Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens Open Thread

[EpicEpic]

7 Month Itch

I received my slings back in early October 2019. When they arrived, they were all right around 3/4”...very good consistent size determination and quality control at Fear Not Tarantulas.

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The other night I sat down and went through all my slings taking images. I really enjoy doing this, taking notes, keeping a journal of what I've done and what I plan to do. How many of you enjoy recording this type of visual data with your slings?

Once I got through my other slings and worked my way to my GBBs, I got out a ruler to determine size. It did not go well...maybe next time I’ll try a set of calipers. I need to figure out a method for measuring slings inside a small cube, when the sling is not nicely stretched out. So I had to fall back on visual estimations. Not bad though, I’m actually good at estimating distances, a skill I had to learn in a previous career...

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So for the most part, I was doing my best to estimate size of each of my slings. I wanted to get a grasp of their growth after 7 months under my care. Is the growth steady, is it slow...or about right? These are details that will become apparent with future groups of slings...

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Of the 5 slings, 3 of them are really getting close to the 3” mark. 1 is definitely on the far side of 2.5” and 2 of them are close close close to 2.75”. Every time I tried to measure them, they'd slip into their webbing or show a stress pose...I mean seriously.

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My two remaining slings are on the smaller side. GBB #3 has had a rough go of it, and is behind the others in size. It’s right around 1.5” to 1.75”. Hard to tell with that one...I hides alot more than the others. I only saw it real good for the first time in months...last week. Now it is regularly on the sides of the container...nicely stretched for measuring...then I get out the ruler, and it slips into its web tunnel.

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The last sling is gangly and I’m waiting for it to moult into its blue legs...just one moult away from being there. That sling is over 2”, and tight around 2.25” +/-. It is way over due for a moult...what gives?

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I don’t know if this is good growth or not. This is my first group of Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings.

I keep them in 4X4X4 AMAC boxes. The cabinet where I keep them is temperature regulated to 79 degrees. And I usually feed them twice a week.

Those of you that have kept this species, what have you seen? What growth rates have you experienced? How have you kept your slings?

Curious minds would like to know.

I have a 2.5-3" female coming from Fear Not this Wednesday!

I wonder if our spoods are sac mates!

 

[Colorado Ts]

I have a 2.5-3" female coming from Fear Not this Wednesday!

I wonder if our spoods are sac mates!

If that were true...then I'm doing just fine.

 

[EpicEpic]

If that were true...then I'm doing just fine.

Very real possibility as I know she was bred by them!

I could probably ask for you!

 

[Metallattorney]

Mine had a bad day today. I tried to feed him a super worm but it burrowed through his web tunnel before he had a chance to get it. Which meant I had to take apart his entire enclosure to get it back out, thus destroying his web tunnel. Next time I'll be sure to pre-kill superworms.

 

[Cyriocosmus]

I've got a small GBB sling, got it about 3 weeks ago I guess. So far it was a very pleasant surprise, webbing up everything, feeding on everything I throw inside, being visible most of the time.. it's probably a bit too much of a semi-arboreal setup, but there's also a lot of soil to burrow in if it wants to. It didn't bother burrowing or using the nice cork hide I gave it so far, though. Just made up its own web hide and expanding it over half the enclosure. I love big webs, so it worked its way up my list of favorites quite quickly. Sadly I just can't seem to take nice pictures of it, somehow they always end up blurry.
Can't wait for this little guy to grow into a beautiful adult for me!

 

[Deuteromycete]

With the right contacts, a male tarantula can net you half an egg sac of slings. Plus an unharmed male, if it all goes down well. Sure, it's unfortunate for wanting 1 female T of a certain species, but at least it was a GBB and not a B. Hamorii that you raised for years...

I heard that gbb are pricey because the females are notorious for killing the males after but I don't have any breeding or gbb experience to know if that is true.

 

[Colorado Ts]

I heard that gbb are pricey because the females are notorious for killing the males after but I don't have any breeding or gbb experience to know if that is true.

I've heard that if you want to breed one female, you'll need at least 3 males...and hope that one survives to mate with the female.

I've also heard that if the female is properly preconditioned, before mating, one male should work for 3 females.

In a couple years, I'll hopefully know which is true.

Changes They are a Comin...Again

The slings have all let their webs start to fall apart. They had such beautiful webbing, elaborate web tunnels, just awesome. They seem to be neglecting upkeep on their webs. Very surprising and unexpected behavior.



Feeding is strong, they all seem to be voracious and starving. I’m feeding them on Sundays and Thursdays...but, to me, their abdomens look noticeably smaller than they did weeks ago.



GBB#3 has been showing lots of stress poses for the last 2 few weeks. It’s been hanging on the sides of the enclosure, right by the vent holes. It abandoned its web, has stayed off the substrate and has been refusing food.

So...I carefully dug out all the moist substrate and replaced it with bone dry substrate. This morning the sling was back in its web and tore into the prey item as soon as it hit the web.

I have come to the conclusion that GBB#3 is broken...

 

[Chroma Trigger]

When my GBB was a sling, it seemed to hate water and moisture. I once used a dropper to place a few drops on the elaborate webbing and my sling switched to the other side of the enclosure to build a new home. Simply abandoned all that hard work. Never used the dropper since, but I provide a water dish at the opposite side of her enclosure.

 

[Chebe6886]

I’ll just say this... GBB was the first tarantula I bought and will likely be the last I hang on to if I ever completely leave the hobby

 

[rusted180]

shat are/were your 1st impressions?

kinda jumpy/skittish! but cute! gave me a threat pose several days later when i was pulling out some moss that had some mold on there... i was pouring water on the moss... since then switched to a very small water bowl.

What do you like/dislike about the species?
Love this T! a lot personality and eats like a pig compared to my 1/4 inch hentzi

How does the GBB compare to other species that you’ve kept?
more livelier than my california spider ( thought it was a rosea but i confirmed it was a cali T. ) had some emperor scorpions but both T and scorp has long passed away in the early 00's. Plus im sure as a kid in the early 90s when i first got them... i didnt know what I was doing with my pets.
Long answer short: I dont have any before that i can accurately compare too except that this is more livelier than my first T in the early 90s.

How many have you kept? Or even how do you keep the various age groups of GBBs?
just one so far... almost an inch.

 

[Degreef Steve]

hello,

i just started this hobby, and had already a lot of time love for tarantula's because they are such fasinating creatures.
If you see them in al there glory they demand respect. that is what you always need to have for them.

i have 2 sling now of GBB and love them with al my heart even if i posses them just for a few days now.

they have there new enclosure now and i noticed that one of them is already starting on building its web.

it is so nice to witness them working on there own homes.

so here is a picture of my two little cuties that i already love so much.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Another Moult Cycle?

For the past week and a half the Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings have been really hit and miss on feeding. There was no visual queues for me to go on, abdomens actually looked slim...I was starting to get concerned, because they are usually such strong feeders. Then couple this feeding behavior with the fact that their web were looking so forlorn and unkept.

Today I was going through the slings and checking every things over...found 2 moults among the GBB slings. Was not expecting that...they didn't even look fat in the abdomen and getting ready to moult. Both slings that moulted must have gone into overtime...their webs have really extended and it’s very obvious that the slings have been putting a lot of work into repairs and expansion.

Surprise, surprise...down only two of them feeding, so I'm a bit surprised by these events.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

I should have shared earlier, but overwhelming word problems and all..

I got mine at an expo in early January, my second tarantula. My only experience before that was my Lasiodora parahybana, Hairy, that I received in October at 2.5 inches and is now 4 inches, 1/3 monster, 1/3 clown, and 1/3 pet rock. He will forever be my first love <3

Bumble Bee was 1 inch when I brought it home, a complete angel who gave me no problems when rehousing. Molted less than a month later, on February 2nd, the day before my birthday. A couple of weeks later moved into the small kritter keeper, again with zero problems. Webbed up it's favorite purple flowers, and molted again on April 6th. It is now 2.5 inches and currently refusing food so another molt is near! Hopefully I can get the next molt out for examination before it gets destroyed so I can finally stop calling it "it", lol. It has become more skittish than it seemed to be at first, I found this out when I told the hubs to gently nudge it with the paintbrush towards the roach, at which point it took off all over the place and it's a good thing he is faster than I am because he managed to get the lid shut just in time to see it zoom across it before doing 3 more laps and landing in the water dish. It was fine, but I cried and didn't stop worrying for days. I have since vowed to never ever ever do anything in that enclosure without a second set of eyes and hands available. Even with it's newfound skittishness, and it's complete lack of cooperation regarding where it normally hangs out near the vents where I can't see it very well, it's been a joy to raise and watch grow. Hopefully next rehouse I will manage to arrange it in a way that makes it web up a more central location

As you'll see in the pics, I gave it two very adequate hides and a golden water dish, do you think it uses any of it? Of course not. Purple flower obsessed. That's probably what I get for naming it Bumble Bee.


Apologies for the bad quality pics, i need to get a better camera.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

My dumb little GBB seems to have finally figured out how to hunt. Tagged a cricket so fast last night and she's usually pretty slow on the uptake. Now if only she would figure out how to moult and show me the amazing colours that I know she can have! I really do think she has no idea what kind of spider she is.

Anyone else have issues in the past/present of GBBs being a little...special?

 

[ratmilk]

Got a juvie GBB the other day. She's gorgeous but I've been itchy and my tongue feels weird ever since she arrived. Suspecting urticating hairs in the air. Not to mention I just looked at her wrong and she just kicked at me
She's in a very low kritter keeper at the moment. I'm upgrading her to a taller tank with ventilation in the sides and back so hoping that will help with the itching.
If not, expect to see a GBB looking for a new owner soon

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Got a juvie GBB the other day. She's gorgeous but I've been itchy and my tongue feels weird ever since she arrived. Suspecting urticating hairs in the air. Not to mention I just looked at her wrong and she just kicked at me
She's in a very low kritter keeper at the moment. I'm upgrading her to a taller tank with ventilation in the sides and back so hoping that will help with the itching.
If not, expect to see a GBB looking for a new owner soon

What a beauty! Sorry about the hairs on your tongue though.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Moult Cycle...Weight Loss



My Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings are going through another moult cycle. The big thing I noticed after this moult is that the slings are all looking very thin in the abdomen.

The sling pictured above is the only one I was able to image, and its the fattest of the slings; 3 have moulted, 2 have yet to do so. The other two slings that have moulted have abdomens that are noticeably smaller than the one pictured. I need to get a couple shots of the others, to show in a clearer sense, what I’m talking about.

I’m going to start giving them either extra feedings per week or stick to the same schedule but with larger portions at each feeding.

So, more images coming...

To me, they look skinny...thoughts?

 

[viper69]

Moult Cycle...Weight Loss

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My Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings are going through another moult cycle. The big thing I noticed after this moult is that the slings are all looking very thin in the abdomen.

The sling pictured above is the only one I was able to image, and its the fattest of the slings; 3 have moulted, 2 have yet to do so. The other two slings that have moulted have abdomens that are noticeably smaller than the one pictured. I need to get a couple shots of the others, to show in a clearer sense, what I’m talking about.

I’m going to start giving them either extra feedings per week or stick to the same schedule but with larger portions at each feeding.

So, more images coming...

To me, they look skinny...thoughts?

I’ve raised these from sling to maturity.

They have a leaner build than our Brachy friends.

As slings they can certainly pop a fairly large abdomen. But all specimens are different, the one pictured looks fine to me.

The ones not observed sound like they could use more food by what you described.

 

[KaroKoenig]

What Viper said. If you manage to make a Chromatopelma abdomen look anywhere near like a Brachypelma or other stockier-built terrestrials, you'd be better off eating all those crickets yourself. I heard they're tasty grilled with hot sauce. I can't verify that. Only had locust so far.

 

[Colorado Ts]

I’ve raised these from sling to maturity.

They have a leaner build than our Brachy friends.

As slings they can certainly pop a fairly large abdomen. But all specimens are different, the one pictured looks fine to me.

The ones not observed sound like they could use more food by what you described.

What Viper said. If you manage to make a Chromatopelma abdomen look anywhere near like a Brachypelma or other stockier-built terrestrials, you'd be better off eating all those crickets yourself. I heard they're tasty grilled with hot sauce. I can't verify that. Only had locust so far.

The slings were always a bit bit stocky. But with this last moult, they have all become much leaner in both frame and fullness of their abdomens.

Thank you both for the sound advice, I'll post images and updates as I get them.

Photo Capture...Abdomen Size.



I have noticed that with this most recent moult, the slings have lost weight, abdomens are noticeably trimmer, and the feeding response of the slings is stronger than usual. They are acting like they are starving.

Of the 5 slings, 3 have moulted, one will moult soon and my problem child GBB#3 will moult when the planets align properly. So here is one of the slings that that lost weight, this one moulted about 2weeks ago and is noticeably smaller in the abdomen following this moult.

Is it normal for this species trim-out and lose weight at a certain moult? The abdomens on the slings are much smaller than before this moult....Thoughts?