Oklahoma Reptile Expo - New Pets!

Today was finally the day for the Oklahoma Reptile Expo! Elmo and I both had trouble sleeping last night due to excitement! We got up too early this morning and eventually gathered up the girls to go to breakfast. Then it was a stop by Target before we headed to the hotel hosting the expo. We went in the front door... won't do that again! We were sent upstairs and then "just keep going" down a hall. We even walked through a part of the hallway with NO lights! Eventually we discovered that there was, indeed, a back door close to the expo itself. We chose that for our exit later.

I had been concerned that the Reptile expo might not offer any spiders. I emailed the guy that puts on the event, but never heard back from him. When I talked with him today, he felt certain he had replied. I check my spam folder, but I'll check again.

We walked into the expo and immediately spotted 3 tarantulas. I was SO excited already! We walked around the outer circle, then the inner circle. I found someone selling log hides and asked her about mold on them. I was appreciative of her expertise and advise. There were only 2 vendors with tarantulas, but the other one had a lot to choose from. Both vendors offered good deals.

Sasha got restless, so we all went into the hallway for a break. Sasha had a little milk and then ran around free for a bit with Tyler. It was a nice open space. Meanwhile, Elmo & I discussed what we wanted to actually purchase and how much we would have to spend to get habitats all set for them. We had some stuff at home, but not everything we needed.

Elmo got 1 Theraphosa blondi (Goliath Birdeater) and 1 Heterometrus longimanus (Asian Forest Scorpion). The Goliath is a juvenile, so we do not know the sex. It is maybe 2-3 inches now, but will eventually get to 12-15 inches! We didn't think to ask the sex of the scorpion, but we're pretty sure it is full grown. It looked so much bigger when we got it out of the little deli cup! I got 1 juvenile Avicularia versicolor (Antilles Pinktoe) which is the first really exotic (read: colorful) species with which I fell in love. I also got 1 juvenile Brachypelma albopilosum (Curly Hair) which intrigued me, especially when the vendor said that they are the most docile and friendly tarantulas he's ever seen. They will crawl right out onto your hand!

For those trying to keep count, you can see our collection listed on our About Us page. I will mention, though, that this Curly Hair is the 2nd Brachypelma species I've got now.

The vendor had some other species that we had wanted to find, but they sold yesterday. :-( We'd still like to attend the KC Reptile Show sometime, which is ONLY on Sundays so we should have better luck. The vendor that had so much for us today is from there, so he would have much more to offer at that show... or we could just go to his store!

Busy Day

We had a busy day today, running errands. While we were out, we stopped at Southern Agriculture to talk to the guy that orders the tarantulas and to get crickets. We need to come up with specific species to request from him. We would like a Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt Blue) and found out they had one for a long time, but finally sold it. It was a very aggressive spider and attacked one of the employees there. We kind of want the ability to shop, so we did get the contact info for the breeder that Southern Ag uses.

Live Wish List

So I've been thinking it's birthday time... that kinda means tarantula time, right? I got Anansi 2 years ago for my birthday. Becca took me to OKC to get her. Only... that breeder is apparently out of business now. Bummer. I've been thinking about the next T, though. And now I've narrowed it down to one of two species:

• Avicularia avicularia
  
• Avicularia versicolor

I've always thought that the A. versicolor was beautiful, but both of these make good starters for Arboreal species tarantulas. I've been wanting an arboreal tarantula for a while. I have to work out habitat before I can seriously look at ordering one, though. And I might be able to find one in town. I have seen an A. avicularia at a pet store in BA before.

I hate the idea of buying from a pet store, but I also am nervous about receiving a pet in the mail! It happens all the time, though. They ship them often.

Dinner Bell

I love my babies so much! I was in the neighborhood today and have been wanting to pick up some crickets, so I stopped and got 3 for each of them. I gave their dirt a good soaking, too. Then I dropped 3 large crickets in with Anansi. She's looking a little thin. Within about 10 minutes, she had snagged all 3 and was kind of balling them all up into her chelicera all greedy-like. SOOO cute!

Next was Chaos's turn. She really likes her log (again), though this one also has some fuzzy looking spots on the end closest to the plastic. She has dug down in the corner of the log against the plastic. I saw her kind of go toward the exit once she noticed something was out there. She snagged the first cricket pretty quickly. She started up the hill that leads to the top of her log as a cricket seemed to be taunting her from there. She was so cute watching for it. Then she started laying down her webby table cloth. She isn't thin at all, but she hasn't molted since I got her, so she doesn't have any real reason to be thin. Still, she looks all pretty, pink, and large... made me wonder if she'd bury her exuvium if she did molt. hm

Finally it was time for my wild-caught spider I got at work. I have no idea what it is, I haven't really tried to ID it yet. This one has lined the entire bottom of it's cage with webbing. It's a circle, so it kind of pulls up into a bowl. Then the spider hides in the corner, just outside the bowl. I could tell this one noticed the movement in the habitat and was waiting for something to get close enough. I looked away for a minute and SNAG! First cricket bit the dust. I could have sat there for hours and watched them all process their dinner...

While I was at PetSmart, I was looking at habitats. I'm really wanting to get an arboreal species, but I'm concerned about habitat. So... I'm slowly researching my choices. I noticed a topic on one of my spider communities about pros/cons between arboreal and terrestrial. So I'll be reading those comments further and perhaps asking for suggestions on arboreal habitat that is available at the local pet stores. I really, really need to build (or buy) a shelf of some sort to go over my desk, but then it'll be too cold there this winter (it is an outside wall).

RC Tarantula & A Book

Have you seen this thing?! It is a remote control tarantula! It calls it realistic, but also says the eyes light up red... and what species does that?! Still... I want one! lol

Holy cow, and look at this book!! Very cool!

Long Time No Update

I recently expanded my spider family. I was at the PetCo to see what they had. I can't get the guy at e-Spiderworld to return my calls or reply to my emails. I feel like some kind of stalker, but I've been a good customer... I just prefer to purchase my spiders in person and carry them home rather than having them shipped.

So I was at PetCo... hoping to find an arboreal species... even though I prefer not to purchase from a pet store. They only had one tarantula... a Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Hair). I guess I had the new pet itch, because I just had to have it. The guy working really didn't like the spiders, so he was happy to let me get her out of the aquarium myself. He brought me this little cardboard box and I looked at him like he was crazy. I bought a kritter keeper (only by some other company) and put it directly into it. Off the top of my head, I can't recall if it's a boy or a girl and now it is hiding. This was a month ago or so. My life got real chaotic... so I finally named it the other day - Chaos. I put in one of those log things and Chaos liked to hang out on top of it... I guess now got more used to it because Chaos is hiding IN it and even dug some extra dirt out from under it.

Now a concern - the end of the log close to the plastic of the habitat has some furry green spots on it. I'm going to post to a spider community to see if this is cause for concern or no big deal. I don't like to have mold around... but Chaos really likes this log!

Spiderlings

My friend Kelly (who used to have a pet tarantula) made a good point this morning. The larger spiders are more expensive... this is certainly an indication that they are difficult to care for while they get larger.

e-spiderworld still has more Brachypelma smithi spiderlings, of various sizes:

Brachypelma smithi, Mexican Redknee, .5", $25

Brachypelma smithi, Mexican Redknee, 1.25", $40

Brachypelma smithi, Mexican Redknee, 2", $65

One half inch larger (and sexed as a female) and she'd cost $150, though a 3" male is only $100. I'd still like to get a young one. I'm just not sure I want one quite as young.

I'm giving it some thought. And I'm waiting to hear back from Eric. He is never quick to read/reply to email, so I'm not holding my breath.