Tarantula Rants

[EulersK]

Feel free to get some husbandry rants off your chest. Misery loves company, after all. Also, laughing at other's misfortune tends to help as well.

For the first time in over two years, I'm going to buy crickets with the intent of feeding them to tarantulas... actually, only one tarantula. I got two P. cambridgei slings from @cold blood. One has molted and eats like a horse. The other has yet to eat. I'm finally going against my own mantra of only offering dubias, because this sling can't get any skinnier. Fine, little dude. You won. Here's a cricket. Better get used to dubias eventually, though, because I'm weening you off sooner rather than later.

Here's another one. My A. seemanni closed up her burrow a few weeks ago, and has yet to reemerge. No issue, right? Well, the enclosure has cracked, and I need to get her out of there immediately. I've got some bricks along the side to keep it together for the time being, but I'm going to make a new enclosure right now. I have no choice but to rehouse, so hopefully she's done with her business.

Last one for the day. Yeah, it's been an interesting week. My AF T. stirmi needs a rehouse due to a bad mold outbreak that I didn't notice in time. I look forward to being itchy for a few days.

 

[Venom1080]

getting unlucky on some slings, my subfusca i payed 70 for as a 1.5" sling cant look any more male. same with my vittata and a few others.. on a happy note, my P muticus looks very female, only 7 more years till shes adult!

 

[cold blood]

@EulersK haha

Now this isn't scientific or definitive...but based on my experiences, my NostraDennis prediction of the day is...the picky eater will be male, especially if it hides all the time. I've only raised a few stubborn eating, constantly hiding P. cams...every single one has turned out to be male.

My rant....whenever I am working in the spider room, it doesn't matter what I need, if its a syringe, a certain tweezers, the water, whatever....its ALWAYS on the opposite side of the room or outside the room.

Whenever its most critical...like a cricket escape in a dark room, or in the middle of pulling a deeply hidden bolus from an AF P. ornata enclosure....every time it matters most, that's always when my batteries in my flashlight decides to quit.....its uncanny.

Escaping crickets, banded crickets are like the athletes of the cricket world...drives me bonkers when they get loose.

 

[Moonohol]

Nearly all of my Ts love to hoard their boluses. I guess they take after their owner, being lazy slobs...

 

[EulersK]

Now this isn't scientific or definitive...but based on my experiences, my NostraDennis prediction of the day is...the picky eater will be male, especially if it hides all the time. I've only raised a few stubborn eating, constantly hiding P. cams...every single one has turned out to be male.

Hm, noted. I'll be sure to keep these slings distinguished as they grow, it'll be interesting to see the outcome.

Nearly all of my Ts love to hoard their boluses. I guess they take after their owner, being lazy slobs...

Agreed. You think I'm going into my T. stirmi's burrow to retrieve her boluses? She can have them, let her be a slob.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

My darn stirmi wont do anything. I thought she was getting ready to molt but she has been almost dormant now for almost two months. She has webbed more than anything i own. And now she has not had a meal in over a month and continues to grow larger... Some have said this spider may be gravid. My male GBB got eaten by the female... THEN SHE MOLTED. It feels good to be back on AB.

 

[Rittdk01]

Eulersk, do u keep any springtails or pill bugs in with the stirmi to help with the mold? I got two stirmis fairly recently and added those as a cleanup crew. they aren't as noticeable as you might imagine and don't bother the spiders at all. kinda expensive off eBay ($20 for dwarf whites and $11 for springtails), but i shouldnt have to change their setups and add more for a loooong time.

 

[Rittdk01]

Eulersk, do u keep any springtails or pill bugs in with the stirmi to help with the mold? I got two stirmis fairly recently and added those as a cleanup crew. they aren't as noticeable as you might imagine and don't bother the spiders at all. kinda expensive off eBay ($20 for dwarf whites and $11 for springtails), but i shouldnt have to change their setups and add more for a loooong time.

 

[EulersK]

Eulersk, do u keep any springtails or pill bugs in with the stirmi to help with the mold? I got two stirmis fairly recently and added those as a cleanup crew. they aren't as noticeable as you might imagine and don't bother the spiders at all. kinda expensive off eBay ($20 for dwarf whites and $11 for springtails), but i shouldnt have to change their setups and add more for a loooong time.

I'm actually waiting on a shipment right now. So, we'll see how that works!

 

[KezyGLA]

I have an AF OBT and an AF P. rednucus that I havent seen since I bought them... a long time ago

 

[Najakeeper]

Tiny flies infested my T.blondi enclosure and I have no idea what to do with them...

 

[Redneck]

So, with me getting back in the hobby here recently, I decided I only wanted mostly females. Because I can't have a huge collection. I don't have the space to allow it. I've done pretty good on keeping it small.

But, (there is always a but) I am loosing the male to female battle. I know a couple are females. (They were bought that way.)

My main ones that bother me are my P. pulcher and P. muticus. My fingers are still crossed that I am wrong. I'm not. But I sure hope I am. Lol

 

[Redneck]

getting unlucky on some slings, my subfusca i payed 70 for as a 1.5" sling cant look any more male. same with my vittata and a few others.. on a happy note, my P muticus looks very female, only 7 more years till shes adult!

How big is your P. muticus? Can you get any ventral pictures? I'd like to have something to compare mine to.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I have an AF OBT and an AF P. rednucus that I havent seen since I bought them... a long time ago

It's because you don't have a Goddess

 

[YagerManJennsen]

MOLT ALREADY DANGIT!!!

 

[KezyGLA]

Yes a couple of spaces might free up soon and make way for *ahem* you know who @Chris LXXIX

 

[Venom1080]

How big is your P. muticus? Can you get any ventral pictures? I'd like to have something to compare mine to.

about 3.5". one old vent shot on my profile if you go to pics. but its crappy.

 

[ledzeppelin]

My infamous G. rosea refused dubias, refused red runners, refused superworms, refused grasshoppers, but ate mealworms.. I had everything but mealworms on hand.. I have had a mealworm colony just for her.. she passed due to a cyst a few years back.. I still breed mealworms just in case just because of a one picky T..

Another rant is about my P. irminia.. I haven't seen her in months.. she molted about 2 months ago.. she ate once and then vanished.. I know she's still alive by her webbing..

AAAnd the last one is about one G. rosea of mine.. She didn't eat in 3 months... when I drop a roach she grabs it and holds it for a few hours and lets it go.. When I try to get the roach out - and I do it gently... I am faced with a full defensive stance.. and we're talking about full terminator on her hind legs... -.- It's like the roach is her lover which she just hugs for hours or something-.-

 

[Chris LXXIX]

My only rant when it comes to Theraphosidae is related to my continuous struggle for the Goddess 0.1 Pelinobius muticus PBUH -- Peace Be Upon Her -- until the path of every keeper will shine behold those rear legs and mighty hissing!

Don't worry Gentle, Kind, Great Benign Mother. For that I will never move a single inch backward, forward till victory be won. We aren't alone in this Noble Quest, even if our struggle is hard, because we are fighting for something great, and great things are not lightly or easily gained, Noble Hissing Mother.

Struggles we have had and will have. But together we stand for nothing less than a revolution in the spirit of Theraphosidae keepers.

We are your Devoted Sword and Shield, Goddess

 

[Andy00]

My immature male b vagans will flip over his water dish as soon as he notices there's water in it, but then when I pour some water on the substrate he'll walk over and start drinking it... so annoying! And my also immature male L Parahybana drags water dishes/bottle caps down to the bottom of his burrow where he now has a pile of 4 bottle caps and a few dubia boli. Tarantulas man.