Day 6: Roaches and Burrows

I had to remove the nifty film cartridges from Tank and Serj’s jars. They both chose to burrow instead!!! Tank chose a burrow far enough into the center of the jar to where I can only see her abdomen. Serj, on the other hand, chose a burrow right next to the side of the jar where I can see her!

I gave Isis 1 dead, one live roach, and she seems to be ignoring both.

Tank got 2 semi live roaches, but when I put the flashlight on, I startled one of the roaches. It jumped into the burrow, and scared the hell out of Tank. Tank jumped out, and proceeded to climb up the side of her jar. OOPS!

Serj got 2 accidentally live roaches. I thought they were more incapacitated, so hopefully she will see them before they burrow. I may have to retry again after work today.

in other news:

Realizing what she’s done, Sid is staring at what remains of her web. Perhaps she will build a new one soon?

Day 5: Sid and the Web/Feeding Time

Sid’s web has been destroyed. I noticed it this morning during my daily Tarantula check. She has been hanging out on the sides of her tank for the past week or so, but I had no idea that she had destroyed her home!

EEEEK!! All this after I threw 3 deliciously plump crickets into her lair. Humph. She hasn’t been eating well, and has not seemed to care about the roaches i was trying to give her. She just molted, and isn’t due for another one for a couple of months. I guess I will wait and see what happens.

Isis, on the other hand, fully enjoyed a roach last night. I had the idea to use the nifty 35mm cartridge to rattle the roaches up a bit. (For some reason, this seems less horrible than cutting them up..)

Serj also seemed to notice her roach, but just sat by it for a while. I couldn’t tell if she had eaten it or not.

Tank-well……. no luck yet, as far as I saw. She just sits on the side of her cup. I think she is not liking the coconut fiber substrate. Oh well….it’s all we have for now.

I thought over the maggot food idea, and decided against the potential colony of flies. Nothing against flies, but my apartment is not suited for a bug room yet, nor do we have a shed.

For now, all 5 tarantulas are living on my desk in the livingroom. It is set into the wall, so they aren’t hit with constant bright lights. (They wouldn’t be, anyway, due to the fact that we live like cave dwellers as it is.)

Day 3: Picture Day!!

Well, if my camera worked the way it’s supposed to (Cannon AE-1) I will have some awesome shots of each sling, along with my older tarantulas.

The flashlight that I was using to light the deli cups seemed to really annoy the little ones (which I expected) so I had to get as many photos as I could, VERY quickly.

Sadly, when I went to photograph my Madagascars, I discovered that my male was deceased-and he stank to high hell!! Like rotting meat. Odd for an insect…not sure if that is normal for this kind….

I did at least manage to get some decent macros of the deceased, and the living hisser. I am pretty bummed about this though….

Sid was clinging to the side of (her) tank, so I did get some good shots of the iridescent coloring on her legs, as well as a few macros of her fangs. Nata, on the other hand preferred to stay camera shy. She remained huddled in the back of her Dibs container-turned burrow. I did get some pics of her back there, just nothing exciting.

Hopefully I will have the roll developed this week. I am praying to the Canon 35mm gods that the camera worked.

We shall see……

Sid and Nata

Siddhartha and Nataraja are the first tarantulas that I have ever owned. Each resides in their own aquarium, as A. avacularias and G. Rosea should never live under the same roof- so to speak. I have only been in the hobby for about a year now, and with that comes my experience as a new keeper.

I love my tarantulas, and even though the idea of keeping one was strictly for photography, I have grown to love and treasure my “newbie” collection.

Today, Sid and Nata officially became the cornerstones of an expanding family in this household, as 3 spiderlings (and a couple of cockroaches) are now a fixture here.

These are my trials, thoughts and successes as a new keeper, and if Sid and Nata can bare with me, eventually they will make it to town. At that time, their tolerance of my clumsiness and ignorance will pay off in the gratitude and education of many. (GULP!)