Tag Archives: Spiderlings

Nhandu Chromatus/Coloratvillosus- Brazillian Black and White

Nhandu Sp.

Nhandu sp.

Legspan: 5.5-6.5″

Terrestrial– Meaning that they need longer tanks as opposed to tall enclosures. Long Critter Keepers are good for this.

Humidity: 60-80%  Should be lightly misted once a week.  When they reach a leg  span of 1.5″, they should be provided a small water dish.

*I use moss from a local forest to place in the water dish to keep everyone (spider and food) from drowning.

Growth Rate: Fast

Life Span: 15-20 years, if not longer.

Species: New world.  Will readily flick hairs when irritated.

*Eats: Crickets (adult) and roaches (spiderling).

*This is how my entire collection is fed.  Feeding practices may vary by enthusiast, and in some cases, species.

Poecilotheria Regalis-Indian Ornamental

This is a neat looking spider that I refer to as a Poe. (As in, Edgar Alan.) But most enthusiasts refer to the Poecilotheria species as Pokies.

Indian Ornamental

Pokie

Legspan: 8-11″

Aboreal– Meaning that they need taller tanks as opposed to short/long enclosures. 10 gallon tanks are good for this.

Humidity: 80-85% Should be misted, but spiderlings should be misted more often, and when they reach a leg  span of 1.5″, they should be provided a water dish with moss in it.

Growth Rate: Fast

Life Span: Up to  10 years, if not longer.

Species: Old world.  Fast, agressive, will inflict a nasty bite.

*Eats: Crickets (adult) and roaches (spiderling). Pokies prefer flying insects, locusts and others.

Brachyhpelma Boehmei-Mexican Flame Leg

These little guys are probably my favorite looking tarantulas.

Mexican Flame Leg

Mexican Flame Leg

Legspan: 5-5.5″

Terrestrial– Meaning that they need longer tanks as opposed to tall enclosures. Long Critter Keepers are good for this.

Humidity: 50-65% Normal room humidity, but spiderlings should be lightly misted once a week.  When they reach a leg  span of 1.5″, they should be provided a small water dish.

*I use moss from a local forest to place in the water dish to keep everyone (spider and food) from drowning.

Growth Rate: Slow, and they will reach maturity in about 5 years(?)

Life Span: Up to 30 years, if not longer.

Species: New world.  Will readily flick hairs when irritated, but still easily handled.

*Eats: Crickets (adult) and roaches (spiderling).

*This is how my entire collection is fed.  Feeding practices may vary by enthusiast, and in some cases, species.

New Things and Slings

Next weekend I get to add a couple more new spiderlings to the zoo.  I am pretty excited about this as I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my Red Knee, Arizona Blond, and Davis Mnt Rusty slings.

I am currently undecided which slings I will be taking home, so over the next week I will be featuring a few species that I am interested in.  Each day I will choose a sling or 2 to feature, and for each, I will post a care sheet as well as a picture from the web of that sling as an adult.

I will post here as usual, but possibly start a Care Sheets section on this blog, as well as a page of sheets on my website BuggyZoo.com.

Here are a few of the species I am considering:

If all goes well, I hope to be somewhat educated about the species I decide to get so the thing has a chance of survival!  So far, with the exception of a single roach, everyone is alive and well.

I must admit- I am now addicted to tarantulas.

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! ❤

Molting and Digging

I woke up this morning, after a crappy sleep, and was thrilled to see that my Aeluropoda insignis had molted!  She was about 2 1/2″ before the molt, so I am hopefully going to get the chance to measure her new body after work.  Since I wasn’t expecting to get cockroaches when she was given to me, I know nothing about her- so, every little thing that signifies health and well being makes me grin REALLY BIG!

Since I am on the subject, if you know or have any decent care sheets on this little beauty, send them my way PLEASE!

I have browsed the net and come up with very little.  (Funny how I was just talking with another enthusiast about this very thing-a LACK of info on the net.

*Enthusiasts, hobbyists, professional breeders and the like- PLEASE start putting your experiences out there! People  like me wind up with critters that would benefit from accurate and accessible care sheets! If you have a blog or website dedicated to the invert hobby, let me know so that I can link it-  not just for me, but for other enthusiasts!)

Pics coming soon of my roach molt!

Now, on to the subject of digging-

I had the privilege of digging out Tank yesterday.  She had been MIA for about a week, and so I sat with her jar, a spoon, the nifty film container, a new jar and the gift box lid.  I dug for about 10 minutes(a very tedious and delicate process) and finally found Tank buried about 3/4 of the way down in the center of the jar.  I see no signs of any molting, but she is now visible in a shallower jar, with a roach or 2 to feast on…if she EVER eats :\

Pardon the rambling, but again I slept like crap, and am in need of another gallon of coffee before the day gets rolling.

When I get time, I will also be posting pics of the elusive Tank, my reclusive Aphonopelma sp. “Davis Mountain Rusty”.

Buggy Zoo Photos

Siddhartha<<<<<CLICK THERE

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

Crawley Things

Here is my Christmas in July wish list, as far as what is carried at the Invert Shop.  You can donate to PayPal to help me get them via my website, or you can just look at my list and start creating your own.  Either way, thanks for stopping by!!


MY WISHLIST<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<CLICK THERE!!

*The Brachypelma boehmei I want is not an adult.  I want one of the babies not listed….