User Storm76's picture thread

[Storm76]

Jan, have a look at this ... it goes against the common wisdom, but by both the tone/language and the authorship it seems authoritative. In any case some very interesting info, such as how microwaving actually sterilizes substrate.
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/spiders-inverts/388524-guide-mites.html

Both my juvie P. cam and April's AF P. tigrinawesseli had their chelicerae covered with mites and neither seemed any the worse for them, other than being clearly annoyed by them (excessive grooming attempts). I would think that the only time mites may pose a problem is if they get into the book lungs.

So it may have been something else, possibly even the mysterious but apparently real Avicularia Sudden Death Syndrome.
If you kept it dry and removed boluses/dead feeders it seems unlikely that you would have had a problem with 'bad' mites. My only instance of mites was in an enclosure with insufficient ventilation and too much humidity.

Just FWIW.

p.s. Speaking of reptiles, scroll down the page at http://thereptilereport.com/category/media/personalities/ ... such a surprise and an honor! I've seen some of your photos posted there too.

I'm aware of that approach, I do however not share the same thought. Aside from excessive grooming, tarantulas often become totally stagnant, not wanting to move, as if being in premolt while not. My personal suspicion is that the mites over time damage the soft tissue at the leg-joints and so on. Either way, I'm not scared about seeing a couple of them, but that A. purpurea wasn't kept different than the other couple and those are doing fine from what I can tell. They don't have mites, either.

As far as "Reptilereports" - I've seen the article about you and have seen some of my own pictures / vids have ended up there. A lot from AB can be seen on there as suggestions to look at

Do you think the mites weren't the cause of death, but to scavenge instead?

No, she was twitching when I found her and I know for a fact that she was in premolt. It might be connected to her death...

Great looking Ts. I love that Skeleton!

Thanks! Great T - although she has a temper now

 

[Storm76]

"Moriko", P. cambridgei out and about

Bad news first, the A. purpurea is dead. The next day after I put her into the ICU, I actually found a wet spot below her booklungs and a good bunch of mites sitting on them, so there we go - that's the explanation. Either way, I checked the rest of the T's and they're all good. Bad luck, I guess


On another note, Moriko seems to have reverted back to her normal behavior. Being mean Little beast tried to surprise me today while exchanging the water...*grmbl* anyways, got a couple pics of her playing innnocent afterwards...

"Moriko", Psalmopoeus cambridgei, 6.5" female - sitting on at her favorite spot


"Moriko", Psalmopoeus cambridgei, 6.5" female - sitting on at her favorite spot

 

[Storm76]

Some molts and updates

Aside from the fact that I'm still sad about the death of my A. purpurea female, I've had some nice molts over the past couple weeks and a quite close encounter with my Homoeomma sp. "blue" female today (boy, that girl is cranky sometimes!).

"Kamala", Brachypelma auratum, 5" female - sunbathing


"Jewel", Homoeomma sp. "blue", 4" female - very cranky! She's probably entering premolt so when I tried to poke her out for some pics, she nearly bit me


"Jewel", Homoeomma sp. "blue", 4" female - closer look - still being annoyed


"Gemma", Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi (sp. "blue femur"), 4.5" female - at least this time the blue on her femurs is a bit visible due to the sunlight.


Euathlus pulcherrimaklaasi, unsexed sling, ~1.25" - freshly molted last night

 

[Storm76]

Euathlus sp. "fire" / "red" - unsexed sling - ~1"


Euathlus sp. "fire" / "red" - unsexed sling - ~1.25"


They both gained a hint of their adult coloration

 

[Formerphobe]

Jan, so sorry to hear about Iolanthe. :-(

 

[papilio]

Hey Jan, great photos of Kamala and Gemma!

 

[Storm76]

Jan, so sorry to hear about Iolanthe. :-(

Thanks, it sucks truely. However, once the MM GBB is going to be sent off, I'll be getting 2 GBB+2 A. purpurea spiderlings in return.

Hey Jan, great photos of Kamala and Gemma!

Thank you, Michael. I just wished Gemma would molt already...hasn't molted yet once in my care hehe


Redid the enclosure of my suspect female Ephebopus murinus today which went really easy. She's back to her stubborn self, not defensive at all - getting her out and back into the redone enclosure was a breeze! Some pics of that beauty. (which I can 100% confirm IS a female )


"Asteria", Ephebopus murinus, 4" female - measured her on this opportunity and came out with 4"+ a little.


"Asteria", Ephebopus murinus, 4" female - topview


"Asteria", Ephebopus murinus, 4" female - sideview

 

[Storm76]

A. amazonica molted

A. amazonica, ~3" - molted some days ago and is now 9th instar (next molt should get adult coloration)

 

[papilio]

GORGEOUS Jan!!!

(drooooooolll)

 

[Storm76]

GORGEOUS Jan!!!

(drooooooolll)

I thought you might like the little update

 

[Formerphobe]

Gorgeous E. murinus! My female has a more pale abdomen. I heard awhile back that there may be two or more subspecies (or separate species) of these. (?)

 

[Storm76]

Gorgeous E. murinus! My female has a more pale abdomen. I heard awhile back that there may be two or more subspecies (or separate species) of these. (?)

I'm only aware of "dark form" and "light form" that I read about. No idea if those are different / subspecies really, Joyce. I did luck-out with this one, though. Only ordered one sling and BAM - female. Tbh, I had a lot of luck with that kind of orders for some reason - except my Poecie and boehmei that is.

---------- Post added 05-03-2013 at 03:39 PM ----------

[YOUTUBE]HWYDqPRzSog[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Storm76]

T-Nighttime Video #4

[YOUTUBE]hrQMg170NMs[/YOUTUBE]

My Psalms were actually all out except my smaller P. irminia "Firali", but she's in premolt anyways

 

[BrettG]

Lookin good as always Jan!Our tastes in spiders are pretty much identical.

 

[Storm76]

Lookin good as always Jan!Our tastes in spiders are pretty much identical.

Thanks, Brett! It would seem that way, yeah ;-)


Little feeding vid I took yesterday:
[YOUTUBE]yqfguy2tvIY[/YOUTUBE]

And some pics of my freshly molted A. geniculata female "Medeia" - her old molt measured 5.25" - I'm assuming she has reached / broken the 6" mark now after this one. Look -huge-!

Before molt: She kicked off nearly all her hairs in preparation, hehe


Found her like this when I got home today...


Half an hour later she was back on her feet...


...and looking freaking huge!

 

[Storm76]

Molt documentation:

[YOUTUBE]f73S80Oma98[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Nada]

Grats on the molt. She's a good looking girl. Love the Vid too.

 

[Formerphobe]

Congrats on a clean molt! She is stunning!

 

[Storm76]

Grats on the molt. She's a good looking girl. Love the Vid too.

Thanks, she's quite impressive for sure!

Congrats on a clean molt! She is stunning!

Thank you, Joyce! Hope all goes well for yours, too!


"Nila", A. azuraklaasi, ~6" female - out for a short photo-shoot and a vid


"Nila", A. azuraklaasi, ~6" female - out for a short photo-shoot and a vid


[YOUTUBE]qEoaQzwvF0k[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Storm76]

Post-molt A. geniculata pics

She's a good 6"+ currently! Again, she grew extensively and looks stunning and intimidating the same time! I'm saying the latter since this is the first T of that size and looking so bulky (like a tank!) for me to see in person, so yes I can stand there looking at her all the time currently


Some pictures I took...

"Medeia", Acanthoscurria geniculata, ~6"+ female - postmolt


"Medeia", Acanthoscurria geniculata, ~6"+ female - postmolt


"Medeia", Acanthoscurria geniculata, ~6"+ female - postmolt


"Medeia", Acanthoscurria geniculata, ~6"+ female - postmolt