The Spider Blog

Welcome to the spider blog where things will get a little more personal and I will document my day to day experiences with the tarantula keeping hobby. Here I will post at regular intervals updating you on the current comings and goings of the spiders I have here ...

Pictures of the week - Click on the one to view ...

July 31 2010

Well it's been over a month since my last blog update, but that doesn't mean things have been uneventful. No new spider additions at the moment as I have lately treated myself to a new Royal Python. But with about 150 spiders here at the moment, there's plenty going on.

It's been a month of moulting. Loads of spiders, including some of the big girls have finally moulted after very long waits. The best has to be my huge L. klugi girl, Millie, who has moulted into a real beast of a spider. She may not be as leggy as the T. blondi burgundys here, but she certainly packs some weight. She's a real tank. She went a long time without eating before moulting - about 6 months, so I have been treating her to some locusts to build her up a bit (not that she needs it, she's huge). Pic in this week's gallery.

Another large moult was my L. parahybana which although not at Millie's size is still a rather large hairy monster. Sammie is loking great in her new skin and also has her appetite back.

Lots of spiderlings are outgrowing their current containers. None more so than the 4 P. cambridgei slings I have here. A hardier aboreal spider there is not. They eat like horses and grow like weeds. Unfortunately they are also lightning on legs - house spiders on speed. This fact mage my rehousing session something of a chase the spider around the bath tub episode. They are so fast and jump amazingly. Unfortunately the jars I moved them into will not hold them for long - it's only going to be a matter of a couple of months and I'll be chasing them around the bath tub again. Fun fun fun.

Also had some H. maculata fun. These spiders are also extremely fast and highly eager to bite. Not a spider you would want to risk a bite from. I normally start these off in a nice size enclosure so I have to do a minimal amount of rehouses throughout the spiders life. It keeps them happy and avoids me being on the biting end of their unhappy complaints. However a rehouse for my juvenile specimen Snails could not be avoided. So into the bath tub the enclosure went. The last time I had any out of tank dealings with Snails she ended up lost under the sofa where she built a little fort and was incredibly difficult to retrieve. Anyhow, I'm happy to report she was not so feisty as expected this time around and the rehouse went far smoother than the hair raising experience with the 4 P. cambridgei slings.

Oh and while on the subject of H. maculata, my other juvenile specimen Slugs is almost impossible to contain. Feeding always takes place in the bath from now on, since the last time I opened her large tub in the living room she decided to come out of it, and did not prove easy to convince to return to her living quarters. She is especially tricky as her web is right at the top her her tub where the lid is.

One spider which is doing very well indeed is Sunger my largest P. irminia. She is special as she was my first ever spiderling. She is not a spiderling anymore however. She is a stunning velvet black tarantula with gorgeous orange highlights. Amazing to see when she emerges from her web retreat, although such sightings are sadly rare. Always a treat to see. i hope my other 5 p. irminia which are still only 2cm slings grow up to be as amazing as Sunger.

So what do i have to look forward to? Well, mainly a whole lot of rehousing as slings left right and centre are out growing their delicups and jars. I have some L. parahybana on their way to being juveniles, and about 5 OBTs (oh joy of deep joys) that need a house upgrade. Hmmm, I'm not sure there is a worse spider to have to rehouse than OBTs. They are very very fast and very mean - in case you didn't know the OBT name stands for Orange Bitey Thing - and they seem to enjoy living up to that name - God bless them.

Otherwise, i am very much enjoying my collection, watching the adults thrive and the spiderlings and juveniles grow.

More on their progress soon ...

June 19 2010

Well, it's been a week of P. regalis pairing. Having managed to obtain an MM P. regalis affectionately known as Victor I was eager to pair him with my big girl Lady Chocolate. They have been together for three nights so far and I have observed them drumming to each other several times. Unfortunately I have not been able to witness any mating, however I do feel quite certain a pairing has taken place. It will soon be time for Victor to return to his own tank before he goes on to meet further females.

Also my juvenile Nhandu vulpinis has moulted and is now really quite large. Time for a tank upgrade I think. Pictures will follow soon. A few others have moulted included my little GBB that now has its adult colours and my A. versicolor that has now lost the baby blue in favour of a nice plush purple.

Otherwise I have added a new Xenesthis immanis spiderling tp my collection. It's quite a skittish little thing, but if it's anything like I expect, it will be greedy and grow quickly into a stunning spider.

No other new arrivals are planned as yet, but I have got my eye on a Euathlus vulpinus spiderling, which is a species I would really like to add to my collection.

May 30 2010

Lots going on and lots of new arrivals!

Firstly the G. rosea eggs with legs have finally moulted into N1 and the little guys are all walking around in the incubator. It's been a week now, and it won't be long until I need to start the job of preparing individual pots for them. Very pleased with the results.

Also on the egg side, I pulled the T. ockerti sac and it wasn't too good. I have taken what looked like 50 good eggs and moved them to the incubator so we will have to wait and see if anything comes of them.

New arrival wise, last weekend I went to our local petstore and picked up a real nice Eucratoscelus pachypus. Unfortunately the petstore aren't too brilliant with spiders, so I bought the little guy mainly through pity. Nothing a good long drink and a cricket couldn't correct though. The little thing is quite sweet really.

Anyway, I also put a 5 spider order in at the Spider Shop (great spider supplier) and all arrived safe and sound, the order consisted of one adult P. lugardi that arrived all fat and possibly gravid. She's a real nice spider and she has currently webbed herself into the cave I gave her, so will be interesting to see what she does.

The order also included a tiny E. murinus sling that i have dubbed Mini Bones and the little thing has just moulted and is a whooping 2cm in size now. I hope it will grow up to be a male for my big lady Bones.

Other than that I picked up a new Juvenile H. maculata - real fast, but so cute at just 4cm, and a couple of more obscure spiderlings - including a nasty Chilobrachys andersoni (I hear these guys make H. lividum look friendly) and a bit of a gamble in a Cyriopagopus schioedtei sling. These are gorgeous as adults, but I hear the slings are tricky to raise and it's my first time with this species so I'm giving the little 3cm sling A1 attention to see if I can successfully raise it.

Lastly I picked up a sub adult Cyclosternum fasciatum that almost immediately moulted into an MM. I am now in the process of tracking down a lady for him. Fingers crossed.

So that's all the news for now - more soon.

May 16 2010

Yay, had a lovely new arrival. Claudia my new long wanted Acanthoscurria geniculata (Brazilian White Knee) is finally here, and boy is she a beauty, you can see pictures of her in the Pictures of the week gallery above. I'm very pleased with her and I think she is in premoult, so maybe she'll be even bigger and even prettier soon.

Also this week, I won a runner's up prize in an exotic pet photo competition with a picture I took of Bones, my E. murinus (Skeleton tarantula). I was really pleased about this, and the judges tel me I got bonus points for being brave and getting up close to a Skeleton, what they don't know is Bones is a pussy cat who doesn't seem to mind being photographed at all.

Otherwise, the chile rose eggs with legs have gotten a lot bigger. i'm hoping they will moult into little spiders any day now!

May 01 2010

Eggs with legs! Shortly after they were placed in the incubator the G. rosea eggs all hatched into eggs with legs and are currently still in this state. It will be interesting to see how much longer it will take for them to moult into mobile little spiders.

Otherwise it's been a week of upgrading and redesigning tanks for those who need it as all the small little guys keep getting bigger, lots of slings beginning to colour up now, including a little B. smithi who has now got its first hint of colour. I always love the part when they change from little hairless spiders into mini proper tarantulas.

Also we have some new spiders on the way. I'm aquiring x10 L. parahybana slings. These guys are such fun to grow, even though i'll have to sell a bunch of them when they are bigger I will enjoy growing them. Also got five little P. irminia slings coming next week - cutest little slings ever, and two juveniles due in: Paraphysa parvula and Paraphysa scrofa. Best of all I have just purchased a sub adult female Acanthoscurria geniculata. Wanted one of these for so long, so a very welcome addition to the collection. Hopefully she will arrive here with me next week. So lots to look forward to.

As always, watch this space ...

April 24th 2010

Eggs! Yes, that's right folks - G. rosea eggs. After 5 weeks of nail biting we finally pulled the sac today and cut it open to find 240 yellow eggs inside (pic above). i don't want to speak too soon, it could still swing either way, but since the photo has taken a couple of the eggs have shed the outer husk and emerged as small eggs with legs! Things are looking hopeful. Next week I hope to have news of eggs with legs or better yet slings. Fingers crossed.

As for the other egg sac belonging to the T. ockerti things all seem to be going well there, though admitedly it is hard to see the female in her well made web retreat so I wont really know much until we go in there to pull the sac in two weeks. will keep you posted on that one.

Meanwhile the arrival of a handsome MM L. klugi (whom I have dubbed Clive) has put a start to my next breeding project, just waiting now for lady L. klugi Millie to moult as she is not far off and so mating her before she moults would be a waste of time as she would probably moult out. So the wait is on for Millie to moult. Hope she doesn't take too long, Clive's clock is ticking.

Not much else to report at the moment - but things are about to get busy around here.

More next week.

April 17th 2010

Another week and another great new addition to my collection. After spending a while choosing I finally settled on a female Pamphobeteus antinous and oh boy is she a beauty! For pictures see the pictures of the week box up top, I think you'll agree she's a stunner. Best of all I have a male lined up for her later. She needs a moult then she should be ready to meet her man. Fingers crossed for slings of this wonderful species.

Also I think I have found a male L. klugi for my big female Millie. She's in premoult at the moment so will be ready for mating in a few months. I really like this species so I really hope for success.

As for the two egg sacs incubating at the moment all seems to be going well. I am planning to pull the G. rosea sac next weekend and I suspect we'll have T. ockerti a few weeks later. It's going to be very busy.

I'm still looking for a male P. regalis and P. formosa for my two lovely girls. Realy hope I find one, seems like MM pokies are like gold dust. I will keep you posted how the search goes.

The next time I update this blog I will have news on the contents of the G. rosea egg sac. Watch this space ....

April 10th 2010

Well, we have a surprise. My female T. ockerti (Red rump tree spider) has laid an egg sac. That, to say the least, was unexpected. However seeming as she is wild caught and has not moulted in my care, I suspect it is fertile. So now I have the G. rosea sac due to be pull in one week and the T. ockerti sac that should hatch in a few weeks as well. I think I'm going to be rather busy.

Otherwise the new P. formosa has arrived and she is really gorgeous. Click here to see her, I have named her April. She will be at perfect mating time in a month, so the race is on to find a male for her. Would dearly love some baby pokies.

I dare say with two sacs close to hopefully hatching there'll be lots to update you on soon. Watch this space for babies!

April 5th 2010

So much has happened since the last time I wrote on this blog. Let's see, the biggest spider news is that two weeks ago gravid Rosie the G. rosea (original name huh?) made her egg sac and to this date she is still guarding her precious little bundle. I'm very excited as if the slings hatch (which I hope they will) this will be my first success with breeding tarantulas. A picture of the proud mum to be is in the pics of the week section.

New additions? Well as planned I picked up a lovely juvie P. ornata (pic up top) really nice little spider. Also have a new sub adult female Citharischius crawshayi, she's really nice. Have now got two juvie B. klaasi. These are unusual Ts and grow quite slowly. However both mine have the famous pink legs already and are probably about 5-6cm in leg span. Also added a adult female P. formosa - quite an unexpected addition, but she is really a gorgeous spider. And, I decided to swap my adult GBB which unexpectedly molted out male for the mother of the five little P. formosa I purchased previously. She is due to arrive sometime next week. This leaves me with the mission to obtain a nice male to introduce to my two ladies and hopefully will result in future baby pokies!

Have also added five little H. lividum slings to the collection. Blimey these are speed demons and will they stay put in their tubs? Nope. Nearly every feeding time I end up chasing at least one of them across the floor.

My favourite new addition has to be Millie - a gorgeous L. klugi. She's a really big girl and since she's in pre molt at the minute, I suspect she's about to get even bigger. I'm beginning to acquire a real taste for the Lasiodora tarantulas. I love the sheer size of them, and how they stay out in the open making great display specimens. I really love the L. parahybana. I have ten of these at the moment - eight slings, a 10cm juvie and a 16cm sub adult. I may attempt a breeding programme with these in the future.

Molt wise not much happening - my little T. ockerti sling has molted and now has the proper adult colours and a couple of my B. smithi slings are almost at the stage where their colours will start to show. Lots of P. lugardi slings molting at the moment. Otherwise expecting the sub adult B. emilia to molt any day now since her bald spot has gone very dark.

I think that's it for now, watch this space for updates and hopefully my first CB sling success soon.

March 12th 2010

Another fantastic week with the spiders!

What's new? All sorts. I suppose the biggest and perhaps most exciting arrival has been my immature male and mature female goliath bird eating spiders - T sp. burgundy. They are enormous, real giants! I have named them Charlotte and Wilber in honour of the wonderful children's novel Charlotte's Web. Eventually it is my hope to attempt breeding with these spiders but for now I just want to enjoy them as they settle into their new home. They were both pretty calm when they emerged from their very well packed boxes, and after a brief investigation they headed for the hides I had made for them. Soon after they chowed down two crickets each. They are quite thin so I will be feeding them up to help get them into top condition. They are certainly a very welcome addition.

The other big arrival has been that of my five p. formosa spiderlings. They are adorable little things - about 2cm in legspan and they all live together with no problems whatsoever. they have been quite cute to watch exploring their new home. This is my second pokie community (the first being a three specimen set up of p. regalis) so i hope to see the same sort of progression with the spiders sharing webs and even food between each other.

Moults - um, not too many this week really. My mystery spider has moulted and although it is bigger and very nice looking I am still none the wiser as to what it actually is. Hmmm, I'm sure I'll get an idea on it sooner or later. The other spider to moult has been my juvie avic bicegoi - it is quite a bit bigger now and in need of an enclosure upgrade. Not much else in the way of moults at the moment and not many spiders currently seeming to be in premoult.

What to expect for the future? Well, I have purchased three new spiders this week that I will collect next weekend. The puchase is of a sub adult king baboon, a juvenile B. Klaasi, and a juvenile p. ornata. Should be three very nice additions to my collection.

As always, watch this space!

March 6th 2010

Well, not so many new spiders arrived this week, however some very interesting developments have taken place. Firstly next week I am expecting the arrival of 5 new little p. formosa slings which wil be put into a communal set up as they are all from the same egg sac. This will be my second pokie community and I am quite excited about receiving the little guys. This will be a new pokie species to add to my collection bringing me to a total of having 4 different pokie species in my collection.

Otherwise I have ordered myself a big adult T. Blondi burgundy and an immature male to go with her. It is my hope to attempt breeding them once she is conditioned and the male is mature. I will of course document the attempt here on this site so you'll be able to follow the process whether successful or not so successful. Still, I am very much looking forward to receiving these giants of the spider world.

Also on the breeding front, my attempt at breeding Acanthogonatus sp. "Green" has taken another step forward. Two days ago i introduced the male to the bigger of the two females. She has only just moulted a little while ago, so it was the perfect time to mate her. The mating was a success with the male doing his stuff then escaping from her clutches unharmed. This means I now have two mated females so now it's time to feed them up and wait to see how things go. I will keep you updated on their progress.

On another subject I have sold two of my juvenile spiders - my little Chestnut dwarf and Chile flame will be on their way to the their new homes very shortly. I never realy like selling spiders as I get attached to them, but with so many newcomers sometimes sending some out has to be done just to keep my house from bursting at the seams.

My Ebony Earth Tiger MM arrived safely at his new home on Friday and I will await news to see how the mating attempt goes. If there are any slings I will certainly be purchasing some.

So lots to look forward to - watch this space for further updates soon.

February 28th 2010

Wow, are things busy, very many new arrivals flooding in my doors, hard to keep track of them all.

Sling wise this week I have had Psalmopoeus irminia, Haplopelma albostriatum, Pterinochilus murinus 'OBT', Nhandu chromatus sling, Brachypelma angustum, and Aphonopelma iodius arrive this week. Sizes are varied from really tiny to almost juvie. Excellent spiders all of them.

Adult wise I have had a new AF p. regalis arrive. She is gorgeous and very bronze coloured at the minute as I suspect she will shed soon. I have also brought in my first none tarantulas and added a breeding group of Acanthogonatus sp. "Green" to my collection - two adult females and a mature male. I tried my first copulation with the male and one of the females today and was really pleased with what I feel is a successful mating. I will create a page for these wonderful spiders and keep a journal of how things progresswith them. The bigger female has just moulted so I will give her a week before introducing the male to her. he is certainly a very eager male.

Also I have added a sub adult GBB to my collection. She is very beautiful, and is busy webbing up her new enclosure. I am very pleased with this new addition.

Have also aquired a new T. Blondi burgundy sling. this was given to me as a gift and I was really surprised and pleased to recieve it, meaning I have two of these now.

All the other spiders in my colection are doing well. Just one moult since my last blog and it saw my Ebony Earth Tiger Selenocosmia sp become a mature male. He is currently waiting to be sent away to meet with a potential girlfriend. Fingers crossed for slings.

Otherwise I can see that I now have so many spiders a website overhaul is required so I will be working on some redesigns and page changes over the next few weeks.

More updates soon.

February 13th 2010

Still busy, very very busy spiderwise.

Last Friday I had a nice delivery from the spider shop with 4 new arrivals. I was slightly disappointed as I had expected 5 new spiders, however they were out of stock of one of them. The four to arrive were gorgeous and consisted of 1 juvie Nhandu vulpinus, 1 adult Stichoplastoris sp and two slings: A. sp "Amazonica" and Aphonopelma caniceps. Pictures of these spiders are in the pop up gallery above.

This week has also seen many new, but tiny arrivals - had 6 p. cambridgei arrive on Tuesday and these are little cuties. I love the little tiger stripes and socks they wear when they are mini. Then on wednesday had 2 juvie L. para arrive - one of which I gifted to our very good friends, so I have one left and she's a little beauty. Eating everything I give her. Also had 5 little G. rosea slings arrive Wednesday. They were not in the best of condition and I was really sad that one was dead. The other four seem okay, but are not taking food at the moment. We will have to wait and see how these little guys go.

Otherwise I have put some of my bigger slings up for sale, hoping mainly to swap them for other spiders, but generally just seeing howw things go. Will only let them go if I feel the offer is right.

Had a couple of moults this week - my juvie Citharischius crawshayi moulted on Wednesday and looks very orange now. I thought it would be a lot bigger after the expected moult, but the size difference is not much. I guess they really are slow growers. Also my little GBB moulted on Thursday and that really is much bigger. Love the vibrant colours and the first hint of some of the adult colours coming in. Very pretty spider indeed.

Maggie my new T. blondi has started to feed in my care, and though she is somewhat fickle and skittish, I'm satisfied that she is doing well. She does not seem to like the hide I made her and spends most of her time out in the open. I may try a different hide see if that suits her better.

My little T, apophysis sling is eating absolutely everything and looking quite plump and round. It is a very cute and leggy little spider and is fast becoming one of my very favourites.

On the arboreal front I have lots of spiderlings very nearly juvies that have somewhat outgrown their houses so it looks like I will have to upgrade them and have a fun time with some very fast little spiders. Can't be avoided though, these guys are huge compared to what they were a little while ago.

Otherwise, I am on the hunt for B. Klaasi sling.

Further updates soon.

January 30th 2010

Wow, what a busy spider week, filled with gladness and a little sadness as well.

I finished last week's blog on the hunt for elusive T. Blondi, and I have to admit I thought the search would be a long one. i'm happy to report this is not so. I was lucky enough to source some 8cm juveniles, and tomorrow I am going to pick up my new T. Blondi "Burgundy". A souce of much confusion on the tarantula front as this species has not yet been given a latin name. It is very similar to the "pure" T. Blondi it grows as big but is different in colour, and is essentially a different species. However I am very happy to take on a Burgundy as I personally feel they are absolutely stunning, and with it being a captive bred specimen, I feel that is always better than wild caught.

Then of course there was the spider sadness this week with the loss of my elderly Grammostola - red chile zebra. It was a very sad loss and I will miss her a lot. She had been very slow for the last six months now, so I suppose I knew it was coming.

But on a happier note, I added two new spiders to my collection yesterday, both of which are adults and very beautiful. Firstly I added a huge 15cm Lasiodora parahybana. She is an absolute stunner, and you can see pictures of her in this week's weekly photos. I also added a very nice Thrixopelma ockerti adult lady. i am really pleased with her, she is a very beautiful specimen and quite active for a spider. The red on her abdomen is lovely. Pictures in the pop up gallery for this week.

January 23rd 2010

Well, this seems like as good a time as any to start my spider blog, especially since it's been a busy week with spiders. This is the first week for a long time when the weather hasn't been cold enough to keep a polar bear happy so eager tarantula enthusiasts everywhere have been grabbing hold of the good weather and sending our eight legged friends all around the country.

I have had a batch of spiders ordered since before Christmas and this week saw some of them finally able to make their journeys. On Tuesday I received the first of the eight new spiders set to come, and was thrilled to bits with the arrival of two little T. Apophysis (Goliath pink foot). The two little spiders were packed snugly in deli cups and both were quick to settle into their new homes. one left me yesterday when I passed it on to a friend, but the other one, who I have decided to name "Feet" is staying with me as a permanent member of my collection. It is a very leggy spider and currently measures about 4cm. This is a species I have not kept before, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it will progress. (pictured second from top).

Otherwise another new arrival on Thursday saw me unpack a delightful little avicularia bicegoi (Red Brick Pinktoe - pictured fourth from top). This adorable little spider has a stunning red abdomen and is a good size at about an inch and a half. So far it has settled well into it's home and has made mincemeat (or should I say meatballs) of two good sized crickets. It is currently laying silk for its retreat. I am certainly very happy with it, and looking to further explore the world of avics as there are so many wonderful species. 

Still on the subject of Avics, I found this morning that my little Avicularia Versicolor sling (martinique pink toe) had moulted and I was astounded by the amount of growth. Where do they hide all that extra leg span? the little thing must have gained nearly a centimetre. I always love to see my spiders in their new clothes.

I suspect I have several spiders in premoult at the minute as several are now pretty fat and starting to refuse food. My little King Baboon juvie is looking ready to pop and hasn't eaten for a couple of weeks now. I'm betting it will moult soon, and this will be the first time it's moulted under my care.

Also my Brazilian Pink refused its cricket today and it is very fat. i dare say it's moult will come soon and it will be interesting to see if it will show juvenile colours and sport less of those black and red tiger stripes.

Other spiders I suspect will moult soon are the ebony earth tiger, which has closed itself into its burrow, and my Mexican Red leg that has been off its food a while now.

In spiderling matters, they are all doing very well. My small Mexican Red knee are somewhat fickle eaters so I have tried them on smaller crickets than usual to see if this encorages them to take. Same with the two Chaco Golden knee. They seem to go through stages of eating loads and then refusing food for ages.

All in all, things look very good at the minute. I have new spiders expected next week and as ever have my eyes peeled for a few select species I would love to add to my collection. At the moment I have set my sights on adding the cherry to my spider cake and obtaining a CB T. Blondi sling (Goliath Bird eater). These are rare and expensive, and sell very fast whenever they are available, but I wil get one - it's just a matter of time.

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