Baby Steps

[The Spider Faery]

I was happy to see my baby Cyriocosmus elegans had started burrowing a couple days ago! In the two weeks I've had it, it has just stayed on the top of the substrate. When I went to the pet shop to buy crickets, I noticed their C. elegans were always under the soil, but the petshop guy told me my baby spider was too small to be burrowing yet, but now it's burrowing like it's in its nature to do. It was funny when I first looked at the vial and didn't see the sling anywhere, I said "I can't see you" (yah I talk to it sometimes) and then I noticed a tunnel on the side of the vial where it had dug down. See this is why I got a sling as opposed to a juvie or mature T, just so I can experience the steps towards maturing like this!

 

[WS6Lethal]

On an opposite note, I had to wait for my Singapore Blue to not dig, and get in the branches like she's supposed to.

 

[The Spider Faery]

Haha, that's as equally exciting. Maybe even more cuz you get to see it more when it's not burrowing, so the only downfall now is that I might not be seeing as much of mine, but it's good to know it's settling into its home nicely. It's amazing how such a small moment can seem exciting.

 

[wedge07]

A lot of Ts burrow as slings. Most LPS don't really know much about the T species they keep.

 

[WS6Lethal]

I would still like to get a T that's out because it wants to be out.

 

[The Spider Faery]

Well it looks like the burrowing was just temporary for like a week. It's been back up on top of the soil for most of the time recently again. It didn't eat for a few weeks. Maybe it had a molt while it was burrowing? I don't know, but it has gotten bigger recently, so probably. But it finally ate again this week. Once on Saturday and then again today it took down a cricket I offered. Today's ambush was so amusing! I guess it was having trouble getting above the cricket to bite down on it, being a small C. elegans sling, so it went upside down, kind of on its back, and slowly moved closer, then when the cricket got on top of it, it flipped over and captured it. I thought that was a sly hunting tactic!

 

[ZergFront]

Seriously?

Wow, you got a T-Genius.

Wonder if you bred ones like that and any slings down the line that did it if it would just become another T survival trick..

 

[The Spider Faery]

Haha, I wonder if this is common or if mine's just got more tricks up its femurs? :razz:

I wished I had a good camera with a decent macro to take some pics of the action, but I only have a point and shoot at the moment.

 

[Teal]

Wait.. you were happy because a sling started burrowing?! lol I haven't seen my H. longipes in months.. though if I shine a flashlight just right, sometimes I can see her butt lol

 

[The Spider Faery]

Lol, I guess the happiness was directed more towards it doing something new and different yet normal for the species. As in, "Oh my sling's doing a normal C. elegans thing, yay, and it's doing something active instead of just sitting there." I could still see it on the side of the vile within the tunnel it made, so it wasn't so bad. But now it's back on top again.

 

[WS6Lethal]

My Singapore Blue seems more arboreal now since the molt last week. Time will tell if she stays that way though.

 

[Mack&Cass]

On an opposite note, I had to wait for my Singapore Blue to not dig, and get in the branches like she's supposed to.

I'm still waiting for my H. maculata to get the memo that it's arboreal...

 

[The Spider Faery]

Today's ambush was so amusing! I guess it was having trouble getting above the cricket to bite down on it, being a small C. elegans sling, so it went upside down, kind of on its back, and slowly moved closer, then when the cricket got on top of it, it flipped over and captured it. I thought that was a sly hunting tactic!

Haha, I wonder if this is common or if mine's just got more tricks up its femurs? :razz:

I guess the answer is that it's something small T's sometimes do, as I read in this article courtesy of Journal of the British Tarantula Society about Heterothele villosella (another dwarf species) http://www.dipluridae.de/PDF/Raab & Drolshagen (2007).pdf

"The feeding of this species does not usually cause any problems. This spider
moves very quickly within its web and can easily subdue prey that are equal or larger in size to itself. This very often happens by involving its entire body,
whereby the little spider may turn on its back in order to subdue the prey with all possible means."