# Tarantula Science Projects



## julesaussies (Aug 7, 2007)

Hi. My niece is starting 7th grade this fall and will have the yearly science project to do. We were trying to think of some different ideas related to T's. We were even starting to think ahead for the 8th grade science project so we could take on a project that would take longer to collect data on. Any ideas for either a shorter term or long term projects??? You know if it's a T science project it WILL be the coolest one there!!


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## Nerri1029 (Aug 7, 2007)

compare growth rates based on food?
- with a year and a half till 8th grade you can easily get decent growth from slings that you get now.

Just becareful with how your experiment is designed.
and make sure that parameteres that should be similar for each subject are as similar as possible. ( Temps, light etc )

you could maybe compare growth rates for diff species and post up the exuviae for people to see ?
- P. murinus vs. B smithi and then show ultimate size and lifespan etc.

Good idea and GREAT that you are deciding to start now.
Let her decide as much as possible just give her loads of options, and definitely let her design as much of the experiment as possible 

ok  I'm just gonna hush now.


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## Moltar (Aug 7, 2007)

Powerfeeding vs regular feeding. Slings of same species... gender would be an issue with anything involving growth rates tho'.


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## DrAce (Aug 7, 2007)

There are some classic behavioral experiments that can be done.

Is there a difference in preference for warm/cool, light/dark, dry/moist areas?

This can be easily measured, and looked at for various spiders.  Set up a long tubular arena and alter the conditions (as repeatably as possible) at one end to the other.  Then observe over some time.

For example, take a long clear tube, say 8" in diameter and wrap black paper over one end to make it dark.  Then place a spider inside, and check back every 10 minutes to record where in the tube the spider is (mabe have a number scale for position in the tube, 0 being at the clear end, 10 being at the dark end, and 5 being in the middle).  Over time, a preference for one or the other should emerge.  A different spider might have different preferences.  These preferences might change over time, as the spider gets hungry or explores and gets used to the environment.

Similar experiments with heat and cool (maybe make the whole tube darkened), or different coloured light - use coloured filters on the light etc.

This is all pretty easy, and fairly simple to set up.  Easy to interpret as well.

As Nerri pointed out, there are some important things which her teachers no doubt have drummed in.  The first is repeatability.  You need to be able to do the experiments more than once.  Also, if she really wants to get brownie points, you could get her to contact the local vet and get him to check her experimental proceedures BEFORE she does them and give her approval.  That's a very basic ethics test, and all grown up scientists need to worry about it - I'm sure that will make her teachers happy.  I know she doesn't NEED it, but it'll get her extra marks.  Also, she will want to repeat them on different days and maybe different times to get good data.  Normally, at least three repeats are required before (in the real world) error bars could be put on things - I appreciate she won't be needing to get into this detail, but it's good to get the idea in early.

Lastly, make sure she keeps a RECORD book, or a diary, or log book of EVERYTHING.  This includes ideas, designs, records, experimental data - including mistakes.  It's really important in science, and often forgotten in the science fair projects I've seen when judging back home.

Importantly, have fun.  There are some interesting projects, and there are dull projects.  Often, the best projects are motivated by something.  WHY does she want to know what the spider wants.  Is there a greater scheme at work here?  Does she want to make her pets happier?  Maybe she wants to encourage natural predators of insects in the garden (and thought she should understand them a little better using Tarantulas as a model).  That sort of thing.

Feel free to hit me up for more ideas.  I used to judge as a Uni Student in the New Zealand science fairs in my region.  It was great fun, but there are easy things that can make the score go up...


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## ZooRex (Aug 7, 2007)

The entire reason I got into T's is because of the 5th grade sceince fair. The idea was to teach people about animals that most are afraid of, and show them there is no reason for there fear. My newly purchased G.rosea Shankar was the highlight of the exhibitation. ~ Rex


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## Drachenjager (Aug 7, 2007)

Nerri1029 said:


> you could maybe compare growth rates for diff species and post up the exuviae for people to see ?
> - P. murinus vs. B smithi and then show ultimate size and lifespan etc.



thers only a year and a half, not time for ultimate size for a B. smithi...maybe is she was a new born and wanted to do one for a PHd lol ...


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## DrAce (Aug 7, 2007)

Drachenjager said:


> thers only a year and a half, not time for ultimate size for a B. smithi...maybe is she was a new born and wanted to do one for a PHd lol ...


That's kinda what I was thinking.  That's why I thought about the behavior experiments.  They can be pretty quick, and easily adapted to new questions.


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## Nerri1029 (Aug 8, 2007)

Drachenjager said:


> thers only a year and a half, not time for ultimate size for a B. smithi...maybe is she was a new born and wanted to do one for a PHd lol ...


Well of course you wouldn't see the end product   hehe 

But you could show the progress made in that time.. and then get other T's or exuviae to show adult size.

I think the largest hurdle for behavioral studies done by Jr. High kids would be isolating outside variables/ stimuli. 
Conclusions can be hard to be sure of.


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## DrAce (Aug 8, 2007)

Nerri1029 said:


> Well of course you wouldn't see the end product   hehe
> 
> But you could show the progress made in that time.. and then get other T's or exuviae to show adult size.
> 
> ...


That's where repeats are invaluable.  And I don't think the growth experiments are immune to these problems either.  Was the temperature constant through that period?  How constant?  Did you record it often enough over the year you were measuring.  What about that big storm that came through?  There's anecdotal evidence that they may moult with a change in atmospheric pressure... did that have an influence this year which will be absent next year?

Behavior studies like these are simple, quick, and can be informative.  I did them on woodlice in (your equivalent of) junior high... granted that was on a group of animals, which meant averages were easier.  And they're so easy to interpret - spiders are more mobile when hungry/breeding more reclusive when resting/eating/whatever.


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## Nerri1029 (Aug 8, 2007)

DrAce said:


> .
> 
> Also, if she really wants to get brownie points, you could get her to contact the local vet and get him to check her experimental proceedures BEFORE she does them and give her approval.  That's a very basic ethics test, and all grown up scientists need to worry about it - I'm sure that will make her teachers happy.  I know she doesn't NEED it, but it'll get her extra marks.
> 
> ...


ALL REALLY GOOD ADVICE.. especially the Vet input  often overlooked 

I've coached a LOT of science fair projects in our local area.

I've seen some really bad examples as well as really good ones.

You've hit on some really good points.. 
( I am now on the committee for our local fair that has been resurrected since its death due to lack of grant funds.) and we are using a national model that requires students to get prior approval for their project.

The idea of SCIENCE.. is one that is often over looked in many projects.

"Why does something happen this way or that?"
"What is the outcomes if we change this one thing?"

Finding answers.. not just showing off...

My original suggestion was more demonstration.. unless you examine other factors and ask other questions.. Why does the _P. murinus _grow faster than _B. smithi_ ?  Can that be done at 8th grade level? maybe.
A corrolation between Sac Size ( numbers ) and growth rates?


So whatever subject she chooses, try to get the right angle 
Research is HUGE.. in Judges eyes.. and a broad knowledge base of the subjects helps.

please include me in your PM list for advice


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## dtknow (Aug 8, 2007)

perhaps contrast threat displays or similar behavior between families...say old and new world?

Their have been a lot of studies on how tarantulas respond to tactile stimuli. As we all know, poking one provokes a very different response compared to blowing on one.

If you had a batch of T. slings it might be interesting to see how if any variables affect how long they tend to aggregate together.


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## DrAce (Aug 8, 2007)

dtknow said:


> If you had a batch of T. slings it might be interesting to see how if any variables affect how long they tend to aggregate together.


Ohh... now see that's a neat experiment - but it's a HUGE subject.  In other invertebrates/vertebrate systems, this is often done with trace levels of pheromones/chemicals to recognise siblings.  Unfortunately, this is difficult to detect/measure in most labs.  I know a group back home looking at this in frogs, and were having a huge problem measuring/detecting and quantifying this.

To give an indication of what they ended up using, they had tadpoles in jars with water and a 'head-space' of air.  This air was then passed into a neat device which costs a cool NZD$200,000 called a Selected Ion Flow Tube (SIFT - and was developed _in house_ for the task) which used mass spectrometry/time of reaction analysis to detect products of pheromone reactions in a vacuum to quantify and detect.

And even after this, they didn't have a good answer.

But Damn, that would make a fantastic project.


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## dtknow (Aug 8, 2007)

Perhaps just taking a photograph and measuring the distance between the slings would do it. 

Perhaps you could see how it decreases with age...or heck...whether or not different species even have the desire to aggregate as slings prior to dispersal...or is it simply all coincidence.

You could set up an enclosure and sprinkle the slings into it..and see how long/if they choose to aggregate together.

As the batches age, the experiment would be repeated until the slings no longer show any signs of aggregation.

The problem I see is that in an experimental enclosure slings may want to aggregate simply because it will satisfy their need of a hiding spot...so you'd have to think of something to fix that.


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## Rochelle (Aug 8, 2007)

ok....my own daughter did a science fair project last year in 7th grade. She used hissers.  However, slings might give a quicker response to experiments? Cheaper to buy and tend to grow FAST with extra heat... However - Jr. High School boys should probably not be given free access to P. murinas specimens!!  OMG   This is definiately not the species to use in a school setting!!!  Try A.avics or any Brachy specimen... err on the side of caution when exposing to someone else's kids (who may not realize the caution and respect needed for EVERYone's safety).  Great luck on the project and keep us posted! We'll wanna know her grade!


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## cacoseraph (Aug 8, 2007)

i have often wondered how the level of ventilation would correlate to various aspects of obligate burrows burrowing

i suspect that real low ventilation would have less burrowing going on then real high ventilation

metrics would be a timeline with burrow depth or something like that


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## DrAce (Aug 8, 2007)

dtknow said:


> Perhaps just taking a photograph and measuring the distance between the slings would do it.
> 
> Perhaps you could see how it decreases with age...or heck...whether or not different species even have the desire to aggregate as slings prior to dispersal...or is it simply all coincidence.
> 
> ...


This experiment is a valuble one, but I think it's beyond the reach of the student in question (respectfully).  Basically, there are just too many variables.  You don't know WHY the spiders are clumping.  We know that there may be a humidity effect - many spiders in a small area lose less water than scattered ones.  They feed on their siblings.  Are they clumping to predate on their sac-mates?  Are there chemical reasons?  Is it light?

All of those are difficult to tease out.



cacoseraph said:


> i have often wondered how the level of ventilation would correlate to various aspects of obligate burrows burrowing
> 
> i suspect that real low ventilation would have less burrowing going on then real high ventilation
> 
> metrics would be a timeline with burrow depth or something like that


A much better experiment, in my opinion, and which has good motivation - 'can I make the enclosure smaller by manipulating the need to burrow?'.   With a few repeats, this would probably give you the answer you need.   The reason it's better, is that the question is worded different.  The hypothesis is simple - Given identical temperatures and humidities, spiders in a poorly ventilated space burrow less than those in well ventilated areas.


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## cacoseraph (Aug 8, 2007)

i'd like to make a somewhat related statement at this time.  *this* right here, is why i really like this hobby!  a 7th or 8th grader can make useful contributions of the state of the knowledge of the hobby! no denigration to 7th or 8th graders, by any stretch... i just mean that you don't *have* to be a PhD to do good work (though it helps i bet, eh Ace? hehe)


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## DrAce (Aug 8, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> i'd like to make a somewhat related statement at this time.  *this* right here, is why i really like this hobby!  a 7th or 8th grader can make useful contributions of the state of the knowledge of the hobby! no denigration to 7th or 8th graders, by any stretch... i just mean that you don't *have* to be a PhD to do good work (though it helps i bet, eh Ace? hehe)


Well, I don't think I've contributed anything particularly useful to the Tarantula database...  But if I can guide the experimental technique, then I'm happy to help.


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## cacoseraph (Aug 8, 2007)

DrAce said:


> Well, I don't think I've contributed anything particularly useful to the Tarantula database...  But if I can guide the experimental technique, then I'm happy to help.


dude... being firmly anchored in the scientific method is helping the boards out TONS... telling someone "no, you are going to be wasting your time..." and then *explaining* why is already helping out the community at large by not having a willing experimenter spinning their wheels in the mud and getting discouraged

and i have a very strong feeling you are going to own me and most everyone else when someone finally publishes a dataset to let us play with!


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## Stan Schultz (Aug 8, 2007)

Nerri1029 said:


> ... you could maybe compare growth rates for diff species and post up the exuviae for people to see ?
> - P. murinus vs. B smithi and then show ultimate size and lifespan etc. ...


I would caution you to think twice about officially allowing a 7th grader (maybe 13 years old?) to keep and manipulate a _P. murinus_ or any other tarantula that is known to have a potent bite. It's conceivable *THE BITE* could turn into the science fair project, much to everybody's dismay! And our hobby doesn't need that sort of PR.

How about using _Brachypelma albopilosum_, the curlyhair instead? The power fed males growth and mature extremely fast.

Good show, though! I love the whole concept!


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## cacoseraph (Aug 8, 2007)

DrAce said:


> Ohh... now see that's a neat experiment - but it's a HUGE subject.  In other invertebrates/vertebrate systems, this is often done with trace levels of pheromones/chemicals to recognise siblings.  Unfortunately, this is difficult to detect/measure in most labs.  I know a group back home looking at this in frogs, and were having a huge problem measuring/detecting and quantifying this.
> 
> To give an indication of what they ended up using, they had tadpoles in jars with water and a 'head-space' of air.  This air was then passed into a neat device which costs a cool NZD$200,000 called a Selected Ion Flow Tube (SIFT - and was developed _in house_ for the task) which used mass spectrometry/time of reaction analysis to detect products of pheromone reactions in a vacuum to quantify and detect.
> 
> ...


don't even get me started on what i could do if i had a GCMS =P






Pikaia said:


> I would caution you to think twice about officially allowing a 7th grader (maybe 13 years old?) to keep and manipulate a _P. murinus_ or any other tarantula that is known to have a potent bite. It's conceivable *THE BITE* could turn into the science fair project, much to everybody's dismay! And our hobby doesn't need that sort of PR.
> 
> How about using _Brachypelma albopilosum_, the curlyhair instead? The power fed males growth and mature extremely fast.
> 
> Good show, though! I love the whole concept!


^ another reason why i love the hobby!  how many other times have you had q's answered and custom contributions by a freaking leading author(s)!?


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## Nerri1029 (Aug 8, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> don't even get me started on what i could do if i had a GCMS =P


I do have a GC/MS by Varian. running a DB5 column with no flame.
So what would you do?

I'm up for ideas


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## Nerri1029 (Aug 8, 2007)

Pikaia said:


> I would caution you to think twice about officially allowing a 7th grader (maybe 13 years old?) to keep and manipulate a _P. murinus_ or any other tarantula that is known to have a potent bite. It's conceivable *THE BITE* could turn into the science fair project, much to everybody's dismay! And our hobby doesn't need that sort of PR.
> 
> How about using _Brachypelma albopilosum_, the curlyhair instead? The power fed males growth and mature extremely fast.
> 
> Good show, though! I love the whole concept!


Yes very true, I guess that would depend on how much help an adult would be offering. I just put down the fastest grower, that's easy to get ahold of.

I can't wait so to find out how it all turns out.


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## cacoseraph (Aug 8, 2007)

Nerri1029 said:


> I do have a GC/MS by Varian. running a DB5 column with no flame.
> So what would you do?
> 
> I'm up for ideas


i want to see if i can identify and then quantify the level of pheremones in a cluster of communal pokies... 

the mechanism that turns normal locust into plague swarmers is based on concentrations of pheremones.... it ramps up fecundity and drops maturation time by 100% and 50%, respectively

i would try to identify and quantify the tarantula "youth hormone" that suppresses male maturation (if taras work like most insects do).

then, if i ever build a mini- or micro- surgery i can do interesting experiments with gland transplants =P


bear in mind... all my GCMS plans are about as developed as the plans to actually *get* one, you know =P

i have other ideas, but i don't think my vanpool would take very kindly to me expounding upon them at this time. heh.


it would help nutrional analysis a ton, real quick, though. heh.


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## julesaussies (Aug 8, 2007)

DrAce, Nerri, Caco, Everyone,

Thank you for all this incredible feed back. i think we have pretty much planned on doing some sort of growth rates based on feeding rates without changing any other variables for the eighth grade project. We are basically going to start collecting data now with several groups of slings. We already have second and third instar groups of six of the following species: B. smithi, P. irminia, A. versicolor, P. regalis. i wouldn't mind getting my hands on 6 2nd instar P. murinus as well if i can get them soon so they are the same instar as the rest of the groups. i doubt we would necessarily use the data from all the species but it will give us a lot of data to have available. It will also give us several groups in case we should happen to lose a sling along the way for some unforseen reason. (Knock on wood, haven't lost one yet!)

My niece loves all the ideas people are posting. Right now she is going to try and concentrate on what possible experiment she can do for the project this year as it will need to be something based on behavior or ??? since we don't have time to do the growth rate project this time. We have several other various slings, juvies and adults. If she did something like the burrowing experiment would she repeat it with the same T or several T's of burrowing species? Obviously size of the T would cause some differences in results since slings tend to burrow more than bigger T's. Any other suggestions?

As far as a note or official sign off from a vet, that is already required for any science projects involving live animals but its a great idea. i'll probably have a vet friend give us a preliminary animal ethics release since we are having to start data collection on both assignments so far ahead of time just to keep it on the up and up. 



Pikaia said:


> I would caution you to think twice about officially allowing a 7th grader (maybe 13 years old?) to keep and manipulate a _P. murinus_ or any other tarantula that is known to have a potent bite. It's conceivable *THE BITE* could turn into the science fair project, much to everybody's dismay! And our hobby doesn't need that sort of PR.
> 
> How about using _Brachypelma albopilosum_, the curlyhair instead? The power fed males growth and mature extremely fast.
> 
> Good show, though! I love the whole concept!


i appreciate your concern for my niece. She is twelve. However, she is very responsible and already assist me on a regular basis in the care of all our T's. She has a several of her own that she also cares for on her own. As far as our OBT's, Pokies and other venomous T's goes, she is never in any real direct harm. i suppose one could always get loose in the house and anybody here could get bit. However, the chance of that happening is no greater by her simply collecting data on what is already happening within our T collection. The only difference will be that we are feeding half of each species group more often than the other half. 

As far as another type experiment based on behavior, i would probably pick a different species than an OBT for the simple reason that i don't care to deal with them out when i don't need to - LOL!! Anyway, thanks for your concern but she is a very responsible 12 year old - probably much more so than many of the adults that purchase T's for the "cool" factor and it isn't like she is handling venomous species or working with them on her own.


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## DrAce (Aug 9, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> dude... being firmly anchored in the scientific method is helping the boards out TONS... telling someone "no, you are going to be wasting your time..." and then *explaining* why is already helping out the community at large by not having a willing experimenter spinning their wheels in the mud and getting discouraged
> 
> and i have a very strong feeling you are going to own me and most everyone else when someone finally publishes a dataset to let us play with!


Ok, I'm blushing.  But truthfully, I hate statistics.  If you need statistics to get your answer, you've done the wrong experiment, as far as I'm concerned.  Mind you, I'm starting to waiver on that, since entering biology.



cacoseraph said:


> don't even get me started on what i could do if i had a GCMS =P





Nerri1029 said:


> I do have a GC/MS by Varian. running a DB5 column with no flame.
> So what would you do?
> 
> I'm up for ideas


Strictly speaking, the SIFT isn't a GCMS.  GCMS isn't quite sensitive enough if you want to REALLY look at pheromones.  The reason being - they can be there in the part per trillion, and basically, most GCMS units will look the other way.

What SIFT does is introduce the sample into a flow of gas in a vacuum - ionise it, then let it react with a known sample in the gas-flow.  The products can be manipulated to make them shine like a drag-queen at Madi Gras, which makes them easier to detect.  You can also fragment the sample into smaller glowing bits, which increases the number of things your trying to find.  What little I know about it I learned from one of the inventors of the technology - Prof M. McEwan, University of Canterbury.  He also designed the mass-spec which went on the Hyeugens (sp?) probe to Titan.  They've got a site - I'd invite you to look into the technology, because it's revolutionised the Zoology department back home.



julesaussies said:


> DrAce, Nerri, Caco, Everyone,
> 
> Thank you for all this incredible feed back. i think we have pretty much planned on doing some sort of growth rates based on feeding rates without changing any other variables for the eighth grade project. We are basically going to start collecting data now with several groups of slings. We already have second and third instar groups of six of the following species: B. smithi, P. irminia, A. versicolor, P. regalis. i wouldn't mind getting my hands on 6 2nd instar P. murinus as well if i can get them soon so they are the same instar as the rest of the groups. i doubt we would necessarily use the data from all the species but it will give us a lot of data to have available. It will also give us several groups in case we should happen to lose a sling along the way for some unforseen reason. (Knock on wood, haven't lost one yet!)
> 
> ...


You are, of course, most welcome.  WRT safety, in the original 'tube' idea above, you would not need to worry too much, because there is not much manipulation.  You get the spider into a sealed tube, which has two ends, and then watch which it spends most it's time in.  Simple.  Effective.  Apart from averaging/graphing over time - no statistics.

Different spider.  Compare results. BINGO - conclusion (my Smithi likes light more than my OBT).  Change conditions - heat one end of the tube and take the black paper off.  Observe as above.  New conclusion - OBT prefers warm more than smithi.

Easy - safe - simple - conclusive.

Another problem I have with the feeding one is the food.  How consistant is the food?  Will the crickets be fed the same thing always?   How big is any given cricket?  There are actually a lot of variables here.


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## Stylopidae (Aug 9, 2007)

I really like the burrowing idea, but I think that would really only be effective with semi-arboreals like P. murinis and young pokies.

Oh, but it could be done across species. Does this enclosure size discourage this species to burrow, etc.

What about a 'how big of an enclosure do tarantulas *actually* need' experiment?

I think there are some surprising results that could come of that experiment.


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## DrAce (Aug 9, 2007)

Cheshire said:


> I really like the burrowing idea, but I think that would really only be effective with semi-arboreals like P. murinis and young pokies.


Agreed.  It would need more repeats and subjects to get a good solid result, though.  That's not bad - that's just a comment.  Because the behavior is a lot more complicated than "where am I going to spend most of my time in a tube".  There will be a lot of variation in depth, distance, time taken to tunnel etc.

There's also nothing stopping her from combining them.  It would be a great project if you could combine the tunnel results with the burrowing results in a "My OBT likes darker areas, and he burrows more than my smithi, who also prefers light and cold".  The experiments are not mutually exclusive, and would add a lot of weight to each other.  The tunnel experiments might be useful for making a predictive hypothesis as well.  That would show the judges that there is a deeper thought behind it.  "My OBT likes dark more than the smithi, so I predict that it will burrow more".  The OBT then does not burrow - hypothesis broken.


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## cacoseraph (Aug 9, 2007)

Cheshire said:


> I really like the burrowing idea, but I think that would really only be effective with semi-arboreals like P. murinis and young pokies.
> 
> Oh, but it could be done across species. Does this enclosure size discourage this species to burrow, etc.
> 
> ...




i rather doubt they want to do any tests-to-destruction. that is more my hard-hearted end of the experimental spectrum.

plus, i already know a pretty good minimum standard. it is almost along the lines of:
take the DLS in inches. cube it. that is the oz's the cage should be. it starts to work less well at around 9 or 10 inches, though =P
could probably make one for metric land, but mine is short and sweet. heh.


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## cacoseraph (Aug 9, 2007)

DrAce said:


> The OBT then does not burrow - hypothesis broken.


one thing i would like to remind ppl (i'm definitely NOT meaning Ace here, just a general comment that this made me think of).


in experiments... having your hypothesis broken is not necesarily a bad thing! it still gives us more info!  a well thought out hypothesis that is proved incorrect can actually "tell" us more than a weak hypo that is proven


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## cacoseraph (Aug 9, 2007)

oh heck!

i just thought of an experiment i might do myself =P

what about for your longer term 8th grade experiment measuing the difference between feeding a single feeder species VS. multispecies?

i am a big proponent of multipspecial feeding. would be nice to have something to back it up with beyond "common sense"


this one i would like to do fully longitudinally and bring fecundity into the mix =P


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## julesaussies (Aug 9, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> oh heck!
> 
> i just thought of an experiment i might do myself =P
> 
> ...


Well, the cool thing is we have several groups of various species we could do different experiments on and collect data from. Yeah, and last i heard i think she was also getting 10 G. rosea slings to add to her resources... :clap: Then she could pick which one she actually wanted to present for her science project. 

Anyway, in regards to this one. i honestly don't think we could feed any kind of vertibrate but i don't have a problem offering a much bigger variety to one group and the other just crickets. i have a medical triple beam gram scale (i used to use when i bred parrots) that i could actually weigh the "food" if i want to be pretty exact. Obviously a roach might weigh more than a cricket or a worm so should i try to offer similar weight meals or does it matter?? How would you do this experiment?


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## Skulnik (Aug 9, 2007)

Funny how everyone likes feeding/growth rates as an experiment (great for long term)

But 

if you want to do something easy, yet effective (coming from a class "A" slacker), just throw something together about the differences in arboreal vs terresterial webbing.  Cite evolution.  Quothe the TARANTULA KEEPER'S GUIDE.  Take samples, make some slides, throw them under a microscope, take some pics, compare, make notes, put 'em on a posterboard, bring a couple Ts to the event for show and VIOLA, you've got a winner in about 2 hours.

Just a plan B in case plan A falls through.


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## DrAce (Aug 9, 2007)

julesaussies said:


> Well, the cool thing is we have several groups of various species we could do different experiments on and collect data from. Yeah, and last i heard i think she was also getting 10 G. rosea slings to add to her resources... :clap: Then she could pick which one she actually wanted to present for her science project.
> 
> Anyway, in regards to this one. i honestly don't think we could feed any kind of vertibrate but i don't have a problem offering a much bigger variety to one group and the other just crickets. i have a medical triple beam gram scale (i used to use when i bred parrots) that i could actually weigh the "food" if i want to be pretty exact. Obviously a roach might weigh more than a cricket or a worm so should i try to offer similar weight meals or does it matter?? How would you do this experiment?


If I was doing this experiment, this is what I would do.

In terms of feeding more/less, I would have batches of in-bred and same-fed crickets, and using the scales you have, weigh how much food each tarantula eats as you give it to them.

I still have reservations with this though.  How much of the cricket is the Tarantula eating?  Is water consumption actually more important than the food?  How are you controlling for water?

Anyway.  In terms of different types of food, you've got the same problem.  Different species weigh different, and all you can try to do is control for amount of food given (ten crickets for each cockroach, or some similar thing).

Again, the behavior problems are 'cleaner', and quicker.  There is less that can go wrong, and less you need to control for.


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