Goodbye Tears

I am way overdue on some updates. We've moved twice and had another (human) baby since my last update. I've been meaning to get back over here, but it is hard to find time with two little humans under foot (plus I stay busy on my other blog). Spiders are so much easier! I did, however, get a little prod of inspiration this week. Stan Schultz, co-author of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, emailed me requesting permission to link a couple of my photos from this blog. I was so excited and flattered! He was glad to inspire my return to the blog as well.

The photos he will be linking (on a care sheet on relative humidity with regard to tarantula care) were of silk turrets made by our Cobalt Blue (Haplopelma lividium), Tears. She turned out to be a he and passed away before our last move. He did stay hidden so much that we're not sure how long he was dead before we noticed. He was a gorgeous specimen.

And so, in honor of Tears, and perhaps a new tradition for this blog, here are all of my photos of him. These are unedited and not cropped - just resized for posting. (I usually crop to just the good bits.) I'm also posting these in case Stan would rather use any of my other silk turret photos. I had not posted all of them. Perhaps I can get some publishing advice from him as well! I have a partially-written basics book on tarantulas. I could use some inspiration there, too, but have another project I need to finish first.

Without further ado, here are my Tears photos:

Burrows by Tears

Tears worked nonstop for several days to create a new, larger burrow.

Double Burrows by Tears
The one on the right is new.

May Modeling: Tears

As I posted in late April, Tears had been coming out a bit. Here she is in early May, still peeking out on occasion.

Tears ~ May 2011

We actually saw her come to the top of her hole to catch a meal recently, during the DAY!

Tears - Peek a Boo!

Our Cobalt Blue Tarantula, Tears, stays hidden most of the time. I have occasionally found her peeking out the top of her hole if I looked in the middle of the night with the lights off. However, lately, she has been coming all the way out! Even with the lights on! She even hangs out outside her hole a little. As usual, we're hoping that this behavior change = imminent molt. That is always the hope with change in behavior.

Tears ~ active!
Haplopelma lividum
April 22, 2011 ~ 7:00am

Tears ~ out again!
Haplopelma lividum
April 24, 2011 ~ 7:30am

Compared to her gallery pic, I do believe Tears has gotten fatter! Yay!

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

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?

New Pet!

The Oklahoma Reptile Show was in town again today! Elmo has been itching to replace Sam, but we haven't found anything for sale in the area other than Rose Hairs (of which we have two already). We went to the Reptile Show a couple of months ago and missed the Cobalts, but today there were still three left!

Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt Blue)

Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt Blue)

These photos do not do the colors justice. This is a gorgeous spider! However, they are one of the more aggressive species. For such a newcomer to the hobby, Elmo sure goes all out!