Still no Appetite

Yesterday afternoon I got Anansi out (and held her) for a few minutes. I just wanted to look her over and make sure she was looking / acting normal for her. Maybe her recent inactivity has been my own imagination (read: paranoia), but she really has not been interested in food. I gave her another cricket. As of this morning, she still hasn't eaten it. If she still hasn't eaten it by this afternoon, I'll take it out, too... and continue to hope these are signs of an imminent molt.

No Dinner... Bald now

Since Anansi didn't show any interest in the perfectly healthy cricket for about 24 hours, I went ahead and took it out. I used my paintbrush to coax her out of her container and into my hand. She wasn't very active. I so want to pet spiders when I hold them, but I'm afraid that I might harm the really little ones. There was also dirt on top of her opisthosoma. I brushed it off and got a bit of dirt on the brush, so I wiped it off on the cloth napkin I had spread out under everything. I stroked down her back side again, more dirt. After a few strokes, I realized the black circle on her back end was gone... then I realized that it was shiny. I brushed off most of her urticating hairs! I was really weirded out. Has anyone else done this? I don't think I should be concerned... anyone think differently? I hope she molts soon.

Not hungry, baby?

I gave Anansi a small cricket last night. It seems like she has kind of tracked it, but she hasn't attacked or eaten it yet. It's a bit cold here this week, so I know that may have slowed her down a bit. I wanted to hold her, but I thought I'd better make sure she was fed first. Maybe I should hold her for body heat. Except my hands are usually the coldest part of me. :P

Tarantula Pics!

I took these three weeks ago (at e-spiderworld in OKC), but finally edited them last week. I'm only posting three tonight...

Brachypelma smithi

Brachypelma annitha
Look at that bald rump!

Ceratogyrus marshalli

None for me, thanks.

I gave Anansi another cricket a day or so ago. I really hurt this one, though. It pretty much died and she pretty much wasn't interested. I just now removed it. I sure would like to see her molt soon.

Midnight Snack

I dropped a very small wounded cricket in with Anansi last night (after spraying a bit more water into her container). It's gone this morning yet she doesn't look as though she has moved from where she was last night. It's a bit chilly in here this morning, though, so I'm not going to try to move her or anything. I'm sure she'll move around once it warms up in here.

Snack & Supper / Supper or Dessert?

I picked up crickets yesterday. I dropped two into Anansi's container this time. One of them was really really small and the other was small enough. (I can't get pinhead crickets here, but I can get some pretty small ones.) She snatched the smaller one really quick. After a few hours I could find no cricket remains... yet again. What's the deal??

The larger of the two crickets was still in there a few hours later. They didn't seem to be bothering each other.

By morning the second cricket is now missing, too. Anansi is looking all faaat. lol

American House Spider

I haven't had much time to post lately, but wanted to say... after washing all the jars, I put a little bit of water in the jar with the American House Spider to make sure it had fluids. It seemed to have a hard time starting a web (maybe from getting it's spinner end wet?) and I kept finding it in the water. I tipped the jar so that it was out of the water, but it got back into it and apparently drowned. It was interesting to see that the back legs are so short and the "abdomen" is so big that it kind of drags the ground. It would fall over from time to time.

I was actually considering setting it loose outside, but wanted to find some way to get rid of it - guilt free. I didn't kill it on purpose and feel I was doing the right thing in cleaning out the stench that was cricket carcasses. So, there you have it. And then there were two.

I think I have more photos to post... I don't guess I've looked at the photos from cleaning day at all. I just offloaded them from the camera this morning.

OK, I need to get back to other busy things. I hope everyone is well. Some of you need to POST!

Hands On

After tackling a big, difficult project I wanted to do something fun for myself. So... I got Anansi out again. She ran just a little bit when she first came out, but stopped on the side of my wrist. She just sat there. This time I know she was already warm. Her position made it difficult to coax her back into the container. In fact, as I brushed her rear end, she edged backwards. She finally made her way into a position that made it easier to transfer her back into the container. When she goes back in, she runs down the wall. Then she ran across the ground, I thought she was going to snag the cricket, but as I put the lid on, I saw that she really seemed to just want back out with me. :) Gosh.

Turned out to be a good way to reward myself & cheer me up from the frustration of the project.

I took lots of photos of the spiders this morning, but I haven't offloaded them yet. I'll get to it. I have a meeting in a little bit, though.

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Later in the evening I checked and could not find any cricket remains (yet again). I guess she must have gotten around to eating that one, too. What the heck is she doing with the exoskeletons??

Cleaning Time

My small jar (with the American House Spider in it) was pretty stinky and had some decayed dinner in it. Bunny's cage was also looking rather dirty. So... I decided to have some spider time. First, I got Anansi out. I haven't had her out since right after I got her home. She sat real still for a long time, then ran once around my hand, to the back. Then she sat some more. I noticed she actually rested her body on my hand, so she really may have been warming up.

There was one (I thought) live cricket left in Bunny's keeper (that's where I keep them), so I caught it and put it into Anansi's container before putting her back into it. She hasn't eaten it yet.

Then I transferred the AHS into a smaller / extra jar. I washed it's jar out with warm water; MUCH better. I also put a little bit of water in the bottom. It seems rather lost without it's web, just pawing at the wall a lot like it did when I first caught it.

I found one more cricket in Bunny's cage, so I transferred it and bunny into separate jars. I washed his cage out in the same fashion, as well as the water dish and the plastic spider. I've tossed the sponge altogether. I can actually SEE whether there is water since I'm just using the lid. And even the smallest crickets I get can make it out of the water. The lid I use really makes for a cool water dish. Shortly after I put him back into the keeper, I actually saw him getting a drink. Cool!

The plastic spider in Bunny's cage looks just like this one from iStockphoto!

Since the AHS still seemed to be freaking out a bit, I decided not to give the extra cricket to it. I was also tempted to trade it out with the one Anansi has, as it is slightly larger than her's. In the end, I just put the extra, larger cricket back into Bunny's keeper.

Now all the containers are all nice and clean. The spiders are all watered. Yay.

Hungry Girl / Quick Hunter

I just tossed another cricket into the dish. It started running pretty fast as soon as it hit the dirt, so I set the lid back onto the container. By the time I fed & watered Bunny (1-2 minutes), she had already snatched the cricket! It was pretty tiny. She's so cute. lol

Still absolutely no sign of the crickets she has already eaten.

Breakfast

I had planned to give Anansi another cricket this morning. Before I got to it, though, I was taking care of the dog. His water dish was empty, so I was giving him water (& food). I noticed a bug in the water, then realized it was kind of hopping on top of the water. Sure enough, it was one of the feeder crickets. They're so small that they tend to escape from time to time. Oops.

It was EASY to catch with our plastic tweezers and then I gave it to Anansi. I had more stuff to do, but I went and looked a little while ago (& to show Anansi to a friend) and she was eating. Yay!