Growth diary and photo thread for Ornithoctoninae sp. "Vietnam silver"

[klawfran3]

I figured I'd start a quick little growth diary for the sling I got, mainly because there dont seem to be many (if at all) unedited and accurate photos of them as slings and adults. Plus I want to show mine off since I think it's gorgeous.
I purchased it from fear not tarantulas about 3 weeks ago and it is approximately 3/4". It has eaten twice in my care. It hasn't really used the burrow I started for it, although it did line the burrow and the surrounding area with silk, and decides to just sit out in the open mostly and look pretty. The first is an unedited photo of it, no saturation boost, just camera flash. The second photo is with no flash at all, and you can see how much darker the striping on its opisthosoma seems. One thing I have noticed though is that in real life the orange setae on it's legs seem to "pop" a bit in the dark, and it looks positively wonderful. I can't seem to get a good image of that though. The second photo does give a bit of a semblance of it to show how bright the legs look compared to the substrate. Still, no saturation or editing. Just a photo from my phone.

 

[klawfran3]

It molted about two weeks ago, and did so in a VERY weird position. It hung off of the upper lip of it's burrow by it's front legs, and let the back legs dangle into the open space of the burrow. I guess it was technically upside down, but it's whole belly was against the substrate. Was too nervous to take a photo and disturb it since the container it's in sits awkwardly in a shelf, and I was afraid of bumping it and having the spider fall down. It was almost reminiscent of an araneomorph spider molting. Has anyone else seen a sling molt like this before? It was quite shocking.

Thankfully the molt was successful, and after two weeks it was finally in a spot today that I could get a reasonable photo. It seems to have grown by about 1/3", which I would say is a pretty good size jump for how small it was. DLS I'd say is about 1 1/4", but I'll try and get a more accurate measurement soon. It seems they do pretty big growth jumps between molts which is nice, although I don't have a real molting schedule as to how often they do it, since it's only molted once in my care.

The fishbone pattern on its opisthosoma is much more prominent now, and the orange/yellow hairs are even brighter. This might be one of the prettiest slings I've ever seen. Each of the hairs stands out brilliantly against the dark background, and because of the space between them it makes for a really cool effect, as if the spider has an orange static around it when it moves. I'll try and get better photos when I can, but my phone is trash and he's a speedy little guy.

He doesn't seem to have excavated the burrow any deeper either, and sits in two spots in the container. Either hunkered down at the bottom of the burrow, or like in the photos show it sits about an inch away from the burrow entrance on the opposite side of the cork bark from it.

 

[klawfran3]

Well, over the past month it seems to have built a very nice turret in it's tank. The turret has been getting taller and wider until it ran up against the roof and then continued sideways. She has LOTS of substrate to dig through, so I don't think this is a case of it not having enough substrate where it then makes a web curtain. There's also lots of room on the top of the tank for it to disperse the substrate more, but instead it's just piling it up!

The burrow goes down to the bottom where it then forks in two different directions. The "main/straight" channel of the fork continues straight on into the substrate and then hooks around the side and when it gets spooked, it sprints down through that one. But the shorter "bedroom chamber" fork is the one where it hangs out more, which seems to balloon out a slight bit more compared to the longer "escape tunnel." It's pretty cute. here they are hanging out in their bedroom chamber. (I'm just calling them that because I think it's a little funny to do so. I know it's not a bedroom. I'm not actually anthropomorphising it.) Most of the spiders I've owned usually just make a straight, unforked burrow, so this was an interesting change to me. I'm assuming it's just an individual being quirky though, and not a species wide behavior.

 

[klawfran3]

Well it's been a while since I've updated this, not much has happened, however I did purchase a second sling that's a hair smaller than the original one. Their names and the way I will refer to them from now on are ORNI01 and ORNI02, since that's the serial code I've given them and it'll help me keep track of who is who.
I'm not sure if 01 molted at some point but it seems larger now than before, and for such a small sling six months is a long time between molts. The legspan is about 1.5" DLS so I guess it's bigger, unless my eyes deceive me, but it never stopped eating and doesn't seem too much bigger so who knows. Either way, it's still showing the bright orange/yellow setae that seem to almost glow. The fishbone pattern on the opisthosoma is made up of the neon orange hairs which I think looks really neat!
He has sealed himself outside of its own burrow and into the turret which is odd, and lives on the surface like a NW terrestrial. He's not skittish and doesn't bolt, just calmly wanders around til it finds something to hide under. This allowed me to get some lovely photos of it, enjoy them! There has been no editing or altering of colors, just camera flash! This is by far one of the most beautiful spiders I've ever seen. Neon yellow is a real weird color for a tarantula!


As for ORNI02, this one is quite the crack head. Opening just the cabinet the spiders live in causes it to panic and sprint through it's tunnel system. It lives in a small deli cup and is about 1"DLS. It has built an intricate tunnel system throughout the cup, so I have no clue if it will build a turret like the other one did. The colors are a bit more muted than is 01, which is interesting to see. I wonder how dimorphic this species becomes as they grow, since photos I've seen have females showing the silver color and males showing more of a brownish red. 02 molted for me about a week ago, so the colors now should be the brightest theyre going to be, and theyre surprisingly dull. If I can get a good photo of it I will.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Well it's been a while since I've updated this, not much has happened, however I did purchase a second sling that's a hair smaller than the original one. Their names and the way I will refer to them from now on are ORNI01 and ORNI02, since that's the serial code I've given them and it'll help me keep track of who is who.
I'm not sure if 01 molted at some point but it seems larger now than before, and for such a small sling six months is a long time between molts. The legspan is about 1.5" DLS so I guess it's bigger, unless my eyes deceive me, but it never stopped eating and doesn't seem too much bigger so who knows. Either way, it's still showing the bright orange/yellow setae that seem to almost glow. The fishbone pattern on the opisthosoma is made up of the neon orange hairs which I think looks really neat!
He has sealed himself outside of its own burrow and into the turret which is odd, and lives on the surface like a NW terrestrial. He's not skittish and doesn't bolt, just calmly wanders around til it finds something to hide under. This allowed me to get some lovely photos of it, enjoy them! There has been no editing or altering of colors, just camera flash! This is by far one of the most beautiful spiders I've ever seen. Neon yellow is a real weird color for a tarantula!
View attachment 447063 View attachment 447064 View attachment 447065

As for ORNI02, this one is quite the crack head. Opening just the cabinet the spiders live in causes it to panic and sprint through it's tunnel system. It lives in a small deli cup and is about 1"DLS. It has built an intricate tunnel system throughout the cup, so I have no clue if it will build a turret like the other one did. The colors are a bit more muted than is 01, which is interesting to see. I wonder how dimorphic this species becomes as they grow, since photos I've seen have females showing the silver color and males showing more of a brownish red. 02 molted for me about a week ago, so the colors now should be the brightest theyre going to be, and theyre surprisingly dull. If I can get a good photo of it I will.

What do you use for substrate is that coco fiber ? Very cool spiders ! Hope someday they’re common . Neon yellow hairs wow .

 

[klawfran3]

What do you use for substrate is that coco fiber ? Very cool spiders ! Hope someday they’re common . Neon yellow hairs wow .

coco fiber with some sphagnum in it. Not my favorite substrate but its cheap and works for what I need it. I need to mix some sand into the batch and a little more sphagnum next time.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

coco fiber with some sphagnum in it. Not my favorite substrate but its cheap and works for what I need it. I need to mix some sand into the batch and a little more sphagnum next time.

Does it stick together well ? I quit using sphagnum peat moss mixed with top soil because it would blow urticating hairs all over when re using the sub for another cage . Sand is unique im just learning people use it for mixtures.
just this week had an allergic reaction to my last tank with this mixture
. But ofc these are old world Ts ? Look similar to haplo genus .

 

[klawfran3]

Does it stick together well ? I quit using sphagnum peat moss mixed with top soil because it would blow urticating hairs all over when re using the sub for another cage . Sand is unique im just learning people use it for mixtures.
just this week had an allergic reaction to my last tank with this mixture
. But ofc these are old world Ts ? Look similar to haplo genus .

It honestly sticks together pretty good when kept moist, I haven't had an issue with burrows collapsing, and the spiders reinforce it with web to prevent that happening. If it dries out it tends to crumble a bit and makes it a little hard to burrow, however. I don't use topsoil because I'm worried about contaminants in the soil that could affect my animals. Plus it also becomes almost impossible to rehydrate when dry.

And yeah, these are OW spiders. 01 is surprisingly chill though, which I've enjoyed. I'm used to the SE Asian fossorials to be pet holes, but this is a nice change of pace!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Checking in to see how 01 & 02 are doing? Any new observations?
Thanks!

 

[SpookySpooder]

Nice Tarantula!

Mine behaves kinda like yours, I haven't seen any of the skittish defensive behavior that asian fossorials are known for.

Mine has excavated a deep burrow that almost lines the bottom of the enclosure, but it goes for a stroll every night. It really doesn't like light from what I've noticed so I try not to take too many pics of it.

Here are some photos in case you want to see them, if you don't want them in your thread just LMK and I will remove them.

I don't have any photos of it as a tiny tiny sling, as it spent most of that time in a burrow. The first year I had it, I didn't even know it was alive besides when it came out to eat.



Here it is at 2 years old


I can't wait to actually get a decent photo where it isn't trying to hide from the light, but mine is a bit camera shy.

I'm conflicted, I really want to photograph it, but I know the light bothers it, so I'm inclined to not.

 

[klawfran3]

Checking in to see how 01 & 02 are doing? Any new observations?
Thanks!

Nothing yet. I'm suspecting 01 is in premolt but at this point who knows. I'm just hoping to get an intact molt next time to try and sex it. The paleontology lab I help out at has some good dissecting scopes I can borrow to try and sex such a small spider.

But 02 is definitely a darker color with less yellow. I'm slightly suspecting this species is sexually dimorphic just because how different the slings look. As 02 ages/ gets further from the molt it really looks like a C. lividus sling. Just a brown, slightly spotted spider that lives in a hole. No stunning yellow to be seen, while 01 stays bright and lively looking all the time.

Sexual dimorphism before the ultimate molt is basically unheard of in tarantulas, so I'm not putting all my chips on that guess and being very cautious with suggesting it. If anyone else has multiple, can they let me know if they have differently colored slings? 2 individuals does not make a sample size.

 

[klawfran3]

Nice Tarantula!

Mine behaves kinda like yours, I haven't seen any of the skittish defensive behavior that asian fossorials are known for.

Mine has excavated a deep burrow that almost lines the bottom of the enclosure, but it goes for a stroll every night. It really doesn't like light from what I've noticed so I try not to take too many pics of it.

Here are some photos in case you want to see them, if you don't want them in your thread just LMK and I will remove them.

I don't have any photos of it as a tiny tiny sling, as it spent most of that time in a burrow. The first year I had it, I didn't even know it was alive besides when it came out to eat.
View attachment 450680
View attachment 450682 View attachment 450684

Here it is at 2 years old
View attachment 450685

I can't wait to actually get a decent photo where it isn't trying to hide from the light, but mine is a bit camera shy.

I'm conflicted, I really want to photograph it, but I know the light bothers it, so I'm inclined to not.

Amazing photos! These spiders are just so beautiful. I cant get over their colors. I'll always welcome pretty spider photos in my threads haha. If yours molts again definitely post pics!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Nothing yet. I'm suspecting 01 is in premolt but at this point who knows. I'm just hoping to get an intact molt next time to try and sex it. The paleontology lab I help out at has some good dissecting scopes I can borrow to try and sex such a small spider.

But 02 is definitely a darker color with less yellow. I'm slightly suspecting this species is sexually dimorphic just because how different the slings look. As 02 ages/ gets further from the molt it really looks like a C. lividus sling. Just a brown, slightly spotted spider that lives in a hole. No stunning yellow to be seen, while 01 stays bright and lively looking all the time.

Sexual dimorphism before the ultimate molt is basically unheard of in tarantulas, so I'm not putting all my chips on that guess and being very cautious with suggesting it. If anyone else has multiple, can they let me know if they have differently colored slings? 2 individuals does not make a sample size.

I find this super interesting and can’t wait to find out if they indeed turn out the sexes you are suspecting. Also hope more chime in with their experiences, too. These guys are definitely one on my list and I’m always eager to learn more.

 

[Mike Withrow]

Really really kicking myself for not getting a few of these already. I will remedy that soon as cooler weather hits.

 

[TastesLikePanda]

I got one today at the Western Invert show, really nice looking slings but what im really after is the silver adults

View attachment 450684

Are you not worried about the mites swarming its fangs?

 

[SpookySpooder]

Are you not worried about the mites swarming its fangs?

Nope, why would I be worried about harmless mites?

These in particular are leeches who steal bits of cricket juice and don't bother the T. In fact I'm positive they came with the crickets.

Also that photo was over a year ago and those mites have been dessicated and murdered already.

EDIT: Here is relevant reading if you are interested in those mites and how they were dealt with

THIS IS A LINK <==

 

[TastesLikePanda]

Nope, why would I be worried about harmless mites?

These in particular are leeches who steal bits of cricket juice and don't bother the T. In fact I'm positive they came with the crickets.

Also that photo was over a year ago and those mites have been dessicated and murdered already.

EDIT: Here is relevant reading if you are interested in those mites and how they were dealt with

THIS IS A LINK <==

Them swarming around the fangs would've had me worried with them obstructing the movement and making feeding difficult

But fair enough

 

[SpookySpooder]

Your worries are noted. I already dealt with them and in the process learned they were benign.

Appreciate the concern though.

 

[TastesLikePanda]

Your worries are noted. I already dealt with them and in the process learned they were benign.

Appreciate the concern though.

Appreciate the link above in the edit, I did have one H gigas die on me once and when I found it, it had mites on it and thats the only relevant thing I could find that could be attributed to its death, but they also couldve appeared after it died. Thats also my only experience with them.

My sling isnt that shy so im actually able to get a decent-ish photo of it.

 

[SpookySpooder]

"I'm not camera shy"

*covers face with arm*