Arana Polita - Chicken Spider Diary

[pato_chacoana]

??? stomp on people? chill out!!! I appreciate the thread very much, has a lot of good info and very cool photographs. Read again, my posts were only in order to contribute information. It's not better or worse if it's one species or the other (how can this even be possible??). It's all about to add info and opinions to me. The Pamphobeteus genus is very complex and threads like this one helps us understand a little more about these spiders. I don't see it as a competition of who has what, but as learning from the different spiders as an enthusiast and/or scientist. That's one of the main reasons why I traveled to the Amazon and keep traveling soon.

Pato.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I did not see his post as stomping on all of my theories and speculation.

I post in here to document my experiences and to allow for others to witness and help if I have questions, such as the whole identification issue.

There is no need to become frustrated.



Anyway, another quick update. One of my premolt females just molted! So after a couple weeks I'll pair her up.

As a clarification though, with large species like Pamphobeteus how long should I wait after a molt to breed them? I am so used to breeding dwarf species.

 

[KenTheBugGuy]

i find it in poor taste to revel in fact of being correct. ive read through this and all over the place i have found naysayers and critics trying to smash something but it doesnt matter if its not a chicken spider. so you have soon to be 25 tarantulas in a tank? how about 4? this is wonderful no matter if its purple, blue, black, or brown. does it realy mean so much to you to stomp on people like that?

I agree be it chicken spider or Antonious or even if both are something in the same, I do enjoy reading the progression and appreciate someone willing to keep updating us all! Please keep doing the research and posting pictures of teh progressing no matter what they are.

 

[KenTheBugGuy]

well

I did not see his post as stomping on all of my theories and speculation.

I post in here to document my experiences and to allow for others to witness and help if I have questions, such as the whole identification issue.

There is no need to become frustrated.



Anyway, another quick update. One of my premolt females just molted! So after a couple weeks I'll pair her up.

As a clarification though, with large species like Pamphobeteus how long should I wait after a molt to breed them? I am so used to breeding dwarf species.

Very well said and commending

 

[pato_chacoana]

I did not see his post as stomping on all of my theories and speculation.

I post in here to document my experiences and to allow for others to witness and help if I have questions, such as the whole identification issue.

There is no need to become frustrated.



Anyway, another quick update. One of my premolt females just molted! So after a couple weeks I'll pair her up.

As a clarification though, with large species like Pamphobeteus how long should I wait after a molt to breed them? I am so used to breeding dwarf species.

Hi, if your question is about the female, I'll let her harden up, feed a couple of times and bred her. In my experience, the matings are not aggressive. If you're talking about the male, well, as soon as he makes a sperm web.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing the pics!

Cheers,
Pato

PS: Ken, I also agree that it doesn't make it more or less important to be one or the other species, or completely different one that never ever appeared. As AbraxasComplex said, it's interesting to contribute even in the hard identification...

 

[KenTheBugGuy]

PS: Ken, I also agree that it doesn't make it more or less important to be one or the other species, or completely different one that never ever appeared. As AbraxasComplex said, it's interesting to contribute even in the hard identification...

I did not think your comments were wrong either and thought he has said it better than I could

 

[codemang87]

To be honest this doesn't prove that it wasn't a hoax. Just dissproves a theory of proof of a hoax.

Wow.

I suppose you think the moon landing was a hoax too, perhaps based on the multiple light sources myth. I hate to spoil your party, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wym04J_3Ls0

But to the OP. This is simply amazing. You should definitely do a feeding video!

 

[spidersnstuff]

Kind of a cold comment to end this subject on, have any more updates (movie of the feedings?) breeding or anything else?

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Kind of a cold comment to end this subject on, have any more updates (movie of the feedings?) breeding or anything else?

I have paired up the one male and female. They lived together in the same large enclosure for about a week. Both chose different hiding spots, but were also active around one another, wandering about with out agitation. I did not see any mating though.

Since I am away for a job site I separated them and will reintroduce them when I come back tomorrow. Perhaps I can witness the process and take a video.

 

[Malhavoc's]

it was recently deduced that some latrodectus sp, can penetrate the outer skin on premature females, just before ultimate molt, and inject usable sperm, that stays after the molt. I wonder if this species can do the same ( the species of black widow does this to compete with other males, and avoid being predated by the larger ultimate female. will look in the true spider section and find links)

 

[Malhavoc's]

as promised.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=1777689

Abraxes, this certianly seems to be of similiar situation as your groupings, worth a shot of testing once your colony advances, I ponder the same with holethe aswell. (spelling)

 

[spidersnstuff]

Any signs of activity from male and female?

 

[robd]

To be honest this doesn't prove that it wasn't a hoax. Just dissproves a theory of proof of a hoax.

I was being sarcastic.

Anyway, I'd love an update on how this is going. It's been a while.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I had another male molt out, and one female in extreme premolt.


The female that was paired with the male is no longer being receptive. She is actually running away from the male though he is 2/3 her size. I believe they did mate though as she is gaining considerable girth quite quickly for the amount of food I've been supplying. Sadly I did not see any evidence of the coupling so only time will tell.


As soon as the other female molts and gets a few meals, and the new male makes a sperm web I will introduce both males to the freshly molted female.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

UPDATE!!! Well not really, besides that I redid the tank after I moved across the country (only 13 hour straight UHAUL drive through rain, snow, and sleet on the tight, curving roads of the Rocky Mountains, no big).

Before I moved from Calgary I removed everything and used a black grout and sponge to texturize the back. I am more pleased with the results now. On arrival in Vancouver, I maximized floor space, added some moss, and used a lot more leaf litter than before. Over the next few weeks the leaf litter should degrade to the point I want it and make a more compact, easily walkable surface for the CS. The 9 in here actually come out a little more often than before.

Thankfully Vancouver has had a pesticide ban for the last 5 years so I have introduced about 60 or so pillbugs as the new driving force behind my clean up crew in my tank. You always see a few since they are constantly grooming the moss or resting in the leaf littler.

As for the gravid females they are still massive and I'm hoping with lay sacs soon and not molt. They are nearing dates for both and the MM are about to expire.

With no further adieu, here are the horrible pictures taken with the awful camera I have still not replaced.

Full Tank:

Left Side:

Right Side:

Internal shots:

Broms and moss:

More Broms and ferns:

Broms and Burrow:

Oh NOOOOOO!!! Mushrooms! Better tear a part the tank and sterilize everything... start from scratch.

 

[MaximusMeridus]

Super tank! How about latest photos of the spiders?

UPDATE!!! Well not really, besides that I redid the tank after I moved across the country (only 13 hour straight UHAUL drive through rain, snow, and sleet on the tight, curving roads of the Rocky Mountains, no big).

Before I moved from Calgary I removed everything and used a black grout and sponge to texturize the back. I am more pleased with the results now. On arrival in Vancouver, I maximized floor space, added some moss, and used a lot more leaf litter than before. Over the next few weeks the leaf litter should degrade to the point I want it and make a more compact, easily walkable surface for the CS. The 9 in here actually come out a little more often than before.

Thankfully Vancouver has had a pesticide ban for the last 5 years so I have introduced about 60 or so pillbugs as the new driving force behind my clean up crew in my tank. You always see a few since they are constantly grooming the moss or resting in the leaf littler.

As for the gravid females they are still massive and I'm hoping with lay sacs soon and not molt. They are nearing dates for both and the MM are about to expire.

With no further adieu, here are the horrible pictures taken with the awful camera I have still not replaced.

 

[BrynWilliams]

Lovely looking tank, really well put together, are the Ts already in it or are you planning on introducing them once things have all settled?

 

[AbraxasComplex]

The 9 CS in there were introduced last week and doing well.

As for more photos, I have a much more reliable photographer friend now who will actually take photos and send them to me. Imagine that. Unlike the other one that I would request pics from, he'd take them, I'd repay him with something or help, and he would never send the photos. This one has actually randomly showed up at my house with his camera strapped around his neck and wouldn't sit still the whole time... that clicking noise was driving me up the wall.

Or I can try and take awful photos of my own.

 

[fartkowski]

That tank looks amazing.
I actually like the look of the mushrooms

 

[AbraxasComplex]

That tank looks amazing.
I actually like the look of the mushrooms

Yah I love it when mushrooms pop up. They start incredibly small, grow a few inches within a day or two, and then drop their spores. At the most the ones in my tank last only about 4-5 days. They only pop up once or twice a year too. I wish I had a few species that lasted weeks or at least when they expire would leave a husk instead of a liquefied mess of goo.