Life of a Tliltocatl albopilosus - "Tiny" (T.albopilosus diary)

[vicareux]

After starting my A.Geniculata growth diary thread,i've noticed that i like keeping a specific diary on here. But instead of trying to be informative with this one,i will aim to make this diary a leaned back and relaxed one,recording fun events and growth stages in this specimen's life. Might seem as useless for some,but i hope someone will find this long journey a fun one as well.

Meet "Tiny" a .25 inch Tliltocatl albopilosus sling (which im assuming is 2nd instar),the star of the show:


But story of how "Tiny", "Tiny Brandov" to be more specific,came to be - does not start here.

It starts around early 2020,when i decided to jump into tarantula keeping. My first tarantula i bought was a 3~ inch Tliltocatl albopilosus. Thanks to this forum,i've found out that i have a male on my hands (Not literally on my hands,thankfully).
Bummed that my first tarantula was a male at first - but then i got used to it since at this stage,the sex did not matter. The experience would be the same. I've decided to name this fella "Brando".


In December later that year,Brando matured.

At first i did not want to breed him due to the risk of him being eaten,but in the end i had a change of heart. I sent him off on 22nd of January 2021, when he had his first mating.
My male was returned a few weeks after the breeding.
On April 11,the female made the eggsac. A month later,May 11th,the eggsac showed to contain Eggs with legs.

I've decided to take 5 slings,and my friend with the female can keep the rest. And this is where "Tiny" 's story begins.
Only a few days ago i found time to pick them up,and i'm assuming they're all at the ~3rd instar,only this one is smaller than its siblings.
Brando,the mature male is still alive 10 months into maturity,but is currently at my other friend's female,doing the deed But i won't be taking those slings

Here is Tiny Brandov (left) next to one of its siblings:

I am happy to raise my first tarantula's offspring. I stopped naming my tarantulas when my collection went past 10 ,but i've gotta name this one because it has a sentimental value and it won my heart after seeing how tiny it is - so the name will be "Tiny". Comes with a last name as well "Brandov",after its father Brando.

Hopefully i will be able to come back here after a few years and remind myself that these are my pets,not just pretty spiders that sit in boxes.

 

[LucN]

Wow ! The size difference between the two is astonishing. So "Tiny" could be considered a runt of the litter. Sometimes, it's the runts that surprise us the most. It may eventually surpass its siblings with much TLC. Nice idea to start this diary, I'm curious to find out how far in growth "Tiny" will be in a couple of years

 

[vicareux]

Wow ! The size difference between the two is astonishing. So "Tiny" could be considered a runt of the litter. Sometimes, it's the runts that surprise us the most. It may eventually surpass its siblings with much TLC. Nice idea to start this diary, I'm curious to find out how far in growth "Tiny" will be in a couple of years

Yeah!! I have a soft spot for the "ugly ducklings". I bought Tiny's father in a similar way,i had a choice of a few species for a similar price (L.parahybana,T.albo and T.vagans i think). To me back then they were just hairy brown spiders with different latin names,but the T.albo was the smallest of the bunch and curled up in the corner while the other two were spread out fully,which somehow made me choose him
Glad you like the idea

 

[Charliemum]

After starting my A.Geniculata growth diary thread,i've noticed that i like keeping a specific diary on here. But instead of trying to be informative with this one,i will aim to make this diary a leaned back and relaxed one,recording fun events and growth stages in this specimen's life. Might seem as useless for some,but i hope someone will find this long journey a fun one as well.

Meet "Tiny" a .25 inch Tliltocatl albopilosus sling (which im assuming is 2nd instar),the star of the show:
View attachment 400703

But story of how "Tiny", "Tiny Brandov" to be more specific,came to be - does not start here.

It starts around early 2020,when i decided to jump into tarantula keeping. My first tarantula i bought was a 3~ inch Tliltocatl albopilosus. Thanks to this forum,i've found out that i have a male on my hands (Not literally on my hands,thankfully).
Bummed that my first tarantula was a male at first - but then i got used to it since at this stage,the sex did not matter. The experience would be the same. I've decided to name this fella "Brando".
View attachment 400704

In December later that year,Brando matured.

At first i did not want to breed him due to the risk of him being eaten,but in the end i had a change of heart. I sent him off on 22nd of January 2021, when he had his first mating.
My male was returned a few weeks after the breeding.
On April 11,the female made the eggsac. A month later,May 11th,the eggsac showed to contain Eggs with legs.
View attachment 400705
I've decided to take 5 slings,and my friend with the female can keep the rest. And this is where "Tiny" 's story begins.
Only a few days ago i found time to pick them up,and i'm assuming they're all at the ~3rd instar,only this one is smaller than its siblings.
Brando,the mature male is still alive 10 months into maturity,but is currently at my other friend's female,doing the deed But i won't be taking those slings

Here is Tiny Brandov (left) next to one of its siblings:
View attachment 400706
I am happy to raise my first tarantula's offspring. I stopped naming my tarantulas when my collection went past 10 ,but i've gotta name this one because it has a sentimental value and it won my heart after seeing how tiny it is - so the name will be "Tiny". Comes with a last name as well "Brandov",after its father Brando.

Hopefully i will be able to come back here after a few years and remind myself that these are my pets,not just pretty spiders that sit in boxes.

Love Reading little journals like this thank you for sharing. Tiny is super adorable btw

 

[vicareux]

I noticed how Tiny's lack of personality is what makes its personality. Whenever i open the containers of Tiny's siblings,they all begin sprinting and bolting around the enclosure. When i drop food,they are too afraid to investigate until after a few hours. But not Tiny. Tiny is always sitting still whenever i open the enclosure and moisten the substrate or drop food. Not even stress curling.

Tiny refused food since ive got it,always ignored it. But today it decided to eat,so this is the first time Tiny ate in my care.
It Casually walked up to the prey item and grabbed it. (Its a baby dubia's abdomen) But funnily enough,as it tried to carry the food,its little legs couldnt reach the substrate,and it just wiggled its leg in the air as it tried to touch a surface below (In the image you can see how its legs are hovering in the air around the food lol)

 

[vicareux]

Just a size reference for the future! I guess Tiny is a little bit larger than a quarter inch!

 

[LucN]

Beautiful little spood ! You haven't specified as far as I've read, is this Honduran or Nicaraguan ? Either way, you'll end up with a Murder Floof sooner than later

 

[vicareux]

Beautiful little spood ! You haven't specified as far as I've read, is this Honduran or Nicaraguan ? Either way, you'll end up with a Murder Floof sooner than later

Its honduran. My male (father of this sling) is honduran and my friend's female is honduran. We dont even have nics in Serbia

 

[LucN]

Its honduran. My male (father of this sling) is honduran and my friend's female is honduran. We dont even have nics in Serbia

Can't go wrong with the Honduran/Costa Rican, they're nowhere near as Floofy as the Nicaraguans, but that's fine. I wouldn't trade my Honduran/Costa Rica albo for anything, but I would like to get a Nicaraguan at some point, just so I really appreciate how different both look.

 

[Jess S]

I’ve been raising 3 sac mates (and yes, 3 different sizes!) for the last couple of years. They are a wonderful species and when they start getting really fluffy they are very eye catching. No collection is complete without a T albo imho

 

[vicareux]

Here's tiny in its quarter inch glory,after victoriously chomping on another "huuuge" baby dubia abdomen.
Tiny has become quite fat and im not sure about giving it more food unless it decides to jump into some bigger clothing.

On the other hand,a lot of mold is appearing in almost every enclosure,including Tiny's. But tiny doesn't care.
(Sorry about inconsistent white balance,my camera's having issues with it lately,i try to color correct in in PS but i can never get the correct shade)

Tiny is so well behaved,it never moves whenever i want to get a shot. On the other hand,here's one of Tiny's siblings......jumping out of my shot every attempt (I'm slowly dealing with mold in every enclosure,so excuse the moldy mess )

 

[LucN]

Well, you won't have to deal with mold for too long. Once your albos reach about 1.5"-2" DLS, you can start to dry things out, which will minimize the occurrence of mold by a lot. A large water dish and occasional overflowing of it is as far as you'll need to go for providing extra moisture. My girl avoids wet substrate, she'll start climbing the walls if it's not dry enough to her liking. What how your animals behave, some may prefer a bit more moisture in their sub, others may not. Best of luck raising Tiny and her/his siblings.

 

[vicareux]

Well, you won't have to deal with mold for too long. Once your albos reach about 1.5"-2" DLS, you can start to dry things out, which will minimize the occurrence of mold by a lot. A large water dish and occasional overflowing of it is as far as you'll need to go for providing extra moisture. My girl avoids wet substrate, she'll start climbing the walls if it's not dry enough to her liking. What how your animals behave, some may prefer a bit more moisture in their sub, others may not. Best of luck raising Tiny and her/his siblings.

Thank you! Will do!
My MM T.albo likes some extra moisture for example (even before the ultimate molt) so hopefully they dont go after him lol
And thanks for sticking by so far!

 

[LucN]

Looking forward to see when they start to acquire their adult coloration, though that still could be a little while off. I have yet to raise slings as I usually opt for a hardier and well-started juvie... and if available, I have 0 issues paying a bit extra for a sexed female of the species I desire. Ideally, I'd be pretty satisfied once I acquire about 10 different species of the Brachypelma/Grammostola/Tliltocatl group, all confirmed females. I know I'm leaving out Aphonopelma, only because currently only slings are available and most have a glacial growth rate. I have patience, but only so much of it.

 

[vicareux]

Looking forward to see when they start to acquire their adult coloration, though that still could be a little while off. I have yet to raise slings as I usually opt for a hardier and well-started juvie... and if available, I have 0 issues paying a bit extra for a sexed female of the species I desire. Ideally, I'd be pretty satisfied once I acquire about 10 different species of the Brachypelma/Grammostola/Tliltocatl group, all confirmed females. I know I'm leaving out Aphonopelma, only because currently only slings are available and most have a glacial growth rate. I have patience, but only so much of it.

It does get a little bit boring raising tiny brown slings with nothing to show off,but thankfully these T.albo's don't grow as slowly as Brachys and Grammostolas do i suppose,so it's not as long of a wait.
We dont even have Aphonopelmas in Serbia for sale,if we do it's on a super rare occasion and rather expensive for a sling.
The only Aphonopelma that i've ever seen was at the Serbia's largest tarantula breeder's place,where he had a tiny 20 year old A.bicoloratum female. Though i really want A.gabeli

 

[vicareux]

I recieved a new bag of peat today. I decided to filter it through the mesh so i can get the sweet fine substrate with tiny chunks that's perfect for slings. The remaining rough pieces go to other enclosures as surface decor/clutter.
I don't change my T's substrates but i decided to change it for T.albo slings for two reasons:
-Aesthetics. It was mold contaminated,and no matter how much ventilation i had,as soon as there was a drop of moisture,it started to spread.
-Ease of digging. The previous substrate was rough and it had larger chunks. This,filtered peat makes it easy to pack down and makes it easy for slings to dig around. Also keeps moisture better.
So,here's Tiny with new substrate,and going into the pre-made burrow for the first time!
Also Tiny is nicely fat because it had another meal last night!

 

[Jonathan6303]

I recieved a new bag of peat today. I decided to filter it through the mesh so i can get the sweet fine substrate with tiny chunks that's perfect for slings. The remaining rough pieces go to other enclosures as surface decor/clutter.
I don't change my T's substrates but i decided to change it for T.albo slings for two reasons:
-Aesthetics. It was mold contaminated,and no matter how much ventilation i had,as soon as there was a drop of moisture,it started to spread.
-Ease of digging. The previous substrate was rough and it had larger chunks. This,filtered peat makes it easy to pack down and makes it easy for slings to dig around. Also keeps moisture better.
So,here's Tiny with new substrate,and going into the pre-made burrow for the first time!
Also Tiny is nicely fat because it had another meal last night!
View attachment 402272
View attachment 402273
View attachment 402274

He/she is adorable.

 

[vicareux]

A nice dark ring has appeared around the mirror patch on the abdomen. Which means,Tiny is gonna be a little less tiny soon

 

[vicareux]

Tiny has become less tiny! One of its siblings already molted so Tiny's the second T.albo sling to molt.
Tiny grew from 7mm (~0.25 inch) to around 1.2cm (~0.4 inch). Sweet size gain,though i don't think it's bigger than any of the siblings.

 

[LucN]

Congrats on the molt ! Can't wait until Tiny gains his/her adult colours.