# Mindibun's picture thread



## Mindibun (May 14, 2014)

An update on the Encyocratella olivacea: the remaining four are doing great. Their webs are expanding by the day and they are getting more and more comfortable with sitting out in the open. Here's the most secretive one after a misting:






His funnel web has become a triple funnel with three tunnels and multiple escape points branching off.






Lunchbox, my GBB, tried to grab this cricket without accounting for the bush between the two of them. It resulted in her reaching through the vines and groping about like a little kid trying to grab candy or something. 






She finally regrouped later and got smart about it.  






My G pulchripes, chaco golden knee, looking great after his molt:


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## Mindibun (May 20, 2014)

Baby M. giganteus - giant vinegaroons. Love these guys -- very interactive for a bug. (I've got 20+ babies for sale)


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## Mindibun (May 21, 2014)

Baby B. boehmei eating dinner:






First time I've ever seen this guy drinking (another B boehmei)






A metallica eating:












Threw in a cricket and sat back to watch. The cricket made itself quite at home and helped itself to a drink






before the A. chalcodes came over and put a stop to that and took a drink himself.






E. olivacea hiding on the underside of a leaf:






E. olivacea legs peeking out of the webbing:






E. olivacea hanging out at the front of the cage:






E. olivacea eating a cricket






My boyfriend's GBB stuffing his face:






---------- Post added 05-21-2014 at 03:47 AM ----------

My absolute favorite invert, hands down - amblypygi. My beautiful girl, Gloria (D. diadema). She has a male in another cage but both times I've put them together he has been very nasty to her, even though she's incredibly receptive. I don't know what his problem is. He's not as fat as she is so I've been trying to bulk him up and we'll try again.

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## Mindibun (May 29, 2014)

Here's a shot of my male D. diadema (he's the same size as my female):







Some cool grasshopper I found on Memorial day:







Some cool grasshopper I put on an orange plant on Memorial day:







Some cool grasshopper that really enjoyed the orange plant I put him on on Memorial day:







My cat, really mad that some cool grasshopper is in his territory:







Two butterfly pictures:













And a dragonfly:


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## Amaruca Sun (May 29, 2014)

Nice pictures, cool spiders. That PVC elbow is a good idea for a hide too, I might have to steal that idea. My 2inch B. smithi has it's mini flowerpot packed completely full of substrate, maybe it might like an elbow better.


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## RzezniksRunAway (Jun 1, 2014)

Great photos! Lunchbox is beautiful. =) 
 What size deli cup do you have your M. giganteus in?


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## Mindibun (Jun 2, 2014)

Mom is in what I think is a 6 quart sterilite tub (it might be bigger?) and the babies are getting moved into the deep, medium deli cups for reptiles. I'm using the deep kind because it will allow them to tunnel.

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## Mindibun (Jun 3, 2014)

At first I thought Lunchbox was beefing up with some decline push-ups. Then I realized she was meditating in downward dog position.  -- C cyaneopubescens, GBB

---------- Post added 06-03-2014 at 08:36 PM ----------

Oh man, all my Ts must have started a new exercise regimen...

"And one, two, three, stretch! And one, two, three, stretch! C'mon girls, work that core! Lean to the right!"  -- Avicularia versicolor


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## Mindibun (Jul 1, 2014)

E. olivacea eating a FAT little cricket. These guys are just like keeping GBBs, only with slightly higher humidity (and way more attitude). 








My other baboons, M. balfouri. They are not pet holes for me. I see them sitting outside their hides every night and on occasion I see them during the day.













Here's another species that everyone says is a pet hole while mine say otherwise: P. irminia








Henny, my A. hentzi settling in to her new enclosure:








Baby B. boehmei molted into some subtle, sexy red coloration:








Adult male B. boehmei surprised me with a molt just THREE months after his last one. This guy's about 4 years old.







His exo, proving he's definitely a HE 








Male G pulchra checking out his territory, making sure all is well.







I've stopped feeding him recently because he's gotten so fat. He's taken to doing these "handstands" with his butt in the air and I can only guess that it's because his big fat booty drags on the ground and irritates him otherwise.







Finally caught him having a drink







My big beautiful boy from above. He's 5"+

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## Mindibun (Jul 8, 2014)

Henny's been doing so well in her new enclosure - she's already webbed her three favorite spots and hangs out near the front during the early morning. It took her two days to settle in to it, whereas she climbed around her old KK for weeks. 







so I finally got around to doing the tank for my chaco tonight. This guy was one of my first three Ts and I know his personality better than any of the others. He will be very calm for quite a while and then when he gets irritated he lets you know. That's exactly how it went tonight as he posed for a bunch of pictures and then slapped the ground at me before turning around and immediately beginning to web up an area. It was as if he was saying, "ALRIGHT, MOM! Knock it off, gosh. I'm gonna web up my room now."

Here he is being wonderful:







The enclosure:







Sitting pretty:







But now he's done. He tapped the branch and turned his back on me. Spoiled brat.

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## Mindibun (Jul 9, 2014)

A. chalcodes (suspect male) stuffing his face. His abdomen is 3/4" thick! My G pulchra is 6" DLS and this guy is 4", yet they have almost the SAME abdomen thickness. I've had to limit this guy's food because he's become obscenely large in the rear... He's a WC specimen and still thinks he has to eat when he can get it. 







Here's an update on the E. olivacea caging to show how much they've webbed. This is one cage, shot from (almost) all the way around. Their tunnels are elaborate, but, honestly, I don't think they are as impressive as the two GBB I keep. So, since I have seen multiple threads regarding "impressive webbers" and both species are always mentioned, I would like to here lay to rest the myth that E. olivacea are more prolific webbers than GBB.  As far as baboons go, my M. balfouri have webbed their tiny enclosures more than these E. olivacea. And even as far as arboreal Ts go, since olivacea are sometimes considered arboreal, my A. versicolor web more impressively. They are a gorgeous species (one of my faves) and they have spectacular webs, but I don't think mine are winning any blue ribbons. 



















Here's a fun shot -- can you find the olivacea hiding in this photo? Hint: he is in focus. Just goes to show how great their camouflage is.  BOTTOM OF THIS POST SHOWS THE ANSWER. 







EO 3 (I have 4 E. olivacea and label them EO1 - 4 for ease of keeping track of their molts, feeding, etc.) just molted and I tried to sex the molt but it was too destroyed to get an accurate sex. It DID show me they're growing though! They were 3/4" - 1" when I got them. Here's their current size! 







One of my crown jewels, freshly molted, full of food and after a refreshing drink:








Here's a tiny, freshly-molted B. smithi. I love that phase when their colors are STARTING to come in:







This little B. smithi is a few weeks ahead of his brother:







I was baking some branches for GBB decor and accidentally created this B. boehmei hide when a piece of bark peeled off. -lol- He loves this thing. I often see him sitting on top of it, but he never goes IN it. He'll figure it out one day... 













His brother chooses to live the underground life, creating elaborate tunnels without man-made decor. He's a rebel. :giggle:







Oh, it's dark outside? That means it's time to check the "pet holes," my M. balfouri. These guys get a bad rap. They are NOT pet holes. I see mine all the time! Sometimes during the day, but ALWAYS at night. :love:







Speaking of pet holes, I always check the irminia when I check the balfouri. Yep, they're visible, too! Anyone care to guess-sex this one for me?









SPOILER ALERT (here's the olivacea in the "hiding photo")







---------- Post added 07-09-2014 at 04:07 AM ----------

Almost forgot! My BF had an "extra" ball python that was given to him as payment for something and that he didn't want. He traded it for store credit tonight and we got a bunch of feeders and supplies. But then I noticed the store had two little chacos. That store knows me as "the spider lady" and frequently asks me to sex things for them and asks about general husbandry. I asked to see the two chacos and, unfortunately, one had died and molded over due to the SOPPING wet conditions the store had them in. The other one, however, was about twice the size, and had smartly thrown all the sub onto one side of the deli so it could have a dry spot on the bottom of the other side. I vent-sexed it as male and said I'd buy it if they'd come down on the price. The price wasn't unreasonable, even as male -- realistically, it was probably fair, but I'll be honest -- when the store doesn't know about humidity and sexing and other important facets of T husbandry, I WILL try to talk them down on price. Had everything been A+ care I would've paid what they asked. I feel intelligence and proper care should be rewarded... Anyway, we agreed on a price and because it was also on store credit we kinda-sorta got it for free and this little guy was so laid-back I couldn't resist. 

So, I am pleased to announce "Chibo," which is the male form of "Chibi Chaco" (in my italian-speaking brain) because he is a "chibi" (which means "small" in Japanese) version of my own favorite Chaco.  Since I had just moved my male Chaco into a 10 gallon, I had his juvie housing available, which this little guy went into. It worked out PERFECTLY! :biggrin:


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## fuzzyavics72 (Jul 9, 2014)

Your p irmina looks female 

Is the male damon I sold you still being aggressive to your female?


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## Mindibun (Jul 9, 2014)

fuzzyavics72 said:


> Your p irmina looks female
> 
> Is the male damon I sold you still being aggressive to your female?


That would be awesome, and YES the stubborn male, although I've introduced them MULTIPLE times in various settings (her cage, his cage, neutral territory, just after a feed, a week without feed, etc.) wants NOTHING to do with my female. I am taking care of him as well as my female -- he's eating, drinking, everything is normal -- but she is so well behaved and he is still just being a brat. I'm pretty much ready to sell him out of frustration. I put them together for about an hour or two each time. I watch them. She is slow, deliberate, stroking him, and generally very well behaved. HE is snapping at her, quick, running to opposite sides of the bark, showing his teeth to her, boxing at her ... he's a menace. I have no idea what his problem is. He's eating and drinking normally. Maybe he's just too old to breed and is simply trying to defend himself in case she turns on him?


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## fuzzyavics72 (Jul 9, 2014)

Well males are suppose to control the females during breeding like scorpions, but sounds like something else is going on. I held him all the time and you could do anything to him and he wouldn't get defensive or run away. I'm really surprised he's acting like that and he's not that old   Have you read  any breeding reports or asked an expert in Amblypygi? I only bred these guys once and the male did some of what you said, but usually they were nestled together like two peas in a pod lol. When you took a picture of the male damon was he giving you a threat display or cleaning himself?

Awesome pictures by the way and from what I see with your p irmina it's a female for sure!! I can't believe that your G pulchra is a male, he's freaking massive!


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## Mindibun (Jul 9, 2014)

fuzzyavics72 said:


> Well males are suppose to control the females during breeding like scorpions, but sounds like something else is going on. I held him all the time and you could do anything to him and he wouldn't get defensive or run away. I'm really surprised he's acting like that and he's not that old   Have you read  any breeding reports or asked an expert in Amblypygi? I only bred these guys once and the male did some of what you said, but usually they were nestled together like two peas in a pod lol. When you took a picture of the male damon was he giving you a threat display or cleaning himself?
> 
> Awesome pictures by the way and from what I see with your p irmina it's a female for sure!! I can't believe that your G pulchra is a male, he's freaking massive!


'pigids are my favorite inverts. I own the newest book by Orin Mcmonigle and have read it at LEAST three times. I have read the parts about damon mating probably 50 times. I have done my research online to NO END! I adore this species and have really tried very hard to replicate everything natural in their lives. I mist them every week and keep a water bowl full 24/7, I feed once a week with various prey - worms, roaches, crickets with hopper legs removed, etc. They have cork bark and cholla bark on varying angles. My female is so content. She is mellow, she drinks, she eats, she prods at me with her feelers when I mess around in her cage, and, as I mentioned before, she is SO accepting of the male. This gal clearly wants some babies. But the male ... UGH. He eats half as often as she does and I have to pull BOTH hopper legs off the crickets or give a freshly molted roach nymph -- once they're hardened he doesn't want them anymore. He has a water bowl but I never see him drink from it. He just goes to the bottom of the cage and sits near the sub until I mist him a day later and he drinks off the side. I don't get it! Maybe he has PTSD from shipping ... he is ok with ME. He doesn't LOVE it, but tolerates handling fine if I force the issue, however, when he is near my female he just turns into the biggest tough guy around. He acts like he wants to punch her in the face! I have honestly given up putting them together because all of the damon diadema mating articles/internet pages/tips/tricks I have read say that when one of them gnashes their teeth at the other and boxes at them it means they do NOT want to mate, they want them gone and will eat them if given the chance. Well, that's all this male does to my female -- bares his fangs and boxes at her, no matter what I do. She's probably developed a complex by now. ("Is it because I'm fat?!") and I've just about had it. What the heck am I doing wrong? What is his problem? Is it because he got shipped off to "boarding school"? I don't know. I just don't get it ... :/


as a matter of fact, I just went in there to see what they were doing. Here's the male, sitting near the sub:







And here's the female, exploring:







Oh gosh! a flash! Better run and hide! 







What does the male do? Nothing. He sits there. 







I don't get it. I'm not a bad 'pigid mom, I swear.


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## fuzzyavics72 (Jul 9, 2014)

He's clearly changed, he wasn't like this one bit. He was my favorite by far! Every female I've ever had has been very skittish and aggressive and every male was slow moving and gentle. That's weird if you have to tear of the back legs of crickets, he use to eat two or three at a time. I've noticed that inverts like drinking water droplets off walls than drinking from water dishes. I'm also bias and don't like water dishes. I would let him molt and maybe try breeding them again. He isn't that old, but it sounds like he's old as hell :/
 Is your female above the male?


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## Mindibun (Jul 9, 2014)

I don't technically HAVE to pull the hopper legs off, but it'll take him two days to catch it if I don't. Yes, my female's cage is above the male's cage. If there's something I'm doing wrong as far as husbandry, I'd change it, but no one has said anything to me about it. Maybe it's just that my female is too old for him and he's not interested. I don't know. :/


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## Mindibun (Jul 15, 2014)

Got 3 H macs coming next week and just finished up their enclosures. The bottle cap tops work really well so I've been using them on all arboreal caging. I also saw a tutorial for a home-made hide that involves gluing EE onto a cup to make a vertical arboreal hide. And since H macs live like this in the wild, I figured I'd give it a try. 

http://www.giantspiders.com/article23/img3.jpg

I like new craft projects. I don't think I'd do it again, though. The EE doesn't stick very well to any sort of non-toxic glue, and it just looks like a termite mound to me. -lol- I have some cork bark on order so when it arrives I may end up replacing the cups. Unless they love 'em ... then I guess they can keep the cups. We'll see.







And a shot of one of my EOs because no post is complete without them. He's waiting patiently for dinner, which will be served later this evening.


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## Mindibun (Jul 15, 2014)

V, my 5" male G pulchra, too fat to get a cricket tonight, but too pretty not to photograph.







The third baby M. giganteus to molt into adult colors!!  







Chibi Chaco kicked all the sub to the left side of her enclosure and made a pretty deep burrow for herself. The sub was piled so high and flung about in such a way that it looked like she used dynamite to do the excavation -lol- 







But, the thoughtful little lass left us a window into her cozy home. Ignore that label, it was from the previous tenant. 







Speaking of, here's Chibi Chaco's older brother in his usual spot:







His next door neighbor, Henny, a 4" female A. hentzi, has been real estate shopping and is considering relocating to this humble fixer-upper with corkbark foundation. Here she is testing the place out by eating dinner on the front porch. 







My suspected female B. boehmei sling has FINALLY decided to come out above ground. This is a rare sighting. Her brother, on the other hand, is always out and is a big fat lazy bum. 













And here's a goofy front-view photo of the lazy bum:







Found a cute little house guest cruising around near some brachy containers. I love weevils. Everyone else hates them but I think they're just so gosh-darn cute! :love:







Here's my favorite girly, Lunchbox (GBB) eating (as always):







And my other favorite girly, Gloria (damon diadema) 







This outline looks like a cooler version of the bat symbol or something. I love it.

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## Mindibun (Sep 12, 2014)

Here's 1/3 of the reptile and invert room. It's coming along nicely, but very .... very .... slowly. The hots are still waiting on the inspector before we can move them over, and the rest of my Ts are waiting on proper shelving before they can move from the closet into the "real room." Ten points to whomever can guess what's going in that 30 gallon tank on the floor that is only half-way set up. 







That upper left vision cage is packed full of close to 20 tarantulas. Three of the other vision cages have a fair few in them as well!


How fast can E. olivacea grow? THIS fast. The pictures are a bit skewed because of angle, but the measurements are correct.













---------- Post added 09-13-2014 at 12:25 AM ----------

Phase one of the set-up on that 30 gallon. Still need more dirt and foliage, which I'll get tomorrow. 







Here's the view from above. The arrows point to various entrances into the cork bark tunnels I created. I'm sure they'll get rearranged.


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## Mindibun (Oct 4, 2014)

Bought a female chalcodes from a member here. Set her up tonight, but left her old house inside the new tank because the sub is still too damp for her. 







Pre-made burrow, cut out with the paper towel tube you'll see in the following pictures:







Setting up her tank with my quality control supervisor ...







(She can be a real tough cookie... very critical :giggle







Rescued (another) A avic :sarcasm: but I really like this one. She'll stay with me.


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