Flying tanks as food

Tuishimi

Arachnosquire
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A gigantic green beetle landed near me while I was swimming today. I figured "well, T's are supposed to tackle anything up to 80% of their own size... so..."

I caught, opened Buttercup's cage (she's the skinnier of the two wild caughts I have and she doesn't seem to enjoy the crickets as much as Sting (my other wild caught) does) at which point she started mosying back to her log, but I dropped the beetle in and BANG she was on it like a lion on a water buffalo.

She handled it quickly and the crunching was very loud and could easily be heard. It's been an hour or so and she is almost done with it now. Just trying to get the last bits. Hey, at least I'll be able to easily find the leftovers for this one, I have a heck of a time finding the cricket remains.

She seems to really like it, btw.

http://homepage.mac.com/candiazoo/p...ur_arachnids/buttercup_eating_green_beet.html

http://homepage.mac.com/candiazoo/p...ur_arachnids/moving_it_around_to_get_the.html

http://homepage.mac.com/candiazoo/pictures_of_us_and_stuff/our_arachnids/all_mashed_up.html
 

Tuishimi

Arachnosquire
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Ick! She is still cracking it open or something. "crack, crack, crack!"
 

jen650s

Arachnobaron
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So, she likes green fruit beetles (Cotinus mutabilis) maybe she thinks she's a vegetarian :D LOL.

Great pics.
 

Ted

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what kind of beetle was it?
if you see another will you pm me?
 

Tuishimi

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I have no idea. :) They just fly around here (not wicked common, but they are around) and sound like airplanes. This one was eating nectar from our Desert Willow.
 

Tuishimi

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So, she likes green fruit beetles (Cotinus mutabilis) maybe she thinks she's a vegetarian :D LOL.

Great pics.
After googling...

Yeah I think that might have been it! Big sucker! Very strong too.
 

Ted

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I have no idea. :) They just fly around here (not wicked common, but they are around) and sound like airplanes. This one was eating nectar from our Desert Willow.
if you catch another, let me know..i would love to have an Arizona one for my vast collection:)
thank you!
 

Tuishimi

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if you catch another, let me know..i would love to have an Arizona one for my vast collection:)
thank you!
You can have the remains of this one if you like? :D Think of it as a puzzle, and you have to put it back together with superglue. :D
 

Ted

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You can have the remains of this one if you like? :D Think of it as a puzzle, and you have to put it back together with superglue. :D
:D lol.

on a serious note, think of me when you catch another!:)
 

zimbu

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thanks!:clap:
Ted, you should seriously just get something stickied that says "SEND ALL BEETLES SEEN AT ANY TIME TO:...." :p


Tuishimi, how long did it take for your T to finish the whole beetle? that looked like a hellva meal ^_^. And how big is the T?
 

Tuishimi

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It ended up taking her a solid 2.5 hours. Long after I though she was done I kept hearing cracking and saw little bits being dropped below her. I guess she was getting every last possible drop out of it!! Then she dutifully dumped most of it by her water bowl, and left a couple of small shell pieces where she was eating.

Size? The beetle was a little over an inch long, probably just under an inch and a quarter (it was big and scary and I wasn't sure if it was safe to feed her the beetle because the thing was struggling so hard it almost got away from me a couple times).

Now my ignorance. :) I don't know how you measure spider size. I always just give the BODY length... so her body is about 2.5 inches long I would guestimate, since I never held a ruler up to her. :) But the beetle was easily the size of her cephalothorax.
 

Tuishimi

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Does this help?

Well, I stuck my hand in to give you a comparison but I scared her too much. :) She's hiding in the log under where my hand is. She's all scrinched up and to the back of the tube/log, but you can see the tips of her front legs to the left. My hands are medium sized for my size... I am 6'1". My fingers are about 3" wide I think. You can't see her back feet, but they are just to the opening of the log on the side.

She's not huge, but she's not small. :) She's very cute. Sting, my other wild-caught, is a little smaller and MUCH more active and scary. :) This one seems timid but I bet I could get her on my hand without much trouble.
 

Tuishimi

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if you catch another, let me know..i would love to have an Arizona one for my vast collection:)
thank you!
Hi Ted... I caught another one. I was about to drop it into Sting's cage when I remembered you. :)

So... now that I have it, what do you want me to do with it? It's a little smaller than the last one, about an inch long.
 

Nitibus

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Is buttercup an Aphonopelma chalcodes ? It's a very beautiful T !
 

Syngyne

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Now my ignorance. :) I don't know how you measure spider size. I always just give the BODY length... so her body is about 2.5 inches long I would guestimate, since I never held a ruler up to her. :) But the beetle was easily the size of her cephalothorax.
From what I've read, it's from the tip of the front leg on one side to the tip of the back leg on the opposite side.

Though how you get a tarantula to stretch out and hold still escapes me.
 

Tuishimi

Arachnosquire
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Is buttercup an Aphonopelma chalcodes ? It's a very beautiful T !
I think so, a variation on it anyway. This particular one (and Sting) both come from a specific area where they seem to be "oranger". :) I have 3 others from my neighborhood that I caught, or someone else rescued from drowning and brought to me, that look 99% the same, except maybe less orangy, if that's a word. :) But honestly, I am new at this and I have a hard time telling the difference from one species to the next in some cases. :D

I have some feisty and intersting tarantulas. Someone responded to my question about measuring... well as I read this, Sting is lying flat on his ventral surface with his legs fully extended. Bizarre. Tip to tip he is 4 inches, and Buttercup (and my new unnamed female) are both a good bit larger. The biggest is easily 5 inches. My littlest Aphono is adorable, his body is maybe an inch and a half... He was a supposed drowning victim in someone's pool, but came back to life after they fished him out.

I am giving one to a neighbor, I think I'll keep the littlest one, and see if anyone else wants the big, scary female (who for whatever reason, is very energetic - pretty sure it isn't a pre-ultimate male just by the look of her).

I want to buy a baby A. versicolor. It would be my first tree-dweller. :) The branching out from "pet rocks" as some call them, has begun.

---

I posted on another site that I am also undertaking an interesting project this weekend, to build my own tarantula enclosure using .22 acrylic and silicone glue. I plan on using it for my small T's. I am trying 24x8x12 (LxWxH, inches) broken into 3 equal sections, where two of them will be filled w/dirt for 8 inches for my Aphono and my little Chilean Rose (who has been digging lately), and the third would be filled with only an inch of soil and would be for the A. versicolor.

If it works out, I think I will make my own enclosures for both Sting and Buttercup as well.
 
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