Ok guys,

some major changes are currently happening. First off, the scorpions are being donated to an insectarium since their dissapointing lack of activity and actual showing off made me decide to stick with tarantulas until I move on my own. So I got 3 more tarantula spiderlings to fill in the void.

First off, the 1" C. darlingi (East African Horned Baboon)

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … rlingi.jpg

As you can see, I attempted to feed it a dead cricket think it may not be ready for a live one. We don't have pinheads here and I'd rather not leave a large adult cricket in there in case it decides to "turn the tables". Unfortunately, it completely ignored it. So I mustered all my courage to open up the container and remove it. Having witnessed how fast it be, no doubt it would escape in seconds if I give it the opportunity.

Now, the 1/4" C. fasciatum (Costa Rican Tiger Rump)

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ciatum.jpg

This guy is small, but he went for the cricket abdomen I left in its enclosure almost immediately. Seems to still be feasting off of it. So that's a really good sign.

Last up is my 1/4" L. parahybana (Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater)

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … hybana.jpg

Like the C. fasciatum, it readily took the cricket part I left for it, this one being a good-sized drumstick. I'm also quite hopeful with this one.

And now for some extras.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … llFood.jpg

My B. boehmei (Mexican Fireleg) sling seems to be in premolt now.... has ignored the cricket I had offered it.

And here's a sweet surprise.... Fluffy, my G. rosea (Chilean Rose) caught in the act of eating a few crickets !!

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … fyFood.jpg

Honestly didn't expect her to eat since she's always been on and off with feeding. Roseas really like messing with their keepers

I, for one, am glad that this is a thread about spiders in captivity, and not another installment along the lines of Jodo Kast's brown recluse adventures.

Jesus, they're beautiful. I love exotic animals so much. Too bad my girlfriend is terrified of lizards and allergic to cats. ;_;

On the topic of exotic animals, my bearded dragon is integrating nicely with my cats. I fell asleep with her on my chest, and when I woke up, one of my cats was nuzzling the bearded dragon, who seemed too content to move. It was really cute.

Hey! if you don't mind me asking, what did you mean by "actual showing off"? Were the scorpions fighting or something? Also, do you "play" with the spiders? What about hold them? Do they get accustomed to people holding them? Can they distinguish you from other people? I know these questions are undoubtedly basic, but I'm curious

I don't plan on having pet spiders myself, but they are undoubtedly remarkable creatures. You've got to be pretty remarkable to have lasted 400 million years!

cheers,

-avatar!

Actually showing up for display. My emperor is always in his burrow and the Flat Rock is always out of sight.

I don't consider them toys in any way, just display animals to admire from a distance. I never touch them, if I need to move them, I nudge them with a pair of extra long tweezers and use a transparent plastic box if I need to get them out. They definitely don't become accustomed to people, they are wild, unpredictable animals that should be respected. They have no sense of recognition. They will never be "thankful" no matter what you do for them, they simply aren't that evolved.

I would not consider arthropods playful creatures. They are definitely sensing creatures with a small memory capacity. As an example of their memory, I once found a beetle on my glass computer desk. It ran to the edge and fell straight to the ground. I picked it up and put it back on the glass. It ran to the edge again - and stopped. It walked down the 'side' of the glass (about .25 inches) and then walked upside down on the glass for a few inches (it fell off). So either it had learned about the edge or just randomly stopped at the edge. I prefer to think it 'remembered'.

  As an example of a spider's memory, I once found a brown recluse darting out of the laundry room. A sticky trap was in the vicinity of its silent scampering and I placed the trap in its path. It ran onto the glue and four of its legs became moored. It didn't try to proceed onto the glue at this point. It tried to go in reverse, indicating it understood there was no glue behind it. Whether it was reacting to the senses of the back legs or remembering the safe kitchen floor, I'm not sure. If they were truly mindless organisms, unaware of anything, then they would not react to their surroundings. But they do react, which indicates some memory capacity (some sort of stored knowledge).

  It is now believed that even bacteria have a rudimentary memory (check Wetware for more info)

Very interesting! And yes, I have no doubt that spiders do "remember" things. After all, I find it hard to believe you can exist as a species for over 400 Million years without remembering where danger/food/ect lie! I have seen people put pet spiders on their arms, and let them crawl about. So I wonder if spiders can "remember" people? I would not be surprised if they can sense people, likely through some sort of smell sensory organ, and thus know that this person means them no harm. However, I don't know if this is true, this is merely something I'm theorizing by what I know of spiders as pets. Still, in general I would have to agree with DG that spiders are wild animals, and should be respected. Of course, having them infest your condo is a whole different ballgame...

cheers,

-avatar!

A quick update on my spiders, with pictures !

First off, my beloved adult female Chilean Rose Fluffy. There she is just looking adorable as usual.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … fyCute.jpg

Not too surprisingly, her eating is already starting to slow down. Last week she only bothered to eat 2 of the 3 crickets I offered her. One died in the cage.

Next up is my juvenile Mexican Fireleg Fireball. I got a ventral shot. It's not quite clear, but I'm hoping female.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … allSex.jpg

Now for my recently acquired slings. It's been two weeks now since I got them and they seem to be doing quite well. Can't wait to see molts at any case.

First up is my 1" East African Horned Baboon named Darla. Yes I know, not very original but it works. Last week I offered a second small cricket and witnessed it grabbing it and killing it in its burrow. The cricket struggled for a good 10 seconds but it quickly stopped moving. It was amazing to watch !

Here we see its legs sticking out of the burrow entrance.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … laPeek.jpg

And here is a blurry shot of the burrow it made. It has been busy, made quite a bit of webbing and digging.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … Burrow.jpg

Next the 1/4" Costa Rican Tiger Rump named Pinky. I see a fairly large abdomen and a dark one at that. It will hopefully molt in the weeks to come.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … inky-1.jpg

Last but not least, my 1/4" Brazillian Salmon Pink Birdeater named Dora. Like Pinky, its abdomen has got fairly fat and has gotten darker. Has to molt soon.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … c/Dora.jpg

So that's it with the pictures for the time being.

I think the notion of spiders remembering people would make a fine fantasy or science fiction story. I doubt they have the ability to sense 'intention' (this is primarily a feature of mammalian brains), but they definitely react to situations in which they feel threatened or trapped. I don't know what they make of our body heat. Might it feel pleasant to them? Put them on guard? You also have to consider aggression. Some species in South America will actively attack humans, without much encouragement (Their confidence levels are off the charts. It would be akin to a human charging a herd of elephants.). Other spiders can be trusted to walk on your skin, provided you don't restrict their movements.

Spiders are attracted to pheromones. Many animals, including humans, secret pheromones to a certain degree. Thus, it's possible that a spider might associate a pheromone from a human as indicative of giving food, or safety. By possible, I mean that it makes logical and scientific sense, although to my understanding this is something that certainly has never been studied and so there currently is no way to prove this. Still, who knows! It is true that some spiders are very aggressive, however I don't agree with the analogy to a human charging a herd of elephants. In fact, some species of spiders such as the Sydney Funnel-Web which will charge at people can be lethal. Thus, the spiders are not overly confident (well, maybe sometimes, since they don't realize people can grab items and smash them)! However, the vast majority of spiders just want to be left alone. By the way, speaking of spiders, ever wonder how crack-spiders get such nice webs? Wonder no more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Hopefully, you folks won't mind me kicking this back up.

Some updates.... some good.... and some not.

I'll start with the bad bits.

I lost all my spiderlings that were under an inch in size... which really, really sucked !

My Pink Salmon died of unknown causes, my Tiger Rump got stuck in its molt and the Usambara Orange Baboon got eaten up by a cricket slightly larger than it ! All this happened in the span of one month.

Now for the good news.

Both my East African Horned Baboon and Mexican Fireleg molted successfully !!!!

They have gained a bit of size now and are less hesitant to strike on crickets during feeding day.

The Mexican Fireleg is incredibly beautiful with its contrasting colors of orange, red and black. Last week it took down 2 large crickets in less than 5 minutes. It really hits hard to the point the crickets can't even bite back in defense. Its recent molt seems to indicate female and it cause for celebration, given if cared for properly, she'll be with me for over 25 years !! Currently around 2 inches and a half in legspan, she can grow up to 6 inches.

The East African Horned Baboon is mostly a mix of various browns. It has been quite busy since it has webbed up a corner of its enclosure and made a fantastic funnel entrance to its underground retreat. Any cricket that dares to get tangled in the heavy webbing usually gets caught and eaten. It's quite a sight to witness, given this particular spiderling is about 1 inch and a fourth in legspan. Not very large, but its more potent venom than its american cousins, greater speed and higher agression level more than makes up for lack of size. The recent molt was too small to sex, so I'll have to wait until the next one occurs.

So these 2 along with my adult female Chilean rose are thriving and doing great !

The Chilean rose has been really nutty recently, she decided to move her log to the side of the enclosure and also took the water dish from the opposite side of the tank and left it aside the log. They always do their work when we're asleep.

And I've decided to stick to 5 animals for the next couple of years.

So far I'm considering the Curly Haired/Teddybear Tarantula, which is unbelievably gentle and is absolutely the best spider to bring for "show & tell" events.

Then the last one is at the polar opposite of the spectrum : The infamous Deathstalker scorpion. It has the most potent venom in all scorpions, on par with a King Cobra. Regardless, there are some positives. It's incredibly hardy, has a decent appetite, looks unique, stings its prey as opposed to simply crushing it like an Emperor scorpion would and is easy to maintain once it's in the actual cage. I have a pair of 12" feeding tongs I use to recover prey remains in my tarantula cages, these will be very handy with this guy. As long as one has the right tools and a bit of common sense, this is an easy and fun species to keep, so I've heard.

Man, I wasn't even thinking of writing that much

Time for pics.

My Mexican Fireleg Fireball has being very well fed... see for yourselves. I think this little one will need to go on a diet until it molts

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … Fattie.jpg

Other than that, my East African Horned Baboon Darla has molted again. Definitely gained a bit of size and color. Unfortunately, I cannot retrieve the molt as it's guarding it in its web nest in one of the top corners of the KK. I got lucky and was able to get a shot of Darla before it went back into it's webbed fortress.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ewSuit.jpg

And to finish this post on an amusing note, here's a picture of my Chilean Rose Fluffy grooming herself. She was in the act of cleaning her fangs after a nice meal of cricket.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ooming.jpg

So there we have it.

Hmm...

decided that my East African Horned Baboon isin't all that great....  spends nearly all its time hidden anyways...

Will donate it to the not-so local Insectarium.

so the Chilean Rosehair and Mexican Fireleg will do for the time being.

Two tarantulas are always better than one.

Like someone now famous said "Like those potato chips, you can't have just one"

Amen to that.

I've been getting interested in spiders lately. Have you any experience with Cobalt Blue Tarantulas, Dragon God? They are absolutely gorgeous, but apparently very deadly.

Hi Idolores,

Cobalt Blue (Haplopelma lividum) is indeed incredibly beautiful in the right lighting. However, they tend to be very defensive (not agressive, there is a diffrence) and pack a medically significant bite. They also tend to be on the fast side. That was enough to convince me to not get one yet.

Also, no tarantula is deadly to people. At most, a bite from African and Asian species will require a trip to the hospital for muscle cramps, nausea, fever, etc... The bite from species in North, Central and South America is much less severe, to the point of being of no consequence if you simply clean up the bite area asap.

I've been keeping tarantulas for nearly a year and a half, so I'll tell you this : Do NOT get a Cobalt Blue as your first. In addition to their high defensive behaviour and speed, they are burrowers that need to be kept humid at all times. Plus they tend to hide 90% of the time. So basically, you'll be looking at a tank with dirt and a water dish. I learned that lesson with my East African Horned Baboon.

Start off with a docile, harmless american species like the Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma smithi) or the Chilean Rose (Grammostola rosea). Those tend to be much less defensive, a bite usually no worse than a bee sting (but watch the urticating hairs) and need to be kept on the dry side. These two tend to stay out in the open most of the time and make great display pets. You could also safely handle them.

First off, read a few good books before acquring your first. I strongly reccomend "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" by Stanley Schultz and "Tarantulas and other Arachnids" by Samuel Marshall. These two are by far the best books available to the beginning enthusiast.

Hope that helps.

Edit: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html  A little something to whet your appetite. By Schultz himself I might add.

This thread needs an update so bad.

So I'm only with my Chilean Rose and Mexican Fireleg but couldn't be any happier. I've learnt that these two are by far the best pets as they are relatively calm, slow moving and also very easy to care for as well as being extremely hardy.

I couldn't end this post without providing a new picture of each.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ooming.jpg

So Fluffy my Chilean Rose was grooming (cleaning) herself after a meal of cricket. It's so adorable to watch.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … wSuit2.jpg

Now Fireball my Mexican Fireleg after it's second molt in my care. It has grown significantly since I purchased it 6 months ago ! Also look at that bright red-orange on its legs in constrast to its velvety black body. What a beauty !  Still hoping it's female but I can't tell yet.

So my Chilean Rose never EVER flicks urticating hairs... but my Mexican Fireleg does almost every time I open the cage.

I'd be too afraid of permanent eye damage from those hairs to ever want to be near a tarantula.

There's a real easy way to prevent this from ever happening. Don't handle them. I don't... and have never had issues with the hairs. I simply enjoy them by watching through their cages.

Also, I said I was going to donate my East African Horned Baboon... a couple of weeks ago, I decided against it since it's becoming rather attractive with its mottled coloration and the little horn on its "head".

Let me bring up a picture...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ooming.jpg

The horn is clearly visible as a stump for now, but as it gets older, it'll get larger.

Here is an adult's horn for comparison

http://img841.imageshack.us/i/jaws.jpg/

Ain't that something ?  Not everyday you see a tarantula with a horn ! It's thought to be similar to a camel's hump, it stores nutrients and fluids so it can survive through the harsh dry season in the African savana.

Still hopes it ends up being female, a male won't get a horn that large, and they don't live very long when they become adult as opposed to females.

My apologies folks for bringing this back up, but this is too awesome NOT to post.

My Chilean rose Fluffy molted !!!!!!

Pics

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … fyMolt.jpg

Fluffy in her brand new suit !

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … yMolt2.jpg

Fluffy's Molt

Might as well show my new "kids".

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … equila.jpg

Tequila, my 1.5" Mexican Red Knee

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … ic/Rex.jpg

Rex, my 1.5" Brazilian Red & White Birdeater

And the freebie...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … /Curly.jpg

Curly, the 1/4" Honduras Curly Hair

Man I love this hobby !!