User NorthEdge's picture thread.

[NorthEdge]

Hi everyone. I just got my first tarantula a week ago and finally took some pictures of it. It's a Hapalopus sp. Pumpkin Patch that's 1/4" and currently being feed on termites. This thread will also serve as a picture thread if/when I get more Ts. Feel free to comment and give advice both photo and care related!







Here's a shot of the full enclosure.



And just for fun, the full sized picture of my avatar.

 

[awiec]

Very interesting choice of first T. I have one and its a feisty little bugger. I don't thing the leaf is necessary as you seem to have provided enough sub for it to burrow and it may carry undesirable fungus or pests. The enclosure is a little big but as long as you take care to make sure its eating then you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[NorthEdge]

It is a great eater. It hasn't turned down any of the termites I've given it. I'm trying to resist over feeding it, but seeing it pounce is fun. I thought it would burrow, but all it's done is make little web tents with a dirt arch entrance. No actual tunnels.

The leaf is a recent addition added for something to pour water on when the soil starts to dry.

 

[awiec]

It is a great eater. It hasn't turned down any of the termites I've given it. I'm trying to resist over feeding it, but seeing it pounce is fun. I thought it would burrow, but all it's done is make little web tents with a dirt arch entrance. No actual tunnels.

The leaf is a recent addition added for something to pour water on when the soil starts to dry.

You can use sphagnum moss for the same effect and it will be less likely to have spores/chemicals on it. Just my two cents tis all.

 

[NorthEdge]

First Successful Molt

My T just had it's first molt today and it seems to have gone well. I had the suspicion that it was in premolt for about 9 days now when it started refusing food and the tips of it's legs darkened. I think it had only recently finished because of how pale and colorful it is. Hopefully the orange stays close to it's current color. It looks great.

Sorry for how dark the pictures are. I wish I noticed it's molt before the sun set because natural light makes macro so much easier.

 

[antinous]

Wow, stunning photos! I never was interested in this species, but now I might consider owning one!

 

[NorthEdge]

I'd definitely suggest it. It's been a great feeder for such a little spider.

 

[Amaruca Sun]

Cool, I like your spider. Where do you get termites from? Collect them maybe?

 

[NorthEdge]

Thanks. I get the termites from a firewood stack outside of my house. The older logs experiencing wet rot have a lot of termite activity. I just peel of the bark and knock a few into a collection tub when it's feeding time. The downside is that termites are ironically fragile for something people find so hard to kill. Keep them too dry and they all die suddenly and without warning. Keep them a little too wet and fungus kills them all.

 

[Amaruca Sun]

Well, that works out well. Free spider chow.

 

[Hydrazine]

Anything from the outside carries a risk of contamination with chemicals, for example pesticides, and parasites. Not worth it.

 

[Smokehound714]

Anything from the outside carries a risk of contamination with chemicals, for example pesticides, and parasites. Not worth it.

But the same is also true of captive-born feeders, which are crowded together in a moldy container (let's be real, for home-scale production, we take better care of our feeders, mass-produced feeders lack that luxury) hosting spores loaded with dangerous toxins to both arachnids and humans.

Termites are probably one of the safest wild-caught feeders you could obtain. Avoid soldiers though for obvious reasons, lol.

If you're careful, you can get away with wild-caught feeders without any problems.

 

[NorthEdge]

Update time! My Hapalopus sp Colombia has finished hardening up and still looks gorgeous. It's starting to show the yellow coloration in the hairs on it's carapace.





Now for some more exciting news. I got a new T last week. A B. albopilosum sling that I got for $5 at the Massachusetts Reptile Expo. I was worried about it because it was so shy and wasn't eating. Luckily I found out why, It molted today! I also got pictures of it during the molt! They aren't the best quality because it was awkward lighting the tunnel. As of right now it is out of its molt but still has its legs upward in the air. The process was surprisingly quick.

 

[NorthEdge]

It's been a long while since I've posted here and thought I share some of my current stuff. I no longer have the original H. sp. colombia, but the B. albopilosum is now a mature female. I currently have 10 tarantulas and 3 scorpions.

First up is my Poecilotheria smithi, an immature female.

So fun thing about P. smithi, they don't have very bright colors and the markings on the ventral side are more of a yellow white than the bright yellow seen on a lot of other Pokies. However these spots are fluorescent under UV light.

Next up are my 2 other pokies, both unsexed slings. A P. miranda and a P. metallica. Both have now molted once in my care. First the miranda.

Now the metallica.

This is getting a bit long so I'll probably upload these over multiple posts.

Edit: Ok, these pics are massive on the forum. Is there a way I can set the thumbnails to be smaller?

 

[NorthEdge]

So now that the pokies are covered I'll share the rest of my Ps. First up is my female Psalmopeus irminia female.

Her enclosure before I added her.

After that is my unsexed sling Pterinopelma sazimai.

 

[NorthEdge]

Next let's cover the letter H. First up is a new H. sp. Colombia sling unsexed. A long while back my H. sp. Colombia escaped as I was careless with sealing the plastic lid properly. This new one is absolutely tiny and came as a freebie.

Next is my H. maculata unsexed sling, this one is a pain to take pics of.

And last for the letter H is my H. pulchripes unsexed sling.

 

[NorthEdge]

The last 2 spiders to cover are my A. seemani and B. albopilosum. Here's the A. seemani.

Here's my B. albo and her molt from a while back.

 

[tewebag]

So now that the pokies are covered I'll share the rest of my Ps. First up is my female Psalmopeus irminia female.

That is real pretty girl.

Glad you're back, was worried this was a random bump when I first started reading the thread.

 

[NorthEdge]

Thanks, yeah she's gorgeous. Unfortunately she doesn't come out of her hide much for pics. Pretty much only wanders around at night. I know they have a reputation for being a bit more defensive than most new worlds, but she was actually pretty easy to rehouse and mostly skittish. No defense postures.

 

[checkmate]

Great photos. What camera are you using?