Molting!

Sometime in the last 24 hours or so, we had 2 pets molt!

Especially if you look at the larger version of this photo, you can actually see little bits of white at the knees!

Tiny finally Molted!
Acanthoscurria geniculata
Brazilian Whiteknee

Tanzania molted, too!
Heteroscodra maculata
Ornamental Baboon
(aka Togo Starburst)

I got the old skin out of Tiny's cage, but Tanzania crouched down on top of the old skin there so I was unable to get it just yet. I have another spice cup, so I think Tanzania may be next to get moved.

Thirds?

Thats right. About 4-5 crickets died in the cricket box, but that still left quite a few large crickets waiting to be eaten. We'll wait about 2 weeks before buying large crickets again.

I caught 1 at a time and gave 10-11 to King. It was funny, he was actually catching each one shortly after I dropped them into his cage.

After giving King 10-11 crickets, there were still 6 left. I compared the size of the Lasiodora difficilis vs. the crickets and decided the crickets were small enough. I started with #1, who doesn't hide. I didn't even have to refrigerate first. The spider started out running from the cricket, but still attacked it within a minute. He didn't seem to have any trouble, though I did find him in a defensive post, holding the cricket.

Lasiodora difficilis
Brazilian Fire Red

I dropped one in with #2 and left them alone for a bit. This spider was, of course, hiding in the burrow after having the bowl opened. When I checked back, the cricket was dead in the burrow, though the tarantula wasn't eating it. I don't know what was up with that. I've left them alone in this dark room now, so I hope the T will chow.

I then dropped 1 at a time in with Señor Fuzzy Britches. He snagged both crickets. I dropped the last 2 crickets into the cage with Tears. Her burrow is still covered with web at the top.

New Big Spider Pics, too!

Here is a shot of Anansi, devouring a cricket. I had never noticed the stripes on her chelicera. Gorgeous!

Brachypelma smithi
Mexican Red Knee
Anansi

Feeding Day - Brazilian Fire Red ~ #1

I recently posted a molting photo update on Brazilian Fire Red #2. Brazilian Fire Red #1 is the one that I have to refrigerate for a few minutes before I even open the dish. This one is real fast and will go for the opening of the container!

Lasiodora difficilis
Brazilian Fire Red
Dinner!

I gave each Brazilian Fire Red small crickets. They had no problem with this prey! This photo is also the new species pic on the Gallery Page.

Moving / Feeding Day - Indian Ornamental

This is was our Indian Ornamental's habitat:

Poecilotheria regalis
Icky Habitat

It looks gross. You can see a couple of mold spots, plus it looks like there might be some mold in the lid, an old meal worm carcass, and there is an old skin. It definitely needed cleaning or something! I am loving the new dishes I got, so I prepped one for this lil guy, even though they aren't much larger.

Feeding Day - Amounts

We don't want the extra crickets to go to waste again. There are 1 or 2 large crickets that have died already. You can see the first course here. Here was "seconds" I fed tonight:

Anansi - ate everything - gave her 2 more crickets, which she immediately took

Chaos - ate everything - gave her 2 more crickets, I think she already has them both

Señor Fuzzy Britches - ate everything - gave 2 more crickets, which were immediately taken

King - he may have 1 cricket still loose and hiding, but he did attack immediately after feeding last night. He is on the lid already tonight (his favorite night time activity) so I couldn't feed him.

Tears - has 1 cricket (of 4) loose so I did not offer more food. I did not remove this cricket, though. I did see that she was higher in her hidey hole and she has also webbed over the top again.

Butch - apparently did eat his 1 cricket. He won't usually eat unless you throw food right into his face. In an attempt to do that through the top door (not the whole lid off) tonight, I dropped the cricket outside the cage! I did catch it and manage to throw it right in front of him. He grabbed it immediately, yay!

Ghost - is looking faaaat and got 4 crickets the other night, so I opted out of feeding her. I hope she'll molt for Elmo soon.

Sling Feeding Day - Amounts

Gotta feed the Slings!

Both Chaco Golden Knees (Grammostola pulchripes)molted! So I didn't feed them. Pictures coming soon. I still have photo posts to do from the other night! I've taken well over 100 photos through the weekend!

I fed each of the Curly Hair Slings (Brachypelma albopilosum) 1 meal worm each. One of them is shy and has a tunnel with 2 entrance/exits. I got photos of these, too.

The Brazilian Whiteknee (Acanthoscurria geniculata) is SO fast! I had to refrigerate for 4 minutes before feeding. I gave Tiny 1 meal worm. I couldn't entice him to attack, even after waiting a bit. I did get pics, though!

My Costa Rican Tiger Rump (Cyclosternum fasciatum) is also very fast and has to be refrigerated for 4 minutes. I gave her 1 meal worm. I tried to entice here, too, but No Go and now the worm is hiding in the dirt somewhere. I'm sure it will peak up and get eaten, though.

Our Ornamental Baboon a.k.a. Togo Starburst (Heteroscodra maculata) didn't seem itself, really. I mean, still a sling so not much personality anyway, but wasn't on the lid and wasn't acting crazy fast. I dropped in 1 meal worm and tried to entice, to no avail. The spider did move, though, and is not in a death curl. So I think we're still good here.

Feeding Day - Amounts

I fed all the big kids and the larger of the slings last night. I got 6 small crickets (got 5½, it seemed). They cost 10¢ each. I fed:

Lasiodora difficilis (Brazilian Fire Red) - both got 2 small crickets. 1 of the crickets was mostly dead

Poecilotheria regalis (Indian Ornamental) - 1 small cricket for the first time, this little T did just fine with it

I think we might get a full dozen small crickets next time. I have one or two more babies that are just big enough to handle small crickets.

I also bought 24 large crickets. They cost 11¢ each. What I actually brought home was 69 live and 1 dead large cricket! I fed:

Moving Day - Chaco Golden Knee Tarantulas

I hate the tiny little cups that hold the Chaco Golden Knees. I'm thankful to have gotten the tarantulas, but don't like the cups or the substrate. That dirt doesn't hold moisture well at all! So today I rounded up a couple of these new containers I like and got them packed down with plenty of new dirt.

New & Old Habitats
Grammostola pulchripes
Chaco Golden Knee

Once I got them moved,

Moving / Feeding Day - Curly Hair Tarantula

After that last molt, I noticed that Señor Fuzzy Britches really outgrew his cage. I mean he FIT of course, but he needed more "leg room" (hahaha, I crack myself up!). This weekend I finally picked up the next size cage. I specifically went for All Living Things® Critter Totes. The lids are much easier to remove and replace. The other brand we got are very stiff. The new one is a Medium.

I packed in plenty of dirt. Then I carefully spooned out some of his old dirt, moving the top layer off first. I topped the new habitat with it. All the while, I was keeping him from coming completely out of his cage. SFB is a very calm specimen. I was easily able to pick it up and move it to the new cage. I left him in it for about an hour before feeding him. He has much more room now! And he had no trouble with the crickets I gave him.

This photo doesn't show how much space he has, but at least it is a new photo, right?!

Señor Fuzzy Britches
in New Home
Brachypelma albopilosum
Curly Hair

Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula

I don't even remember now what got me looking into this, but I was googling for info on Chaco Golden Knee Tarantulas. I started with a search for Grammastola aureostriatum, which is how I have the tarantulas listed on our About page. I noticed, though, that Google suggested Grammostola aureostriata instead. Minor typo? There are lots of sites with one or the other spelling. Then I noticed that the wiki article actually said this name was old. The species has had a change to taxonomic placement (in 2009!). You can see this mentioned on the British Tarantula Society Forum and also mentioned on the wiki page for Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula.

Sooo, I am changing the name on our pages. It will now be properly referenced as Grammostola pulchripes.

Tiny

Our Acanthoscurria geniculata (Brazilian Whiteknee) is one of the Ts we got from our friendly breeder that works with Elmo (and previously me as well). Elmo has named it Tiny. We've enjoyed watching the tiny lil sling wrestle with small meal worms for dinner. After a recent molt, I had decided the vial in which it arrived was a bit cramped. So I finally got it re-housed in a larger container last night.

Acanthoscurria geniculata
Brazilian Whiteknee
"Tiny" in a new home

This is a 2 ounce plastic dish in which seasonings are sold at a local Farmer's Market. It has all kinds of room now! I'm giving it a couple of days to get comfortable before feeding it.

Elmo thought I might have a hard time getting Tiny transferred, but thanks to my handy-dandy paint brush, it was no problem!

Brazilian Fire Red ~ #2

We have 2 Brazilian Fire Red Tarantulas. I believe they are from the same egg sac. We got them at the same time. I had never even heard of the species. I felt they had outgrown their little deli cups, so they got larger habitats with plenty of dirt. Experience has taught us to provide plenty of substrate for burrowing, just in case. It can be difficult to add more once a tarantula has begun a burrow.

Lasiodora difficilis
Brazilian Fire Red
deep burrow goes almost all the way around the bottom of the bowl!

Avicularia versicolor Info

I learned a few new tidbits about the Avicularia versicolor (Antilles Pinktoe) today! Verrrry interesting stuff.

• They can actually jump 30cm or even higher!
  
• I knew they had urticating hairs like other tarantulas, but I didn't know that they are unable to kick those hairs off like the terrestrial tarantulas we have in the states.
  
• I also now know that males tend to have brighter coloration than females.
  
  

This particular bundle of tidbits brought to you from Wikipedia.

SFB Molting Again?!

I got Señor Fuzzy Britches, a Brachypelma albopilosum (Curly Hair) at the Oklahoma Reptile Expo in October of last year. Then at the end of November, he had built an awesome burrow and molted in it. His burrow has since collapsed. He tends to web the lid to his enclosure. Yesterday he built / laid a sort of web hammock. And then today, a short 3½ months since his last molt,... (drum roll please) he molted again! He is so big!

SFB - Freshly Molted
cozied up to old skin

I fed everyone last weekend and failed to notice there was still 1 of 2 crickets loose in his cage until later in the day! I noticed he was pressing himself up against his old skin. Then I noticed the cricket and just about had a heart attack! Tarantulas are very vulnerable during and after their molt (for about a week). I immediately caught and removed the cricket! All appears to be well. This was wonderful news after losing a pet yesterday. I would have been a wreck if I'd lost SFB over something so simple as a cricket so soon after losing S.B.

SB - Another Death of Old Age

When I first got interested in tarantulas, I had a wish list in mind of the species I wanted to own. On the top of my list was the Avicularia versicolor. In October, we attended the Oklahoma Reptile Expo and I brought home one gorgeous A. versicolor (Antilles Pinktoe). The breeder informed us that the spider had just molted a few days prior. It had previously been turquoise (A. versicolor slings are turquoise).

Avicularia versicolor
(Antilles Pinktoe)
S.B.

Tears - Hide & Seek

Tears, our Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt Blue) is quite the hermit. We rarely see her at all.

Cobalt Blue Tarantula Habitat

You see that we provided a hide for her, but she chose to burrow her own. We love for our pets to create their own burrows! However, if we'd known she would do it we might have left the clay pot out of her cage. Since she has built her burrow against it, we can't remove it. Oh well.

This is about the only glimpse we might catch of her:

Cobalt Blue Tarantula Burrow
Do you see her down there?