My P. Audax passed away :(

[Diesel24]

That's fine then. The cricket in the pic is an adult female banded. A nice sized meal.

I feed my jumpers a mixture of blue bottle flies and crickets as big or slightly larger than themselves.

That's fine then. The cricket in the pic is an adult female banded. A nice sized meal.

I feed my jumpers a mixture of blue bottle flies and crickets as big or slightly larger than themselves.

Where do you get your food? I live in a pretty small town and only have one store that sells feed crickets but they don't get breed specific, you basically walk in there and say "I need xyz size crickets"

 

[basin79]

Where do you get your food? I live in a pretty small town and only have one store that sells feed crickets but they don't get breed specific, you basically walk in there and say "I need xyz size crickets"

I'm in the UK and get my livefood from a couple of sites. My blue bottle casters are bought from one and all my other livefood from another.

I don't feed a particular type of cricket to my jumpers. I buy a couple of different kinds. Silent and banded. I just find one that's a suitable size. Any cricket will work.

Wax worms can be good. Both as a treat after moulting and/or letting them turn into moths.

 

[Diesel24]

It doesn't sound like it was a care issue. Adult female audax and regius actually look quite different. Can you post a pic of your spider since you still have her? If possible get both a dorsal and (close up) ventral shot.
What I will say, having raised these for several years now, toward the end of life they *do* tend to hang around the bottom of the enclosure where usually I would compare them to an arboreal tarantula. They usually build their sacs at the top. Having trouble climbing and lingering at the bottom *are* signs of end of life. In my humble experience anyway.

Thank you for saying that, I've been feeling guilty thinking it's something I did even though I can't think of anything, just being hard on myself I guess. It was my first I've kept so I definitely still have much more to learn!

ETA: Yes I'll absolutely take some pictures and post them up!

 

[Diesel24]

Ok, here's some pictures. There's some death curl going on so apologies if it's a little hard to see. What do you guys think? Audax or regius? Male/female? Adult? Thanks for all your kind words and help!

 

[basin79]

Ok, here's some pictures. There's some death curl going on so apologies if it's a little hard to see. What do you guys think? Audax or regius? Male/female? Adult? Thanks for all your kind words and help!

That's a male. Could you please extend the pedipelps?

 

[Diesel24]

That's a male. Could you please extend the pedipelps?

Ah, I had a 50/50 shot at the gender, guessed wrong lol. Can I ask how you can tell? I'm really interested in learning about these spiders.

And of course I can! Stand by, I'll have to wait until I get off work to take some more pictures, but I will get them.

 

[basin79]

Ah, I had a 50/50 shot at the gender, guessed wrong lol. Can I ask how you can tell? I'm really interested in learning about these spiders.

And of course I can! Stand by, I'll have to wait until I get off work to take some more pictures, but I will get them.

The colour of the chelicerae.

 

[Diesel24]

The colour of the chelicerae.

So do all males have the green colored chelicerae? Females have the purple tint to them like the other posters photos?

 

[basin79]

Blue green I believe so for males yes. I've got pics of my male Phidippus regius. I'll dig them out.

 

[Diesel24]

Blue green I believe so for males yes. I've got pics of my male Phidippus regius. I'll dig them out.

Awesome, I'd love to see them. Thank you!

 

[basin79]

 

[Diesel24]

Beautiful spider, wow those are some awesome shots of him, well done! Thank you for taking the time to share, I love looking at these guys!

 

[basin79]

Beautiful spider, wow those are some awesome shots of him, well done! Thank you for taking the time to share, I love looking at these guys!

No worries. I love jumpers. Well all spiders. But jumpers are something special. To watch walk around your hands and arms is phenomenal. And watching them hunt is incredible.

 

[Diesel24]

No worries. I love jumpers. Well all spiders. But jumpers are something special. To watch walk around your hands and arms is phenomenal. And watching them hunt is incredible.

Completely agree! I unfortunately never got to let mine out, I wanted to so bad though. He was pretty shy and usually in a spot where I couldnt easily get him out and I didn't want to forcibly take him out and stress him too much.

But I totally agree on the hunting part, I absolutely loved just sitting there watching him catch and eat his prey. One of my favorite memories was one time when he caught a cricket he turned around almost like he was showing me through the cage and he looked so proud!

 

[basin79]

Completely agree! I unfortunately never got to let mine out, I wanted to so bad though. He was pretty shy and usually in a spot where I couldnt easily get him out and I didn't want to forcibly take him out and stress him too much.

But I totally agree on the hunting part, I absolutely loved just sitting there watching him catch and eat his prey. One of my favorite memories was one time when he caught a cricket he turned around almost like he was showing me through the cage and he looked so proud!

I don't get mine out. If f they come out then they get time out of their enclosures. And often they got onto my hand.

My Hyllus diardi is a phenomenal hunter. She's made some epic jumps.

 

[Diesel24]

I don't get mine out. If f they come out then they get time out of their enclosures. And often they got onto my hand.

My Hyllus diardi is a phenomenal hunter. She's made some epic jumps.

Whoa, those videos were amazing!! That was so cool, I watched each video twice lol. Thanks for posting those, that was incredible! Do you tear the wings off the fly so they don't get away??

So, are your spiders pretty good about not roaming too far? Do they eventually wander back into their enclosure or do you have to urge them back in? Sorry for the multitude of questions, I'm just so intrigued by these spiders. Eventually I want to get another one and let it out of its cage unlike my first one who was confined to the cage 24/7.

 

[basin79]

Whoa, those videos were amazing!! That was so cool, I watched each video twice lol. Thanks for posting those, that was incredible! Do you tear the wings off the fly so they don't get away??

So, are your spiders pretty good about not roaming too far? Do they eventually wander back into their enclosure or do you have to urge them back in? Sorry for the multitude of questions, I'm just so intrigued by these spiders. Eventually I want to get another one and let it out of its cage unlike my first one who was confined to the cage 24/7.

I buy casters so the flies hatch with me. They can't fly when they're freshly hatched.

I let them wander on my arms and hands for a while. I have to encourage them to go back into their enclosures as obviously they'd sooner be free.

Yes we keep inverts prisoners. But in doing so they get fantastic lives. No predators, food, water and shelter.

I have to watch my Hyllus diardi as she's really quick and with a couple of jumps she's away. My Phidippus lass and my male before her are completely different. They're far more purposeful.

 

[Diesel24]

I buy casters so the flies hatch with me. They can't fly when they're freshly hatched.

I let them wander on my arms and hands for a while. I have to encourage them to go back into their enclosures as obviously they'd sooner be free.

Yes we keep inverts prisoners. But in doing so they get fantastic lives. No predators, food, water and shelter.

I have to watch my Hyllus diardi as she's really quick and with a couple of jumps she's away. My Phidippus lass and my male before her are completely different. They're far more purposeful.

Ah, that makes sense. Isn't it amazing that each individual spider has their own unique personality? That's something that drew me to these guys, they are so unique it's incredible!

 

[basin79]

Ah, that makes sense. Isn't it amazing that each individual spider has their own unique personality? That's something that drew me to these guys, they are so unique it's incredible!

Yep.

 

[miss moxie]

Yup! As soon as I saw those pictures-- you got a male. I'd wager money that he just reached the end of his life, nothing you could have done. Males are easier to find considering they wander around looking for the ladies.