Today in the Spider Room?

[8 legged]

Re-designed my blondis enclosure after 2 years...

The old one / the fresh one


She was very cooperative


The next two years can come...

 

[8 legged]

Rehoused a big mama P. irmina...


...had a very, very rare sight (for people who go nuts when their spider is gone for a few months... with Sahydroaraneus raja it's a permanent condition!)


...another rare sight over the day... A. minatrix


...and my Cyriocosmus leetzi also was on a walk.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

An ironic turn of events. My versi pinned himself in his web canopy and was unable to get to the cricket beneath him 2 nights ago. Knowing he still needed to bulk up from his recent molt, I thought we’d try again. I saw he was ready…below the canopy, ninja-style hidden among the the leaves. He learned! I dropped the cricket in and watched. I watched the cricket climb the cork bark..I watched the cricket slide between the levels of web canopy…I watched my dear versi pat his foot around the edge of the web tunnel he was in, trying to reach the cricket..I watched the cricket slide up to the top of the canopy…climb the side..and hang out upside down on the ceiling... literally dangling over his canopy…while my versi was still sitting Ninja a few web tunnel levels below in the leaves. I almost fell on the floor laughing at the irony. The pic sucks, but this is the best after several attempts. Top right is cricket location. Bottom left is versi location. They stayed like this for hours, but I’m happy to say the cricket finally came down in the leaves and Anansi ate.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

I did some husbandry tasks today, including scrubbing all of the water dishes. My MM L. klugi, Verdugo, immediately walked over to his water dish and pooped in it after I filled it up with clean water. Thanks, dude!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I did some husbandry tasks today, including scrubbing all of the water dishes. My MM L. klugi, Verdugo, immediately walked over to his water dish and pooped in it after I filled it up with clean water. Thanks, dude!

Be happy he didn’t poop in your water dish.
My genie did that once. (Pooped in her water dish again, that is) I immediately took it out again, cleaned it and put it back. It was a war of wills and I had my battle gear on.

 

[8 legged]

Did some enclosure inspections...

Big old G. pulchra 0.1 and a younger, 5 years old female...

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens 0.1, young Aphonopelma johnnycashi 0.1

Tliltocatl albopilosus, Lycos tarantula beside her hide

Dolomedes okefinokensis, another T. albo (young male)

...and I think there was a successful Hog Island pairing...

 

[ladyratri]

An ironic turn of events. My versi pinned himself in his web canopy and was unable to get to the cricket beneath him 2 nights ago. Knowing he still needed to bulk up from his recent molt, I thought we’d try again. I saw he was ready…below the canopy, ninja-style hidden among the the leaves. He learned! I dropped the cricket in and watched. I watched the cricket climb the cork bark..I watched the cricket slide between the levels of web canopy…I watched my dear versi pat his foot around the edge of the web tunnel he was in, trying to reach the cricket..I watched the cricket slide up to the top of the canopy…climb the side..and hang out upside down on the ceiling... literally dangling over his canopy…while my versi was still sitting Ninja a few web tunnel levels below in the leaves. I almost fell on the floor laughing at the irony. The pic sucks, but this is the best after several attempts. Top right is cricket location. Bottom left is versi location. They stayed like this for hours, but I’m happy to say the cricket finally came down in the leaves and Anansi ate.
View attachment 440811
View attachment 440813

Had some extremely similar feeder comedy recently with my A. purpurea:




He too eventually caught it and it was a juicy one lol

 

[Luxilain]

My Avic Avic will be getting a legit enclosure today instead of her temporary tupperware that she came home (and subsequently went directly into premolt) in. I'm so excited to be able to really see her! So far the rest of the spiders have been quiet for a little while... I've got 2 elderly P. Regius males that will join your lad in spider heaven any day now.

 

[l4nsky]

Feeding slings....I'm pretty sure all large tarantula breeders are secretly masochistic lol

 

[curtisgiganteus]

View attachment 441361
Feeding slings....I'm pretty sure all large tarantula breeders are secretly masochistic lol

They pay lackeys lol

 

[8 legged]

View attachment 441361
Feeding slings....I'm pretty sure all large tarantula breeders are secretly masochistic lol

Depending on the quantity, you can put the feed animals in the fridge for 5 minutes. Makes the process so much easier.

 

[l4nsky]

Depending on the quantity, you can put the feed animals in the fridge for 5 minutes. Makes the process so much easier.

The menu for the day was mealworm chunks .

 

[l4nsky]

Night check with the flashlight and, for once, a crappy phone camera.


0.0.1 Phormingochilus sp Sabah Dwarf, recently molted. Unfortunately, the molt wasn't in as good of a shape as I thought and was still quite small. Better luck next time I guess lol.


0.1 Aphonopelma sp Dragoons, also recently molted. She hasn't made a daylight appearance yet, so I'm not going to bother her too much.


0.1 Phormingochilus sp Rufus. TBH, I've never really been sold on these actually being a Phormingochilus sp and I would love to see some kind of comparison to a described species in the genus.


0.0.1 Homoeomma chilense. They're definitely on the smaller side lol.


Tomorrow's task lol.


I wish this Poecilotheria fasciata didn't spook so easy so I could take the lid off for a better picture. It's frequently out on the cork bark like this at night and just blends in so well.


0.1 Ornithoctonus aureotibialis. The picture is a bit distorted because it was taken through the curved plastic of the enclosure. Still though, I see her almost every night because...


Well, she's chosen to make her burrow right up front! I have to admit, it's really cool having a good chance of seeing an obligate fossorial species on full display when they're at the mouth of their burrow. I must have got lucky right?


Well........ Maybe... (0.1 Haplopelma sp Bach Ma)


Or............ Then again, maybe not (0.1 Aphonopelma sp Diamondback. You can see her legs as she is sealing her burrow up for a suspected molt.)

Anyways, more to come on those sets of experiments lol. I have a few more rehouses to do to see if this behaviour can be more consistently induced than with the standard starter burrow method

 

[Shinn]

Rehoused my first ever T and T. albopilosus, Fran. It has been a year 2 months and 15 days since I got it as a tiny 0.5 inch sling. Currently approximately 3.7 inch.

 

[l4nsky]

Results from some recent endeavours (P. sp Sabah Blue eggsack and P. rufilata eggsack). Even though this looks like a lot (191 slings), there are quite a few species out there that produce waaay more in a single eggsack. I have a mild panic attack when I see posts or questions about "how do I breed my LP" or "how many eggs can I expect from my gravid Grammostola sp".

 

[Shinn]

Been feeding a wild jumping spider that decided to set up home near my windowsill where I planted some succulents some baby mealworms over the last 2 weeks and seems like it is here to stay.

 

[CrazyOrnithoctonineGuy]

Found that I'd need to get a second ExoTerra pretty soon, as one of my Ornithoctoninae sp. "Phan Cay Blue" has molted yesterday and is now around 3" DLS; I'd probably rehouse it maybe sometime during this molt cycle, and definitely after the next molt (which might still be a bit early, but it's a big arboreal OW)

And Anihan (my SAF Ornithoctoninae sp. "Haribon") has gone on a killing spree and dealt with 4 out of 5 large crickets I added to her ExoTerra two days before. This is a trend I've noticed with this T: not only is she at her hungriest for around a month-long period after a molt, but she actually seems to be most effective at hunting when she's freshly molted. Here's top hoping that the next molt takes her over 6" (she's well over 4" for sure, maybe around 5", and this species supposedly gets over 8")

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Clearly someone was busy digging last night....

 

[l4nsky]

The camera came along again for the night rounds as more specimens have molted recently and are out on the hunt. Here are a few of the better pictures I was able to get.


Probably one of my favorite Avicularia species, being Avicularia variegata. I believe this one is female, but I'm soo far behind on molt sexing these days.


0.1 Aphonopelma sp Michoacan. Hasn't eaten or molted once since she entered my care a few months back, but she is chonky and has access to water. She has also dug an impressive burrow though what amounts to being basically excavator clay as a substrate lol.


0.1 Ornithoctonus sp Ranong Blue. They still don't look real to me, even in person. Definently one that pictures don't do justice to as they change appearance severely depending on the angle viewed and lighting. They're also turret builders, with the unsexed specimen being leaps and bounds ahead of the female as seen below:



0.0.1 Phormingochilus pennellhewlettorum, about 3" DLS. Haven't had the best of luck raising or acquiring this species, but I definitely want to attempt to breed them in the future to see how they differ in reproductive triggers from other Phormingochilus sp, if at all. For those that don't know, this is actually a highland species.


0.1 Cyriopagopus sp Sumatran Tiger. This girl has a huge appetite and matching prey drive. One of the easiest specimens I have to tickle out of her hide as she just goes for anything moving.


I wish this little one would stop shredding it's molts. This is a 0.0.1 Phormingochilus sp Sabah Blue, but this is a special one. This is the sole survivor of my first Sabah Blue eggsack that all but completely failed due to a power outage in December of 2021. It had to be nursed through several molts as it got stuck between the 1i and 2i molt, autotomizing a few limbs to get free. Touch and go, but it's now a fully limbed juvie starting to get some good colors. Now I just need to sex it to see if it'll be around for another 8 years or so.

 

[l4nsky]

Part two (everyone seems to be out tonight):


0.1 O. sp Hati hati, out and about.


1.0 Phormingochilus sp Sabah Blue. This is the male from my breeding project and he's approaching the ripe old age of 9 months matured. That's a bit ancient by MM Ornithoctoninae sp standards lol.


0.0.1 Orphnaecus dichromatus. First time getting into keeping this genus and just, wow. They are like a ground dwelling version of Tapinauchenius, just amazingly quick and flighty. In contrast to tappies though, they tend to bolt into something and bounce around for a bit instead of quickly climbing away like an arboreal would.


Speaking of Tappies, here's the shiny scopula pads and bright colors of a juvenile T. rasti.


0.1 Psalmopoeus irminia, waiting on prey to find her.


Juvenile 0.1 Aphonopelma sp Dragoons, in need of a molt.



Burrow window view of 0.1 Hysterocrates sp Niger Delta.