Last year I brought home from work a long, large gauge IV catheter for my pet sitter to use to water the Ts while I was out of town. That way she could feed the catheter into the water bowls and just fill them up without having to open any of the enclosures. While trying it out, I ended up in a tug-o-war with one of my GBBs who grabbed hold of the end of the teflon catheter and wouldn't give it back. When I left on vacation, several of the T habitats were labeled, "No Cath". They really are strong!
Interesting versi you have thereI had a couple of similar incidents to that straw-attack before alright, most recently from my versicolor - killing all that moves; excellent to see, especially from a versi
That is one nice A. geniculata, sounds like a cool T to keep too!
That A. geniculata is -seriously- territorial. Quite frankly, the common knowledge of these being "eating machines" is one thing, but I -really- doubt that attacking the water when refilling its waterdish is a feeding response - it's plain simple being very territorial and not very fond of being disturbed in its enclosure in my opinion.Yeah, I -hate- mites! I was kinda scared seeing them suddenly on some of my T's, but alas - I've read a lot and informed myself well before getting into the hobby - however: You're bound to make mistakes one or the other way if you start something new in most cases. Now I know what to look out for and how to avoid or even treat it. As for strength: Isn't it remarkable what kinda strength they have? I mean...seriously?Nice pics, esp of the GBB. Glad to hear the molts helped with the mites, god I hate those things. And yeah, when Ts grab something, they grab it for real. I've had my H. gigas and A. brock pull my brush out of my hand and it can be difficult to get it back
Accuracy? My E. pulcherimaklaasi is not an expert at that. Usually, he misses on the first attack nearly ALWAYS and gets the feeder on the second one. Pretty interesting.
That they are! I'd like to know the comparison to ants in that way, you know around the lines of "T's can pull x times their weight" or something, based on scientific observations that would be quite interesting to know. If anyone has a link, please share.
I'm really wondering what's going on with those... I had it only 8 days, it arrived totally lively, went into its enclosure fine. Only problem was that it didn't eat, it killed the cricket, but didn't eat it. I tried cricket, roaches, superworms - nothing. And didn't try daily, but twice in those 8 days, so since keeping conditions where correct and it had a fresh enclosure, I've NO idea what the reason for the death is. Yesterday morning I checked on it and it was somewhat lethargic, moved only very slowly, no bolting / running. That was already making me go "Uhm...?" and yesteday evening, when I went to check on one of my A. purpureas (who, btw, molted fine!) I found it on its back - dead. My friend I got these from (breeder I usually get mine from) agrees that he has no whatsoever idea what the cause is and is wondering about it, too. He's known to only send spiders that are well and not sick and we never had any issue before. Kinda sucks and makes me think twice if I want to try my luck with a P. pulcher again. Sadly, he doesn't have any more slings of these, just the adult female which is a bit out of my pricerange currently. We'll work something out, but the point is that I am really asking myself why this replacement died now, too, after arriving totally pulcher-like, even nearly bit me due to my own stupidity when receiving it. And now this...sucks.
I adore the dark metallicas too!!I really like the looks of P. metallica a lot - I'm just wondering what causes the color to darken that much on Levi's metallica's. IMO those look even more awesome with the black. But, alas I think E. pulcherimaklaasi are a very great looking terrestrial that are way underrated in the hobby, although they have that lovely coloration - I kinda compare them to P. metallica as a "terrestrial"
Forgive me if you already know all of this, but ... over here in the states people were at one time talking about a 'dark color form' and such. Then we began hearing from some of your own neighbors, breeders and hobbyists in Europe where the metallica has been available in the hobby for a longer time, thus many of them had metallicas of an older age than was common over here. My understanding is that the so-called 'dark color form' is just a typical female as she matures. The brighter blues we are used to associating with them are primarily characteristic of juvies and (relatively) young adults. And also nice to know that I don't have to invest a fortune and the time in searching out the mythical 'dark color form' P. metallica! 
Hey Michael,Hi Jan!
Hopefully you're well over your own illness by now ... but only to return to the sad, mysterious and frustrating events you continued to encounter! Terrible to hear about all that -- losing them continuously like that certainly isn't a thing many of us experience, must have been rough.
I adore the dark metallicas too!!
I'm sure that a good many collectors will bemoan the fact that, after a number of years, their metallicas are beginning to 'lose their looks', but to me that's something very much to look forward to!
Here's wishing that brighter days are returning for you!!
-Michael
p.s. I'd strongly suspect that what Chad said about the pulchers was likely the case ... that they were a 'bad batch', genetically deficient somehow, and so sadly was probably bound to keep happening with each replacement you received. So don't give up on the pulchers ... superb Ts!! A beautiful M/F pair of slings were the third species of Ts which I raised, and I don't know what got into my head but I ended up selling them as adults, probably eager to buy new slings of one sort or another and thinking that I can always get more pulchers. It's only since then that they seemed suddenly to become very difficult to come by, at the time of obtaining mine they seemed quite abundant. But certainly breeders like Chad are realizing the demand for them now and we'll begin seeing more of them soon!
It seems to happen to everyone sooner or later, just sad it happened with the 1st replacement, too. Very much looking forward to see my Avics grow, too. Just had another molt actually - 2nd A. amazonicaSorry to hear about the P. pulcher man, I'm looking forward to seeing your Avicularia spp. develop as they grow older!
Pictures below 
Thanks, Chad! I think I improve a little with taking them.Nice shots Jan!(and the spiders are nice too!)
Your feeding videos are awesome! If I may ask, what kind if feeders do you use?
Thanks, it varies. I primarily use crickets, superworms and roaches. Sometimes I throw in locusts for variety to the T's big enough.
That's the whole fun of getting shots! I've almost been got a few times taking pics! One unhappy subject even slapped my camera!
Only partly, Chad! I rather avoid getting tagged, but I'll admit it's kinda fun trying to get a good shot. At some point though, I'll take shots just for the sake of having a pic AT ALLThat's the whole fun of getting shots! I've almost been got a few times taking pics! One unhappy subject even slapped my camera!
Nice irminia! Growing up quick!
IMO it's not worth risking a hit and annoying the specimens TOO much.
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