Today in the Spider Room?

[CommanderBacon]

I finally dropped off the Avic avic babies I bred with my vendor friend who owned the female I borrowed. He will be selling them on his website.

They all fit nicely into this tomato box:


I'm feeling a little sad after dropping them off, but they seemed to be doing well. I gave them all some large fruit flies and water before packing them up and noticed that they had all webbed up little hammocks for themselves already.


I didn't think I was going to get so attached, but they're adorable, and I guess I got emotionally invested.

Anyway, I picked up a C versicolor while there, which is also super cute. It's a gift for a friend's daughter, but I'm going to hold onto it for a bit and get it a little better established before I hand it off.



Despite being offered 200 Tliltocatl albopilosus I was able to leave with only 2 of the microscopic little weenies, so I'm going to establish those as well and get someone else hooked on Ts. THE FIRST ONE IS FREE!

 

[Cyriocosmus]

A friend and me went and got some terrariums and spiders.. He got a P. metallica and OBT (he's plain crazy imho) and I got a K. brunnipes and Avicularia sp. "Amazonica". They're adorable little fellas.

Anyone here who can confirm that A. Sp. Amazonica is now A. variegata?

 

[Thekla]

"Well, this is one way to barricade the entrance to your burrow, little one, but did you really plan to be on the outside after setting this one up?"

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Had my first and hopefully only escape tonight. Freaked me out beyond belief because my new landlord is a tyrant and would probably order that particular spider killed if he discovered she got out. Her enclosure is completely taped shut at the vertices now until I can get a new one, this one is a bit broken cracked at the lid but I didn't think she could get out.

 

[draconisj4]

For the first time since I got it as a sling two years ago I managed to snag my E. uatuman's molt before it turned it into a bolus. The molt was halfway down the opening and the spider was all the way at the bottom so I grabbed it. It's a girl , and a mature one at that. Mystery solved!

 

[Marika]

I'm a horrible person. I tried to take their precious dirt dishes away.

"NOOOOOO!!!! Give it back, it's mine!"



"Nope."

 

[KenNet]

I've cleaned my Blatta lateralis "food for my spiders" enclosure. For some reason I always dislike to do this. Very much so.

 

[corydalis]

I was never ever able to take pics of my C.lividus juvie (the reasons are quite obvious I guess), but today, as the time has come for a rehouse, I took my chance. I had to restrain myself though, since I didn’t want to stress her/him too much.

 

[Ungoliant]

Yesterday I experienced my first -- and hopefully last -- tarantula bite. The culprit? Not my feisty genic but the nice girl: Petra, my mature female Brachypelma emilia, who is the calmest spider I have ever seen.

I was refilling Petra's water dish by sticking a pipette through the feeding hatch. Petra grabbed onto the pipette and would not let go. I tried to dislodge her by gently withdrawing the pipette through the feeding hatch, but instead of letting go, she started crawling out through the hatch.

I didn't have anything to block her within reach, and I had to act fast to prevent an escape. (I didn't want her to crawl out and fall off the shelf.) Without thinking, I reflexively moved to block her with the palm of my hand. Petra was in feeding response mode and bit the web between the thumb and index finger.

The initial bite didn't hurt much, and I was more concerned about not hurting Petra by reflexively jerking my hand back. I used the pipette to get her to release my hand.

The puncture wounds were shallow -- not even drawing blood -- but she must have given me some venom, because the area became inflamed. The pain peaked at about 15-20 minutes -- I'd rate it as a 4 or 5 out of 10. After 30 minutes, most of the pain had subsided, but the inflamed area, which extended up to an inch or two away from the bite site, began to itch. The itching had subsided by the next morning.

Now there is only a little tenderness and stiffness, with the stiffness being worst around the first knuckle of the index finger, and the tenderness being limited to the bite site.

It just goes to show that even the most docile tarantula can surprise you.

 

[Cyriocosmus]

My M. balfouri sling is alive!! Didn't expect that, as I haven't seen it in almost 2 months. Now it's just hanging there on the wall of its enclosure, looking bigger. It's feeding time soon I guess.

 

[KenNet]

Yesterday I experienced my first -- and hopefully last -- tarantula bite. The culprit? Not my feisty genic but the nice girl: Petra, my mature female Brachypelma emilia, who is the calmest spider I have ever seen.

I was refilling Petra's water dish by sticking a pipette through the feeding hatch. Petra grabbed onto the pipette and would not let go. I tried to dislodge her by gently withdrawing the pipette through the feeding hatch, but instead of letting go, she started crawling out through the hatch.

I didn't have anything to block her within reach, and I had to act fast to prevent an escape. (I didn't want her to crawl out and fall off the shelf.) Without thinking, I reflexively moved to block her with the palm of my hand. Petra was in feeding response mode and bit the web between the thumb and index finger.

The initial bite didn't hurt much, and I was more concerned about not hurting Petra by reflexively jerking my hand back. I used the pipette to get her to release my hand.

The puncture wounds were shallow -- not even drawing blood -- but she must have given me some venom, because the area became inflamed. The pain peaked at about 15-20 minutes -- I'd rate it as a 4 or 5 out of 10. After 30 minutes, most of the pain had subsided, but the inflamed area, which extended up to an inch or two away from the bite site, began to itch. The itching had subsided by the next morning.

Now there is only a little tenderness and stiffness, with the stiffness being worst around the first knuckle of the index finger, and the tenderness being limited to the bite site.

It just goes to show that even the most docile tarantula can surprise you.

Thanks for sharing this experience. It's a good reminder for us all to always be careful.

 

[Royalty]

My first T is out and about. It had a recent molt and finally got those beautiful orange hues that made me fall in love with them.

 

[Vanessa]

My Homoeomma chilensis ate her egg sac. Yep, finally after three years of successful pairings and cooling them over the winter in my expensive incubator, I got an egg sac from one girl. It was perfect in every way and, with only a few short days before I was going to take it away to incubate it, she ate it. I am absolutely devastated.


I also lost my MM Grammostola pulchripes - only four months shy of being mature for four years.

 

[CommanderBacon]

My Homoeomma chilensis ate her egg sac. Yep, finally after three years of successful pairings and cooling them over the winter in my expensive incubator, I got an egg sac from one girl. It was perfect in every way and, with only a few short days before I was going to take it away to incubate it, she ate it. I am absolutely devastated.

NOOOOO!!!

 

[Vanessa]

NOOOOO!!!

Words cannot express how thoroughly crushed I am. I was sifting through the substrate and found one tiny egg that seems to have fallen out of the sac before she ate it and I am actually incubating it. One tiny lonesome egg. I am beyond crushed.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Words cannot express how thoroughly crushed I am. I was sifting through the substrate and found one tiny egg that seems to have fallen out of the sac before she ate it and I am actually incubating it. One tiny lonesome egg. I am beyond crushed.

I would be, too. I'm so sorry. I hope that egg makes it.

Best of luck in future endeavors. Do you know what might have prompted the female to eat it?

 

[Vanessa]

I would be, too. I'm so sorry. I hope that egg makes it.
Best of luck in future endeavors. Do you know what might have prompted the female to eat it?

No. I had her alone in a linen closet and would only disturb her when I added a bit of water to the substrate (that is when I took the photos). I would have a quick look in on her twice a day with a flashlight for only a couple of seconds. It is nice and warm in the linen closet. She cared for it perfectly for 23 days and gave no indication that she was going to do that. I was only a few days away from pulling it.
Even talking about it makes me want to cry. I sat on the couch and cried when I found her after work. Then, when I checked on her to give her back her water dish later on, she was cleaning her fangs and that made me cry again.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

No. I had her alone in a linen closet and would only disturb her when I added a bit of water to the substrate (that is when I took the photos). I would have a quick look in on her twice a day with a flashlight for only a couple of seconds. It is nice and warm in the linen closet. She cared for it perfectly for 23 days and gave no indication that she was going to do that. I was only a few days away from pulling it.
Even talking about it makes me want to cry. I sat on the couch and cried when I found her after work. Then, when I checked on her to give her back her water dish later on, she was cleaning her fangs and that made me cry again.

Hi
Sorry for your loss.
Not an expert here by any means but I think you should have left the waterdish with her.She may have eaten it cause it was thirsty.
I have observed my T Albopilosus drink while with her egg sack twice.Once on day 24 and once on day 31 before I pulled the sack later in the day.She was in her burrow with the sack all the time.She will leave the sack in there ,broke the silk on the entrance got out had a drink and went back webbed the entrance for few minutes and get the sack underneath her.
Just my 2 cents
Regards Konstantin

 

[Vanessa]

Hi
Sorry for your loss.
Not an expert here by any means but I think you should have left the waterdish with her.She may have eaten it cause it was thirsty.
I have observed my T Albopilosus drink while with her egg sack twice.Once on day 24 and once on day 31 before I pulled the sack later in the day.She was in her burrow with the sack all the time.She will leave the sack in there ,broke the silk on the entrance got out had a drink and went back webbed the entrance fir few minutes and get the sack underneath her.
Just my 2 cents
Regards Konstantin

I made sure that there was a corner of the substrate always wet to enable her to drink. I have had egg sacs dumped into the water dish, and drowned, and I was not about to take that risk. It is easier to supply damp substrate and avoid the risk of her drowning them.

 

[mack1855]

I made sure that there was a corner of the substrate always wet to enable her to drink. I have had egg sacs dumped into the water dish, and drowned, and I was not about to take that risk. It is easier to supply damp substrate and avoid the risk of her drowning them.

You have always gone out of your way to help and offer help here on AB.Im so very sorry.
So it’s tough to console you on this.
So many of us are saddened also.
Don’t you dare give up.Life right now is a trial,
given everything going on.You will succeed with this T.No doubts about you!.