Today in the Spider Room?

[Mike Withrow]

Stout legs are so cool!

They have been on my wishlist for a long time now but,I've never seen any up for sale .

 

[NMTs]

They have been on my wishlist for a long time now but,I've never seen any up for sale .

I'm hoping we can change that and make them more common, but they're very slow growing - these 2 have only molted twice and gone from 1/2" to a little under 1" since August.

Stout legs are so cool!

Hopefully they'll actually get stout legs sometime in the next 5 years! Lol.

 

[TLSizzle]

Hopefully they'll actually get stout legs sometime in the next 5 years! Lol.

They're slow growers too? I swear there are many more slow growers than I thought!

 

[TLSizzle]

WOW it is so good to see this spider! Haven't seen it in months and it appears to be in good shape too. My very reclusive H pulchripes.

 

[goofyGoober99]

My tiny Pseudohapalopus sp blue sling (maybe 1/2 an inch on a good day) has finally conquered their fear of fruit flies! Consequentially, the lil goober has very quickly gotten quite chunky...

 

[MariaLewisia]

My tiny Pseudohapalopus sp blue sling (maybe 1/2 an inch on a good day) has finally conquered their fear of fruit flies! Consequentially, the lil goober has very quickly gotten quite chunky...

I love when tiny slings find their courage! Last year I got a bunch of L1 Cyriocosmus slings no more than 1/16" and they were scared of just about everything, including chopped up mealworm pieces lol. They ate springtails fine but once I had to upgrade them to tiny prekilled roaches, they threat posed them. A 1/8" threat pose. Very scary! Eventually they started eating them and now they are little killing machines about to reach the 1" mark. So cute!

 

[fcat]

She's the silliest girl I know
View attachment PXL_20240208_154814505.TS~3.mp4
View attachment PXL_20240208_154850758.TS~2.mp4

Although she looks wobbly, she's actually getting defensive with the second worm. She is too enthralled with the first that she's munching on. She can walk, run, climb, mate, protec and attac just fine. This is the same T that I heard vibrating at a horn worm last molt cycle.

 

[MariaLewisia]

Due to me spraining my hand and wrist, this week has been mostly easier workloads with the T's, like pairings. Today was the Psalmopoeus pulcher male's turn to go on a mission! Female "Olivia" can be seen in the background. Even though she had to be coaxed quite a bit, this was their second successful pairing. I didn't get an egg sac from her last year so let's hope she drops one this time around.

 

[Spinnenfritzi]

This is the same T that I heard vibrating at a horn worm last molt cycle.

what species?? so cute

 

[fcat]

what species?? so cute

Tliltocatl verdezi , thank you!!!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

View attachment 467117

Due to me spraining my hand and wrist, this week has been mostly easier workloads with the T's, like pairings. Today was the Psalmopoeus pulcher male's turn to go on a mission! Female "Olivia" can be seen in the background. Even though she had to be coaxed quite a bit, this was their second successful pairing. I didn't get an egg sac from her last year so let's hope she drops one this time around.

Fuzzzzzzy!!!

 

[l4nsky]

Molt sexed another female Phormingochilus sp Sabah Blue from my holdbacks and discovered the Phormingochilus sp Akcaya I paired awhile back is on an eggsack.

 

[faecalu]

my big T Phyrra (red knee/ b smithi) finally started digging a burrow. over 5 in of substrate and its been months without her burrowing at all xd silly girl. my red rump also reared up at me for the first time (water dish cleanings are very scary when you are that small) and went FULL vertical (Harlon is a little over 2in)

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

This little lady moved from the penthouse suite to the observation deck when she tried to die on me last Thursday. I came home from work, checked in on them and saw her curled up on the ground. I picked up her little inverted Amac box and went to my rehouse area (okay, it’s my bathtub). When I took the top off the box, she didn’t move. She slightly moved her leg when I touched it with the paintbrush. Shew, not dead yet. Testing a theory, I put the L of my thumb and forefinger up against the corner. After a minute or so, she scooted herself slowly over and hunkered down against my hand. My spider room doesn’t ever get under 68, but that must have been too cool for her. I made a nursery out of a 12x12x12 ExoTerra by taping an old heating pad to the back, hooked it to the regulator and brought that area up to 78. I moved her to an enclosure with less space and just a water dish, then put her and the other kids in the center about 5” from the heat. I was up till midnight watching her and had to coax her a couple times as she tried to lay back on the surface. I coaxed her to her water dish, but she wasn’t interested. I finally passed out and when I got up 5 hours later for work, she was on the wall, doing what an Avic-type do. I brought the temp down to 75, and she tackled her live food last night. I hate giving her such a spartan home, but I’m not satisfied everything is settled yet.
Not on my watch, little lady.

 

[NMTs]

Rehousings today and the obligatory pics...

0.1 Ornithoctoninae sp. koh Phangan, 3.5" DLS:

0.1 Ornithoctoninae sp. koh Phangan - 3.5" DLS

• NMTs
• Feb 19, 2024
• 2
• female ornithoctoninae ornithoctoninae sp. koh phangan sp. koh phangan

Rehoused this little beauty today. She was stubborn about leaving her burrow, but otherwise...

0.1 Avicularia juruensis M2, 4.75" DLS:

0.1 Avicularia juruensis M2 - 4.75" DLS

• NMTs
• Feb 19, 2024
• 1
• avicularia avicularia juruensis female juruensis peru purple

Trying to get the camera to focus through all those hairs is almost impossible, but worth trying...

It's crazy how much their colors change depending on the lighting - this is the same T, camera flash only no overhead LED lighting:

 

[goofyGoober99]

Managed to rehouse my 2 C elegans yesterday! Just about had a heart attack a couple times because oh my goodness they are little speed demons. Both of them have already gotten to work webbing and redecorating . They are both around 3/4". (Perspective on the pics is a little weird idk why. The furthest drop is only around an inch lol).

 

[l4nsky]

Getting better and better with this microscopy work, just takes a bit of practice (and a lower caffiene consumption lol). Sexed out this 0.1 Aphonopelma sp nov last night.


The molt was maybe 0.75" DLS lol.

 

[sparticus]

Getting better and better with this microscopy work, just takes a bit of practice (and a lower caffiene consumption lol). Sexed out this 0.1 Aphonopelma sp nov last night.

Great job! The hardest part for me is opening the tiny, fragile molt abdomens without mangling them.

 

[l4nsky]

Great job! The hardest part for me is opening the tiny, fragile molt abdomens without mangling them.

I've found Aphonopelma spp seem to have a thicker abdominal skin that's easier to manipulate at that size then say a Phormingochilus spp. IMHO, it's likely due to being desert specialists as a thicker skin would lessen evaporative moisture losses. This probably extends to other desert genera like Brachypelma spp, but I don't keep any others and can't confirm.

Also, if you don't have them already, get a set of esthetician's tweezers. They have a ridiculously fine point that is just perfect for this type of work.

 

[Gevo]

We’ve got legs!!!!

This is Sybil, my B. hamorii. I got her at the end of September, so it was tough to wait it out after she burrowed and sealed herself off within a few weeks. I was able to keep an eye on her through a window she left me on the side. She did not molt—just wanted to burrow and be left alone. This morning, I saw she had opened the burrow and was sitting there in the “feed me!” stance. She just took a cricket, and I hope she chooses to spend a bit more time topside, but we shall see.

Here’s hoping Luca, my G. pulchra, follows suit soon. He sealed himself off a couple weeks after Sybil did and also has been chilling in there, not molting or anything.