No, this is not a thread dedicated to the cinammon-flavoured whiskey of the same name. Rather this is for my little 8-legged lady, whom I'll be documenting her growth to see if her species (Mexican Fireleg) is as long-lived as her Painted Red Leg and Red Knee cousins.

Currently since I got her back in February, she has molted twice in my care and seems due for another in the coming days/weeks. She has refused food for the first time today in 4 months, so this is a sure sign she'll be molting soon-ish.

Let's have a look at her growth since I got her, shall we ?

This is Fireball during its first week in care. I was actually surprised when she caught a cricket when I wasn't looking.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29 … eball1.jpg

This is Fireball after the first molt in my care. She has grown and gained much color since.

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

And Fireball's 2nd molt. She gets bigger and more colorful as she grows.

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

Not long after her 2nd moult, an infestation of mites was discovered. She was immediately transferred to a new, bigger cage.

Was she bothered by this sudden move ? Not so much. She was actually grooming herself on the first evening in her new cage.

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

So I've had her for more than 8 months now. It's only recently that it was confirmed that she was 100% female. As with other Mexican Red-legged species, females are expected to live 20 years or more in captivity. How long will Fireball live ? Time will tell.

Words cannot express the joy of having this particular spider as the life-long pet to accompany me for the next two decades. So. Darn. Beautiful.

Can you take her out and play with her to some extent? Or does she like to sit in your hand? The tarantulas I see at the zoo or nature center never seem to move, so I was wondering how active they are as a pet. Most spiders (and wasps) give me the heebie-jeebies due to my fear of being bitten, but I wouldn't mind handling a docile tarantula. When I lived in Florida there were banana spiders that made giant webs under the oak trees in our yard. They were big, bright and nasty, and you had to make sure you cleared them all away before taking the riding mower under there (shudder). I've always liked snakes though.

Unfortunately, this particular species has a fairly nervous temperament. It's not likely that it will bite, but it will release many, many "urticating" hairs from its abdomen if disturbed. These hairs are like miniature porcupine quills, that when come in contact with skin, may cause rashes or extreme itchiness that lasts for days. For that reason alone, I do not handle her at all. It's truly a display species which definitely catches anyone's attention by its sheer beauty. Its Painted Red Leg and Red Knee cousins are slightly less likely to release hairs upon disturbance and therefore are more handleable.

Edit: Also, it's very much a "pet rock" like its cousins... except at feeding time. It's easily the most voracious eater amongst the three species.

It is a beautiful critter, and definitely a few steps up from a pet rock. (I used to have pet rocks as a kid. The kind you glue together and paint and give buttons for eyes. Fun to make, kinda boring after that.) The closest thing to a spider that I've kept in an aquarium were some hermit crabs, but I was worried they weren't eating enough so I eventually let them go. Anyway, may Fireball live long and healthy.

I would've named her "Hadoken" myself.

Hadoken ?

Kinda has an interesting ring to it... it would be a bit more original than Fireball for sure.

Then again, I've seen folks online give their spiders ridiculous names like Nacho Soup and Mittens to name a few. I was actually considering changing her name to "Sam"...

It's not like they'll come to us when called anyways

Any other suggestions, folks ?

Not a Street Fighter fan, I take it?

Thanks for the pics! A few questions. Have you acquired any other pets recently? How many more pets are you thinking of eventually getting? Do you feed her live crickets? How large is she going to get?

Angela : Not much of an SF fan, I know the move is done by Ryu. Never been good at the genre. Let's say it's a creative name for my spider. Any particular reason it came to mind ?

Avatar : No other pets will be acquired. I've chosen to focus all my attention and time on this particular spider. She won't respond to dead crickets unless I drop them right in front of her and even then I'd rather feed her live ones so she doesn't lose her hunting skills. This species gets to around 6" in legspan. I'd say she's somewhere around the 3" mark now.

Time to kick this 3 year old thread back up.

I started with only Fireball/Fluffy, I am back with only Fireball/Fluffy.

I had a Mexican Redknee and a Mexican Redleg for a while. I was dissapointed with the Redleg's poor appetite and became allergic to the Redknee's urticating hairs.

So now I have my Mexican Fireleg to enjoy for a long time.

Ok, after having spent the better part of two years in a 2.5 Gal KK, I thought it was time to move to the good 'ol glass tank. She hasn't been moved yet, but I have prepared her enclosure, which is again simple in design, but should give her much appreciated extra space to move around.

Let's see the diffrence...

This is her current setup :

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … Fluffy.jpg

Now, here is her new setup, in three diffrent angles.

Front

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … eFront.jpg

Side

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … reSide.jpg

Top

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … ureTop.jpg

A world of diffrence, is there not ?

I added a LOAD of dirt to keep falling incidents to near-nonexistant.

Here is the end result after a relatively easy transfer.

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

Thoughts, folks ?

Edit : Oh yeah... this girl has grown in the past few years. She is 5" now

So, where did the Redknee and Redleg go?

They were sold to other keepers in the area.

Here is the brand new hobby closet. If you look hard, you can make out Fluffy  by the glass.

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … Closet.jpg

Hmmm... Hope you guys won't mind this uh... bump ?

I'm no longer with JUST my Fireleg tarantula. I managed I get back my Redknee... and I'm going back to the source by getting... not 1, not 2... but 3 Chilean roses.

I feel they are quite... underrated.

This is what my closet looks like now...

http:www.//i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/Zuntata-Fanatic/CompleteSpiderCloset.jpg

Changing my setup for the last time.

http://s260.photobucket.com/user/Zuntat … Closet.jpg

On the top are my tarantula maintenance tools (tongs, flashlight, misting bottle (for filling water dishes), notepad for writing in molt records and cricket container for each T, my two Chilean Rose, "Daisy" and "Maggie".
On the middle are my North American Brown "Stimpy", my Mexican Fireleg "Fluffy" and my Mexican Redknee "Ginger".

Lower left spot has all my books, DVDs, CDs, plushies and so on...

This is as perfect as it'll get.