The Lava Life -- a G. pulchra diary

[ladyratri]

A thread dedicated to my one "terrestrial" T among my arboreals -- a Grammostola pulchra sling I obtained on October 23, 2022.

Her (yes folks, we believe she's a she!) name is Lava.

It's short for "Lava, The Floor Is".

Here's a brief photo essay on how she got her name:


She is an epic champ at fattening up before a molt, an incurable derp, and an all-around cutie.

Stay tuned for further photos, shenanigans, growth updates, and whatever else she pulls that gives us a laugh.

 

[ladyratri]

Macro lens through the front wall of her enclosure.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Yay, my digital surrogate pulchra, lol! And man, that shot is amazing. Growing up and getting her colors. <3

My avatar is that from same lens. Thanks for the recommend!

 

[ChaniLB520]

Great choice for a sling to keep a "diary" thread on! Love the photos! My G. pulchra sling is very similar - super food responsive, too. Attacks water droplets also. Incurable derp is a great description!

 

[ladyratri]

Incurable derp:




Mooning me I guess?

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

She wants you to check out her butt fingers, duh! ;-)

 

[LucN]

Very pretty ! She seems to have grown quite a good bit with that molt. Maybe a few more and she'll gain her full black coloration ?

 

[ladyratri]

She wants you to check out her butt fingers, duh! ;-)

They are pretty fresh and fabulous after that molt, to be fair. I think she was also letting me know how painfully skinny she is. If only she could cry for food like the cats do.

Today, we went ahead with that long-awaited first post-molt cricket. I don't think Lava was too thrilled that I picked a pretty jumpy one. I don't think the cricket was too thrilled to be in a bin with a T... Either way, pretty sure I am being judged by both of them at the same time:


The hunt:

A little bit of an experiment with video through the macro lens:

 

[ladyratri]

She seems to have grown quite a good bit with that molt.

I was fully prepared for absolutely glacial growth, but she has surprised me so far with her two molts spaced by just shy of 80 days and putting on nearly a half inch with each as best I can tell. Particularly interesting as I'm trying not to feed her "too fast", and I don't keep my T room particularly warm. Just our normal house temperature around 70F during the day and dipping to 68F or so overnight. I guess the spider desk is near the radiator, so might stay a degree or two warmer than other areas of the room.

 

[LucN]

I was fully prepared for absolutely glacial growth, but she has surprised me so far with her two molts spaced by just shy of 80 days and putting on nearly a half inch with each as best I can tell. Particularly interesting as I'm trying not to feed her "too fast", and I don't keep my T room particularly warm. Just our normal house temperature around 70F during the day and dipping to 68F or so overnight. I guess the spider desk is near the radiator, so might stay a degree or two warmer than other areas of the room.

1/2" per molt ? That's actually pretty good ! Loved seeing the vid of Lava hunting, even if you did need to help in the end.

 

[ladyratri]

Yesterday, Lava was tall...

... At like 9:30 in the morning...

... And at 4:30 in the afternoon...


... And even sideways on the wall at like 6:30


Antics and temperature regulation aside, this girl is sufficiently food motivated that I suspect she picks up the vibrations through the "spider desk" when I open other enclosures -- particularly the ones that don't slide completely smoothly.

She was paying attention when the baby psalmo got "her" mealworm:


And really interested with the big psalmo got "her" cricket:


That's the side of her enclosure closer to the other bins... Distance to baby psalmo for scale:

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

My genic is always trying to gossip with my GBB. (Yes, I know..Jupiter)

 

[ladyratri]

Update: still tall, also now attempting to hunt the cricket I gave my C. versicolor "Baby Blue" (enclosure visible in the background) despite my having fed Lava her very own little mealworm the prior day...

 

[LucN]

Makes me think of a dog or a cat that's tall enough to reach the table's top and looks at you with googly eyes.

 

[ladyratri]

It's possible I have used food as a distraction to clean the water dish too many times, given how Lava has taken to eating like this:

 

[Eagle555 Jumping spiders]

It's possible I have used food as a distraction to clean the water dish too many times, given how Lava has taken to eating like this:
View attachment 441965
View attachment 441966

she’s like food first human!

 

[ladyratri]

she’s like food first human!

One more molt and she'll outgrow her water dish!

 

[LucN]

A few of my Ts will occasionally eat over their water dish as well. Thankfully, they usually dispose of their bolus elsewhere.

 

[ladyratri]

A few of my Ts will occasionally eat over their water dish as well. Thankfully, they usually dispose of their bolus elsewhere.

The two photos above were two completely separate feeds, but both lesser mealworms, which seem to leave practically nothing behind.

My irminia sling on the other hand apparently plays basketball from the end of its web tube to throw a bolus into its water dish.

Clearly, Lava eats like a lady.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Wasn’t Lava the “bobbing for crickets” spider?