Today in the Spider Room?

[Motherofspiders112707]

Everyone is molting like crazy! I’ve had four molts in the past two weeks and My teeny tiny A. Chalcodes molted today. She hasn’t eaten anything since I got her, which was back in November, but she was fairly plump and drinking water so I think her premolt might have been super long like my P. Regalis’. I realized while my mom was making dinner that she had left me a present and I started jumping for joy. I’m so proud🥹

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Joys of fossorials, episode 2:
Ipeorkun, aka “the Bumblebutt” Neoholothele fasciaaurinigra, last seen 1/20/25.
This morning I was overjoyed to see that the food I’d left on “her” doorstep was taken. (S)he’s still alive! Every couple of weeks, it’s a ???

 

[jennywallace]

Two P. ecclesiasticus rehoused this afternoon. Will try and get pics tomorrow if they aren't hidden.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Wall spider l klugi
Rare sightings of Ts that hide a lot !

 

[Sauga Bound]

A day in the life of a new keeper...

I got a lot going on with my spider family the last few weeks, and today is an eventful day.

My family: G. Pulchra juvie, GBB juvie, H. Pulchripes juvie, A. Juruensis M2 sling. I got the Pulchra in November, the GBB in December, the Baboon in February, and the Avic last weekend. They are all 2"-4" juvies, except the Avic, which is about 1".

1. One week ago all four of my girls were in heavy premolt, with two in hiding for weeks. My GBB, Dia, spontaneously created a borough in the corener of her enclosure a couple weeks ago, and has been reinforcing it, adding more and more silk until I could only see shadows. Yesterday, I looked in with a torch and saw more legs than usual. Topday, she is fully molted, but is still chilling inside her burrow. When she emerges, bigger, thicker, with brilliant colors, I'll post a pic. None of my girls had molted with me before this week, so I was thrilled to see some movement in the burrow this morning.

2. Also this morning, my Avic sling, which molted a week ago and was rehoused from a vial to a Tarantula Crib small Switch with canopy top on Friday, ate her first cricket with me. She needed some help to get the cricket as close to her as possible, and then she snatched it. I was so thrilled when she nailed it that I hooted loudly and she did a happy dance. I really wanted her to take her first cricket since she molted, in her new enclosure, so I'm really happy about that. Finding the bolus of such a tiny cricket is going to be tough, lol.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake just before I rehoused her which tempered my joy from her eating. I had overflowed the water dish to moisten the substrate a little. The thing is, the substrate is Exo-Terra Plantation Soil, which I just learned doesn't absorb moisture. It just gets wet and stays wet. After feeding her, I noticed three dried flowers I was using as branches to criss-cross the enclosure had developed fuzzy mold on the bottom 1/3, where they were in contact with the substrate. It happened pretty much overnight. I trashed all but one, which wasn't very moldy. I cut the moldy part off and am drying it in the sun. Then I removed all the wet substrate while my girl snacked. I couldn't get at the little bit behind the piece of cork leaning against the back wall, but it's only a little bit that's only a little damp. Otherwise, I removed a second piece of cork, which intersects with the piece on the back wall, so I could remove any wet substrate behind it.

After removing the damp stuff, I used a paper towel to absorb any water that had drained down to the acrylic, then started stuffing in dry substrate, using forceps to push it into any tight spaces it needed to go and a spoon to tamp it all down nicely. Once I got it high enough, I put the second piece of cork back, added a curving branch that reaches from the bottom to the top of the cork, and re-added the water dish before using a paintbrush to clear any loose substrate from the bottom slot for the sliding door. Then I shut it back up. I will not be overflowing the water dish or dampening the substrate in any way again.

I know Avic slings are delicate and many first-time keepers struggle to keep them alive. As a result, her getting a meal after molting was really important to me, and when I noticed the problems with dampness and mold, I fixed it right away. I'm in Canada, where there are only a few reputed breeders, so this Peru Purple Avic is quite rare and was the last specimen they had in stock. I don't want her to die so I can learn from my mistakes and start again with another Avic. She is the one I want and I will do everything I can to help her survive through her next molt. I'll attach a picture of her in the enclosure. I hope the meal and removal of moldy branches and damp substrate will keep the air in enclosure nice and fresh.

3. My first T, Noche, a 2" G. Pulchra juvie hasn't eaten since January and is now in obvious pre-molt, with a swelling abdomen that makes her look like a tick. Besides that, in the sun, she appears more amber than black. She's always out in her enclosure during the day, but this morning she was in her cork hide. I'm expecting her to molt soon. She is a really sweet and gentle girl who seems to like me and will climb on to the top of her hide when I talk to her. I got her as my first T because I loved her velvet black appearance and reputation for being a friendly T that spent most of its time on display. I've been anxiously awaiting her molt so I can start feeding her again.

4. Finally, there is Azula, my H. Pulchripes, or blue-legged golden baboon. She's a good 4" and getting close to being a sub-adult. I set her up in a medium Exo-Terra Faunarium with 4"-6" of Plantation soil, plenty of fake plants and anchor points for webbing, a nice half-round of cork for a hide, and a second full-round of about 4" that I placed upright in a corner, with a little carved doorway at ground level. She was always out on display for the first few weeks I had her, and made a cool web with a tunnel that led from the half-round's door to the full-round's door. She also made a few "doors" made of substrate wrapped in silk. There are three of them in the full-round, and she loved to drape herself over top of the round and just chill for hours.

The last time I fed her, she didn't catch any of the crickets, and I had to fish them out very carefully without bothering her. I missed one, which died hidden behind her water dish, just under the substrate. I never saw it, but when Azula disappeared a couple weeks ago into the cork half-round and closed the door, I detected it during my daily smell test of all the enclosures. I removed the lid completely, and it took me about fifteen minutes to find the dead cricket, and another fifteen minutes to remove and restore the enclosure to its prior state. I was only able to do that because Azula was holed up in her cork.

She's still there and I'm assuming she is also in pre-molt and won't emerge until she molts and hardens up. Some people think I'm stupid for getting a baboon with little experience. However, I really just bought this particular baboon because I had a chance to observe her at a busy exotic pet store near me, and was able to see how beautiful she was, but also how calm and unbothered by the noise and crowds of people filing past her enclosure she appeared. After observing her at length on two separate days, I made a spontaneous decision to buy her and she's been no trouble at all. I'm more cautious and aware when working in her enclosure, but she is very chill and has never been bothered by me refilling her water dish or removing a bolus.

It's a bit unnerving, waiting for her to emerge because I can't see her and only know she's alive because the enclosure smells fine. Occasionally, the water dish is noticeably lower some mornings, so I hope that means she's coming out for drinks now and then.

5. Ant Invasion. For two months or so, sugar ants have been invading my room. They're somehow coming through my closed window, where winged specimens collect, lose their wings, then start crawling around. I have sticky traps all around my T enclosures and under the legs where they could climb up my main work station. Since I can't use pesticide, don't want to chance it with borax or vinegar, and I'm trying to find the root of the issue and fix that. While these ants don't bite and aren't aggressive, I'm sure even one in a T enclosure would stress them like crazy. If anyone has tips, I'm eager to hear them.

* * *

So, that's what's going on in my spider room today. I wrote this more detailed than I normally would in case another new keeper sees it and can learn something from my experiences. For examples, I've read over and over that one shouldn't worry about their spiders if they stop eating or go into seclusion for weeks/months, but when it happens to all your spiders at the same time for the first time, it's hard not to be anxious. However, my GBB molting has reassured me that the spider knows what it's doing and will eat, drink, fast, disappear, etc. according to their needs. As long as their basic husbandry is dialed in, and they have access to water, there's no need to worry about fasting, hiding, etc. Now, I'm just waiting on Azula and Noche, and all my girls will be bigger, thicker, and ready to eat again I'll post photos of them when they molt as well. I'm sure Azula's legs are going to be bright blue, and Noche will be back to her gorgeous velvety black appearance.

I've also decided that I'm not going to buy any more Ts for a while, and focus on the ones I have. If they're all healthy and thriving in the Fall, I'd like to add a D. Pentaloris or perhaps a Phormictopus to the fams, but that's months away. Keeping the girls I have alive now is my priority - especially my Avic.