Today in the Spider Room?

[l4nsky]

I walk through my collection every night to check up on everyone as they're all usually out, but I realized it's been awhile since I took pictures to share. So, here's who was most photogenic tonight.


0.0.1 Ornithoctoninae sp Vietnam Silver juvie, about 2.5" DLS. I have 5, but they're all unsexed as they never throw molts out... Just gotta be patient I guess lol.


0.1 Ornithoctoninae sp Phan Cay Red. She's a juvie and is close to 4" DLS. Hoping I can find a male when she matures, but the good news is prices have already started to drop drastically from the $600 per sling when they first entered the hobby.


0.0.1 Chilobrachys sp South Thailand Blue, about 3.5" DLS. This is the spaz from earlier in the week that apparently is no stranger to the impulse of l'appel du vide or the call of the void lol. Definently going to take more precautions around these in the future when the lid is off.


0.1 Phormingochilus everetti juvie about 4" DLS or so, freshly molted and getting in the yoga.


0.1 Ornithoctonus sp Ranong Blue mature female around 4" DLS. This is the female that produced the eggsack not too long ago and she's settled in quite quickly to her new enclosure. She still has a healthy weight and the male is still alive, so I might run him back through and see if she can double clutch for me.


0.1 Aphonopelma sp Dragoons, mature female around 3" DLS. I've really taken a liking to this species and I was devastated when this girl ate her eggsack on day 31 a few months back. Really wanted to get more of these into the hobby so hobbyists can sustainably enjoy them. Hopefully second time's the charm as I have a fresh MM coming soon and two fresh mature females, including this sassy little lady.

 

[NMTs]

I did another rehousing today, and this one kind of hurt - this T builds awesome turrets, and it pained me to destroy it...


It was worth it, though, to get to see this T and take some pics of it:

0.0.1 Haploclastus sp. Khali, 3" DLS

0.0.1 Haploclastus sp. Khali - 3" DLS

• NMTs
• Mar 4, 2024
• 2
• haploclastus haploclastus sp. khali juvenile khali

Unsexed, but suspected female. Builds a turret that it hunts from, but otherwise never comes...

 

[TLSizzle]

Got my 1st wall of pokie poo! Planted it way on the opposite side of the enclosure from It's bark. lol Tidy T!

 

[l4nsky]

Ornithoctonus sp Ranong Blue have started molting to 1i, the Phormingochilus sp Akcaya eggsack has crossed the halfway mark with the female still holding, and I now have a Phormingochilus pennellhewlettorum on an eggsack. Busy, busy.....

 

[ladyratri]

Today in the spider room, I had not one, but two new feeding experiences.

First, I apparently dropped the cricket a little bit too close to P. irminia "Spunk" and was told in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable:

(Note that the offending cricket is already behind him in the water dish...)

He forgot he was mad once he realized it was a cricket though.


Then, apparently, I proceeded to make the exact same mistake with my juvi A. purpurea "T" -- she's got a very different disposition though.

Generally, when feeding, I use a 5oz deli cup as a catch cup, carry the cricket over in it, and tip it straight out of the cup and into the tarantula's enclosure.

For the past two years, gravity has consistently asserted itself as expected, resulting in the cricket ending up in the bin with the spider, and me holding an empty catch cup over the bin.

Today, that is not what happened.

Today, she was HUNGRY.

Today, gravity failed me, resulting in the spider ending up in the still-upside-down catch cup with the cricket, with me holding it over the bin.

Luckily for both of us, I only jumped a little, and my girl was safely deposited back on a (different) edge of her bin with her prize.

Bonus photos of Her Smugness gloating:


Honestly, I'm lucky I didn't have an actual escape on my hands. I definitely learned some things today.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Got my B. boehmei's nasty water dish cleaned out today. She decided after living here for 3 years she'd start dumping dirt into it. No less than an hour after I cleaned it out and got it refilled she was halfway into it. Now all my Brachys are in their hides. It's funny, they all tend to do the same things at the same time. Brachy hive mind.

Also found what could be my next addition today, a gorgeous B. auratum from a newer local shop. Might be my tax return spider.

 

[MariaLewisia]

Just found my oldest Cyriocosmus elegans female passed away. It wasn't unexpected since she was already a well-established adult of unknown age when I got her several years ago, and was now showing some real signs of age during the last few months, but still, a very sad day. I really loved that little gal. RIP Hulda.

 

[Ungoliant]

Today, I noticed that my male Avicularia avicularia, which I received from cold blood in 2018 as a tiny sling, had hooked out. I guess it’s time to find him a mate.

All Hooked Out (♂ Avicularia avicularia 4″) [2/2]

• Ungoliant
• Mar 6, 2024
• 2
• avicularia avicularia avicularia common pinktoe tarantula luke male mature male pinktoe tarantula

All Hooked Out (♂ Avicularia avicularia 4″) [1/2]

• Ungoliant
• Mar 6, 2024
• avicularia avicularia avicularia common pinktoe tarantula luke male mature male pinktoe tarantula

 

[Itchy Tasty]

Finally caught a glimpse of the OBT sling that I got about a week ago sitting outside its burrow. I dare not take a photo as much as I want to because I really don't want to startle it but it seems to have settled into it's new home well enough.

 

[NMTs]

Boy, this hobby is getting popular! Not only can you buy special dirt for tarantulas, you can get custom tarantula enclosures. If you're more of a DIY tarantula enclosure builder, they even have special drill bits and hole saws for making them!


It worked on me - they got my money.

 

[MariaLewisia]

Spring has arrived and I have made my first tarantula purchase for the year! I won't say what I bought just yet in case I jinx it but it's some pretty exciting tarantulas that I've never seen in the hobby before.

Other than that, I finally got to see Viola (Ybyrapora diversipes) in her full glory! A rare sight - she's one of my most shy Ts, which is a shame because look at those colours! Wow! Too bad they don't keep this colouration as adults, even though they are pretty in their adult coats, too.

 

[l4nsky]

Prepping for a lot of rehouses tomorrow.....


Don't know how many pictures I'll get during the process as I have a lot to get done in a short time, but I do have one or two specimens that will likely be getting a photo shoot .

 

[sparticus]

Rehoused the LP last night, here he is emerging from the "catch bottle"

And the jumping spider sling recently molted for the first time with me to i3, I believe. So tiny!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

The mold issue I was having in Sacha’s enclosure under the dried moss was not solved by cupping and picking, and days after adding real moss (weeks later) went nuts in his enclosure. I temp rehoused him to clean out the old enclosure and got him moved back in today. Rough day for this guy, as he actually threat posed; I hated moving him twice. I opted for a drainage layer this time and added more ventilation holes. Here he is clinging to his security moss and his once perfectly coiffed butt now looking like a middle aged balding man. Yes, he’s huge and hasn’t molted since May of last year. Can’t say I’m sad about that as I’ll miss him dearly when he hooks out.

 

[NMTs]

Rehoused one of my big girls today. She wasn't happy about being pried out of her burrow, but once she was in the catch cup she was cooperative. She measured somewhere between 6.75"-7" DLS. I measured her last molt from late January this morning and it was 5.75" DLS, so she put on over an inch of leg span with that molt. And of course, pics:

0.1 Phormingochilus everetti - 6.75" DLS

• NMTs
• Mar 10, 2024
• everetti female phormingochilus phormingochilus everetti

Rehoused Jupiter today and was able to get a good measurement of her - she's really just a hair...

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Rehoused one of my big girls today. She wasn't happy about being pried out of her burrow, but once she was in the catch cup she was cooperative. She measured somewhere between 6.75"-7" DLS. I measured her last molt from late January this morning and it was 5.75" DLS, so she put on over an inch of leg span with that molt. And of course, pics:

0.1 Phormingochilus everetti - 6.75" DLS

• NMTs
• Mar 10, 2024
• everetti female phormingochilus phormingochilus everetti

Rehoused Jupiter today and was able to get a good measurement of her - she's really just a hair...

View attachment 468652
View attachment 468653

Just gorgeous!

 

[TLSizzle]

Got to play with some pretty spiders today!
Went through my newly acquired freebies to determine which are males. Appearing that most are lol
But it's ok as I have someone who will trade slings for males.

They are some well fed Ts!!

Freshly molted chromatus. Couldn't determine sex, so I'll keep it for a bit.


Young male H mac


STUNNING Chilobrachys fimbriatus. Had no idea how beautiful these were. Couldn't determine the sex so I'll hold on to it for a bit. Poor me...


Choooonkyyy B boehmei. I'll keep for a while too just cause it's so cute lol


Then rehoused my 2 versicolor that just molted. Their blue is unreal



All in all, a pretty good day in the spider room!

 

[l4nsky]

0.1 Cyriopagopus sp Sumatran Tiger


0.1 Phormingochilus sp Akcaya

I also rehoused 9 Phormingochilus sp Sabah Blue holdbacks and 2 Phormingochilus pennellhewlettorum growouts yesterday, but I was more focused on getting through the list than grabbing pictures lol.

15 more specimens still on the rehouse list, a few getting shipped out, and atleast one inbound soon .

 

[MariaLewisia]

Yet another sad day.

I was doing the regular watering rounds when I saw one of my Cyriocosmus perezmilesi females in a suspicious position. A half death curl, almost. I poked her out under huge protests (I've never seen a Cyriocosmus kick that much hair) but as soon as she settled, the death curl returned.

I tried to get her to drink, first by placing her fangs in water and then flipping her over and putting a drop in her mouth, but she didn't drink. At all. Nothing. So I started so suspect the worst. She'd moulted a few weeks prior, I hadn't checked the moult, which was still intact. My suspicions were sadly confirmed: no sucking stomach.

To be honest, I'm pretty gutted. Despite having a fair amount of tarantulas, I still feel a connection to the majority of them, especially those that I've raised from slings, and especially the females. I still have two of her sac mates, also females, but it really really sucks to lose a young female like this. You feel so helpless. I'll consider euthanasia if she's not passed later today because I can't stand to see her bumbling around like that. Poor girl...

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Yet another sad day.

I was doing the regular watering rounds when I saw one of my Cyriocosmus perezmilesi females in a suspicious position. A half death curl, almost. I poked her out under huge protests (I've never seen a Cyriocosmus kick that much hair) but as soon as she settled, the death curl returned.

I tried to get her to drink, first by placing her fangs in water and then flipping her over and putting a drop in her mouth, but she didn't drink. At all. Nothing. So I started so suspect the worst. She'd moulted a few weeks prior, I hadn't checked the moult, which was still intact. My suspicions were sadly confirmed: no sucking stomach.

To be honest, I'm pretty gutted. Despite having a fair amount of tarantulas, I still feel a connection to the majority of them, especially those that I've raised from slings, and especially the females. I still have two of her sac mates, also females, but it really really sucks to lose a young female like this. You feel so helpless. I'll consider euthanasia if she's not passed later today because I can't stand to see her bumbling around like that. Poor girl...

I’m so sorry to hear this. Heart wrenching to lose one you’ve raised from a wee one and expected to have for a long time to come. My sincere condolences.