Arana Polita - Chicken Spider Diary

[codykrr]

sorry wrong thread.

 

[Taki F&T]

Great thread, I went through the whole Craig Bellamy thread on BTS last time with similar excitement. I will post high quality pics of my juvie P antinous tomorrow and some pics of a friend's Pamphobeteus sp 'Peru' which are supposedly also the 'chicken spider' in the weeks to come...
Can't wait for your macro shots abraxas!

 

[Mook]

Great work overall, keep up the good work.
How is it going so far?

 

[Taki F&T]

Both my P antinous are about to moult so the pics will be a little delayed....

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Both colonies are doing well.

I recently checked on the group of 4 in the big tank and removed one of the fake stones to see their burrow. 3 are adult size now. I don't know how I missed it, but the 2 subadults molted. The juvenile is doing well with them too.

They have access to another burrow, but have chosen not to use it.

I meant to take photos, but my camera batteries were dead.


As for the Macro photos the gentleman who took them has disappeared and won't respond to my emails. His last response was that he would send them when he wasn't busy. That was months ago. How long does it take to send 8 photos? :wall:

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Also I tried a great way to check up on them. I stick a long narrow stick in the burrow and slowly drag it out, usually ends up with an adult stuck to it trying to attack it. I'll try to take a video when I get batteries for my camera.

 

[robd]

Also I tried a great way to check up on them. I stick a long narrow stick in the burrow and slowly drag it out, usually ends up with an adult stuck to it trying to attack it. I'll try to take a video when I get batteries for my camera.

That's awesome. They're probably like... WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!

 

[micheldied]

That's awesome. They're probably like... WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!

Save the women and children!:}
Can't wait for those pics!

 

[BrynWilliams]

Would be awesome to see those pics and your vid Can't wait!

 

[AbraxasComplex]

So in the large tank the adult female starting wandering around. She was well fed, but she started using the other burrow which none of the 4 chicken spiders in the tank have done yet. I noticed she was overly large and I had a theory that if a burrow is full of adults that are too large a gravid female will find a burrow of her own instead of facing full out aggression when forcing out the other adults/sub adults to lay her sac and raise her various batches of young. She wouldn't be retreating to molt since all of the Pamphobeteus sp. ended up molting together in the same burrow. They web up the entrance and one molts. Either way I grabbed her and put her aside just in case she does lay a sac.

So my question is, is this female overweight, about to molt, or gravid?

 

[Malhavoc's]

no darkening of her backend, I'd lean to gravid.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

no darkening of her backend, I'd lean to gravid.

That's what I'm suspecting too.


She's in her own enclosure just in case. I would love the big tank to be crawling with spiderlings in a few months, but would also like to see and observe the maternal behavior and how many young are produced.

 

[Malhavoc's]

Behavorial wise it lines up with the rest of the communal spiders I know the female seperating from the pack, did you have a male or was she one of the wc females of the start?

Either way it is fascinating to document the behaviors. and a sac will give you ample amounts of spiderlings to experiment with.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Behavorial wise it lines up with the rest of the communal spiders I know the female seperating from the pack, did you have a male or was she one of the wc females of the start?

Either way it is fascinating to document the behaviors. and a sac will give you ample amounts of spiderlings to experiment with.

She was wildcaught and the largest of the group. No mature males yet.

 

[Malhavoc's]

Given timeline, and the behaviorlack of premolt colouring, I'm leaning heavily to gravid.

 

[BrynWilliams]

could you maybe try transilluminate her abdomen (pokie stylie?) perhaps from below if you clear the sub off a small part of the floor of the enclosure?

either that or wait until she's near the side to try it

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I tried. My flashlight was not powerful enough.

 

[Protectyaaaneck]

Gotta go with an LED flashlight.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Gotta go with an LED flashlight.

It was an LED with 9 lights. Just my last set of batteries is nearly dead. Haha.

 

[micheldied]

Gravid! Gravid! Gravid!