Ants on the Desk …… :| (Ugh!)

Last night, 2 Chilean Rose tarantulas had to be evacuated from their tanks in an effort to combat the swarm of ants that was invading their desk. Although no one was hurt, both spiders remain confused, and rather pissed off that they were so rudely interrupted.

Siddhartha, the Pink Toed neighbor, refused to leave her dwelling, and was luckily unaffected by her neighbor’s plight. I found an ant or 2 in her tank, but nothing else. Stragglers probably, looking for more food.

All this came about when around 10:30 last night I noticed Nata acting strangely. I normally do a check in the morning, and just before bed, so I tend to catch anything out of the ordinary pretty quickly. Nata had been out of her burrow, sitting by her water dish. Normally she does this if she is eating, but when I looked over at where her crickets sit, I saw that one was dead and covered in ants, and another was sitting at the top of the cricket hide.

This is why I am always looking for extra tanks. I needed to get Nata out fast, so I used the best thing I had: a live animal carrier from Petco for small animals. I managed to get her to go back into her favorite burrow (a dibs container) and placed her and the burrow into the Petco carrier.

I had to remove everything from her tank, and dump out all the bedding. (Note to self: buy EXTRA bedding.) I took a wet (new, not used) sponge and wiped down the top and lid of the tank, and put fresh bedding in.

After I got her water dish back in, I made the decision to keep any crickets out for the night. I repeated the process with Sarva, and all seems well.

For a temporary fix, I placed liquid dish soap around the 2 big tanks, and placed the unaffected spiderlings on top. It looks like everything is ok this morning, but I will continue to monitor the tanks.

We live in a small apartment, so the desktop is the only place I have to keep them.

No other critters were affected by the ants. 😐

I am still tired, and need many more cups of coffee.

I love bugs, but they (INCLUDING ANTS) need to learn to stay outside unless pre-authorized to come in.

UGH.

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! ❤

Buggy Zoo Photos

Siddhartha<<<<<CLICK THERE

This is my invertebrate page from my website, Buggy Zoo.

PICS!!!!!!

I got a new Chilian Rose today, and as new technology has it, I have had a friggen camera on me this whole time!

Here are some of the pics of my new Rosie, and a couple of Isis…as well as a couple of my A. insignis (IOW pet Roach!)

: Isis

: Tara the Hissing Cockroach

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.

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!)