Feeding, Sexing and a pig named Zero

You might be wondering why I have 2 videos of Zero here.  Let me explain:

Last night was feeding time on the Desktop, and after everyone was given their crickets, I had one large cricket left.  Zero was already feasting on a cricket, but since I know how much she loves to eat, I decided to give the last one to her.

In the videos, you can see her chewing on one, next to the cricket she was originally feasting on!  PIG!!!

If you notice, Zero’s sex is being referred to as “SHE”.  Thanks to one of my many learning aids, I am pretty sure she is a FEMAL!!  WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (Just learned about doing this roughly 45 minutes ago!)

Feeding:

Everyone got a cricket except for Aphrodite- who appears to be not eating.  My N. Coloratvillosus traded its cricket for a roach that was living in its soil (iin a new enclosure.)  Both Nhandu sp. were moved into jars!  WHOOOO!!!

Isis is also not eating…..but I think the last cricket may have filled (her?) up for a while….

Raven ate well (L. parahybana), but her sibling is also not eating…hmmmmm..

I will be keeping that Finger, Thank you very much!

So much for fixing Buddha!

Every time one of my tarantulas moves from its jar into an official tank or keeper, I place a water resistant mini Buddha in one of the corners.  Usually everyone ignores the Buddha, but my C. fasciatum  (Zero) has found him useful to make webbing from.

Tonight, I managed to shift the tank, knocking over the Buddha.  Zero was playing aboreal, so I thought I could simply get my hand in the tank, and put the Buddha upright again.  Besides, Zero had just finished a good sized adult cricket, so I had no reason to worry…..

Come to find out, Zero is just a fan of attacking ANYTHING within the enclosure that moves.  I managed to pull my fingers out right before it reached them.  It stopped, and appeared to look up at me as if saying:” I’ll get you next time, my pretty, and your little dog too!!”

Buddha still sits on his side, and I am adding fast and VERY AGRESSIVE to the 1.5″ C. fasciatum care sheet.

Zero the Tigerrump and Buddha

*When this photo was taken, Zero actually walked up to where I was photographing, and sat there watching me.  Photogenic, but very eerie…..

Nhandu coloratvillosus Makes Rare Appearance! (With Pics)

I was finally able to capture my elusive Nhandu coloratvillosus on camera yesterday morning, as we were both in rare form.  It was actually sitting outside of its burrow, and I was able to assemble a light and my rink-e-dink webcam in perfect time!

This one, unlike the Chromatus of the same species, likes to hide, and only comes out when it is looking for food.  So, the reward for sitting so pretty?

A freshly killed cricket!

Bon Appetit!

N. coloratvillosus Spiderling

Nhandu coloratvillosus Spiderling

Nhandu coloratvillosus Spiderling

*After picture time, I put the cricket in his deli cup (pre killed) and I went to work.  By the time I got home, both N. Color, and the cricket had vanished…..

Success and Cool Spider Dancing Update

I am winning the battle of spiderling feeding!  I have 2 L. parahybana’s that are roughly 1/8″ and feeding them was one of those tasks that I have been deathly afraid of!

So, taking the advice of everyone, I tried killing feeder roaches with no success, as they (apparently) do not die very well. Then, still taking the advice of everyone, I tried killing mini crickets with huge success!!  One parahybana took about a minute before it pounced on the head of the dearly departed cricket, and the other was showing interest.  I AM WINNER!!!

On another note, I have noticed that one of my Nhandu sp. burrows while the other likes to remain in view…weird!  Both of those guys are pretty good eaters with an appetite for living crickets.

Even my Tigerrump is enjoying larger crickets, but the last one it was given just wound up being tossed by a hole that my spider made…. I don’t know if this is normal behavior, but it was interesting to see.

As you guys may have seen, I posted a video of my Tigerrump (I call it Zero) eating it’s first meal at home.  I thought it was cool because it appears to be dancing with the food in its mouth.  Tonight, I noticed the same behavior from my N. chromatus sling, and have seen it also from my older Chilean Roses.  I am calling it the Spider I GOT FOOD dance- which oddly resembles an 8 point turn.  Very cool to watch!!

On one last note, I have learned by watching that even 1/8″ L. parahybanas WILL kick hairs.  An (unfortunately) alive roach found this out when he managed to piss off my little one, and I got to witness it.

Sorry for the long update, but I wanted to just let you guys know what’s happening, and share my feeding success.  This was a huge step for me, and no one was lost, smooshed, or injured during the process-except for a few crickets….

C. fasciatum first meal- Dancing!

New Video of A. insignis baby!

In addition to the tarantula spiderlings I got today, the owner of the Invert Shop gave me some baby A. insignis, along with a replacement male!!

This is one of the babies chowing on some lettuce.

Veggie Day!

Carrot crinkle cut slices-

I take one out, take a bite.

My piece, your piece.  Into Tara’s tank it goes.

I wondered if crickets would like carrots too.

Take one out, take a bite.

My piece your piece, into the cricket tank it goes.

Repeat with the feeder roaches, and everybody’s happy!

Turns out that bugs like pre-cut carrots, and tarantulas like bugs who have just eaten pre-cut carrots.

*In other news from the desktop*

I have been trying to spend time with my newest tarantula, the Chilean Rose I rescued from a pet store.

She was kept in a 10 gallon tank with a cross section of plexiglass that divided her from 2 other (MUCH LARGER) Chilean Roses.  When I went to select which one I would go home with, I noticed that one was extremely aggressive (due to starvation I later found out) and the other was very moody and flicked hairs all over the place.

The person who was showing me the spiders knew very little about them, and even had me hold one away from the tank-more than 3 feet up above the floor.  (BIG NO NO for terrestrial tarantulas.)

When he went to pick up the littlest one, she seemed rather frightened, and kept backing away.  We finally got her out of the tank, and once I got her in my hand, she calmed down and sat in my palm.

I guess I would be afraid too if the one’s I shared living quarters with were big and hungry enough to eat me!

I couldn’t bare to put her back in the tank, so I had the salesman grab a box, and home we went.

Every morning, before work, I try to hold her for a couple of minutes, and this evening I sat with her on the floor just letting her explore my hand, or sit there if she wanted to.  It was nice, and she seemed to be okay with me talking to her and holding her up to look closer at her.

The more I do this, the more I hope she gets comfortable with having human interaction.  I don’t normally hold my spiders, but she and Isis have been pre-chosen for education purposes.

Sarvashiva and Isis will go into schools at some point and teach little kids about biology and nature.

One thing I did manage to do at the pet store as I was buying her was educate a group of people (including the salesman) about her species, and New World tarantulas in general.

It was pretty awesome to have kids and their parents asking questions, and then asking if they too could pet the tarantula. Everyone was smiling. 😀

Sarva, you are well on your way! ❤

STOOOPID ROACHES :|

I fed the spiderlings this morning, and it seems that while I have had pretty good luck with the food cooperating with me, this morning proved to be different.

All 3 times that I tried to gather roaches with the film container, at least 2 tried to escape!  The mother, who is humongous, was the first to make the daring attempt!  I had to scoop her into a temporary container while I gathered the other escapees and fed them to the slings.

This is why I always use a long gift box bottom to handle my bugs in.

SidNata-1

Roaches-0.

Feeding Chart*

Isis-3

Tank (Darwin)-3

Serj-4(accidentally)

Stoopid Roaches.

SID!!

Exciting news!!  I dumped 4 crickets into Sid’s tank and she finally decided they were good enough to chow on!!  She is having her first meal in weeks right now!

I had to do a cricket count a bit ago, as one was on the floor scaring the hell out of my cat.  (Franky is a city cat, so he has no idea what to do with crawly things..)  This was one of the 4 that belonged to Sid.

Nata got 3, plus she still had one remaining from the last batch.  The way she is eating, I expect these to last a little less than a week.  After that, she is cut off for a week or so.  I don’t want to risk her growing up too fast 😉

I guess this weeks project is to figure how the crickets are escaping from Sid’s tank.  I imagine this is why she hasn’t been eating, and possibly why my house sounds like a warm spring night in the woods!

She has finally stopped pacing, and all is well in Buggy Zoo.

Making Some Changes/Slings and Things

Sid is still not quite acting normal.  I checked for mites, possible leftover crickets (that have soured) and other outside influences that could be causing her odd behavior.

So, yesterday I spent some time adding and subtracting some things from her tank, along with removing the remains of her tattered web.  I added in a piece of driftwood that runs the length of the 10 gallon tank, (which thankfully is shaped well, to run from the bottom of the tank to the top, one side to the other at a slant) I have also placed another piece that runs the width of the tank directly under the upward part of the long driftwood…if that makes any sense.)

Sid is sitting by the shorter piece now, on the side of the tank, but has been all over the place.  I hope the pacing stops soon.  She has fresh water, new things to climb, and perfect humidity.  In a little while I will go to the market and try to feed her some crickets.

Nata on the other hand, has been pigging out since yesterday, and I think she might be on her 3rd cricket this week.  She is fascinating to watch, and is quite lively!

SLINGS*

Serj is taking on an ENORMOUS feeder roach right now.  This is her 2nd in the last 24 hours.   She is very active, and I enjoy watching her continually dig in her burrow.

Tank (AKA- Darwin as she has been dubbed) has also been actively burrowing, but I am noticing that the black spot on her abdomen is getting rather dull in color.  This may explain the lack of feeding, as these are both signs of an upcoming molt.  Her burrow is about 2 times as deep as Serj’s, and appears to be molded inward towards the center of the jar, making her difficult to see at times.  It looks like she is making various chambers.

Isis is looking a lot larger than she did a week ago.  I don’t know if it has to do with the added visibility of her jar (compared to her deli cup) but she too looks dull like Tank.  The difference is that she seems to eat readily, and has had at least 2 roaches that I am aware of in the last week.