User GhostMouse's Tarantula Pictures

[GhostMouse]

My little slings are doing great! They've each shed several times. The little T albo, Baba Yaga, was the most recent one to shed and I was able to pull out the full exoskeleton in one piece! How fun! I immediately pulled out the microscope for some close up inspection. Thought it would be fun to share! Also, is it too teeny-tiny to tell what sex this T is? I don't know how it's done but I know people do it from a shed so now I am curious.


Here's a shot of the whole shed on its back, with the cap of her carapace still attached.


pinkie fingernail for scale- I have average sized hands. I'm very pleased to be a newbie doing so well with these little bitties.


Lovely fangies and raised arms pose


Look at the lil hooked claws on the teeny feets!


Oh my god Becky, look at her butt! (this species is super fuzzy!)


More cool fuzzy legs, also, the spinnerets! I love how long the spinnerets are on Ts, you really get to observe what they're doing when they web stuff up. <3

 

[Smotzer]

Pics are not close enough and too blurry to sex, at least I can’t. But congrats on the molt!

 

[GhostMouse]

Pics are not close enough and too blurry to sex, at least I can’t. But congrats on the molt!

I wasn't sure if it was even possible at this age, let alone what views I'd need, so no worries! Just really pleased with how well the slings are doing and it was neat to get to see the molt up close! I am certainly curious what sex they all are, but it's not that vital as I won't be breeding any of them.

 

[GhostMouse]

Here's my Cyriocosmus elegans sling, Care Bear, fixing the webbing in her nest. I fed her a mealworm, but she was a lot more concerned about it thrashing about and messing things up than she was about eating... I think she only killed it to make it hold still haha. She decided to re-string her house before she settled down to eat. (Just as a general note I use she/her pronouns for Care Bear just kind of because, feels weird to use "it" for a live animal, but I have no idea if she is male or female obv, she's very, very tiny).

 

[Tarantuland]

I just rehoused mine today but my enclosure looks more boring than that

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
Nice video.I will take the ball thing out.If your spider decides to dig near it it can roll and trap or squish it.Add waterdish too.
Regards Konstantin

 

[GhostMouse]

I just rehoused mine today but my enclosure looks more boring than that

I'm working on a book about DIY habitats, and when it launches I hope to also sell kits for people with parts I 3D printed and otherwise made (decor items and things like hinged doors you can put into a bin etc)- so basically if I don't have whimsical freaking enclosures for all my critters I'm being a traitor to my own brand LOL. But nobody is obligated to make their critters' space "fancy," ain't nothin' wrong with whatever does the job- spider don't curr, I could have given her a stick and a leaf to anchor web and she'd have appreciated it just as much as a crystal and a sparkly fairy hut (she goes in the hut now and then but mostly uses it to anchor web- but I was a little surprised she went in at all so I'm perfectly delighted with that lol). My Hapolopus has the most "extra" of the enclosures, but the T albo just has a nice little lake rock I scavenged and some moss. She prefers a minimalist landscape because she needs maximum digging room lol. So your enclosure isn't "boring" at all- you just tell people "I prefer a functional minimalist aesthetic" and there you go! <3 I feel like it's important to embrace the hobby in the ways that make it most enjoyable to you. For me I like the creative expression of decorated spaces for my critters (you should see the elaborate fairy shrine and river made of blue sea glass in my dart frogs' tank) but many people don't want to do that and there's nothing wrong with that!

Hi
Nice video.I will take the ball thing out.If your spider decides to dig near it it can roll and trap or squish it.Add waterdish too.
Regards Konstantin

Thank you! The photo in the beginning was taken during the rehouse, before I put a tiny water cup in there. It actually is visible in the video, however, there's no earthly way anybody could tell that's what it is because she has that part blocked from the camera's view with webbing. XD I thought about whether the marble would collapse on her so I had it dug into the substrate to where it touched the bottom so she couldn't dig under it. I admit I didn't think about her opening enough space around it that it might roll on her, however at this point it no longer is a concern because she's got that thing so tacked down with webbing I would have to work to get it out of there myself lol. Care Bear knows what Care Bear likes, and that is MOAR WEB.

 

[GhostMouse]

My curly hair is finally getting bigger than the dwarfs! I swear the little critter got twice the size in this last molt. Here is a rare moment topside- normally, this is a pretty shy spider.



For added hilarity here is a more zoomed out view of the shelf they're on, in which you can see that both the T albo and the C elegans are engaging in Synchronized Staring. As you watch your spiders, friends, know that they are also watching you lol!

 

[GhostMouse]

I got a great opportunity to take photos of Baba Yaga (the T albo Nicuragua) with the microscope while she was hanging out on the side of her little enclosure.

Curiosity: is it possible to tell sex from these? I have no idea how it is determined but I know it involves their underside and here it is under magnification, though I've no clue if whatever structures are necessary are visible.