The H. gigas Project.

[Bob the thief]

blehz.. humm I wonder if it was the temps the fish were in :?

 

[conipto]

CLOSE! but no cigar... she felt the fish touch her, my flash was recharging, and faster than modern electronics can handle, she was in, missed, and out again.

Bill

 

[Nixy]

Are you giving her other prey items?
Crickets?
Just curious if the fish are gonna be The diet.
It would be neat for her to just dive and eat whenever.

Get her a little mini raft with a cup holder and an umbrella.

=D

 

[conipto]

She only molted about ten days ago, so I wasn't expecting her to be ready to eat yet. Either she is, or she just doesn't like fish touching her legs

I'll give her a pinky if there isn't a number of fish less than six in the tank by saturday.

Bill

 

[conipto]

OK folks, update.. as fish died, it would appear she's been skimming them off the surface. (I would leave dead ones in for a period of up to two days, just to see if they'd vanish. Gross, but uhh.. it's research, or something.) I allowed the water level to lower quite a bit, and found that the lower it gets, the more likely she is to go into it. She has developed a new tactic, now that her legs can reach the bottom (it's a stretch though). Now, she'll slowly crawl into the water, and not exactly 'spaz out' like she did before. She'll almost wade in (still splashing quite a bit, but nothing compared to when she couldn't hit bottom) and when she gets close to the remaining fish (who now has the distinction of being 'Subject B') she'll stop. Dead still, on the water surface. If the fish gets close enough, or touches her 'air suit' she'll thrash about, APPEARING (but I'm not positive) to attempt to catch the fish. (I don't know what an attack looks like underwater, exactly) She may stop again, and wait for a while, and has sat with book lungs under water for up to 8 minutes that I've seen. It's always after a period of flailing about/fishing/freaking out that she climbs back out, to dry off. (Catching her breath?) She may wait only a few minutes, or may go back to the burrow. I find that she's most active out there between midnight and 3ish, regardless of room lighting.

To make a long story short, I'm changing around the tank layout tommorrow. For one, I've yet to see her succeed in catching live prey (though one live one dissapeared, but all the dead ones seem to vanish overnight - it may have just died and been scavenged) and two, she's getting too thin for my liking... I don't think the few she's dragged off are filling her. I'm going to throw the divider back up, and fatten her up a bit on normal prey (she even seems a bit slow nowadays) at the same time, redoing the aquarium portion. I plan to keep it about 3 inches deep now, seeing that she likes the shallow water better. (she has about 4 inches vertical descent before the waterline as is now, and though she gets up it every time, it kinda bothers me.)

Attached is a picture of her new tactic in use, if it really is a tactic at all.

More update when she's plumped up a bit.

Bill

 

[Nixy]

She might just need more time for her species instict to catch in and catch on. She was raised on " dry land diets" so. It will probably take a little while longer for her to get her barings good in the water.
Maybe make her a set of "steps" with stones? From the water to the top of the divider? Perhaps if she can step in slow an inch at a time she might be more comfortable. Being able to back up a step and get her feet on a solid surface to re evaluate her prey.
If she's going in an even Trying thats a plus.
She might just have to keep plugging at it before she realizes she can swim.

Practice makes perfect.

Thanks for the update and the pic, and keep us posted!

 

[RugbyDave]

no-ones asked where the diving board is!!!!



peace,
dave

 

[chau0046]

Try minnows used for bait from a fishing store. There cheap hardy and active. I personally would drop the water level another inch or two and slowly move it up as it gets used to fishing. Amazing project. I`m gonna try something the same for my Emps. There known to live beside shallow river and mine are totally submerged from time to time.Especialy when they are hungry. I`m gonna post the results in the scorp forum. Nice job!!!


Mat

 

[Vys]

Waaoow, this is the kind of project your creative side whispers about after you first hear some giant spids will go after fish
Really cool!

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Bill, I must say, you are god-like in your genious and engineering. I can't operate power tools without destroying something or hurting someone

I like it. I like it a lot. However, I have to ask, didn't the heat from the friction while you were cutting the very first sheets cause a great deal of trouble? My boss made a lid for the hex tank out of plexiglass and, even though he did a pretty good job, there were little chips near the vent holes, and some slight warping. It was also a little crooked, but I'll admit the scoring tool can be a pain.

N.

 

[Arachnopuppy]

Originally posted by nocturnalpulsem
Bill, I must say, you are god-like in your genious and engineering. I can't operate power tools without destroying something or hurting someone

I like it. I like it a lot. However, I have to ask, didn't the heat from the friction while you were cutting the very first sheets cause a great deal of trouble? My boss made a lid for the hex tank out of plexiglass and, even though he did a pretty good job, there were little chips near the vent holes, and some slight warping. It was also a little crooked, but I'll admit the scoring tool can be a pain.

N.

Bill has both looks and talents. THE man of everyone's dream.

 

[conipto]

Originally posted by nocturnalpulsem
Bill, I must say, you are god-like in your genious and engineering. I can't operate power tools without destroying something or hurting someone

I like it. I like it a lot. However, I have to ask, didn't the heat from the friction while you were cutting the very first sheets cause a great deal of trouble? My boss made a lid for the hex tank out of plexiglass and, even though he did a pretty good job, there were little chips near the vent holes, and some slight warping. It was also a little crooked, but I'll admit the scoring tool can be a pain.

N.

Wow, someone drug this fella back up to the top eh

I think it should be called the 'H. crassipes project' given what I hear in the rumor mill, but at any rate, no.. I had no real problems with melting when using the dremel tool. I quit using a cutoff bit really fast and did the majority of the cutting using medium grit sanding discs. They fouled up alot slower, and what did melt just flaked right off cleanly when the cut was finished. I can't imagine how fun a hex shaped lid would be to make with a scoring tool

On the original topic - Water back in, no fish for now.. She swims every now and then like she used to. Adult mouse seems to have restored her vigor quite a bit

Bill

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by conipto
Wow, someone drug this fella back up to the top eh

Eh...school's been evil. On my way to a different major. :8o

Anyway, this is all really cool. Are you going to up any plants or anything in there, too?

N.

 

[AllenG]

hehehe I am very anxious for you to be able to report when you finally get it all squared away...just sitting here today reading this has just about put the name down for my next T.... a T that swims and catches fish...WHO WOULDA THOUGHT!


Great job on the tank, very well thought out, kudos to you!

 

[Ultimate Instar]

This is such a cool project. I've got to set up an aquarium like this. What other species of Ts are candidates for a fishing experiment?

Karen N.

 

[Arachnopuppy]

As far as I know, the H. gigas is the only one that does it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[conipto]

Originally posted by lam
As far as I know, the H. gigas is the only one that does it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't know for sure if any actually do it in the wild, but I'm told what I have is a Hysterocrates crassipes. (Which I guess is the pet-trade H. gigas)

Bill

 

[Olan]

I'm also curious as to how the gigas will get in and out of the water......

-Olan

 

[luther]

What a fascinating thread. Thanks so much for posting this. Did you ever make a web site version? The subject deserves it.

 

[si_sleaf]

Wow, I'd forgotten about this.

What's the latest on the fishin'? I'd love to do something like this but my powertool use ain't good. I will have a go if this one works out ok though, maybe just to see a swimming spider:}