C. coccineus

[hamfoto]

These guys are awesome!

I've got 3 spiderlings...one just molted the other day and I was cleaning some food debris and molt out of its cage yesterday...when, BANG! it's out! it didn't go far and I got it back in its vial...but man! these are fast! and fiesty! it gave me a little threat display and tried to bite the tweezers that I was using to guide it back to its home...

I've got my pokies and an H. mac...and I'm confident with their speed when I have to deal with them...but, I was taught a great lesson by these little C. coccineus!!! Pokies are fast...but these are lightning!

very cool spiders...when they get a little bigger I'll get some good pics. And they're great eaters! they attack fruit flies with passion!

Chris

 

[Jonathan]

Hello,
I too recieved six (from Brigebane also.) a few weeks ago. They are hella cool. Mine are taking pinheads their size or slightly smaller. They have insatiable appetite's. I had them on a powerfeed schedule, but laxed it a little bit. They look like they are going to burst.
This is my first Ctenid spider, and I think it is a good start. It is unfortunate that we have so little species in this country.
A good book on the entire genus Cupiennius is:A spider's World by Friedrich G. Barth. Springer. It is pretty scientific, but I think you will enjoy. I have just started it.
How are you housing yours? Are you keeping them comunally?

 

[hamfoto]

hey,
yeah, I've got Dr. Barth's book...it's a lot of information!

I'm keeping mine in tall vials with coco coir bedding, a piece of cork bark and a small clump of moss. I keep it pretty damp as well...so, I have to clean some mold out from time to time, but it seems that it is working.
I'm still waiting for my other two to molt...
and I'm feeding them a fruitfly about every 3 days...

Chris

 

[Scolopendra55]

I just got 3 from Brigebane last thursday (small world ) and they sure do love their fruitflies! I'm keeping them in little vials with moist peat and a piece of artificial plant for climbing/molting. They are FAST little demons , cant imagine what cage transfers are going to be like when they get some size to them!! I too have a pokie and H.maculata but these little ctenid's (my first ctenids by the way) sure do give them a run for their money Is size increase with each molt considerable or minimal?

 

[Stefan2209]

Hi guys,

seems, there are some new ctenid-afficionados born??

Take care with feeding fruit-flies, those have proofed to be lethal, if you feed your spiders exclusively on them. The spiders will just do bad molts and die in the process, if you use them too long as the only prey items.

You better change to micro-crickets, as soon, as the slings can overpower them.

Just to let you know.

Greetings,

Stefan

 

[hamfoto]

Stefan,

thanks for the heads-up!

and as for the molts...another one of mine molted over the night. The size increase is not huge, but they did get leggier.

Chris

 

[Jonathan]

Hello,
Are these guys diurnal; and if so, are all Ctenid's?
I think I read somewhere that they molt off of a molting strand of silk, upside down. Has anyone witnessed this?
And yes, Ctenids are VERY interesting!
Jon

 

[Scolopendra55]

Hi guys,

seems, there are some new ctenid-afficionados born??

Take care with feeding fruit-flies, those have proofed to be lethal, if you feed your spiders exclusively on them. The spiders will just do bad molts and die in the process, if you use them too long as the only prey items.

You better change to micro-crickets, as soon, as the slings can overpower them.

Just to let you know.

Greetings,

Stefan

I dont use crickets but would newly hatched N.cinerea provide the needed nutrients (as that is the main food source I use)?

 

[Scolopendra55]

Would baby Isopods be a suitable food source?

 

[beetleman]

ive got a brazilian wandering spider(phonenutria nigriventer)it was tiny when i first got it i started it on pinhead crickets right away and it has grown like mad on crickets,and is pretty good sized right now,so i think crickets are an excellent source of protien for you C. coccineus,the roaches are great also,but they like to burrow,and would hide,but you can try it and see what happens,if you can find those very small moths they will work also,i'm too lazy to find those different foods that's why i use crickets

 

[hamfoto]

as for the actual molting...I didn't see it happen, but I can see the molt hanging there on the molting thread!

Chris

 

[Jonathan]

Hamfoto:Schweet!! Much different than a Mygalomorph, huh!

Where is everyone getting these Phonenutria nigriventer?
Petco?

 

[beetleman]

Hamfoto:Schweet!! Much different than a Mygalomorph, huh!

Where is everyone getting these Phonenutria nigriventer?
Petco?

brandon(reptist) has 1 for sale right now,that's where i got mine from.

 

[Jonathan]

Holy Crap

Two more have just molted. I cannot believe how fast they are growing. The two have easily doubled in size. They are very exciting to watch too!!

 

[Jonathan]

Sexing?

How do you go about sexing these. Via shed exoskeletons, or are there dimorphism's which you can tell??