- Joined
- Dec 13, 2005
- Messages
- 1,323
This morning I witnessed somekind of a T keeper wetdream : ) wish I had a cam..
It started yesterday when I decided to flood the burrow of my 2 inches HM since I was unable to move the crossed barks without crushing her and I really didn't want to poke there, so I just held my cylindrical 1 gallon KK under the tap...and put a bit too much:8o. I put a good two inches+ of water before I could turn off my tap (kind of old and leaky) and turned the whole substrate into a dark soup from wich my T emerged for the first time since its molt one month ago (barely ate since then, I was worrying...).
Having it on the side, I could sex it (i assume female) and see that it was healty (pretty swift like always!). So I decided to simply let the water evaporate since it had started to web in a cranny up the bark and went to bed. This morning, I looked in the KK and didn't find my spider until I knelt and looked horizontaly at the bottom part.
There were three distinct layers: Floating bits of wood and earth making a tick mat at the surface, heavier chuncks at the bottom and in between, a relatively clear layer of water about 1.5 inch deep...and there she was!
She was walking the bottom, covered with a shiny layer of air (those who saw pics of Dolomedes underwater will understand me)
Even though she couldn't make web underwater, she kind of managed to toss chunks to build some kind of hide where she swiftly retreated from my flashlight, faster than any actual aquatic arthropod I ever saw while diving! She was moving along easily, obvious of the fact that she was under two inches of water.
Now, the best part : Out of curiosity, I dropped a cricket in the tank and I was watching it struggle its way accross the raft of debris when the water stirred behind it like if there was a trout after it. Kneeling again, I witnessed my T litteraly stalking the crix, crawling upside down underneath the mat, poking through it to try to catch the crix. It kept following it around the tank until the bug managed to climb up the bark. Then my spider retreated to the bottom, back to it's underwater hole. I kept watching for a while and stayed around for most of the day. I went on errands and back... To this moment, she never put more than one articulation above water. She actally seems more active underwater than the days before...
This is wacky!
It started yesterday when I decided to flood the burrow of my 2 inches HM since I was unable to move the crossed barks without crushing her and I really didn't want to poke there, so I just held my cylindrical 1 gallon KK under the tap...and put a bit too much:8o. I put a good two inches+ of water before I could turn off my tap (kind of old and leaky) and turned the whole substrate into a dark soup from wich my T emerged for the first time since its molt one month ago (barely ate since then, I was worrying...).
Having it on the side, I could sex it (i assume female) and see that it was healty (pretty swift like always!). So I decided to simply let the water evaporate since it had started to web in a cranny up the bark and went to bed. This morning, I looked in the KK and didn't find my spider until I knelt and looked horizontaly at the bottom part.
There were three distinct layers: Floating bits of wood and earth making a tick mat at the surface, heavier chuncks at the bottom and in between, a relatively clear layer of water about 1.5 inch deep...and there she was!
She was walking the bottom, covered with a shiny layer of air (those who saw pics of Dolomedes underwater will understand me)
Even though she couldn't make web underwater, she kind of managed to toss chunks to build some kind of hide where she swiftly retreated from my flashlight, faster than any actual aquatic arthropod I ever saw while diving! She was moving along easily, obvious of the fact that she was under two inches of water.
Now, the best part : Out of curiosity, I dropped a cricket in the tank and I was watching it struggle its way accross the raft of debris when the water stirred behind it like if there was a trout after it. Kneeling again, I witnessed my T litteraly stalking the crix, crawling upside down underneath the mat, poking through it to try to catch the crix. It kept following it around the tank until the bug managed to climb up the bark. Then my spider retreated to the bottom, back to it's underwater hole. I kept watching for a while and stayed around for most of the day. I went on errands and back... To this moment, she never put more than one articulation above water. She actally seems more active underwater than the days before...
This is wacky!
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