep his fingers up front to control the aperture, a scant 2 inches from his subjects!!


I'm still waiting for a vid of you two in which you explain some stuff regarding photography WHILE taking pics of the T's, Sir! *taps feet*

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## macbaffo

it's funny to see the mealworm through the hole...


Storm76 said:


> I'm still waiting for a vid of you two in which you explain some stuff regarding photography WHILE taking pics of the T's, Sir! *taps feet*


That would be an interesting tutorial :biggrin:


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## advan

macbaffo said:


> That would be an interesting tutorial :biggrin:


It would be boring......Step 1. Take spider out. Step 2. Take pictures of spider. Step 3. Put spider back. Step 4. Wonder why people think that was so hard. 


Nice pics Joyce!

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## papilio

LOL  Chad's absolutely right!!  :biggrin:


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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Chad.  
I think you missed a few optional steps: 
1 a - take spider out multiple times after it runs back in enclosure
1 b - chase spider around room
1 c - hunt for MIA spider
1 d - remove spider from camera lens/face/hand/other body part...
1 e - any other unplanned for event
1 f - any or all of above

3 a - put spider back multiple times after it discovers it really likes the great wide world better than its enclosure
3 b - f same as 1 b - f

And I would hope Michael would be doing the photography narrating!  LOL

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## papilio

hehe   Very good Joyce!    Yeah there are those days too.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Chad.
> I think you missed a few optional steps:
> 1 a - take spider out multiple times after it runs back in enclosure
> 1 b - chase spider around room
> 1 c - hunt for MIA spider
> 1 d - remove spider from camera lens/face/hand/other body part...
> 1 e - any other unplanned for event
> 1 f - any or all of above
> 
> 3 a - put spider back multiple times after it discovers it really likes the great wide world better than its enclosure
> 3 b - f same as 1 b - f
> 
> And I would hope Michael would be doing the photography narrating!  LOL


Which would make it not so much "boring", lol


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## macbaffo

*R: The 'kids'*



Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Chad.
> I think you missed a few optional steps:
> 1 a - take spider out multiple times after it runs back in enclosure
> 1 b - chase spider around room
> 1 c - hunt for MIA spider
> 1 d - remove spider from camera lens/face/hand/other body part...
> 1 e - any other unplanned for event
> 1 f - any or all of above
> 
> 3 a - put spider back multiple times after it discovers it really likes the great wide world better than its enclosure
> 3 b - f same as 1 b - f
> 
> And I would hope Michael would be doing the photography narrating!  LOL


See? Who said it will be boring

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## Formerphobe

A. versi with color coordinated prey item.





GBB - "I'll eat it, but I'm not going to touch it with my feet..."





P. cam deciding that maybe the hornworm wasn't so bad after all.





B. verdezi

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## Storm76

Great shots and on my screen very vivid colors! Love the versi shot, Joyce!


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## mcluskyisms

Nice photos, that prey looks kinda groovy, is it dyed fishing bait?

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## Formerphobe

mcluskyisms said:


> Nice photos, that prey looks kinda groovy, is it dyed fishing bait?


It's some type of hornworm (maybe Manduca sexta?).  They come that color.  

---------- Post added 02-17-2013 at 04:10 PM ----------




Storm76 said:


> Great shots and on my screen very vivid colors! Love the versi shot, Joyce!


Thanks, Jan!


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## Formerphobe

A. azuraklaasi sling





N. coloratovillosus juvenile female





A. burica unsexed juvenile





B. albiceps juvenile female.  Eventually she will molt....





B. albopilosum juvenile female





B. schroederi juvenile female.  Another one that's been on the molting pot forever...





B. vagans very dirty, due for a molt, subadult female





B. boehmei female










B. emilia female










B. smithi subadult male.  The only one who deigned to kick hairs today.  He mostly just went through the motions.  LOL










Juvenile female P. scrofa.  She did not want anything to do with the corkbark.  Toddling across the wool blanket or my hand didn't seem to phase her.  All the others avoided the blanket like the plague and were content to sit on the corkbark.




















G. rosea sling RCF- gift from a friend.  





My mature female brown color phase rosea 





OBT - not a threat pose.  She was warming her belly.





OBT - juvenile male

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## papilio

Wow you've been busy Joyce!    And getting wonderful images, esp love the B. emilia!

Happy to see you getting not only slings but even some of your adults out of their enclosures, looks great!


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## Formerphobe

A. versicolor subadult male was really posing today, after he got angry and attacked the tongs...































---------- Post added 02-21-2013 at 06:32 PM ----------




papilio said:


> Wow you've been busy Joyce!    And getting wonderful images, esp love the B. emilia!
> 
> Happy to see you getting not only slings but even some of your adults out of their enclosures, looks great!


I had part of the day off today.   
Oh, the little slings were in their enclosures!  I don't see well enough to track them if they take off on me.  The larger Ts I can see, so I don't mind getting them out.  I can chase them down if they go AWOL.  LOL

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## Formerphobe

Patience paid off!
P. cambridgei subadult female.  I left her lid off and kept slipping in to check on her.  I knew she would poke her head out eventually.  










H. lividum adult female.

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## papilio

LOL nice!!


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## Formerphobe

BTW, I did NOT leave the lid off the H. liv...  But, I did leave it loose and was able to slip it off without startling her.


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## Storm76

Great shots, Joyce! The B. boehmei really glows on my screen! Yay for the A. azuraklaasi, such a nice, big Avic species IMO.


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## Shrike

That's a gorgeous versicolor!


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## bloodred1889

That last pic, awesome model where u get it?




Formerphobe said:


> Freshly molted LP "Llaves"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Huevos", the previous LPs sac-mate taking offense at me filling the water bowl.  Or, maybe it's been taking OBT lessons from its neighbor...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do believe little B. smithi "Ruatha" will be wearing new clothes soon.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One of the B. emelias.  Unfortunately I didn't mark the pic, but it is probably "Telgar" who has been the most cooperative for photos.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Freshly molted B. verdezi, "Aramina".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> G. rosea "Orlith" showing her 4-legged side.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Recently molted G. pulchra, "Faranth".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The late "Ramoth", RIP
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My newest addition, and largest in the collection...

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## Formerphobe

bloodred1889 said:


> That last pic, awesome model where u get it?


That came from Amazon.com.  But, I've seen them elsewhere, too - hobby shops, science stores, etc.  I had a very large, very muscular, very phobic workman nearly jump through his skin one day when he saw it on my desk.  But, it opened conversation and a means of education and maybe he left my house a little less phobic.


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## bloodred1889

Wow cool beans, just never seen one before, will be a good thing as a teaching tool or just for display, may have to get one,
Thanks


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## Formerphobe

My, um, female N. chromatus is now a mature male...
Post molt Poeci yoga in his burrow.





What he will show me of his full color.





N. carapoensis sling, freshly molted





H. lividum with her catch of the day.





She was done with pics and headed back down her burrow with her prize.

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## psohn703

Nice pictures! I love the red on your chromatus and the color on your lividum. Heh the chromatus you gave me also molted too, I think it was last week. Hopefully I can add a lividum to my collection soon.


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## Storm76

Well, bummer with the chromatus!


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## Formerphobe

*Upcoming molt party contestants*

Mystery T





E. pulcherimaklaasi





B. schroederi





B. albiceps





N. coloratovillosus





Homoeomma sp blue Peru





B. emilia





B. vagans






---------- Post added 03-14-2013 at 05:09 PM ----------
Recently molted P. metallica











In its new enclosure.










First post molt feast






---------- Post added 03-14-2013 at 05:13 PM ----------

Busy bodies A. genic and G. pulchripes.  Both of these girls nearly always come strolling out when their lids are off.












---------- Post added 03-14-2013 at 05:15 PM ----------

Recently molted G. pulchra, ~2.5".  I think it's another boy.











---------- Post added 03-14-2013 at 05:18 PM ----------

New enclosure for my MF GBB.  She loves her elevated corkbark round!





Well, the crop didn't work... it's the one in the middle...

---------- Post added 03-14-2013 at 05:25 PM ----------

B. smithi





Aphonopelma sp Murietta





A. chalcodes





A. genic may be joining the molt party.  It's been 10 months since her last molt and she is still a youngster.





P. rufilata ventrum - it's either a male or a female...  :-/

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## paassatt

That _Brachypelma albiceps_ is certainly due for a molt! I've found that for as dull and drab-looking as they get when they're in desperate need of a molt, they never disappoint with their shiny new black legs and golden carapace after a fresh molt. They definitely make it worth the wait.

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## Formerphobe

paassatt said:


> That _Brachypelma albiceps_ is certainly due for a molt! I've found that for as dull and drab-looking as they get when they're in desperate need of a molt, they never disappoint with their shiny new black legs and golden carapace after a fresh molt. They definitely make it worth the wait.


Her heart is still showing, so it will probably be another month or two.  I'm hoping she and her sister will show some adult colors this molt.


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## Storm76

You certainly have been "enabled" regarding the Poecies

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## psohn703

Love the pics. I cant wait to see the new female gbb enclosure after she webs it up. Hehe p. metallica is showing some nice colors.


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> You certainly have been "enabled" regarding the Poecies


Noticed that, did you?  LOL  I don't want to name any names, but their initials are C.H.A.D., among others.  
As long at the Poecis are happy, they don't do that stick posture thingy.  I try to keep them happy.  LOL

---------- Post added 03-18-2013 at 09:14 PM ----------




psohn703 said:


> Love the pics. I cant wait to see the new female gbb enclosure after she webs it up. Hehe p. metallica is showing some nice colors.


Thanks, Paul.  The GBB is currently concentrating her redecorating efforts inside the cork round.  I'm anxious to see how the remodel progresses.  
That P. met is definitely looking good!  And quite the character.  It has already established a routine in its new enclosure that I can practically set my clock by.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Formerphobe

A. versi MM loading emboli










B. boehmei up the nose shot





Recently molted N. coloratovillosus










How one A. burica stores its waterbowl










G. pulchripes declining water





P. metallica





MM N. chromatus















A. seemanni.   Sitz bath?





P. cambridgei, pretty feet.






---------- Post added 03-28-2013 at 08:25 PM ----------

G. pulchripes out for a stroll

27 March 2013 045 by Formerphobe, on Flickr

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## papilio

Nice shot of the cambridgei!  And Wow, the P. metallica's really putting on some size!  

p.s.  Ah darn ... I didn't even notice that the versicolor was palp charging!!  Fantastic!  :biggrin:


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## paassatt

Great shot of your MM _Avicularia versicolor_ loading up!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Nice shot of the cambridgei!  And Wow, the P. metallica's really putting on some size!
> 
> p.s.  Ah darn ... I didn't even notice that the versicolor was palp charging!!  Fantastic!  :biggrin:


That's usually the most I see of the P. cam.  I have a bigger enclosure ordered for her.  Hope to get some decent shots during rehousing.  (If not pictures, then at least exercise chasing her down...)
Actually, the P. met has only molted once in my care and isn't all that big, maybe 1.25 - 1.5".  



> Great shot of your MM Avicularia versicolor loading up!


Yeah, what I wouldn't have given for a macro lens today!  I ended up using the zoom on my phone.   Out of 80+ shots from two cameras, these two were the best.  First time I've witnessed active sperm web and palp loading.  Pretty cool!


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## Storm76

Great shots of the versi "loading up" ! Glad you caught him in the act there 

Lovely P. cam feet, indeed. As much as she keeps me on my toes, now that she's playing hidden 99% of her time, I wished I hadn't rehoused my girl, lol  But a hidden T is a happy T sooo...all good! Look like my big G. pulchripes girl is gonna molt soon...at least I hope that. Not having seen the T as a whole since Nov 2012 is weird considering she usually is always out hehe. I miss her


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Lovely P. cam feet, indeed. As much as she keeps me on my toes, now that she's playing hidden 99% of her time, I wished I hadn't rehoused my girl, lol  But a *hidden T is a happy T* sooo...all good! Look like my big G. pulchripes girl is gonna molt soon...at least I hope that. Not having seen the T as a whole since Nov 2012 is weird considering she usually is always out hehe. I miss her


Yeah, I must have a lot of happy Ts....  LOL


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## Formerphobe

P. cam - how does she know when I'm going to feed her?  If I just have the camera, she shoots out of sight into her web tunnel, sometimes leaving only tip toes sticking out.  I've been tong feeding her, and if I have food for her, she sits like this with front legs extended and waiting.





Rare shot of her out of her tube web.  Had to take it through the side of the enclosure, pardon the specks of T poop... it's her own decorating scheme...





MF GBB tidying up the front porch of her new enclosure.





Juvenile GBBs










MM A. versi





Juvenile male G. pulchra ~2.5 - 3.0"





Subadult male G. pulchra ~5.5 - 6.0"





Subadult female E. murinus

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## Storm76

Guess she doesn't like the paparazzi thing, but knows you have food maybe by sensing it somehow at those times?

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## naychur

Didn't know where else to post. This seemed like a good spot. 

My MM GBB that matured on 12-02-2013, finally ate for the first time since "becoming a man." I am so happy! Guess he realized there was no womenz around, so might as well eat!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## Hydrazine

Formerphobe said:


> Juvenile male G. pulchra ~2.5 - 3.0"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Subadult male G. pulchra ~5.5 - 6.0"


that pulchra...can't wait till my little Shiro gets his/her colours..around 4 cm and brown/gray now..

I seriously LOVE that species

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## Formerphobe

Woke up to a surprise molt from my B. verdezi this morning.  She was not one of the ones I had on the pre-molt party list...  Exuvium measured 4.25+".  Within an hour of molting, she stumbled out and got herself a long drink, then stumbled back to her boudior.  When I checked on her a bit ago, she was busily grooming.














































---------- Post added 04-06-2013 at 10:36 PM ----------

Homoeomma sp blue having a rough post molt recovery.





Looking a little better yesterday.  This evening she finally drank some water and was starting to groom herself.





The elusive P. cam being a bit more social this week.















B. vagans, high on the molt watch list.





B. emilia





N. coloratovillosus





G. pulchra





Busy body A. genic.  Another one on molt watch.










A. enzendami sac mates

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## Storm76

Great shots again, Joyce! I don't know, but verdezi seem to look a lot like vagans IMO.


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Great shots again, Joyce! I don't know, but verdezi seem to look a lot like vagans IMO.


Thanks, Jan!  I think they look a lot like their albiceps cousins.  There are definite differences.  She is still immature and doesn't have the adult 'rose grey' yet.  Even with my new camera, I can't quite capture the true 'her'.    Her carapace shines like a new copper penny.

---------- Post added 04-09-2013 at 04:06 PM ----------

Mystery T, just flipped and still dragging its molt.





Mystery T a couple of days post molt.  Thinking LP, but still remains to be seen.





GBB feeling more at home in new enclosure and enjoying her front porch.





B. verdezi a few days post molt.





Homoeomma sp blue Peru.  Still struggling to recover 9 days post-molt.  A lot of growth = a lot of recovery time.  





New baby!  ~4.0 inch Thrixopelma ockerti.  This girl is gorgeous!





After her cross-country trip, she just wanted a drink of water.





Other new baby: Poecilotheria regalis, probable female, ~4.0".

Reactions: Like 3


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## Storm76

You took a pic of Poeci stancing - niiice!


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> You took a pic of Poeci stancing - niiice!


And survived!  LOL  It will probably be the last time I see her for awhile.  She's now got both ends of her felted coconut coir tunnel webbed up solid.

The ockerti is scheduled for a ping pong ball... to discourage her from playing tiddly-winks with her water bowl.

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## Formerphobe

LOOK! I really do have a H. mac! 

This was taken in the mirror behind the enclosure.

P. formosa, 'Madame Giry', basking in the daylight yesterday for a change.  I think she was planning last night's architectural masterpiece - a substrate laden suspension bridge from her hide to the guillotine door on the front of her enclosure.  Hope she's not wanting to be fed any time soon...

P. metallica baby

P. cam female - ~5.0"

Homoeomma sp blue Peru - finally seems recovered from her molt.  

GBB female

Sorry to be redundant, this B. verdezi is one of my favorites.

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## papilio

WTG Joyce!!

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## Trogdora

Beautiful spiders as always.  And LOL, I love the names you give them. Madame Giry! "Your pedipalp at the level of your eyes?"

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## Formerphobe

Trogdora said:


> Beautiful spiders as always.  And LOL, I love the names you give them. Madame Giry! "Your pedipalp at the level of your eyes?"


LOL  Yep!  I also have Spectre and did have Fantome, in honor of PoTO.  And Eponine and Fantine from Les Mis, Lady Guinevere of Camelot.

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## Storm76

Great new set of pictures  I like the ones of the H. mac in the mirror.


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## Formerphobe

Brachypelma albiceps molt.  Female,  ~3.0"




B. albopilosum female

B. boehmei female

B. emilia recent molt. Female



Recent moltee's sac mate

B. vagans female, due for a molt.  Looks like she has a zipper at the pedicel.

B. verdezi female


---------- Post added 04-25-2013 at 08:18 PM ----------

A versi MM

G. pulchra subadult male

GBB


One of the communal M. balfouri sacmates out for a stroll

Reactions: Like 5


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## papilio

Wow Joyce, what a great series!!  :biggrin:

Cannot _wait_ till my emilia molts!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Wow Joyce, what a great series!!  :biggrin:
> 
> Cannot _wait_ till my emilia molts!


Thanks, Michael.  This girl was out of her burrow for the first time yesterday since her recent molt.  She's been on meager rations for almost a year because of a cyst.  It appears to be gone!  Yay!

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## paassatt

My _Brachypelma albiceps_ female is around the same size yours is post-molt now. Looking at my records, she last molted on 17 April of last year, and is showing absoultely no signs of premolt at all. No dulling of her colors and she ate yesterday afternoon. I'm accepting the fact that this will be a molt-once-every-couple-of-years kind of spider.

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## Silberrücken

Beautiful horde you have, Formerphobe. 

Measured Alcatraz's molt...  5 and 1/4"...


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Beautiful horde you have, Formerphobe.
> 
> Measured Alcatraz's molt...  5 and 1/4"...


Thank you, Silver!  I'm rather partial to them.  
Alcatraz and Cosira are growing about the same rate.  Cosira is next in line for a larger enclosure (will pick up next weekend).  She's about outgrown her pretzel jar.  LOL


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## Storm76

Awesome looking boehmei, Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Awesome looking boehmei, Joyce!


Thanks, Jan.   She was a 2011 ATS Conference raffle winning.

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## Formerphobe

Immature male A. versi

Subadult female N. coloratovillosus

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## papilio

Beautiful shots of two of my favorites!

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## Storm76

Nice win then, Joyce! 

Beautiful versi and stretching Nhandu! 

I think my Poeci male is again in premolt, sealed himself completely in after rehousing, hehe! Haven't seen him since. As for my versis, my male is actually bitey while the female is way more relaxed. Oh, and I'm getting 2 new A. purpurea slings + 2 GBB sling in return for the MM GBB (hopefully next week I can send him off).


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Nice win then, Joyce!
> 
> Beautiful versi and stretching Nhandu!
> 
> I think my Poeci male is again in premolt, sealed himself completely in after rehousing, hehe! Haven't seen him since. As for my versis, my male is actually bitey while the female is way more relaxed. Oh, and I'm getting 2 new A. purpurea slings + 2 GBB sling in return for the MM GBB (hopefully next week I can send him off).


Initially I debated on whether to keep the boehmei since I already had two I was raising from slings.  But, she has turned out to be a fantastic spider, not at all flicky or cranky (to date...).  She's always out in the open, always good feed response, and very easy on the eyes.    My juvenile female boehmei, on the other hand, has turned into the wicked witch of the west.  LOL

The N. coloratovillosus came as a freebie.  Again, I debated over keeping it.  Well, she has become a definite keeper, too!

I've only ever had male versis.  All a tad skittish, but none bitey.  And none have ever deigned to shoot poop at me!  (to date...)

I'd love to get my hands on a male GBB!  Congrats on your new additions!

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## Storm76

Same with my male B. boehmei - the little juvie is a very cranky one.


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## Formerphobe

Little C. darlingi getting bold and coming all the way out of its burrow.

B. albiceps female, recently molted

Mature female GBB

Recently molted P. rufilata juvenile.


Recently molted juvenile A. metallica.  S/he was very cooperative for photos.

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## papilio

The rufie's already looking pretty nice!  :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> The rufie's already looking pretty nice!  :biggrin:


Thanks, Michael.  It was cute as the dickens when it was 1.0" and just keeps getting prettier.    It finally kicked its exuvium out today.  Appears to be a boy spider, but I'm not familiar yet with looking at Poeci crotches.

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## papilio

In my experience rufilatas are the easiest of all Ts to sex ventrally, once you know what to look for ... with males (especially when they're smaller) there will be a black dot between the book lungs.  Hopefully you don't see one!  :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

New MF B. smithi.  (Thank you, Paul!)  


As usual, when I opened this girls enclosure, out she strolled.  She went right back in just as easily when she realized there was food involved.

Rehoused juvenile P. irminias today.  This one (suspect female) was a real hardhead!  She was determined not to leave her infant vial.  I won.  

Investigating her first water bowl.

This pic is a little dark, but it shows off her stripey butt nicely.  

First hornworm for juvenile G. pulchra.  He's not sure what to make of it...

"It's food!  My favorite!"

Homoeomma sp blue is a totally sloppy eater.  Right after this pic was taken, she proceeded to wipe her meal all over the sides of her enclosure leaving a gooey trail of bug guts.  Doesn't matter what the prey is, she makes a mess with it.


---------- Post added 05-04-2013 at 09:00 PM ----------

Almost forgot my other newbie!  I. mira sling.

Reactions: Like 6


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## Storm76

Nice new additions, Joyce! The I. mira is a cutiepie already 

Guess my A. geniculata will molt today or tomorrow, she's webbed all over the place and kicked almost all her hairs of her behind - curious how big that girl will be after the molt she's 5" currently

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## Formerphobe

I'm expecting a molt from my A. genic, too.  She hasn't started webbing yet but is in the opisthosoma blackening, dandelion u. hairs, pre-molt huddle.

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## mcluskyisms

Nice new additions.

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## Formerphobe

*P. cam rehoused*

She was a little stressed...


Her new abode

Checking things out

Constructing her dirt curtain

Feeling more secure as her dirt curtain takes on more form

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## papilio

Wow, she's got a beautiful home!!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Wow, she's got a beautiful home!!


Thanks, Michael.  I thought she would like the cork round.  Not so much.  So far she has only used it to anchor her dirt curtain.  Silly spider...

Also rehoused Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru'.  I housed this one and her sac mate in ~4.0" cubes as juveniles.  Both spent most of their time up high, even going so far as to build molting hammocks in the tops of the silk plants I had in there.  When they outgrew the cubes, I moved them to terrestrial set ups because, well, they are supposedly terrestrial.  The sac mate is now living elsewhere.  "Spectre" was always walking the walls and trying to web up 'high' in her +floorspace/-height enclosure.  I went with my gut and yesterday we went arboreal.  She settled right in and is loving her new highrise (similar set up as the P. cam above).

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## papilio

Joyce that's really interesting about your Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru'!  Too bad about the P. cam ... I've been thinking of finally buying an arboreal enclosure for my subfusca 'lowland' along with a cork climbing wall, she'd sure be a great display spider if she spent time up on it!


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## Formerphobe

MF B. smithi "Alessa"

Subadult male B. smithi "Ruatha"

Recently molted subadult female B. emilia "Benden"

There has been a recent Poeci molt fest: P. subfusca, P. rufilata, and the toes of P. regalis




---------- Post added 05-10-2013 at 01:47 PM ----------




papilio said:


> Joyce that's really interesting about your Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru'!  Too bad about the P. cam ... I've been thinking of finally buying an arboreal enclosure for my subfusca 'lowland' along with a cork climbing wall, she'd sure be a great display spider if she spent time up on it!


Actually, for photography purposes, it's nicer that The P. cam has erected the dirt curtain in the corner.  When I turn the enclosure, there she is!  I don't have to shoot into the corkround.

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## papilio

Cool, more new great rufie photos!!    Have you tried to sex it yet by looking for the 'dot'?

My B. emilia should be molting any time now, YAY!!!  She's looking pretty war-torn by now.


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## Formerphobe

*B. boehmei with partial prolapse of spermathacae*

At her last molt in August of last year, this girl had partially prolapsed spermathacae.  She has been on meager rations ever since to try to extend the time between molts and hopefully allow her time to 'get herself together'.  Occasionally she gets up on the glass and I can sneak a peak at the 'lesion'.  She has recently become little Miss Crankypants and has kicked quite an unattractive bald spot on her rump.  The pooched out spermathacae is looking keratinized (for lack of a better term.)


---------- Post added 05-10-2013 at 02:07 PM ----------




papilio said:


> Cool, more new great rufie photos!!    Have you tried to sex it yet by looking for the 'dot'?
> 
> My B. emilia should be molting any time now, YAY!!!  She's looking pretty war-torn by now.


The rufie has turned quite shy this instar and I haven't yet seen its ventrum.  Depending which side of the brain I'm using when I look at the exuvium, it sometimes looks male, other times female...  

Emilias are so gorgeous freshly molted!  The girl pictured in the previous frame is the one who had the cyst and was on scanty diet for so long.  She was really looking war-torn after an extended instar!  
I can't wait to see fresh molt pics of your girl with your bigger, better, camera and skills!

---------- Post added 05-10-2013 at 02:37 PM ----------

Aphonopelma seemanni molt. An endoscope would be really nice for intra-burrow macro shots... She was near enough the burrow opening and against the glass so I managed these:




---------- Post added 05-10-2013 at 03:09 PM ----------

Acanthoscurria geniculata.  Molted from a subadult 'female' into a mature male...  :-(  Remedial T sexing classes for me.  LOL
The exuvium measured about a mm short of five inches, DLS.  Rough measurement of the recovering post-molt spider is at a whopping seven inches!  Maybe more.  This morning his legs still won't quite support him and he doesn't seem like he's quite figured out what to do with them.  I think he tried to kick hairs at me when I peeked in on him, but he couldn't find his butt!  Poor fella.



My first clue that something was amiss in genderland when these loooong legs just kept coming out of the exuvium.


Next clues were the glaring emboli...



Wearing someone else's legs...




Male accessory organs look suspiciously like spermathacae under a microscope.  In a MM, they can be seen on the exuvium with even my poor eyesight, but obviously not spermathacae...

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## PrettyHate

I wish my legs were that long! Holy smokes!

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## papilio

Hey Joyce, those white emboli are so cool!  You should post them on our other forum's 'Man Parts' thread!  :biggrin:

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## Storm76

Great shots, Joyce! Bummer with the A. geniculata - if I'd be living anywhere close to you, I'd say sent him over, but...oh well  Congrats on the Poeci molt-fest! Still waiting for my subfusca to molt again, though I haven't seen "Artemis" for over 3 weeks already...takes his sweet time. Interesting that your B. smithi molted, too - right now I'm expecting my B. auratum to follow the smithi within the upcoming couple months - she was always shortly behind. Regarding the Homoeomma sp. "blue", I'm kinda tempted to try the same as you did. For comparison, the female seems to like to climb while the male I have is pretty much always on the floor with only a few exceptions when roaming around.

Soo much to talk about with T's - I love it

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Great shots, Joyce! Bummer with the A. geniculata - if I'd be living anywhere close to you, I'd say sent him over, but...oh well  Congrats on the Poeci molt-fest! Still waiting for my subfusca to molt again, though I haven't seen "Artemis" for over 3 weeks already...takes his sweet time. Interesting that your B. smithi molted, too - right now I'm expecting my B. auratum to follow the smithi within the upcoming couple months - she was always shortly behind. Regarding the Homoeomma sp. "blue", I'm kinda tempted to try the same as you did. For comparison, the female seems to like to climb while the male I have is pretty much always on the floor with only a few exceptions when roaming around.
> 
> Soo much to talk about with T's - I love it


Yeah, as the emboli became apparent, I immediately thought of your female needing a mate.  LOL

Speaking of Poeci molt-fest, P. met molted yesterday and formosa has been holed up for two days, most likely molting.  Once I can confirm the formosa's molt, then I can say all of my Poecis are on the same molt schedule.  LOL

Oh, my smithi didn't molt.  She's a newbie, and the young male isn't due yet.  

H. sp blue found her elevated cork round and is loving it!  Have you heard or read anything about observations of these guys in the wild?

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> H. sp blue found her elevated cork round and is loving it!  Have you heard or read anything about observations of these guys in the wild?


Sadly, no. I wish I'd have some more stuff about them, but alas it's one of those species that Stuart mentioned is probably misIDed even. Dr. Bertani or Dr. Perez-Miles might have an answer, but they didn't return my mails sadly.

On the note of A. geniculata: My female is back to her cranky self! Got a mighty threat-posture from her yesterday when I exchanged her water

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## Shrike

Cool photo series!  That's one leggy geniculata.


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## Formerphobe

Shrike said:


> Cool photo series!  That's one leggy geniculata.


Thanks, Matt.    Leggy doesn't even begin to describe him!  Each leg is an easy 3" long!  With those long gangly legs, he reminds me of some of the banded serpentine sea stars.  He still startles me every time I look in his enclosure since his molt.  LOL


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## Formerphobe

Recently molted P. metallica, won't allow a dorsal shot, the little twerp.


Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru' enjoying arboreal life.


P. cambridgei finally discovered her cork round and appears to have settled nicely into her new and improved enclosure.

Recently molted P. regalis finally allowed me a quick pic.

Tiny threat pose from A. enzendami sling.  LOL


---------- Post added 05-17-2013 at 01:42 PM ----------

'Not a Strawberry' T. ockerti

P. pulcher's voracious appetite brought it out of hiding.

B. smithi - sub-adult male.

B. smithi - MF

G. pulchra

B. vagans female turns down food.  I think I foresee a molt in her future.  

E. murinus, another recent molt party participant.



---------- Post added 05-17-2013 at 01:48 PM ----------

I. mira sling molt

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## papilio

Lovely photos Joyce!  

Chad's the expert here, but to these untrained eyes the P. metallica is looking female.

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## Hydrazine

Stunned again by the pulchra, and today the gorgeous smithi too.

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Lovely photos Joyce!
> 
> Chad's the expert here, but to these untrained eyes the P. metallica is looking female.


Oh, wouldn't that be nice!  I tried looking at the exuvium under the microscope and decided that, um, it was definitely either male or female...


> Stunned again by the pulchra, and today the gorgeous smithi too.


Thank you, Hydrazine.    Two of my favorite terrestial species, too. Actually, those are two different B. smithi, first a sub-adult male, second a mature female.


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## Hydrazine

I meant it as plural, "smithis" would sound just weird  
I own both species, a juvie smithi girl and unsexed pulchra sling, who has a long way to go with his or her 4cm DLS  being brown/gray, I can't wait for adult coloration or at least first signs of it 
Till then, I can only drool over the adults appearing on AB

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## Formerphobe

A. genic, still not sure what to do with those new long legs.

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> Oh, wouldn't that be nice!  I tried looking at the exuvium under the microscope and decided that, um, it was definitely either male or female...


Well it's always a good thing to at least begin narrowing the possibilities.  hehe 
I mean, wouldn't it be just _HORRIBLE_ to end up with a hermaphrodite?!!   $$$$$$$$$$$$$  :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Well it's always a good thing to at least begin narrowing the possibilities.  hehe
> I mean, wouldn't it be just _HORRIBLE_ to end up with a hermaphrodite?!!   $$$$$$$$$$$$$  :biggrin:


LOL Well, stranger things have been known to happen...  LOL  Would it be worth any money, though?  More like, "Don't breed that mutant!"

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## Storm76

Very cute new shots of that I. mira  Love the last one especially..


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## Formerphobe

Brachypelma vagans molt.  Female.  Molt measured ~5.25".
Refusing food two days before.












---------- Post added 05-23-2013 at 09:50 PM ----------

P. metallica




---------- Post added 05-23-2013 at 09:52 PM ----------

Baboon babies lined up for feeding time - C. darlingi, C. marshalli, A. enzendami

A. enzendami turret builders.



---------- Post added 05-23-2013 at 09:57 PM ----------

T. ockerti

P. subfusca sling

Partial sighting of P. regalis



---------- Post added 05-23-2013 at 09:59 PM ----------

A. seemanni

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## Rhodin

Very very cool Ts . The vagans made me scratch my head though. At first I thought maybe the lighting was off but after seeing the molt as brown and the T emerging from the molt as brown I am confused. Is it normal for a vagans to be so brown before a molt?


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## Formerphobe

Rhodin said:


> Very very cool Ts . The vagans made me scratch my head though. At first I thought maybe the lighting was off but after seeing the molt as brown and the T emerging from the molt as brown I am confused. Is it normal for a vagans to be so brown before a molt?


Yes, they will get pretty rough looking before a molt.  This girl has never been a flicker, so had all her setae, but had really faded in color over the past year.  This is one reason why it is so difficult to ID tarantulas via pictures.  The pre-molt picture looks nothing like a B. vagans if one was going by color alone.  With this molt she got the full black carapace.  Last molt it was still dusky pink.


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## Formerphobe

0.1 A. seemanni

0.1 B. vagans

0.1 B. boehmei

1.0 B. smithi

0.1 G. pulchripes

0.1 P. cambridgei

0.1 A. chalcodes

MM A. genic, sperm web and emboli loading

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## papilio

Nice clear shot of the cambridgei Joyce!  Love the A. chalcodes shot!!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Nice clear shot of the cambridgei Joyce!  Love the A. chalcodes shot!!


Thanks, Michael.  The P. cam really likes her new and improved enclosure.  She is out much more often now that she has put some more finishing touches on her dirt curtain.  I can even take her sliding door all the way out for pics without her skittering away.
The goofy chalcodes dives into her water bowl every time I open her lid.

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## Silberrücken

I want your goofy chalcodes. :biggrin:

Wonderful pics once again, Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> I want your goofy chalcodes. :biggrin:
> 
> Wonderful pics once again, Joyce!


Thanks, Silver.  I don't know what it is with my spiders and their water bowls...  B. smithi boy stands in his to eat, B. verdezi takes a bath in hers, A. seemanni does sitz baths, A. chalcodes goes swimming.

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## Storm76

Yeah, that chalcodes looks like he's enjoying a bath (or simply trying to drown himself "I'm done - I can't stand crickets anymore!"

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## Formerphobe

B. vagans, too busy concentrating on her first post-molt meal to pose.  She has full black carapace now.

B. smithi, newer addition. 6+ inch mature female.

B. verdezi subadult female.

B. crankypants, I mean B. boehmei.  Never flicked a hair in her life until April.  Then she kicked herself nekked over a couple day period.  I was so disgusted!  My spiders don't have nekked heineys!  Just since yesterday her rump has darkened up.  

B. albiceps, juvenile female.  One day she will molt....  hopefully before I die.  LOL


---------- Post added 06-08-2013 at 10:03 PM ----------

A. moderatum.  Exuvium measured 2.5"

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## papilio

Granted I'm not much into terrestrials, but I'd love to have an A. moderatum, really beautiful Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Granted I'm not much into terrestrials, but I'd love to have an A. moderatum, really beautiful Joyce!


Thanks, Michael.  If you'd spoken sooner, I could have 'enabled' you instead of Silberrucken.  ;-)  
This spider has looked like a naked mole rat for the last ten months.  I am pleasantly surprised at the transformation.  They are, indeed, attractive spiders.

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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Michael.  If you'd spoken sooner, I could have 'enabled' you instead of Silberrucken.


*Mine*. Alllll *miiiiine*. :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> *Mine*. Alllll *miiiiine*. :biggrin:


Bwahahahah!!!

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## papilio

Buggerzzz.

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## Storm76

Congrats on the molts, Joyce

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## naychur

New furnishings for my A metallica and A avicularia. I was feeling crafty.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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## Alltheworld601

I love the look of that verdezi.  And of course I love moderatums, once she's adult, she'll be this pink fluff ..(i know you know that, i'm just marveling at the girlishness of these spiders!  I feel bad for the males, being pink and fluffy.)

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## Formerphobe

Last pic of "Chaska" before I sent him off to seek his fortune... and a couple of wives.  

B. albiceps subadult female, "Alianne"




B. boehmei female "Sorka" wanting to join the molt-fest.  Last molt she had a partially prolapsed spermathace.  Hoping that corrects itself this molt.

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## Formerphobe

And the molt fest continues:
GBB

A. burica

Recovering from molts: B. albiceps

A. moderatum was up to taking a cricket today


Due for a molt: A. chalcodes

M. balfouri feeding frenzy.
Even though they're getting some size on them, they still hunt and feed in a pack.  
This little guy/gal was left holding the bag, er cricket.  The others startled and bolted down the burrow.  This one finally managed to drag the cricket down burrow with him.

My 'communal' of two sharing a cricket.

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## papilio

Your gorgeous big balfouris make me impatient!!

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Your gorgeous big balfouris make me impatient!!


LOL  They're not that big.  The top one by himself is maybe 1.75" and the two in the lip lock ~2.25".

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> LOL  They're not that big.  The top one by himself is maybe 1.75" and the two in the lip lock ~2.25".


Haha  _Still_ giants compared to mine!  
At about what size did yours start looking like balfouris?

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Haha  _Still_ giants compared to mine!
> At about what size did yours start looking like balfouris?


Well, they stay burrowed a lot.  Each time I see them, they look a little more balfouri-ish.  Probably about 1.25" their colors started being noticeably more defined.

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## Storm76

Congrats on all the nice molts, Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

*Molt-a-rama continues*

B. boehmei, ~8 yr old, ~6.0" female, "Manora"


B. boehmei, ~3 yr old, ~4.0" female, "Sorka"

B. schroederi, ~2 yr old, ~3.0", female, "Caylith"


P. cambridgei, 1.75 yr old, ~6.0" female, "Cosira"


P. cam molted on 6/20, tossed her exuvium out ~6/28. I saw the intact exuvium near her door one morning, but failed to take it out immediately.  The next morning she had completely dismembered it.  I'm still finding parts!

H. lividum, ~4 year old, ~5.5" female, "Indigo".  Unlike my other H. lividums, this girl never sealed her burrow, never went into hiding, and was back to basking in the sun within 48 hours of molting.

A. metallica, ~1 yr, ~2.5", unsexed, "Sirah"

2nd of two A. burica, ~2 yr old, ~3.0", probable male, "Thistle"

P. subfusca, ~6 months old, ~2.25", unsexed, "Guinevere".  She pitched out her exuvium on 6/20, and this week was her first foray out in the open (that I've seen) post molt.

P. metallica, ~6 months old, ~3.0", unsexed, "Royale".  Molted on 6/28 and was back out on display within 48 hours.

1st of two E. pulcherimaklaasi, ~3 yr old, ~2.5", probable male, "Guinan".  Growth rate: frozen molasses... no colors yet.


---------- Post added 07-04-2013 at 03:37 PM ----------

Not a real recent molt (May 4), but this pretty girl is spending more and more time out of her burrow.
E. murinus, ~2 yrs old, ~4.0", "Tannasg" (a "Bones" baby)

My old man and first OBT, "Ananse", ~3 yr old, ~6.0", MM, matured April 2012.  Looks like he's been rode hard and put away wet, but he's still eating, drinking, webbing and doing important OBT things.  This guy has never been the OBT 'Pit Bull' that so many people talk about.  He's docile enough that he could lure an unwitting keeper into a false sense of security.  I continue to admire him from afar.

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## papilio

+1

Absolutely stunning spiders and images Joyce!!  :biggrin:


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> +1
> 
> Absolutely stunning spiders and images Joyce!!  :biggrin:


Thank you, Michael!  I can't take credit for the spiders, but someone talked me into getting this really cool camera... 

I almost forgot "Alessa", mature female B. smithi, 6.0", unknown age in her afternoon belly warming pose.

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## Storm76

Sorka and Tannasg are dropdead gorgeous


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Sorka and Tannasg are dropdead gorgeous


Thank you, Jan.    Since Sorka didn't turn inside out with this molt, I'm assuming her prolapsed spermathacae is 'fixed'.  She hasn't allowed me to see yet...


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## Shrike

Beautiful collection Joyce!  The molting sequences are really nice.  I might of missed them in the thread, but where are your C. bertae?  Mine is getting bigger, relatively speaking.  One of my current favorites.


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## Formerphobe

Shrike said:


> Beautiful collection Joyce!  The molting sequences are really nice.  I might of missed them in the thread, but where are your C. bertae?  Mine is getting bigger, relatively speaking.  One of my current favorites.


Interesting you should ask about C. bertae...  I thought I had given you my last one.  Then one of my mystery Ts started looking suspiciously like a C. bertae.  When I would catch a fleeting glimpse of it, that is.  Great burrower, that one!  I never did get a good picture of it before I sent it to live with Silberrucken.  Silver's been able to get some amazing stills and video footage of the little one!

So glad to hear yours is doing well!

---------- Post added 07-12-2013 at 06:15 PM ----------


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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> I never did get a good picture of it before I sent it to live with Silberrucken.  Silver's been able to get some amazing stills and video footage of the little one!


My beautiful C. bertae is doing really well! She's doing so well, that I am rehousing her to a much bigger container this weekend. This little beauty is an AWESOME burrower and webber, and I want to see how she does with a bigger, deeper burrowing area. Great eater, too! She's always out, and is always busy. 

Thank you, Joyce!

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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you, Jan.    Since Sorka didn't turn inside out with this molt, I'm assuming her prolapsed spermathacae is 'fixed'.  She hasn't allowed me to see yet...


That would be great - did you get to check on her yet?

PS: My H. sp. "blue" female has gotten really bitey the last couple weeks instantly attacking the tongs or even my fingers (was fast enough to pull them back from the cage!) - I'm guessing she's in premolt, but I've not seen her like that ever so far...did you experience something like that with yours so far? I'm a bit suprised, lol


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> That would be great - did you get to check on her yet?
> 
> PS: My H. sp. "blue" female has gotten really bitey the last couple weeks instantly attacking the tongs or even my fingers (was fast enough to pull them back from the cage!) - I'm guessing she's in premolt, but I've not seen her like that ever so far...did you experience something like that with yours so far? I'm a bit suprised, lol


Neither of mine were really bitey, just flighty, and just more skittish when closer to a molt. The female I still have I moved into an arboreal enclosure awhile back and she is far less flighty.  She has webbed 'sit spots' - one on the substrate (least used), two on the walls (most used) and one on her cork bark round.

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## Shrike

Silberrücken said:


> My beautiful C. bertae is doing really well! She's doing so well, that I am rehousing her to a much bigger container this weekend. This little beauty is an AWESOME burrower and webber, and I want to see how she does with a bigger, deeper burrowing area. Great eater, too! She's always out, and is always busy.
> 
> Thank you, Joyce!


Yes indeed, thank you Joyce!  Likewise, my bertae is a construction dynamo, with tunnels and webbing throughout its enclosure.  Fantastic species.


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## Formerphobe

P. murinus female.  One of my favorite girls.  Never a single threat pose.  If she gets tired of me taking pictures, she calmly strolls back into her ball of webbed substrate.


C. marshalli baby

A. enzendami turrets.  I rarely see the spiders themselves...

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## papilio

Beautiful OBT Joyce!    Have you noticed that some OBTs have conspicuous orange ridges on the carapace, some not?  My AF didn't, and that's the look I very much like, so I gave mine away a couple weeks ago.  Great spiders!  :biggrin:

[edit]  Here's the way I lik'em, sorry to say this juvie died last Summer ... just like yours, she was very docile!

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Beautiful OBT Joyce!    Have you noticed that some OBTs have conspicuous orange ridges on the carapace, some not?  My AF didn't, and that's the look I very much like, so I gave mine away a couple weeks ago.  Great spiders!  :biggrin:


Thanks, Michael.  I have noticed a lot of color variation in this species.  I think it was Fartkowski who used to post, who had an "Orange Creamsicle" OBT that I would have loved to have!  She was gorgeous!

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Michael.  I have noticed a lot of color variation in this species.  I think it was Fartkowski who used to post, who had an "Orange Creamsicle" OBT that I would have loved to have!  She was gorgeous!


Chad also said that there's a very rare dark color form which he said is stunning!  Haven't been able to locate any photos of the sort he spoke of.


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Chad also said that there's a very rare dark color form which he said is stunning!  Haven't been able to locate any photos of the sort he spoke of.


Oh, I'd like to see that, too!  
Creamsicle OBT:  Fartkowski's picture thread, page 125, frame 1872; and pg 117 frame 174.  There are more of her throughout the thread, too.
(I didn't know if I was allowed to bump someone else's thread...)

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> Oh, I'd like to see that, too!
> Creamsicle OBT:  Fartkowski's picture thread, page 125, frame 1872; and pg 117 frame 174.  There are more of her throughout the thread, too.
> (I didn't know if I was allowed to bump someone else's thread...)


Sorry, I guess page numbers vary depending on user settings ... could you find the post numbers for me?  Thanks!


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## Formerphobe

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?182020-fartkowski-picture-thread/page125 - I guess it would be post #1872
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?182020-fartkowski-picture-thread/page117 - first pic on that page

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## papilio

Thanks a lot Joyce, how amazing!!  

Actually I needn't have asked for more specific directions ... what a joy it is to browse his thread!!  :biggrin:  Really hope he comes back again, such beautiful spiders and photos!


[Edit] I think others need to see this too.     [post=1916037]Click Me![/post]


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Thanks a lot Joyce, how amazing!!
> 
> Actually I needn't have asked for more specific directions ... what a joy it is to browse his thread!!  :biggrin:  Really hope he comes back again, such beautiful spiders and photos!


Oh, I definitely agree!  He has a fantastic collection!

---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 08:11 PM ----------




papilio said:


> Beautiful OBT Joyce!    Have you noticed that some OBTs have conspicuous orange ridges on the carapace, some not?  My AF didn't, and that's the look I very much like, so I gave mine away a couple weeks ago.  Great spiders!  :biggrin:
> 
> [edit]  Here's the way I lik'em, sorry to say this juvie died last Summer ... just like yours, she was very docile!


That is indeed gorgeous!  The MM I sent off for breeding purposes last month looked very similar. Darker shades of orange than my female.

---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 08:17 PM ----------

P. metallica juvenile.  Sex unknown.  




P. subfusca juvenile

P. regalis subadult female.  I'm usually lucky to see this:

Occasionally I get to see this:

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> That is indeed gorgeous!  The MM I sent off for breeding purposes last month looked very similar. Darker shades of orange than my female.


Joyce, if you remember when the time comes could you let me know if/when that pairing produces offspring and if they're being made available for sale?  With two such parents I'd feel confident in obtaining a beautiful replacement for the above girl.  Thanks!  

---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 07:22 PM ----------

I'm definitely sticking with my judgement of female for your P. met Joyce!  

The second and third photos of her (?) sure do look familiar ... I have shots almost identical to them!  

I picked up a pair of tiny P. met slings just last night, had a nice photo shoot of one of them last night and am right now at work processing.    I had a sub-adult previously but it will be great fun to watch them grow from slings!!


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## Formerphobe

Little fatty G. rosea baby

Another little Chilean fatty, P. scrofa juvenile

Juvenile male G. pulchra

N. tripepii freshly molted


N. trip first post molt meal

N. coloratovillosus


---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 08:34 PM ----------

Mystery T.  I suspect LP, but it is growing so much slower than previous LPs under same husbandry.  It's name is Noname...


---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 08:40 PM ----------

The Brachy Bunch:
B. albiceps - juvenile female in her version of a threat pose.  LOL

B. albopilosum - juvvenile female

B. schroederi juvenile female.  Her legs really are that blue/black color.

B. vagans - shy girl, never poses

B. verdezi.  First threat pose ever, and not very impressive...

Ah, she wanted food, not water.  LOL


---------- Post added 07-17-2013 at 09:15 PM ----------

Psalmopoeus pulcher, still a little stressed out from its move to a new enclosure last week.

But, not too stressed to turn down food.

P. cambridgei female - dls 5.5+ inches

A peek into P. cam's dining room behind her dirt curtain

A. seemanni female

G. pulchripes female hanging on the outside of her enclosure.  I've taken to letting her stroll around on the bed while I feed and water other spiders.  She never goes far, and never balks at going back in her enclosure.  She's just a busybody.

Juvenile male GBB - not shy like my others.  I open his lid and he runs to the top level of webbing to see what is going on.  Another lang nebbit.  LOL

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## Storm76

I'm voting female on the P. metallica you have there...congrats!


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> I'm voting female on the P. metallica you have there...congrats!


Others have said male.    It's been storing all of its molts in its hide where I can see them from the back of the enclosure, but can't access them without making a shambles of its decorating scheme.  Guess I'll just wait and see what happens.


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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> Others have said male.


Looks male to me - I am no expert, tho....


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Others have said male.    It's been storing all of its molts in its hide where I can see them from the back of the enclosure, but can't access them without making a shambles of its decorating scheme.  Guess I'll just wait and see what happens.


Well, I guess we'll see. But I'm just comparing with my (proven) male P. subfusca and to me yours looks female. Time will tell...we'll see who's right then.


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## Formerphobe

Well, I failed Ventral Sexing 101 more than once.  And a couple of NWs with prominent male accessory organs dropped my GPA in Microscope Sexing...  I'll wait to call it until it's blatant.  LOL

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## Alltheworld601

I'm in love with your B. verdezi.  She's in love with me too, she told me to tell you to pop her in the mail.

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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> Well, I failed Ventral Sexing 101 more than once.  And a couple of NWs with prominent male accessory organs dropped my GPA in Microscope Sexing...  I'll wait to call it until it's blatant.  LOL


Yeah, I don't put a lot of faith in my abilities either, especially from just a few photos ... way easier in the flesh!  ;-)  Looking at it again, I could easily be persuaded  that it's male!  :?

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## Formerphobe

Alltheworld601 said:


> I'm in love with your B. verdezi.  She's in love with me too, she told me to tell you to pop her in the mail.


LOL, um, no...  She heads my list of Do-not-part-with-Keepers.  

---------- Post added 07-20-2013 at 09:18 AM ----------




papilio said:


> Yeah, I don't put a lot of faith in my abilities either, especially from just a few photos ... way easier in the flesh!  ;-)  Looking at it again, I could easily be persuaded  that it's male!  :?


The more I look at it in person, the more convinced I am that it is definitely... 





either male or female...

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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> The more I look at it in person, the more convinced I am that it is definitely...
> 
> either male or female...


I think you're right!!!!!!!

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## Formerphobe

Found that both T. ockerti and LP molted during the night.  Ockerti was traded to me as a probable female.  Of course she has the exuvium tucked up in her hide where I can't get to it...  Female LP exuvium measured 6.5".  It's been 24 days short of a year since her last molt and I didn't even expect it!  Last instar she turned a dingy red/brown color for months prior to molting.  No pre-molt fading out this instar.  

Pictures to follow this evening.  My 'baby' turned 20 today so I'm off to do Happy Birthday Daughter things.


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## Formerphobe

Elusive M. balfouri. In the first photo, the legs of a sibling can barely be seen 'helping' the hunter bring the cricket into the burrow.  Found a discarded exuvium today.  At least one of the four in this enclosure is a female.  


C. darlingi getting its horn

Female OBT


---------- Post added 07-20-2013 at 09:16 PM ----------

P. formosa female

P. metallica

P. regalis - rarely seen in its entirety, this was such a treat



P. rufilata - master of camouflage 




---------- Post added 07-20-2013 at 11:10 PM ----------

T. ockerti rump - molted over night, confirmed female.

L. parahybana female.  Exuvium measured 6.5 inches.  When she is still weak from molting is the only time I dare reach into her cage.


P. cambridgei, even pretty from the ventral aspect.

B. boehmei female - always poses.


Younger boehmei female

B. schroederi

GBB

A. azuraklaasi

A. metallica

A. versicolor

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## papilio

Nice Avic shots, and the P. cambridgei really is beautiful!

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## Storm76

Congrats on the T. ockerti being female and awesome shot of the versi! My couple is in premolt and I'm suspecting this or next month they'll probably molt.

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## Formerphobe

*Mystery T*

I've had this tarantula a little over a year.  Came to me as ~1.0 inch DLS sling with questionable ID.  For most of the last year I suspected it to be Lasiodora parahybana.  The more time goes by, the less sure I am.  It's growth is significantly slower than the previous LPs I've raised with the same husbandry.  After its last molt (5th in one year), it measures right about 3.0 inch DLS.  My other LPs I got at 0.25" and they popped 5.0 inches in their first year (9 molts).  It's getting prettier, whatever it is.  LOL







---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 06:09 PM ----------

L. parahybana subadult female

HAH! Look who got caught on camera out of their burrow!  This 2 year old ~4" H. maculata has established a regular routine - it cleans its burrow (pitches out old exuvia and boluses) and allows itself to be seen intermittently for a few weeks every year, mid-July to mid-Aug.  I probably won't see it again for another year.  

Another seldom seen baboon, P. muticus.  It's grown significantly and is much more calm since being moved into an 'overlarge' enclosure.

A. seemanni, one of my favorite girls.


---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 06:32 PM ----------

B. emilia - successful molt while I was out of town.  Now proven to be a boy spider (or a dang funny looking girl...), though not yet mature.  (This one makes 4 out of 5 sac mates males...)

Post molt yoga.

He's always been one to pose for the camera.  

Recently molted T. ockerti female.


Nhandu carapoensis

N. coloratovillosus female 


---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 06:40 PM ----------

I. mira sling 

I. mira heading back through its trap door to its burrow

Rehoused my two C. darlingi today.  The darker one played Dead Spider' and had to be pealed off the bottom of her old enclosure after I excavated down to her.  The lighter colored one was a bit more cooperative.  Nary a threat pose from either.



---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 07:00 PM ----------

A. burica subadult male

G. pulchripes female.  This is the only one of my tarantulas that I regularly handle.  Can't really help it.  Every time her lid is opened she comes bailing out!  She doesn't try to go anywhere once in hand, just sits there.  Going to rehouse her soon and see if that behavior continues.

B. smithi subadult male after his recent molt.

C. marshalli sling takes dinner time very seriously...


Sac mate to the previous C. marshalli


---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 07:09 PM ----------

P. pulcher juveniles were rehoused on 7/6/2013.  Both spent most of the time since on the lids of their 1.5 gallon pretzel tubs coming down only to snag prey.  One ventured down to it's horizontal piece of corkbark last week and in the past 24 hours has been busily constructing dirt webs.  Its enclosure is now looking like a proper Psalmopoeus habitat.   The other one is still plastered to its lid...



---------- Post added 08-15-2013 at 07:15 PM ----------

P. cambridgei female.  My first Psalmo and 4th arboreal.  Love this spider!

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## advan

Nice photos Joyce! The _P. pulcher_ and _P. formosa_ are looking good! I like seeing a lot of arboreals in your collection.


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## Formerphobe

advan said:


> Nice photos Joyce! The _P. pulcher_ and _P. formosa_ are looking good! I like seeing a lot of arboreals in your collection.


Thank you, Chad!  And most of my arboreals are waving 'Hi!' to their Uncle Chad.  LOL  Some are still in fossorial-mode.  One of the P. irminia has a tunnel system to rival any baboon!
'Madame Giry' (P. formosa) is a real beauty and frequently out on display.

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## Silberrücken

Beautiful photos & spiders, Formerphobe! 

Your B. emilia...  if he follows Igen's colorphase (not sure how to word that), he will molt out MM on his next molt...  and will be GLORIOUS.


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Beautiful photos & spiders, Formerphobe!
> 
> Your B. emilia...  if he follows Igen's colorphase (not sure how to word that), he will molt out MM on his next molt...  and will be GLORIOUS.


They came from good stock.    And strong on males!  Dang it!  And here I thought 'Telgar' was a female...  "Benden" may yet be a girl...I hope.
Has "Igen" met his lady friend yet?


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## Silberrücken

Formerphobe said:


> They came from good stock.    And strong on males!  Dang it!  And here I thought 'Telgar' was a female...  "Benden" may yet be a girl...I hope.
> Has "Igen" met his lady friend yet?


Yes, Igen went to tarantulagirl1010, who is feeding up her female in preparation for the pairing. Those will be some beautiful Ts if the pairing is successful! 

I hope Benden turns out female for you!!!!  *fingers crossed*

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## Formerphobe

Thanks, Silver.

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## Storm76

Great updates! Love the shot of the little one on it's back with the caught prey, hehe!

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## papilio

advan said:


> Nice photos Joyce! The _P. pulcher_ and _P. formosa_ are looking good! I like seeing a lot of arboreals in your collection.


Agreed Joyce, most definitely!   :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

M. balfouri - these guys/gals were doing the Socotran rendition of Whack-a-Mole.  I tossed in a bunch of crickets, and blue baboons started popping up out of random holes to snag them.  LOL  A couple stayed out long enough for me to snap some pics.



B. schroederi - this goofy girl was throwing me a threat pose.  I'd raise the camera to get a pic, she'd lower her legs.  I'd lower the camera, she'd raise her legs...  This went on for awhile, and I never did catch the threat pose on camera.

Recently molted B. emilia subadult male.

B. verdezi female waiting at the water bowl for her cricket - this has become her routine.

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## Silberrücken

Absolutely gorgeous pics, Joyce! Your Ts are beautiful! The M. balfouri seem like a great bunch. How are their temperaments?


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Absolutely gorgeous pics, Joyce! Your Ts are beautiful! The M. balfouri seem like a great bunch. How are their temperaments?


Thanks, Silver.  They are shy and a bit skittery.  Now that they are 'teenagers', I'm starting to see them more frequently, but they do startle easily and will often bolt, at slightest disturbance, back down a burrow, or pinball off the side of the enclosure until they find a burrow entrance.  (I think the species may have traded a few brains for all that beauty...)

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## Formerphobe

I was surprised to find this guy freshly molted this afternoon.  He took a cricket on 8/29 and was in his usual basking spot when I left for work this morning.  During the 10 hours I was at work, he went into his hide, molted and was back out in his basking spot by the time I got home.  He ran to the corner when I reached in his hide to pull the molt. Exuvium confirms him to be male.  Exuvium measured ~3.25".  He is at least 4" now.

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## Silberrücken

He is quite beautiful! Congrats on the successful molt! Don't you love surprises????   :wink:

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## Brizzl

Dang he's nice. I hope you end breeding him one way or another. We need more of this species :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

*Labor Day Molt*

AF B. smithi

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## Silberrücken

What a beautiful smithi! Love this set of pics!

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## Brizzl

wow, she is stunning!

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## Storm76

Dang - guess I was wrong with the P. met, oh well! Don't have much XP with Poecies, so I usually shut up and only give thoughts in picture-threads regarding them. Pity, but gorgeous nevertheless!

Awesome pics there, Joyce!

PS: My H. sp. "blue" girl is in premolt, I think. She's very inactive lately, her abdomen starts darkening, I hope she'll mature before my male does...


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## papilio

Wow, your P. met is gorgeous Joyce!!  Poecis grow pretty quickly compared to terrestrials don't they?!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Wow, your P. met is gorgeous Joyce!!  Poecis grow pretty quickly compared to terrestrials don't they?!


Thanks, Michael.  I think Poecis do grow faster than the average terrestrial and it also depends on species, individual(s) and husbandry.  
This P. metallica has gone from 1 to 4 inches in 8 months. My P. rufilata went from 1 to 5 inches in 11 months. (Poec54 has them growing much faster at higher temps and more frequent feedings.)  I'd put them on par with the Psalmopoeous sp I've kept.  On the other hand, my B. vagans M and F sac mates went from 0.25" to 5.0 inches in 12 months which was comparable to my M and F L. Parahybana, also 0.25 to 5.0 inches over 12 months.  My Mystery T (that I strongly suspect to be a LP) has only gained 2 inches in the past 13 months with same husbandry.  Though, I can't really factor him into this since I don't really know what he is. 

---------- Post added 09-04-2013 at 10:04 AM ----------




Brizzl said:


> Dang he's nice. I hope you end breeding him one way or another. We need more of this species :biggrin:


He will definitely be placing an invertsonal ad when he's ready!

---------- Post added 09-04-2013 at 10:12 AM ----------




Storm76 said:


> Dang - guess I was wrong with the P. met, oh well! Don't have much XP with Poecies, so I usually shut up and only give thoughts in picture-threads regarding them. Pity, but gorgeous nevertheless!
> 
> Awesome pics there, Joyce!
> 
> PS: My H. sp. "blue" girl is in premolt, I think. She's very inactive lately, her abdomen starts darkening, I hope she'll mature before my male does...


He is definitely a gorgeous creature, Jan.  And the most 'personable' and visible of my Poecis.  I'm glad to have had the experience of raising him.  
My H. 'blue' is acting in pre-molt, too.  (Must be the season in S. America...)  About a week ago she retired to the inside of her elevated corkbark round.  She had a really rough recovery last molt so I'm going to be keeping a close eye on her.  She has absolutely appeared to be more satisfied in her arboreal set up so hopefully that will contribute to a smoother ecdysis.

---------- Post added 09-04-2013 at 10:20 AM ----------




Silberrücken said:


> What a beautiful smithi! Love this set of pics!


Thank you, Silver! I've only had her since May and have minimal history on her.  She had apparently been passed around a bit before I got her.  Previous keepers found her to be a bit intimidating...  I think she was meant to be here.    She has been the Best spider!  A true ambassador for the species and tarantulas in general.  I got a little concerned during her molt.  Her carapace didn't pop completely until near the last.  But, she's a big strong girl and just bulled her way out of that exuvium a little sideways and backwards.  LOL

---------- Post added 09-04-2013 at 12:36 PM ----------

I feel lucky to have snapped this pic of H. lividum female grabbing a hornworm.  Unfortunately, the hornworm pulled the hole in after them.  As I used tongs to try to straighten out her previously immaculate entrance (I know, she'll do it herself...), she came poking back out looking for seconds.  LOL

C. marshalli juvenile checking out a hornworm.  Finally said, "Ewwww, no, that's nasty!  Got any crickets?"  


Where M. balfouri store their molts. This molt was from a female.  A previous molt from this communal was also female.  Not sure if from same spider or different.

P. pulcher still living in its lid.  It did finally construct a web trampoline of sorts just below the lid, but its 'safe spot' is still the lid. 

P. cambridgei female

T. ockerti female


H. sp blue 'Peru' in her hidey hole - probably contemplating a molt.

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## papilio

Oh!   That P. cambridei has very unusual blues underneath, quite nice!!  :biggrin:


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Oh!   That P. cambridei has very unusual blues underneath, quite nice!!  :biggrin:


She really is a gorgeous spider, Michael.  Silberrucken has one of her sac mates.  An enabler (not Chad for a change...) sent me five slings a couple of years ago, my second arboreal species.  "Cosira" is a keeper, though initially I was, "Geez, what am I supposed to do with these?!"  LOL  I've definitely come to appreciate the species.

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## papilio

LOL

Well Joyce. _SO_ glad that helped get you into arboreals!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> LOL
> 
> Well Joyce. _SO_ glad that helped get you into arboreals!


I've had other 'assistance' as well.  LOL

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## papilio

Yes, I know ... a lifestyle switch like that always requires a mult-pronged approach.  hehe

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Yes, I know ... a lifestyle switch like that always requires a mult-pronged approach.  hehe


LOL  There were all those fabulous pictures that, ahem, 'someone' kept posting as an enablement tactic...  A lifestyle alteration for sure!  I used to root through recycling for terrestrial oriented containers, now I just look for anything that will hold a spider.  LOL

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## papilio

Sorry 'bout that! :biggrin:


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## Storm76

You still need a few more Avics I think 


Also, very nice new set up pictures! Love the M. balfouri throwing their molt into the waterdish. When I found "Phaedra"'s molt (yes, she finally molted) she had thrown it into the waterdish, too. Sadly, again ripped apart. I'm still hoping that I can get an intact P. irminia molt of one my girls at one time to prepare and frame. My male H. sp. "blue" bit me nearly today which was very surprising, but he usually is totally relaxed unless you prod him too much - that's where he goes skittish. Today he actually slapped me when I took out his waterdish... interesting feeling, these creatures have quite some strength and their claws do hurt a bit if they use force to slap! 
I'm really worried about the H. villosella however - apparently she ripped off one of her pedipalps and gets thinner and thinner. Still doesn't eat pre-killed, nor held ready for her prey - when she tries on her own, she just can't grab the prey, no idea what to do with her. At that size I can hardly grab her to force-feed her and since she denies pre-killed completely...oh well. Just hoping she molts maybe and doesn't starve to death (never thought I'd have to worry about that ever). Hoping my female H. sp. "blue" molts soon and before my male matures, I'd like to try pairing them up and will probably prepare a new home for her with heigth like you did for yours to test if she likes it better, too.


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Sorry 'bout that! :biggrin:


No you're not!  You're not sorry at all!  LOL  I think I was tag-teamed...  I didn't stand a chance.  

---------- Post added 09-12-2013 at 03:40 PM ----------




Storm76 said:


> You still need a few more Avics I think
> 
> 
> Also, very nice new set up pictures! Love the M. balfouri throwing their molt into the waterdish. When I found "Phaedra"'s molt (yes, she finally molted) she had thrown it into the waterdish, too. Sadly, again ripped apart. I'm still hoping that I can get an intact P. irminia molt of one my girls at one time to prepare and frame. My male H. sp. "blue" bit me nearly today which was very surprising, but he usually is totally relaxed unless you prod him too much - that's where he goes skittish. Today he actually slapped me when I took out his waterdish... interesting feeling, these creatures have quite some strength and their claws do hurt a bit if they use force to slap!
> I'm really worried about the H. villosella however - apparently she ripped off one of her pedipalps and gets thinner and thinner. Still doesn't eat pre-killed, nor held ready for her prey - when she tries on her own, she just can't grab the prey, no idea what to do with her. At that size I can hardly grab her to force-feed her and since she denies pre-killed completely...oh well. Just hoping she molts maybe and doesn't starve to death (never thought I'd have to worry about that ever). Hoping my female H. sp. "blue" molts soon and before my male matures, I'd like to try pairing them up and will probably prepare a new home for her with heigth like you did for yours to test if she likes it better, too.


Thanks, Jan.

Have you tried offering cricket or roach soup to the H. villosella?  Have you seen her drink?  Any change in her condition?

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## Formerphobe

Last picture taken of my OBT boy.  He ate up until the very end.  RIP "Ananse".

C. darlingi getting its horn.

C. marshalli, molt sexed female, no horn apparent yet.

A. enzendami

H. mac

M. balfouri doing Aphonopelma impersonation



---------- Post added 09-14-2013 at 05:09 PM ----------

LP female

G. rosea female

Surprise molt from G. pulchripes female


B. boehmei female

B. boehmei female above - weird area on the dorsum just caudal to the pedicel.  It's been there, unchanged, through two molts.  

B. smithi subadult male

B. smithi mature female finally ventured out of her hide after her recent molt.


B. emilia subadult male

B. verdezi female had light tracking webs throughout enclosure.  This week she went nuts webbing everything.  I guess she has claimed the entire enclosure as her burrow.

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## papilio

Really sorry about your OBT Joyce.  The colors you captured on him are magnificent!

Boy I love balfouris!!    What did you tell me last time about the size at which they start getting their coloration?  Mine are about an inch and a half now, still just gray.



p.s.  Wow, I didn't know you had an H. mac!  Good girl!!


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## Formerphobe

Rare glimpse of juvenile female P. irminia

A. metallica sub adult female

P. metallica juvenile male can stuff 5 mealworms in his mouth at once.  It was a contest.  P. formosa won.

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## papilio

Man your P. met is really becoming gorgeous in a hurry!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Really sorry about your OBT Joyce.  The colors you captured on him are magnificent!
> 
> Boy I love balfouris!!    What did you tell me last time about the size at which they start getting their coloration?  Mine are about an inch and a half now, still just gray.
> 
> p.s.  Wow, I didn't know you had an H. mac!  Good girl!!


Thanks, Michael.  He was my first OW and first of several OBTs.  He taught me about teleportation.    A little flighty, but never defensive.  But, none of mine read all of the chapters of the OBT behavior book... He will be missed.

Your balfouris should start showing color with next molt or so, usually 1.5 - 2 inches you start seeing the blue and cream start coming out.

Most of the time I don't know I have an H. mac either!  LOL  S/he only puts in an appearance intermittently over about 6 weeks in late summer.  'splain that one to me.

---------- Post added 09-14-2013 at 05:26 PM ----------




papilio said:


> Man your P. met is really becoming gorgeous in a hurry!


Thanks!  I need to find someone with a female for when this guy matures.  He's been a lot of fun to raise.  I'd like to try a communal with these.


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## papilio

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Michael.  He was my first OW and first of several OBTs.  He taught me about teleportation.    A little flighty, but never defensive.  But, none of mine read all of the chapters of the OBT behavior book... He will be missed.
> 
> Your balfouris should start showing color with next molt or so, usually 1.5 - 2 inches you start seeing the blue and cream start coming out.
> 
> Most of the time I don't know I have an H. mac either!  LOL  S/he only puts in an appearance intermittently over about 6 weeks in late summer.  'splain that one to me.


I've long since quite trying to predict T behavior by species!     My H. mac is always on show.  :biggrin:





> Thanks!  I need to find someone with a female for when this guy matures.  He's been a lot of fun to raise.  I'd like to try a communal with these.


Seems I've read that P. mets don't do well communally ... but that opinion may be at least partly due to their value and therefore the probability that not many have tried!


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## Storm76

Awesome pictures - so how many did the other Poeci get? 



papilio said:


> Seems I've read that P. mets don't do well communally ... but that opinion may be at least partly due to their value and therefore the probability that not many have tried!


I think most don't try because of the pricey loss if only one comes out of it suddenly

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Awesome pictures - so how many did the other Poeci get?
> 
> I think most don't try because of the pricey loss if only one comes out of it suddenly


The formosa got six.  She's a pig.  

I, too, think cost may be a deterrent to keeping them communal.  I'd have to run on a really good deal.  LOL

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## Formerphobe

*Recent molts*

0.1 P. scrofa

0.1 A. seemanni


0.1 Homoeomma sp blue 'Peru'

0.1 G. pulchripes

C. darlingi suspect female

0.0.1 C. marshalli

0.0.1 A. enzendami

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## Silberrücken

Beautiful spiders!!!!!

Hmmm... that P. scrofa looks familiar...

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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Beautiful spiders!!!!!
> 
> Hmmm... that P. scrofa looks familiar...


LOL Yep!  I'll bet you have one almost identical, right down to the parentage and hatch date.

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## Silberrücken

I do indeed! In fact, she's due for a meal today - altho her booty is so fat, she could skip it... LOL

The colors on your girl are awesome!


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> I do indeed! In fact, she's due for a meal today - altho her booty is so fat, she could skip it... LOL
> 
> The colors on your girl are awesome!


Thank you, Silver!  She did not take kindly to be rooted out of her enclosure for a photo shoot.  No threat poses or hair kicking, but more than a little stiff-legged strutting with her hind end aimed toward the heavens.  LOL

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## Silberrücken

:laugh:

For such little spiders, they have one heck of an attitude! Love to watch my girl hunt and catch her cricket.

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## Storm76

Congrats on the molt! Your H. sp. "blue" looks stunning in those pics


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Congrats on the molt! Your H. sp. "blue" looks stunning in those pics


Thanks, Jan!  She appears to have full adult color now.  I can't wait till she comes out of her cork round so I can see her better and hopefully get some better pics.  She's recovering much quicker this molt than last.  I was afraid I might lose her at last molt.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thanks, Jan!  She appears to have full adult color now.  I can't wait till she comes out of her cork round so I can see her better and hopefully get some better pics.  She's recovering much quicker this molt than last.  I was afraid I might lose her at last molt.


I'm glad she's doing well. It would seem yours and mine molt pretty much the same time lately (within reason)? Except for the fact that my female is quite defensive at times, I really love the species. It's like a terrestrial P. metallica in a way


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> I'm glad she's doing well. It would seem yours and mine molt pretty much the same time lately (within reason)? Except for the fact that my female is quite defensive at times, I really love the species. It's like a terrestrial P. metallica in a way


I wonder if they're still following molting seasons of their ancestral time zone?  I wouldn't call Spectre defensive, just very skittery. And, less so since I allowed her to go completely arboreal.   She has webbed 'sit spots' high on each of the four sides of her enclosure, one on the substrate, a couple of webbed hammocks high in the leaves of her fake plant and a cozy webbed spot inside her corkround where she molted, with trails connecting all.  Neither classic arboreal nor terrestrial webbing.

---------- Post added 09-28-2013 at 11:19 AM ----------

Molt party continues:
B. albopilosum juvenile female.  Didn't gain much in leg span, but definitely bulkier looking.


One of my A. burica matured.  Handsome boy!



---------- Post added 09-28-2013 at 11:26 AM ----------

A. burica. (Sac mate to above MM.) I'm assuming this guy will mature at next molt.

A. seemanni female is out and about after her recent molt.

First post molt meal for AF B. smithi.

Subadult male B. smithi.

AF B. boehmei.  "And for my next trick, I will balance on the floating ping pong ball..."


---------- Post added 09-28-2013 at 11:49 AM ----------

LP, subadult female

N. tripepii, juvenile female

B, vagans, mature female

OBT, mature female

P. regalis, mature female

GBB, mature female.  Thought she was going to molt in May (one year after her last molt).  She went on 'hunger strike', constructed web tunnel, became reclusive.  Then in late August, she popped out of her hidey hole and demanded food.  

P. scrofa, sub adult female.


---------- Post added 09-28-2013 at 12:17 PM ----------

M. balfouri.  IMO, one of the most beautiful tarantulas in the world.

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## Silberrücken

Beautiful photos, Formerphobe! :clap:

Love your B. albo... I will be getting a 3" female soon.


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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Beautiful photos, Formerphobe! :clap:
> 
> Love your B. albo... I will be getting a 3" female soon.


Thank you, Silver!  Oh, congrats on your new addition!  Of all the Brachys (which I adore), the albopilosum was near the bottom of my wish list.  I got two to round out an order a couple of years ago.  The species has really grown on me.  

---------- Post added 09-28-2013 at 01:27 PM ----------

C. darlingi trying to stuff the roach down the burrow.  Failed and ended up just straddling the burrow entrance to finish its meal.

A. metallica anticipating mealtime.

Not disappointed!

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## Bugmom

Love the A. burica and M. balfouri. Both of mine are slings. When do they start showing their adult colors? (Not that the balfouri ever lets me see him...)


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## Formerphobe

Bugmom said:


> Love the A. burica and M. balfouri. Both of mine are slings. When do they start showing their adult colors? (Not that the balfouri ever lets me see him...)


Well, with the A. burica, they start out as barely discernible specks and eventually grow to look like this, while still no bigger than the end of a pencil:

Then they look like this about the time they burrow and you don't see them for almost 8 months.  

They come out of their 'hibernation' phase looking like this:

And pretty much keep that look until the males molt mature.  I've never seen an adult female, so don't know what to tell you there.  


M. balfouri start showing colors between 1.5 - 2.0 inch dls.

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## Bugmom

Thanks! Looks like I'll have to set that burica up in something where I can see in it's burrow. Maybe mine will be female and then we'll know what that looks like!

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## naychur

Just picked up my first P irmenia sling at ReptiCon this weekend! Starting to venture into the "not so beginner" species!!  

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


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## Storm76

naychur said:


> Just picked up my first P irmenia sling at ReptiCon this weekend! Starting to venture into the "not so beginner" species!!


GOOD choice! Oh and keep fingers away from that one 

Your M. balfouris are gorgeous, Joyce! So are your smithis - everytime I look at a "simple" B. smithi I'm thinking to myself "Why would anyone squish such a beautiful animal" and "Wow - mother nature at its best!"

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## papilio

I forgot that you had a N. tripeppi Joyce, such a pretty thing!  Makes me really sad that I lost my sling.


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> I forgot that you had a N. tripeppi Joyce, such a pretty thing!  Makes me really sad that I lost my sling.


So sorry you lost your sling, Michael.  :-(  This one doesn't sit still long for a photo shoot.  If she doesn't run and hide when I open the enclosure, she does a fantastic pinball imitation... She's in that awkward teenaged phase.  

---------- Post added 10-08-2013 at 03:01 PM ----------




Storm76 said:


> Your M. balfouris are gorgeous, Joyce! So are your smithis - everytime I look at a "simple" B. smithi I'm thinking to myself "Why would anyone squish such a beautiful animal" and "Wow - mother nature at its best!"


Thanks, Jan.  My B. smithis are on my top 10 keeper list.  The species is fantastic all around tarantula.  

---------- Post added 10-08-2013 at 03:27 PM ----------

Poeci spit...    

Recently molted P. subfusca.  (Highland? Lowland? Midland?.?.?.) Starting to look like a real spider now and not a sling.

I wondered where people were getting these P. formosa with the blues and purples on them...  I came home last night to find this freshly molted beauty.    I thought she was gorgeous before the molt.  LOL  

I love how the P. cam coloration appears to change dependent on angle of view.


Homoeomma sp blue Peru still hanging out in her corkround post molt.  The superworm must have been one she set aside for a rainy day...

H. mac makes a different kind of appearance.  Looks like it has completely cleaned out its 'basement' level.  Male?

OBT female.  One of her less graceful positions.

Nothing is sacred!  M. balfouri taking a bath.

'Tannasg', my "Bones Baby"! E. murinus female.

A. seemanni female.  

A. burica MM.  No sperm web yet, but he's stoking the furnace.

Freshly molted E. pulcherrimaklaasi.  Thought both of mine were boys.  I snagged the intact molt this time and 'Uhruru' is a girl!  Still no adult colors.  Slowest growing species in the world....

B. albopilosum female.

B. schroederi female doesn't miss any meals.  She's not fat, she's big-boned...

I never get tired of B. smithi

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## papilio

Wonderful!!

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## Koopa4774

Such beautiful specimens! I really like your B.Smithi in particular.....very cute!

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## Storm76

Beautiful new set of pics, Joyce. Congrats on the E. pulcherrimaklaasi being female! I do fully agree: They grow excessively slow! The triplets I have here (besides my 4.5" AF) have molted twice so far in my care, are certainly not the best eaters (not even as slings!) and are skittish like crazy at ~0.5-1" in size. I'm hoping I'll get a breeding pair of these or at least a male for my big female to meet  But until then, I guess it'll be another 5 years or so at least, haha. 

Totally agree to the P. cambridgei seemingly changing colors slightly depending on angle! I've seen that a lot wiht my girl here, too. Sometimes nearly grey, then very vibrant green again, but the orange is always sticking out 

Great to see so many Poecies in your possession, too. I guess Chad and Michael totally "enabled" you there for sure! Gorgeous Ts! 

Love the last shot of your smithi!

PS: On that pic-series looking at your P. met...I can now clearly see male

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## papilio

Storm76 said:


> Great to see so many Poecies in your possession, too. I guess Chad and Michael totally "enabled" you there for sure!


Whoa, don't blame me, that was all Chad's fault!!

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Beautiful new set of pics, Joyce. Congrats on the E. pulcherrimaklaasi being female! I do fully agree: They grow excessively slow! The triplets I have here (besides my 4.5" AF) have molted twice so far in my care, are certainly not the best eaters (not even as slings!) and are skittish like crazy at ~0.5-1" in size. I'm hoping I'll get a breeding pair of these or at least a male for my big female to meet  But until then, I guess it'll be another 5 years or so at least, haha.
> 
> Totally agree to the P. cambridgei seemingly changing colors slightly depending on angle! I've seen that a lot wiht my girl here, too. Sometimes nearly grey, then very vibrant green again, but the orange is always sticking out
> 
> Great to see so many Poecies in your possession, too. I guess Chad and Michael totally "enabled" you there for sure! Gorgeous Ts!
> 
> Love the last shot of your smithi!
> 
> PS: On that pic-series looking at your P. met...I can now clearly see male


It must be the nature of the species for the E. pulcherrimaklaasi to not be big feeders.  I still offer mine food once a week.  On average they accept food about every 20 days.  I've offered a wide variety of prey items.  They don't seem to have a preference.  Just not big eaters.  Guess I'll have to write them into my will.  LOL

---------- Post added 10-10-2013 at 09:38 AM ----------




papilio said:


> Whoa, don't blame me, that was all Chad's fault!!


Oh, it was a combination of efforts, Michael!  Your innocent 'look' failed.  LOL  I was tag teamed!

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## Formerphobe

Sorry for all the blue... I just love these guys!  LOL






This is the little one.  Smallest of four sac mates at acquisition on 12/1/2012.  S/he is still smaller and less blue than the others.  Not a thing wrong with its appetite, though!



---------- Post added 10-11-2013 at 10:52 PM ----------

B. albopilosum has taken to hanging off the end of her slanted corkbark like a little vulture.

Just molted N. coloratovillosus

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## papilio

I saw the photo of Jason's little balfouris, presumably the same sac as mine ... _HUGE!!_  Better start power-feeding, seeing yours makes me very impatient!!  

:drool:


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> I saw the photo of Jason's little balfouris, presumably the same sac as mine ... _HUGE!!_  Better start power-feeding, seeing yours makes me very impatient!!
> 
> :drool:


Not Jason's, both groups of sac mates came from Tony.  All are offspring of my MM 'Denim' from two different females. 
The two older ones were first noted as 1st instar ~7/23/12.  I got them in October 2012.  The other four I acquired on December 1st.  They were a little younger at acquisition than the others due to a burrow collapse and emergency evacuation.  I think even the younger bunch is slightly older than Jason's.

Patience, Grasshopper.  All good things come in time.

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## papilio

Hmmm ... very interesting!!   Thanks for setting me straight.  

Okay, I guess I can wait ... as long as you promise to quit posting photos of yours!!    :biggrin:   
Well, even if mine are still just gray (~1.5-inches) it is a delight to watch them interact!


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Hmmm ... very interesting!!   Thanks for setting me straight.
> 
> Okay, I guess I can wait ... as long as you promise to quit posting photos of yours!!    :biggrin:
> Well, even if mine are still just gray (~1.5-inches) it is a delight to watch them interact!


I had one of Jason's, but was afraid to introduce it into the communals, then traded it for my P. met.  
Oh, watching the dynamics in the enclosures has been amazing!  Yesterday was the first day that I had seen all four younger ones out at the same time and was assured that all were still alive and kicking.  The two older ones I see more frequently (have found 1 male and 1 female exuvium in that enclosure.)  I think I need more...  LOL

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## papilio

I'd been keeping mine in individual vials for the first six weeks or so, but was convinced enough that they would probably still be safe in a communal that I placed them together finally.  They've been playing nicely with each other for months now.

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## Formerphobe

I've heard of people putting unrelated juvenile females together without incident.  Don't know that I have the body parts to try that yet.

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## Storm76

Fine! *scribbles* Added to wishlist *grumbles*

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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma burica MM  
 
recently molted GBB juvenile male
 
Another recent molt, Nhandu coloratovillosus, juvenile female                                                                                                                                                                                  
Aphonopelma seemanni subadult female

Paraphysa scrofa, juvenile female

Mystery T

Aviularia azuraklaasi - this little one rarely comes out to be photographed.

Not a very good pic, but I caught 3 of the 4 in one picture.  

B. lats were a novel food for these guys.  I think they passed the taste test.

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## Formerphobe

*Some of my Brachys*

B. smithi, AF "Alessa", ~7.0" dls.  Her carapace is ~1.25" wide.  Big girl!

B. emilia, subadult male "Telgar", ~4.5" dls.  Picky eater.  I had to take the dubia out and give him a superworm.

B. schroederi, juvenile female "Caylith", ~3.0" dls

B. verdezi, subadult female "Aramina", ~5.0" dls.  Judging by the setae on her rump standing on end, she's liable to molt before the end of the year.

My newest Brachys: B. klaasi, juvenile/subadult female "Christine Da'ae", ~3.5" dls

And, juvenile male B. Klaasi "Erik", ~2.5", thirsty after shipment.  Former owner said "Erik" took issue with a cricket awhile back and kicked himself nekked.

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## Hydrazine

That's it. When(if) I send off my G.pulchripes male to do what he's been born to do, I'm getting a Brachy.


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## Formerphobe

Hydrazine said:


> That's it. When(if) I send off my G.pulchripes male to do what he's been born to do, I'm getting a Brachy.


  Brachys are awesome!

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## Formerphobe

My E. murinus girl and I played hide-n-seek yesterday.  I did manage to get a few pictures of her.

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## Formerphobe

*Blue overload*

It pays to be OCD.  Whenever I go into my bedroom (T room) at night, I nearly always grab one of the flashlights I keep handy to check and see what all the 8-leggeds are doing.  This girl normally basks in the afternoon sun, but by the time I get my camera she is back down her burrow.  Usually in the evening I see legs at her burrow entrance.  This evening I didn't see any legs....  Instead I saw the whole spider!  LOL  She startled a little when I first took the lid off, but settled right down and slowly made her way back to burrow entrance.  She molted in June and is still vibrant!  Love this spider!

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## Hydrazine

Formerphobe said:


> Brachys are awesome!


Yup. One smithi is not enough  Now I want emilia or klaasi.

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## papilio

Such a beauty Joyce!  I have no excuse for never having had one ... except maybe because I hate 'pet holes'!  Probably one reason I love arboreals, it seems that they're on show very often.

[edit] I've always loved _THIS_ photo by Paul Novak.  Check out his stream sometime, especially his later work.  He's very good at using early morning natural light.


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Such a beauty Joyce!  I have no excuse for never having had one ... except maybe because I hate 'pet holes'!  Probably one reason I love arboreals, it seems that they're on show very often.
> 
> [edit] I've always loved _THIS_ photo by Paul Novak.  Check out his stream sometime, especially his later work.  He's very good at using early morning natural light.


Thank you, Michael.  Except for my P. metallica, who is always on display, most of my arboreals may as well be pet holes for all their hiding underground, in webbing, behind dirt curtains or in their lids.  LOL  
Thanks for that link, some great pics!

---------- Post added 10-24-2013 at 06:48 PM ----------

I finally managed to get a couple pics of my reclusive Homoeomma sp blue Peru, "Spectre".  The camera just doesn't capture her true colors.


Recently molted subadult male GBB

Still tiny little A. azuraklaasi.  S/he MAY be 2" dls.  I got her in January 2013 @ 1.0" and s/he's molted 5 times.  Just doesn't grow much.  Eats like a pig.

P. met boy

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## Formerphobe

MM Avicularia versicolor, 5+ inch dls

Juvenile female Nhandu coloratovillosus

Juvenile female Psalmopoeus pulcher - still living in her lid almost 4 months after rehousing...

Juvenile female Nhanu tripepii - note symmetrically crooked legs RI and LI.  Just noticed it myself.  She had a clean molt >3 months ago. 

Subadult female Grammostola pulchripes thinking she'll just step out of her enclosure and go for a stroll.

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## papilio

Great shot of your beautiful versi Joyce!!

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## Storm76

papilio said:


> Great shot of your beautiful versi Joyce!!


I agree! Shows off the colors very nicely!

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## Formerphobe

B. klaasi has set up housekeeping on top of her coconut shell hide.

Homoeomma sp Blue Peru.  One of these days she'll come out for a decent picture...

My burrowers have been very tolerant of pictures recently.  Must be the weather...
H. liv female

E. murinus female


This B. vagans loves her burrow, too.  She finally was out and posed for a shot that is not Audobon-esque.

Even Chilobrachys 'Sai Yok' was out of its burrow for me to see for the first time in 5 months!

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## Kellylake01

Love the names !!!!!

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## Silberrücken

Chipara looks _exactly_ like this, except with a bigger rump and is def. a female! Same brilliant colors! 

Love your newest pics, Joyce - you have a wonderful collection! 

Here's a (bad) pic of her... will try to get better shots soon.

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## Formerphobe

Silberrücken said:


> Chipara looks _exactly_ like this, except with a bigger rump and is def. a female! Same brilliant colors!
> 
> Love your newest pics, Joyce - you have a wonderful collection!
> 
> Here's a (bad) pic of her... will try to get better shots soon.


She's beautiful, Silver! Her brother sends his regards.  Lol. I understand their sire was immense for a MM so 'large' is in their genes.

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## Formerphobe

MF B. smithi

Sub adult female B. verdezi

Juvenile male B. klaasi, recent molt.

Adult female A. seemanni

Juvenile female N. tripepii, freshly molted.

MM C. darlingi, recent molt.


Subadult male C. marshalli, freshly molted.

Juvenile female E. pulcherrimaklaasi

Sub-adult male G. pulchra worked hard to dig out that roach!

MM M. balfouri


---------- Post added 11-22-2013 at 10:55 PM ----------

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## Tomoran

Wow...absolutely gorgeous pics! What an amazing an beautiful collection!

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## Formerphobe

Subadult female P. irminia

Subadult male P. metallica

Juvenile A. enzendami

Adult female P. formosa

MM M. balfouri

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## papilio

Ah balfouri balfouri, wherefore are thou balfouri?  At 2 inches mine are still gray.  

It was funny though ... the communal enclosure had burrow entrances all over the place, but when I lifted the big rock in the middle they were all together beneath it!

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Ah balfouri balfouri, wherefore are thou balfouri?  At 2 inches mine are still gray.
> 
> It was funny though ... the communal enclosure had burrow entrances all over the place, but when I lifted the big rock in the middle they were all together beneath it!


I've found that with mine, too.  When I dismantled the one enclosure to separate the two recently matured males, I found their two exuvia lying side by side in the molting cavern, though I would routinely see them popping in and out of different holes, it appeared they hung out together in the burrows.  When I first separated them, their enclosures were side by side.  For the first few days they stayed pressed up against their respective sides as though trying to get back together.  Looked like bookends.

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## Formerphobe

A. enzendami juvenile.  Little sassypants gave its cricket a threat pose.

B. vagans adult female laying claim to her water bowl.

B. klaasi sub adult female starting to settle in after a couple of months.

M. balfouri, one of a communal of four.

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## Silberrücken

Gorgeous shots!

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## papilio

Yeah, like Silver said, great images!  :biggrin:

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## Formerphobe

When the camera comes out, this girl usually plays hide and seek.  It's also rare to find her on the substrate since she's gone arboreal on me. 




C. darlingi MM

P. pulcher

P. met

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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted P. pulcher

Recently molted P. regalis (Pardon the poop on her wall, she's not a very tidy housekeeper...)


N. tripepii surveying new enclosure.

My 5.0+" adult female, vicious, man-eating OBT in full attack mode...

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## paassatt

Roughly how big is that _N. tripepii_?


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## Formerphobe

paassatt said:


> Roughly how big is that _N. tripepii_?


Exuvium from 11/22/13 measured right at 4 inches, so I'd guesstimate she's about 4.5 inches.
This was taken 6 days after she molted.  She's still in that gangly, gawky teenaged stage.  LOL


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## paassatt

I've got one (used to be two sac mates, but one died about 3 months after losing its fangs after a molt. Tried to do the cricket slurpee nursing until its next molt but it just didn't pull through) that's about 1.5 inches or so. I was just curious about the size of yours so I can get a mental image of when color changes start occurring.


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## Storm76

Gorgeous update, Joyce! Love your H. sp "blue" girl! Mine is all the time on her substrate now. Very skittish, quite defensive too in comparison with yours.


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Gorgeous update, Joyce! Love your H. sp "blue" girl! Mine is all the time on her substrate now. Very skittish, quite defensive too in comparison with yours.


Thank you, Jan.    My girl is still somewhat skittish, but has never been defensive.  I was surprised she sat still for those pictures.  She came down from her aerie for the snow and ice storms earlier in the week. Once the weather had cleared, she was right back up in the heights of her enclosure.


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> Thank you, Jan.    My girl is still somewhat skittish, but has never been defensive.  I was surprised she sat still for those pictures.  She came down from her aerie for the snow and ice storms earlier in the week. Once the weather had cleared, she was right back up in the heights of her enclosure.


I still find it interesting how different our two are. Yours going arboreal and hiding often, mine always out and terrestrial but very defensive for a good part. Personalities vary SO much in these animals...it's amazing considered their small brains

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## Formerphobe

paassatt said:


> I've got one (used to be two sac mates, but one died about 3 months after losing its fangs after a molt. Tried to do the cricket slurpee nursing until its next molt but it just didn't pull through) that's about 1.5 inches or so. I was just curious about the size of yours so I can get a mental image of when color changes start occurring.


Mine stayed burrowed for the most part until a few months ago. I'd guesstimate color changes started at about the 2.5 - 3.0" mark.

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## Shrike

Love the new pictures Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

M. balfouri




P. metallica


P. muticus

C. marshalli

Homoeomma sp. blue Peru

P. cambridgei

B. albopilosum

G. pulchra

A. seemanni

GBB

E. pulcherrimaklaasi going for a stroll

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## Formerphobe

A. seemanni heiney 

LP

P. met

M. balfouri

G. rosea

B. smithi

A. met

The elusive I. mira

C. marshalli

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## Formerphobe

*Spider pile!*



And one of the girls off by herself.

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## Beary Strange

Formerphobe said:


> And one of the girls off by herself.


Pile of balfouri <333 Possibly the cutest thing ever.

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## SC Tarantulas

Very nice pile!

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## Formerphobe

My last pictures of these guys, they all got shipped out today.  :-(
C. darlingi

P. subfusca

P. pulcher

P. metallica


P. regalis

These M. balfouri brothers will be leaving Monday

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## viper69

Formerphobe said:


> And one of the girls off by herself.


Curious, did you have to separate that pile of Ts? Did you see what started such behavior, and how it ended?  This is MOST interesting to me. Those are gorgeous Socotras! These are very blue. I have seen many that are not nearly as blue as yours.


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## papilio

Wow Joyce, it's so much fun watching your spiders grow, they're beyond beautiful!!  :biggrin:


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## Formerphobe

viper69 said:


> Curious, did you have to separate that pile of Ts? Did you see what started such behavior, and how it ended?  This is MOST interesting to me. Those are gorgeous Socotras! These are very blue. I have seen many that are not nearly as blue as yours.


Their enclosure gets some heat on that side from the lamp over the scorpion tank. One of the balfouri's burrow entrances is right there and they pile up like that frequently seeking heat.  They have multiple entrances to a larger primary cavern where they also hang out together from what I can see.  The two males that were raised together had their maturing molt within 24 hours of each other.  When I broke down the tank to separate them, I found the two exuvia side by side in a separate molting chamber.  The 'spider pile' is 3 females and 1 immature male.  I expect him to mature at next molt.  When the males mature, they get the bright blue carapaces.  Females and immature males are powder blue.

---------- Post added 01-10-2014 at 01:18 AM ----------




papilio said:


> Wow Joyce, it's so much fun watching your spiders grow, they're beyond beautiful!!  :biggrin:


Thank you, Michael.  It is indeed fun watching them grow.  This thread is sort of a 'baby album' for them.  LOL  I can go back through it and see how they've changed as they've grown.


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## viper69

Former...What temps do you usually keep them at? I guess they want more warmth.


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## Formerphobe

viper69 said:


> Former...What temps do you usually keep them at? I guess they want more warmth.


The room averages 78F.

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## Formerphobe

Adult female B. smithi decided it was time to do some housecleaning, so she started with rolling up the carpet...

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## Storm76

Lovely pictures, Joyce! Especially like the carpet from your smithi and the pile of balfouris! Also: Very nice to see that arboreals have grown so much on you

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## Formerphobe

Balfouri bunch


The big female


Since maturation, the male has taken to hanging upside down on the lid.

He even eats upside down....  what a goof.


---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 06:23 PM ----------

Freshly molted N. coloratovillosus

Recently molted N. carapoensis

I. mira


---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 06:59 PM ----------

Technical issues.... (Stupid internet!)
MM I. mira

Brachys at feeding time
B. boehmei, adult female


Subadult male B. smithi

Adult female B. smithi



B. verdezi

B. klaasi subadult female

Little bitty B. auratum, first post molt meal. It's starting to look like a real spider now.


---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 07:02 PM ----------

My camera shy female Homoeomma sp blue Peru

Molt munching, suspect male P. pulcher

One of my favorite girls, "Zaranth" A. seemanni

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## Formerphobe

Sub adult female Nhandu coloratovillosus drowning her dubia... I've quit trying to figure out why they do what they do.  




Adult female OBT has been doing some housecleaning - some molt parts went out the front door, others out the back door.  Before I could pick out all the pieces, she had put the prosoma portion in her water bowl.

P. muticus has also decided it's spring.  I haven't seen it since back in the fall.

Female A. metallica - always looking for a handout.

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## papilio

Hey Joyce!  The pulcher's getting BIG!!  how long have you had it?

hehe  Silly Nhandu.

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## Formerphobe

M. balfouri sperm web.  Unfortunately, I now know what they do with the old sperm before they reload their palps.  They eat it.  

Palp loading.


He couldn't have cared less that the lid was off and the camera lens was only a couple of inches from him, so intent he was.  LOL

---------- Post added 03-13-2014 at 10:55 AM ----------




papilio said:


> Hey Joyce!  The pulcher's getting BIG!!  how long have you had it?
> 
> hehe  Silly Nhandu.


Got the pulcher 10/23/2012.  This is the one that lived in its lid for months.  He still hangs out there most of the time even though he eventually got around to making proper Psalmo dirt curtains.

Love my Nhandus!  Never a dull moment with them around!  LOL

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## hmbrower

LOVE the brachys!!!!

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## Formerphobe

hmbrower said:


> LOVE the brachys!!!!


Me, too.


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## Formerphobe

P. formosa female "Madame Giry"


P. rufilata female "Jadzia"


One of the trio of recently rehoused female M. balfouri.  

My handsome boy B. klaasi "Erik"

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## hmbrower

Gorgeous rufilata. Love the purple on the formosa!

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## Hopeful T Owner

Hi Formerphobe

Finally managed to get through all 48 pages of your photo thread....wow!

You have some really fantastic Ts here!

Thank you for sharing

Julia x


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## Formerphobe

Hopeful T Owner said:


> Hi Formerphobe
> 
> Finally managed to get through all 48 pages of your photo thread....wow!
> 
> You have some really fantastic Ts here!
> 
> Thank you for sharing
> 
> Julia x


Thank you for looking.  

---------- Post added 03-26-2014 at 09:04 PM ----------

M. balfouri female busily customizing the new enclosure.  What I couldn't get a picture of was the teamwork.  One sister was down in the burrow gathering substrate and passing it out to this sister who was depositing it outside the burrow.  I guess the third sister was the slacker.  I didn't see hide nor hair of her.  LOL

Some of their handiwork.

Taking a break

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## scorpionchaos

Great picture of M.balfouri! Glad to see they are making it they're own. I find it very interesting they worked together... Living together and not eating each other is weird enough but working together to complete a task!

How many M.balfouri does it take to change a light bulb::

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## Formerphobe

My new N. chromatus, juvenile probable female, "Cyclone", settled right in and sucked down a roach in short order.

N. coloratovillosus subadult female, rehoused and staking out her new favorite sit spots.

P. muticus juvenile.  First time I've seen it all the way out of its burrow in months.  Appears to have doubled in size!


C. darlingi subadult female, another who has been seldom seen since last known molt back in August.

My little turret queen A. enzendami.

What I typically see of the four enzendami.

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## tarantulagirl10

These pictures are fantastic. The stories of the M balfouri communal always amaze me. Teamwork huh? Awesome!

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## Storm76

I always have to smile when you report news of the balfouris. Such an awesome little communal you got going there, Joyce!

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## Formerphobe

Freshly molted B. emilia, "Benden". I salvaged the molt before she gnawed it beyond recognition or stuffed it up around the corner in her burrow where I couldn't get to it, as has been the norm her last couple of molts. And I confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt that she is indeed a she!  One out of five ain't bad.  LOL

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## papilio

Congratulations Joyce!!    Emilias are so beautiful


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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Congratulations Joyce!!    Emilias are so beautiful


Thank you, Michael!  And she now appears completely cyst free!

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## papilio

p.s.  I just bought my own D40 for more casual use rather than having to carry that massive Canon everywhere, and to take pics of my rig from time to time.  Really a sweet little camera!    And it will hopefully keep friends from labeling me a traitor for switching to Canon!  lol

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## Formerphobe

Female Nhandu coloratovillosus "Nadira" after rehouse.

A few new Ts.  
Female A. genic "Euphronia"

0.0.2 P. metallica "Bahira" and "Sarika"


This female A. eutylenum isn't new, but she caught my attention doing handstands all day long.


Recently molted female B. emilia, "Benden"

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## tarantulagirl10

Woah Nellie at that B Emilia! That is gorgeous!!

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## Hydrazine

Correct me if I am horribly wrong, but the Nhandu looks more like coloratovillosus.

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## Formerphobe

Hydrazine said:


> Correct me if I am horribly wrong, but the Nhandu looks more like coloratovillosus.


Yep, you're right, Hydra.  It looks just exactly like coloratovillosus...    Good catch! I copied the wrong link. Oops... Will fix that when I get out to my computer.


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## Hydrazine

By the way, your Aphonopelma reminds me of my G.pulchripes, Igor (well, not mine anymore)

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## Formerphobe

N. chromatus "Cyclone"  (corrected photo...)


---------- Post added 04-11-2014 at 10:27 AM ----------

I have several spiders on molt watch.  This female N. tripepii was not one of them...  
Exuvium measured 4.75".  I caught her not long after she had flipped, but not before she had gnawed up the exuvium.  I was able to salvage enough to re-confirm female.

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## journeys and scorpions

Hello 

This is a very beautiful _Nhandu chromatus!_
I´ve never seen like this...wow

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## Formerphobe

A. enzendami - turret queen.

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## Silberrücken

^ Gorgeous girl!

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## Formerphobe

*Nhandus*

N. carapoensis

N. chromatus

N. coloratovillosus

N. tripepii


---------- Post added 04-19-2014 at 09:15 AM ----------
P. irminia


---------- Post added 04-19-2014 at 09:17 AM ----------

B. emilia - cyst free!

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## Storm76

Glad to hear the cyst is gone on the girl! And very nice "turret" of the ezendami, hehe!

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## Formerphobe

tarantulagirl10 said:


> Woah Nellie at that B Emilia! That is gorgeous!!


That's Igens' sister.  

---------- Post added 04-24-2014 at 08:00 PM ----------

Freshly molted P. metallica, now a whopping 1.25".

N. tripepii

Enjoying her first post molt meal.

E. murinus.  Been playing hide-n-seek with this girl for a few days...  Finally just took pictures through the lid.



---------- Post added 04-24-2014 at 08:05 PM ----------

B. emilia basking style

B. boehmei basking style

B. smithi trying to dig his way to China.  He's even chewed up the sealant in the corners.

P. irminia

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## Storm76

I see now what you meant in regards to your E. murinus. Gorgeous girl, though! And that smithi has a serious digging-addiction

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> I see now what you meant in regards to your E. murinus. Gorgeous girl, though! And that smithi has a serious digging-addiction


Yeah, he piles all his substrate in one end of the enclosure, right up to the lid.  He could probably push his way out if he so chose. He has his hide stuffed full and buried in the middle of the tank. I turn the tank around periodically so the full side is facing outward, and he moves all the substrate back again. Gotta keep these guys busy.  

---------- Post added 04-27-2014 at 09:30 PM ----------

Freshly molted juvenile male G. pulchra

Recently molted subadult female B. emilia finally allowed a decent picture

E. murinus female quit playing hide-n-seek, too

MF H. lividum sealed up her burrow a couple of weeks ago as though she were going to molt.  She didn't...

Not a wonderful pic, but I rarely see this C. darlingi any more.

Bottoms up! A. enzendami

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## Smaughunter

Great picture thread! I've spent the last 3 days perusing it intermittently and I finally made it to the end.

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## Formerphobe

Three of the four new Encyocratella olivacea.  Two took crickets within an hour of unpacking.  One looks like a molt is upcoming.  All four are webbing like they had to.    Scratching another species off my wish list.

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## advan

Nice pickups!


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## Silberrücken

advan said:


> Nice pickups!


You should know!


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## Storm76

Now I'm jealous...*grins*


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## paassatt

Aww, seeing the pictures of those _E. olivacea_ reminds me of the one I lost during a bad molt a couple years ago and makes me want another one. Damn you, Joyce!


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## Formerphobe

paassatt said:


> Aww, seeing the pictures of those _E. olivacea_ reminds me of the one I lost during a bad molt a couple years ago and makes me want another one. Damn you, Joyce!


Awww, that sucks.  :-(  I know where some are available.    PM me.


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## allesgute

OBT



avic.

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## papilio

Congrats on the E.o. additions Joyce, wonderful spiders!

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Congrats on the E.o. additions Joyce, wonderful spiders!


Thanks, Michael.  I'm really excited about them.  IMO, they are the Holy Grail runners up, next to Harpactira pulchripes.

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## paassatt

Formerphobe said:


> ...next to Harpactira pulchripes.


One day I'll own a couple of these. It must happen!

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## Formerphobe

paassatt said:


> One day I'll own a couple of these. It must happen!


Me, too!


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## Formerphobe

Recently molted A. genic


N. chromatus female also attended the molting party.

As did female P. rufilata

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## Formerphobe

P. met sling 

0.1 M. balfouri

Recently molted female A. eutylenum.  At least 3 years since her last molt.  So glad she joined the party this year.  

0.1 G. rosea/porteri/whatever.

0.1 P. rufilata post molt stretching

0.1 C. cyaneopubescens
0.1
0.1 B. hobby vagans - still eating, so not ready to join the molting party yet.

0.1 B. schroederi first pot molt meal.

0.1 A. metallica routinely shows me her underside...

0.1 P. formosa

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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma eutylenum.  First molt in over 3 years.

B. klaasi female fresh molt

P. rufilata female


---------- Post added 06-05-2014 at 09:15 AM ----------
B. smithi subadult male. He's in that awkward phase and molted on his side up against the wall of his enclosure.

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## Storm76

I really dig that B. klaasi...hmmm

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## Formerphobe

Recent molt fest at my house.
G. pulchra MM


B. boehmei adult female



E. olivacea


C. marshalli female


G. rosea 


B. verdezi

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## TBspiders

Some really good looking babies you got there!! 

-Happy keeping!

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## papilio

Some really great shots there Joyce, and I can't wait till my E.o.s get that big!  Even as little slings they quickly turned into one of my faves.

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Some really great shots there Joyce, and I can't wait till my E.o.s get that big!  Even as little slings they quickly turned into one of my faves.


Thanks. Michael.  I think it was some of your pictures, or maybe Chad's, that convinced me I still had a shortage in my collection...    These guys/gals are great!  Fantastic webbers!  Secretive, but not so much that I can't get the occasional picture.

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## Formerphobe

Recent molts
AF 7+ inch L. parahybana from H, E, double hockey sticks.

MM 6+ inch G. pulchra

Juvenile suspect male, ~2.5" B. auratum

Subadult male 4.5" B. smithi

AF 5+ inch B. boehmei doing post molt face presses

AF 5+ inch B. verdezi - she got her adult colored carapace this molt.

Sub adult female B. albiceps ~4 inches

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## Storm76

Nice new molts, Joyce. Congrats!

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## Formerphobe

Aphonopelma eutylenum doing Poeci-yoga six weeks post-molt.

Her more typical Aphono-pose.

Aphonopelma seemanni a few hours post molt.  Glad she left a window into her burrow.  

Brachypelma klaasi female

Ceratogyrus marshalli female

Psalmopoeus cambridgei female finally ventured out after her molt in early June.  She's a solid 6.5 inch dls.

Grammostola pulchra MM loading palps from his first sperm web.

Encyocratella olivacea juvenile

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens AF

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## Formerphobe

G. rosea/porteri MF




G. rosea sling

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## Shrike

Gotta love good old G. rosea.  Mine is the tarantula I've had longest and she's a beauty.  Is your sling growing at the speed of mud?

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## Formerphobe

N. tripepii getting a drink.

P. muticus was getting a drink for what seemed like hours.  When I opened the enclosure, she started frantically rummaging around in the bowl as though she had lost something.  Wish I'd had a video.  LOL

What happens when you play in the dirt after playing in the water.


---------- Post added 07-31-2014 at 01:02 PM ----------




Shrike said:


> Gotta love good old G. rosea.  Mine is the tarantula I've had longest and she's a beauty.  Is your sling growing at the speed of mud?


"Speed of mud", yep, that would about describe it, Matt.  LOL  In almost two years she has gained about an inch, maybe not quite an inch.

---------- Post added 07-31-2014 at 01:06 PM ----------

Recent molts:
4 of 5 B. auratum slings.  Though with those new colors, I guess they qualify as juveniles now.

N. carapoensis female

A. seemanni female

N. coloratovillosus female

B. verdezi female


---------- Post added 07-31-2014 at 01:16 PM ----------

Female LP

Homoeomma sp blue Peru female post molt stretching out the end of her cork round. 

First post molt meal.

Juvenile female P. met leaped from her enclosure to snatch her first post molt meal out of the tongs.  Guess she was hungry...

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## Storm76

Summertime = molting time. Gotta love it, right?

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## antinous

Love your T's and photos! Especially the klassi! What kind of camera do you use?

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## Formerphobe

Pampho85 said:


> Love your T's and photos! Especially the klassi! What kind of camera do you use?


Thank you!  
Camera, uh, it's a Nikon something or other.  It has lots of buttons and knobs and dials that I try not to touch too much.  I'm technologically and photographically challenged....    A friend talked me through buying a camera - he said, "Go to this site, buy that..."  That's what I got.  If you try to talk camera to me, my eyes start glazing over.  LOL

---------- Post added 08-02-2014 at 10:40 AM ----------

Freshly molted N. tripepii female


Recently molted E. olivacea

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## sandybanjo

*P. Pulcher juvie and roach*

Here's "Belcher" and his/her roach. BTW, she's getting a new enclosure this week!


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## sandybanjo

*Belcher's new House*

Here's Belcher's (_P. pulcher_) new house:


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## sandybanjo

sandybanjo said:


> Here's "Belcher" and his/her roach. BTW, she's getting a new enclosure this week!


I am sorry...this should have been posted in another thread.

---------- Post added 08-13-2014 at 06:28 PM ----------




sandybanjo said:


> Here's Belcher's (_P. pulcher_) new house:


Again, this should have been moved to another thread.


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## Formerphobe

B. boehmei post molt yoga

Her girl parts are still prolapsed.  :-(

But, it doesn't affect her appetite!

My last A. cf burica male failed a post ultimate molt.  :-(


---------- Post added 08-24-2014 at 07:35 PM ----------

AF Psalmopeous cambridgei

AF Homoeomma sp blue Peru...

...didn't like me watching her eat.

Sub adult female G. pulchripes

Juvenile G. porteri.  Received her in a trade a couple of years ago as a 'maybe' RCF G. rosea.  Guess not.  

AF G. pulchra.  One of my new spiders and the only one of my NW with a nekked butt, but she came that way.

AF Nhandu coloratovillosus

AF Nhandu tripepii

AF Nhandu carapoensis


---------- Post added 08-24-2014 at 07:45 PM ----------

Subadult female Aphonopelma seemanni.

Recently molted subadult female B. albopilosum

Freshly molted juvenile female Euathlus pulcherimaklaasi (for the time being anyway...)  Femurs are a deep indigo if the light hits them just right.  Maybe next year, next molt she'll get some better color...

AF Poecilotheria rufilata.  Love  the colors on this girl!

Here she is again eying me from one of her perches.

Sub adult female Ceratogyrus marshalli.  She stayed hidden for one molt cycle.  Now she's out and about again every day.

Haven't seen an exuvium from this girl in awhile to check spermathacae status.  She may be adult now.  Certainly adult size!

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## Storm76

I really hope your boehmei won't suddenly have a turn to the worse. I'm sure you keep a close eye on her. Haven't seen the last molt of my E. murinus either, she stuffs it into her burrow instead of throwing it out. Luckily, I've already sexed here so that's not an issue! And that rufi is already planning to rip off your crickets to sell them to the other members of your collection

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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> I really hope your boehmei won't suddenly have a turn to the worse. I'm sure you keep a close eye on her. Haven't seen the last molt of my E. murinus either, she stuffs it into her burrow instead of throwing it out. Luckily, I've already sexed here so that's not an issue! And that rufi is already planning to rip off your crickets to sell them to the other members of your collection


I definitely keep a close eye on the boehmei. Not that there would be much that I could do if more than a small perforation were to occur.

LOL You're right, the rufilata is a piece of work! She molted again last week and is huge!


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## Storm76

Formerphobe said:


> I definitely keep a close eye on the boehmei. Not that there would be much that I could do if more than a small perforation were to occur.
> 
> LOL You're right, the rufilata is a piece of work! She molted again last week and is huge!


True enough. Let's hope she molts it away at some time and restores her body.

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## Formerphobe

Love my Nhandus!  
N. carapoensis

N. chromatus

N. coloratovillosus

N. tripepii


---------- Post added 08-31-2014 at 09:19 PM ----------

First ever threat pose from my C. marshalli.  I don't know what got her britches in a twist but she was definitely out of sorts.  :-(

And, a threat pose from my AF OBT...  Yep, that is her threat pose.  If she can't see me, then I can't see her.

P. rufilata female.  My first Poeci, she's all grown up now.  

M. balfouri puts in an appearance.  

Sub adult B. smithi male doing fang push ups on the glass.  This boy is always doing something.

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## Storm76

Great new set of pictures as usual, Joyce! At least that threatpost was only half-hearted - no fangs. It's like "Get lost...or else..." 

How big is that ornata now btw? Still hoping I'm right with one of my miranda's turning out female!


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> Great new set of pictures as usual, Joyce! At least that threatpost was only half-hearted - no fangs. It's like "Get lost...or else..."
> 
> How big is that ornata now btw? Still hoping I'm right with one of my miranda's turning out female!


The C. marshalli just recently started using her 'front door' again, after several months of it being webbed over and her using the 'back door'.  She never defended the back door.  Maybe she was still a little disoriented.  

The rufilata?  (I don't have an ornata.)  I just caught her out within the past hour and got a right L1 to right L4 measurement - 7 inches!  And she wasn't completely stretched out!  I think she needs a bigger enclosure....  LOL  She has really come into full color with this molt.  I'm just in awe...

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## Formerphobe

N. tripepii adult female

N. carapoensis freshly molted juvenile male

Homoeomma sp blue Peru adult female

Brachypelma auratum juvenile female

Poecilotheria rufilata adult female peering at me from one of her perches.

Poecilotheria metallica juvenile male

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## Storm76

I'd love to keep an N. chromatus, but their bristles cause me to itch like hell if I even get close to their enclosures.


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## Formerphobe

Storm76 said:


> I'd love to keep an N. chromatus, but their bristles cause me to itch like hell if I even get close to their enclosures.


So far I've not had any major issues, barring the random stray hair. (Knocking vigorously on wood....) And those isolated setae could come from about any of my NWs so I can't lay blame on the Nhandus.  Yet....

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## Formerphobe

One of the E. olivacea 'babies'.  They aren't so little any more.  

P. formosa literally hanging out under her ledge.

Blackrayne and I got together this past weekend to pair our N. tripepii.
Blackrayne's male

A cautious 'How do you do'.

My female was drumming to beat the band. (No pun intended...)

Doing the deed.  Hopefully it will result in a sac.

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## Blue Jaye

Your pics are awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing .

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## Storm76

That E. olivacea is gorgeous...and good luck on getting a sac.

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## Formerphobe

N. carapoensis juvenile male

B. albopilosum juvenile female

A. seemanni adult female

C. marshalli adult female

H. lividum adult female


B. auratum juvenile male

E. olivacea subadult

E. murinus adult female

B. schroederi subadult female, freshly molted

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## Formerphobe

P. rufilata

P. formosa

H. lividum

C. marshalli

A. diversipes

A. geniculata

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## RegallRegius

Beautiful spiders!!!! :clap:

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## Ultum4Spiderz

Storm76 said:


> I'd love to keep an N. chromatus, but their bristles cause me to itch like hell if I even get close to their enclosures.


N. coloratovillosus hairs I cannot stand, I own one and wont go near it.


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## Formerphobe

Theraphosa stirmi sling

Pterinochilus murinus adult female

Haplopelma lividum adult female

Augcephalus enzendami adult female

A. enzendami freshly molted female

Encyocratella unsexed subadult

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## Storm76

Beautiful specimens, Joyce...that Augacephalus...lovely!

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## Formerphobe

0.1 Idiothele mira "Tegan"


0.1 Pelinobius muticus "Ruaidrig"


0.1 Encyocratella olivacea "Ariadne" caught molting

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## papilio

Sorry I haven't been by for a while Joyce, such great images and spiders!!  I'm really envious of your new display setup ... I have to keep all of my Ts hidden from the landlord in the closet.  ::

Love the female _N. tripepii_, if you become proud grandparents can I buy a few slings from you?

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## Formerphobe

papilio said:


> Sorry I haven't been by for a while Joyce, such great images and spiders!!  I'm really envious of your new display setup ... I have to keep all of my Ts hidden from the landlord in the closet.  ::
> 
> Love the female _N. tripepii_, if you become proud grandparents can I buy a few slings from you?


Thanks, Michael.    N. tripepii is still on sac watch, keeping our fingers crossed and not counting chickens before they hatch...  LOL  But, I will keep you posted on progress.  

I've been having a lot of fun with this new P. muticus.  She is a real character!

---------- Post added 11-15-2014 at 03:32 PM ----------

0.1 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens.  I love the cross-eyed look.  This girl went all summer without eating, developed Crusty Butt Syndrome, had me thinking she was going to molt early.  Just for S-n-G, I offered her a cricket last week.  She nabbed it before it hit the ground!  


0.1 Nhandu tripepii still on sac watch.

0.1 Grammostola porteri recent molt.  I thought these were supposed to be slow growers?  I've had this girl for 16 months.  She's grown from ~0.75" to 3+ inches on once a week moderate single serving feedings.

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## Formerphobe

Poecilotheria rufilata adult female, "Jadzia".  The corkbark round she's hunkered over measures about 4.5", outside diameter. She big girl!

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## Formerphobe

Oh, Michael! I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but things are moving right along.  





---------- Post added 12-10-2014 at 10:17 AM ----------

AF B. smithi molt





Recently molted N. chromatus


Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. I'll download from the real camera tomorrow.

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