The Lava Life -- a G. pulchra diary

[ladyratri]

Ugh. Wet.

 

[SpookySpooder]

That is a lot of holiday redecorating she's done. (All the poo flecks)

I'm honestly surprised she can stay off the substrate with that ginormous booty.

 

[ladyratri]

I'm actually a little surprised she hasn't redecorated... In her condiment cup, she had started digging and piling dirt in the water dish, but she hasn't since I rehoused her into this enclosure (which was in February!)

Other than her little abstract sculpture in the poop corner, that is, which doesn't change much at this point.

 

[SpookySpooder]

I'm actually a little surprised she hasn't redecorated... In her condiment cup, she had started digging and piling dirt in the water dish, but she hasn't since I rehoused her into this enclosure (which was in February!)

Other than her little abstract sculpture in the poop corner, that is, which doesn't change much at this point.

How do you deal with the constant water dish burial rites?!

It drives me nuts, always right after I fill it too.

 

[ladyratri]

How do you deal with the constant water dish burial rites?!

It drives me nuts, always right after I fill it too.

There's a whole thread about this lol. I think it's called "the water dish scandal"...

I just ignore it until it's the next watering day.

My favorite was baby Lava sitting in the depression where the water dish goes, so I couldn't put the clean one back in. I think I just came back the next day that time

 

[SpookySpooder]

There's a whole thread about this lol. I think it's called "the water dish scandal"...

I just ignore it until it's the next watering day.

My favorite was baby Lava sitting in the depression where the water dish goes, so I couldn't put the clean one back in. I think I just came back the next day that time

That's ADORABLE! Almost like those eco-protestors who chain themselves to trees.

"Mama, please no more water... I'm prepared to put my foots down"

My GBBs aren't anywhere near as cute, they just attack the dish and bury it.

 

[ladyratri]

I'm honestly surprised she can stay off the substrate with that ginormous booty.

I mean, that's pretty much why they even bother having leg IV right?

I'm frequently tempted to drop another tiny mealworm in there just out of morbid curiosity as to how long it would take her to pounce the thing like I've been starving her...if she had a brain, I'd accuse her of climbing the walls just to show me that she still can, so I'll give her more food.

This girl's appetite is definitely going to be A Problem lol.

 

[Mike Withrow]

Nw are definitely not my thing but I get a kick out this thread.
I'm one of those or so I've been told people that stew and worry about everything. Some of my fastest growing spider's drive me nuts waiting for a molt. I could not deal very well with one that grows so slow. My T.vagens are the slowest growing I keep and actually they aren't really what I consider slow growing.

 

[ladyratri]

I'm one of those or so I've been told people that stew and worry about everything.

100000% me lol. G. pulchra just had an aesthetic I need in my life. The P. irminia I bought at the same time as Lava, that was the same size as Lava, just had his maturing molt last week

Speed and inevitability of a glacier indeed.

The thing is though, having her housed properly so I can see her, where she isn't burrowed away for months at a time, means I can easily monitor her and know she's ok. So it's waiting....but it's not *worrying* which is a big distinction for me.

Also, she'll still be with us when my 10 year old comes back from college!

 

[ladyratri]

Okay, I no longer have to squint just right -- here's a side-by-side of yesterday vs today:

You got this, Lava.

 

[0viWan]

Dunno...Lava seems to be especially slow even for a G. Pulchra

This is coming from my limited experience owning four G. Pulchra slings from two different eggsacs.

The burrowing away thing seems to be hit or miss. Only one of mine did a complete seal-off straight after the last rehouse. Two like the "outdoors" (they are out and about pretty much always) and one loves their burrow but is not sealed-off and comes out regularly. That one is really skittish though.

 

[ladyratri]

Dunno...Lava seems to be especially slow even for a G. Pulchra

She definitely did slow down suddenly this molt. Her two molts with me so far were Dec 14, 2022 and Mar 3, 2023. That seemed quite reasonable to me, especially given that she put on almost half an inch with each.

Also with no additional climate control specific to my spider room, it's been normal indoor "winter is coming" temperatures in there -- like maybe around 68-70F.

She was still sitting on top of her "hide" when I checked this afternoon, but with how she's darkening up, I feel like I can realistically hope we're down to days/weeks now, rather than months

 

[ladyratri]

Clearly I'm finding her color change fascinating. My arboreals hide in a bunch of webbing at this stage, so I don't get this view of their pre-molt changes. Also I suspect that when Lava's molt cycle was overall less than 1/3 as long, this darkening stage was also shorter and went mostly unnoticed.

I see plenty of posts about the abdomen getting dark a few days before the molt hits, and especially the bald spot if they've been kicking hairs. It's very neat to see it extend to the sternum and coxae. And there's a distinct change in look of the book lungs openings as well, almost like the edges of wallpaper starting to curl.

Last week vs today, ventral view:


Tl;dr spiders are cool

 

[ladyratri]

Ok, nobody breathe, I think she's might have finally set up her molting mat:


So who wants to place a bet on whether I have a bigger T in the morning, or am just being massively trolled again?

 

[SpookySpooder]

Ooooo what the odds on this... 50/50?

 

[ladyratri]

Ooooo what the odds on this... 50/50?

I mean, she's molted in my care twice before -- one with an epic troll and one without. So yeah, I'd say 50-50 is reasonable.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Come on Lava, you know you can't keep up this game forever!

 

[ladyratri]

Come on Lava, you know you can't keep up this game forever!

Lava: Yeah? Watch me.


Blue: Sure thing, boss!


(Yes, that's a fresh picture. No, she did not move at all in the last 4 hours. I bet she's been waiting for me to check on her and go to bed.)

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Lava: Yeah? Watch me.

She acts like we're starving her of attention. The fame has gone right to her head.

 

[ladyratri]

She acts like we're starving her of attention. The fame has gone right to her head.

Which is funny, because it's my big girl irminia who literally poses like a prima donna.

By the way, just so no one has to do the math, this is 258 days since Lava's last molt...