January, 2000

January 4, 2000:
The spiders haven't been too active lately. I haven't been as observant though, so they're certainly doing stuff behind my back. They both seem to be fasting, and I think Boots's abdomen is quite shiny. Tick's web is so dense that it is really hard to see her. Occasionally I've seen her poke her head out, and there have been some interesting structural web additions on the outside of the web, so I know she ventures well outside on occasions (though I've never seen her completely leave her web for at least a month). Boots's web is a little tube connecting the cork bark "ledge" to the top of the cage. She is hard to see as well.

January 8, 2000:
Yep, neither spider is eating. I suspect they're preparing to molt again. A couple months between molts is probably normal for spiderlings this small. I think Boots will molt a few weeks before Tick. Boots is getting darker, just like she did before the previous molt. She could molt any time now. I can't tell what color Tick is, her web is far too thick. In fact, her web is so thick that it is somtimes difficult to tell where she is in the web. I probably wouldn't even be able to tell if she lost a leg or something.

January 9, 2000:
Boots was working on her web today. She had ripped a big hole in the side and seemed to be just covering it back up. I could see that her abdomen was REALLY shiny and dark. She could molt any time now, though I'd guess it will still be at least a week.

January 11, 2000:
MOLT! Well, my guess a couple days ago was too conservative. Boots had started molting before I got home today. She had gotten the carapce off and the abdomen mostly out. By the time I got my camera set up, she was busy extricating her legs. I got a few pictures, but it was hard to see much through the web. She was clinging vertically to the inside of her web when she started molting, which seems like a good position for an arboreal. She pulled herself straight out her back, leaving the skin clinging to the web until she ws nearly complete. The total molt took longer than the previous time, but as far as I can tell it went fine. I can't see her well enough to count legs though, especially with the old skin in there too, so I can't be sure.

Update: Well, as near as I can tell, Boots is fully intact and healthy. She's moved around a bit and has stuffed the old skin off into one corner of her web. I was able to kinda count feet, so it looks like all the usual limbs are there. I haven't gotten a real good idea of her size yet, but she could be about as big (legspan wise, she still needs to fatten back up) as Tick was when I first got them, but probably slightly smaller. I'd still have to guess that's now 4th instar, though she's probably not quite as big as Tick at that same age.

Tick has been working on her web today. It's the most I've seen her move for a while. Up until today, she'd been very inactive, but she seems pretty skittish today. She's reopened one of the main entrances to the bottom of the web - I don't know if that's a temporary change or not. I threw in a cricket just in case she's hungry. I'll take it out right away if she shows no interest. Since she molted 8 days after Boots the last time, I'm guessing it will be slightly later this time - maybe the 21st.

January 14, 2000:
Boots is a little bigger than I first thought. I'd say she's about 1.75" in legspan, which is the same size as Tick was when I first got them. Last time she took about four days before she was ready to eat, and Tick took five or six. Boots didn't have much of a web at that time, but when Tick was ready, she came bustin' out of her web to let me know she was hungry. Boots does have a web now, and she's been sealed up inside of it almost since she started fasting. She'll probably come out to play this weekend.

As I expected, Tick ignored the cricket I threw in, so I pulled it out the next day. I thought there was an opening in the bottom of the web, but it looks like the web is attached (though it's hard to see) directly to the substrate at the bottom (right where Tick has been excavating materials for dusguising the web). The cricket couldn't get into the web at all, and Tick show interest when it walked around the outside of the web. I can't wait until she molts; I might be able to tell her sex with some certainty and she'll be really big!

I think I'm going to order two or three of terrestrials soon. My current list of favorites (and their strengths and weaknesses) is as follows:
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens - Beautiful colors, prolific webber, fast grower, but can be skittish and nervous.
Brachypelma Boehmei - Beautiful colors, docile, but slow growing.
Brachypelma Vagans - From what I've seen, not quite as pretty, but faster growing than other Brachypelma, and fairly docile.
Brachypelma Smithi - The classic pet tarantula, beautiful yet slow growing. I'd rather have one that's more obscure.
Acanthoscurria Geniculata - Huge, beautiful, but possibly harder to care for.

I'd like to get "different" kinds, maybe a pet rock one that I can see often, maybe an avid burrower and maybe a webber. I pretty much have my heart set on the first two, but I might get a third. I also might substitute one of the other brachy's for the B. boehmi. I'm scared to go with the Acanthoscurria geniculata because I still know so little about it.

January 15, 2000:
Boots is being exceptionally reclusive today. She's huddled up with her old skin and I can hardly see her. She's moved a bit, but not much. I hope she's alright. I'm anxious for her to come out to feed. She should today or tomorrow.

I had a weird tarantula dream last night. I dreamt I had gotten some more spiders, and all of them had grown up nice and big. I was trying to feed Tick, but when I opened her cage, she came bounding out bloodthirsty and screaming (yes, I know spiders don't scream, but it was a dream). I dodged her repeated attacks, then she ran across the apartment then up one of my halogen floor lamps. Since it was so hot, she jumped off the top, and became an eight legged inferno, running around setting all my stuff on fire. And I didn't have insurance in the dream. And I know I shouldn't start a sentence with a preposition. I've always worried that an arboreal might try to climb those lamps if it escapes...

I'm trying to find out more about the Acanthoscurria geniculata, to see if it something I can handle. Mostly I'm concerned with how hardy it is. I think at this point I'll be able to handle some aggressiveness (though I don't know if I'm ready for one of the more psychotic t's).

January 16, 2000:
Boots was moving around more today and late last night. She had partially opened the web, but then appeared to reclose it. The web was small and wimpy before, now she just about knocks it over every time she turns around. I threw in a tiny cricket and a medium sized cricket, but they seem afraid to go past the strands of webbing at the bottom of the cage, so boots will have to come out to get them. I'll be surprised if she doesn't go after them today or tomorrow at the latest.

So far what I've read on the newsgroups, on the web and what the Arachnocentric guy told me has moved the A. geniculata to the top of my list. He said he had that and the B. boehmi in stock in sizes up to two inches. He didn't mention the C. cyaneopubescens, so I assume he doesn't have it. I didn't ask about the B. vagans or the B. smithi. I'm pretty sure I'll order the A. geniculata this week, maybe the B. boehmei too. I might skip it though since I don't have room in my collection for several Brachypelmas so I want to make sure I get a cool one.

January 17, 2000:
I ordered the A. geniculata and the B. boehmei from Arachnocentric today. The guy was very friendly and helpful and was able to tell me a lot about various species. I think that boehmei is the correct spelling (according to the ATS), but it's more often listed as boehmi. I've cleaned out Ambush's old cage and refurnished it, but I'll need to get another cage tonight for the other spider. The guy said they would both be just about two inches and starting to show some good color. He charged five bucks extra per spider for sexing, so that he doesn't end up getting stuck with all the boys. I can understand that and gladly shelled out the five bucks.

Update: Well, I got another cage (plus a spare). I filled them about three inches deep with the same vermiculite/peat moss/sphagnum moss mix that I have in the avics cages. I got it damp so it would pack well, but it really is absorbent. Both of the new spiders are of the drier type, and my hygrometer tells me that the cages are a bit on the humid side when closed. I'm going to leave them open tonight, which should get them plenty dry enough in my apartment. I glued together some pieces of cork bark to make little hollow half logs for shelter. I dug out some substrate from inside the logs to make a little more room, and then built up the substrate in some spots for "landscaping." I put some pieces and crumbs of cork bark and some bits of sphagnum moss around the cage for decoration and for use by the spiders for whatever purpose they see fit. I think I'll probably regret that when the crickets decide to perpetually hide. I sunk in some terra cotta saucers for water dishes, and put a few broken pieces of a flower pot in there for cricket ramps. The cages are kinda crowded with all the stuff that's in them, so probably I'll have to be scooping out extra substrate if/when they start burrowing.

Boot STILL hasn't eaten. I fished the cricket out of the cage and put in a smaller, fresher one. Late in the night, Tick had opened up the top of her web and was poking her front few toes out. I threw a cricket in her cage in case she isn't actually ready for a molt yet. As far as I can tell, her abdomen isn't particularly dark or shiny, but it's hard to see with her web. She may be a ways off.

January 18, 2000:
Woohoo! The two new spiders (Acanthoscurria geniculata and Brachypelma boehmei) arrived! They are big and beautiful. They kinda have their adult coloration, but it's sorta dull (it'll get brighter as they grow up). The B. boehmei didn't need too much encouragement to get out of the vial and into the cage. She immediately walked over to one corner put her front six legs on the walls and has since been sitting there pouting. She has a pretty sorry looking bald spot on her abdomen. The A. geniculata has no interest at all in leaving the vial she was shipped in, and I'm not sure if she'll ever leave.

Update: Well, eventually the B. boehmei left the corner and found the cork bark shelter. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of her yet though. The A. geniculata wouldn't leave the vial after hours of sitting there, so I got fed up and prodded her out with a paintbrush. She looks BEAUTIFUL, except for two little bald spots on her abdomen. Both spiders have been somewhat feisty, and I finally got a chance to see a little bit of the hair kicking behavior (which ambush never showed me). I have a few slighly itchy spots on my hands, but I'm not sure if they got me with the hairs or not. I've thrown a few crickets in the cages, but I don't know if either spider has eaten. The A. geniculata is supposed to be a voracious eater, but I haven't seen it yet. They really have moved very little since I unpacked them. Both spiders are somewhere around two inches in legspan, but the B. boehmei is a bit larger and plumper. The A. geniculata should catch and pass her soon if she lives up to her reputation.

January 19, 2000:
Well, this morning the spiders are both taking refuge in the cork bark shelter. It looks like at least some of the crickets survived through the night, so I don't know if they're still recovering from their trip or what. I don't know if the B. boehmei has moved since she first crawled under the cork bark. I can see her if I shine light in there, but all I see is her bum, which is exactly the position she was in last night. Last night the A. geniculata had her front legs sticking out in the classical tarantula pose, but this morning she backed up and had done a small amount of digging. She had pushed out one big clod of dirt and put a few strands of silk across the opening. She could still be seen through the entrance with the assistance of a flashlight.

I haven't seen the cricket in Boots's cage, but it could be hiding. I think I'll have to fish the cricket back out of Tick's cage. It is continually hiding at the top of the cage where Tick probably doesn't even notice it. I'll try putting in another one to see if that one cooperates a bit better. Even though Tick is coming at least partially out of her web sometimes, it is possible that she's still fasting I suppose.

Update: Well, the B. boehmei came out after being annoyed by the crickets long enough for me to get a picture. She seems to stand still for hours and hours, then suddenly move either out of the cork, or back in, only to sit motionless for a few more hours. The A. geniculata is more active, but hasn't come out of the cave much. I finally saw both spiders eat tonight, which was relieving. They both had been totally ignoring the crickets except when they bumped into them which usually was met with sudden movement or a rain of hairs. I didn't expect the hairs to bother the crickets much (since they have an exoskeleton, I expected the hairs to just slide/bounce off), but one of knocked a clod of dirt into the A. geniculata and was the recipient of a direct blast of hairs. It actually got knocked over in the process and after that acted either injured or severely disoriented. Later, while checking in on the spiders I noticed the A. geniculata munching away and right then I saw the B. boehmei catch a cricket out of the corner of my eye.

The A. geniculata's bald spots are still small and can only be seen sometimes, but the B. boehmei's is getting bigger and uglier fast. She be out of them in a week or two at this pace. It's also worse because the B. boehmei's abdomen is quite a bit larger than that of the A. geniculata. Looking back at ambush's appearance when I first got her, I suspect that she was almost completely out of urticating hairs when I first got her, which would explain why I never noticed them.

I did end up removing most of the sphagnum moss and cork pieces from the cages as they were cluttering it up too much, and providing too many hiding spaces for the crickets. Although I haven't seen too many leftover bits from any of my tarantulas, they would be a lot harder to find with all that stuff in the cage. I did leave the cork logs of course, and lots of the small pieces that weren't really creating hiding spots.

I finally saw a really good picture of an adult Avicularia metallica today. It pretty much looked like an oil slick with white toes, variagated hairs and much hairier back legs. Really pretty weird looking and pretty attractive (in a weird kinda way.)

I really gotta come up with names for the new spiders.

January 20, 2000:
I wonder how much the amount of food they consume as small spiderlings will affect how big a tarantula eventually gets. If you get a spider at a very small size and stuff with as many crickets as it will eat will it get substantially larger as an adult? Since mine only had a moderate amount of food until I got my hands on them (at which point I began spoiling them with as much food as they can handle), will they be smaller then they would have been if I had started stuffing them at a younger age? The biggest tarantulas I've seen in person are some adult rose hairs that must have been about 4"-5" in legspan. I guess one reaching 7 inches or more would be pretty impressive by comparison! I can't wait until my A. geniculata starts getting that big. I think I might name that one Kuni (for doing karate kicks on one of the crickets) and name the B. boehmei Raul.

Boots finally ate for sure today. The cricket that was in there was gone when I got home, and she had opened her web and was poking her legs out of the opening. I threw in a couple more crickets, and later I saw one in her mouth. She's definately starting to look different. Her overall color is darker than after her previous molt, and her multi-colored hairs are getting more interesting. Her feet are black skinned with dark gray hairs and her toes are sorta melon colored.

The A. geniculata sealed off her burrow with a neatly stacked pile of substrate and a small piece of cork. There are still a few crickets running around her cage, so her supposed voracious appetite hasn't come about yet. We'll see if she comes back out tonight. The B. boehmei had done a little earth moving, with a small neatly groomed apron of peat just outside of her burrow. At first I wondered where she was, but then I noticed that she was on the wall of the cage in the corner. I don't know why she likes climbing in the corners so much.

January 21, 2000:
Most of the lunar eclipse was washed out by clouds last night. All the spiders but Tick ended up eating at least one cricket I believe. The A. geniculata had partially opened up the burrow and could just barely be seen through the entrance. The B. boehmei could easily be seen inside her cork, with a little bit more digging apparent. I'm going to convert one of my closets into a tarantula room. I'll throw in some sort of small heat source to get it up to about 80 degrees and put the humidifier in there. Hopefully that will make the spiders a bit more active and happier. That will also give me a bit more room for them, and give me an excuse to throw out all the junk that's filling the closet up currently!

Update: After work today, I went to a pet shop my dad found about half an hour away. They had several tarantulas, mostly sub-adults, including a "rose hair", "pinktoe" and a "brazillian black" which all appeared correct to me. They also had a very nice sub-adult Brachypelma smithi (labeled somewhat incorrectly as a "red leg") that had a price to match its nearly full grown size. They also had a stocky, black tarantula with white markings on part of its legs simply labeled "birdeater tarantula." Gee, how helpful. One clerk said she was pretty sure it wasn't the goliath one, another said that he didn't think it was "the old world one." Well, based on appearance, I wasn't able to tell what it was exactly. To me it looked like a new world terrestrial, but I wasn't sure. Looking at pictures on the web, the closest match I've seen to its markings IS the Theraphosa blondi, but I seriously doubt that it is. It had been at the store long enough to get marked down, and it seemed to be doing pretty well in what appeared to be a pretty dry cage.

They did have one new arrival, a Brachypelma vagans spiderling (about 1.5" legspan) that was their only tarantula with a latin name on his container. They said he had just molted the day before (with the shed skin to show for it). If he had, he must have recovered awful fast because he had his full color back and was quite active. I considered getting a couple of the others, but the B. smithi was more than I wanted to spend on one spider, the brazillian black was priced a little high for a spider its size, and the mystery spider, though tempting, well, I decided I didn't want a "mystery spider". The B. vagans was the cutest of the bunch, so I snatched it up for a reasonable price. The exuva, btw, was too small and shriveled for me to be able to determine the sex of the spider.

It was in a deli cup with a sorry looking pile of vermiculite and peat. All the spiders at the shop looked pretty healthy, though most of the cages looked too dry. After bringing it home, I squirted in some water to bring up the humidity a bit, and it immediately walked over to some droplets on the wall and took a drink, then spent some time hanging its belly over the moisture I provided. I prepared a new container for it, a small round plastic "creature habitat" (about 4.5" in diameter, 5 inches high), with a tiny cork shelter, pill bottle lid water dish and about 3 inches of substrate. I transfered the new spider to the new home, and it seemed to say "thank you". It immediately found the cork hide and headed for it. At first I thought it would be too small, but she crawled right in and started to web up the entrance. I threw in a tiny cricket to see if she was hungry and she snatched it right up. I threw in a couple more, and she grabed one a minute or two later. She seems to be very active (especially when the lights go out), but she always hides when I go to take a picture.

I decided to give that "bed-a-beast" stuff a try. It comes in a brick about the size of, well, a brick. When you put it in hot water it softens up and expands to many times its volume. You can then wring out as much water as you want to get the right dampness. Once wet, it's a really nice dark reddish brown color, a spongey mix of fibrous and crumbly particles. It claims to be a environmentally friendly, annually renewable, 100% natural fiber. Though it doesn't say it, I think it's shredded coconut husk. It has great moisture retention properties, though it is yet to be seen how it holds the shape for a burrow. I think it will probably be pretty good. The B. vagans seems to like it so far. For me, it looks good, is easy to work with, pretty lightweight (lighter than potting soil but heavier than peat) and is dirt cheap. The $4.98 block is enough to fill a whole bunch of tarantula cages. It's substantially cheaper and more convienient than any of the other substrates I've used. I think it's burrowing suitability will be the final test, but so far, it seems like great stuff!

I think that the B. boehmei and A. geniculata are probably both a little larger than 2" in legspan.

January 22, 2000:
MOLT! I had predicted way back when boots molted that Tick may molt on the 21st. Well, I was off by just 10 hours! She had JUST finished molting right before I woke up (her limbs were pointed together in a a radial pattern, and she was in the process of first stretching them out). That would put the time of molt at around 10:00 am today. I can't tell yet if she's intact; I might have to wait until she leaves her web to be able to tell. I can see that she's got the white skin coloring with darker colored hairs, but it's hard to say more than that. I've been paying extra close attention to the humidity lately thinking that she might molt soon. I hope it payed off. We'll have to see. It looks like she'll leapfrog over the new spiders (by quite a margin) to regain the title of biggest in my collection. She finally moved to where I can see her abdomen... It's BRIGHT PINK! It had a slight pinkish tinge last time, but this was a much bigger change in color.

The A. geniculata opened the burrow, but I can't see far enough in there to see her. The B. boehemi has done a little more digging, piling up some substrate around the cage. She can be seen through the entrance. The B. vagans dug in last night, covereing up the entrance to the cork (I watched a little of it,), but then I noticed some legs sticking out the back of the cork shelter! She dug under the cork and back out the back! I hope she'll figure out what she's doing. She looks confused.

Update: Tick finally moved into a position where I could do a "toe count." Looks like she's in perfect condition!

January 23, 2000:
Tick has gotten back most of her color. She looks to be about three inches in legspan. That's a pretty wild guesstimate though - she can't stretch out all the way in her current web.

Boots is occasionally catching crickets, but the cork shelf in her cage provides them with a pretty good hiding spot. They usually stay under there. I think she probably comes out to get them there at night though, usually there are fewer crickets come morning. Crickets don't survive the night in the B. boehmei cage, which is also usually the case in the A. geniculata cage, but sometimes a smaller one will hide in a spot in the cork bark that I failed to find when I made the shelter. I fished one out of there today, and then crammed some pieces of cork in the abcess to keep them out. The B. boehmei leaves lots of little silk wraped pieces of cricket outside of her hole to the left. She piles dirt to the right. She doesn't do much digging, and never really seals off the hole during the day... The A. geniculata will mostly close the hole during the day, then open it back up at night. She does more digging too, though she hasn't reached any of the sides of the tank.

The B. vagans has also been doing some digging. She had accidentally opened up a back door behind her cork, which she sealed off with a thin membrane of substrate held together with silk. You can see her through a window in the side. The front of the burrow is closed most of the time during the day with a pile of dirt. Sometimes she brings out moist substrate, other times she brings out dry bits, which are substantially lighter in color. I think if she's thirsty, she sucks the water out of the substrate. The bed- a- beast stuff changes color dramatically when it gets dry, which will probably be helpful. I got around to getting a small space heater, and I converted half of the small walk in closet in my bedroom to a spider room. I've got room on the shelf for a lot more spiders. Didn't take too long to notice the difference in spider activity either. It's about 78-79 degrees in there (compared to 68-74 in the rest of the apartment), and the spiders move a lot more, and more quickly. The B. boehmei has become a total pig in a very short time. Also, the B. vagans has a really nice burrow going now. The entire length of the burrow is up against the side of the container, and the bed-a-beast doesn't stick to the plastic, so it's really easy to see the spider. Also, the humidifier does a better job with just one small room.

January 24, 2000:
Well, the B. boehmei doesn't seem to want to go back in her hole. Unless she's compelled to move for some reason (which usually is FAST motion), she doesn't move AT ALL. She doesn't even bother going after crickets sometimes. She's really weird. There were two crickets in her cage this morning, one which had taken up residence in her home, but the other one was gone by the time I got home, so I assume she ate it. Boots seems to grab one or two little crickets every day. Also, though I can only see a few legs of the A. geniculata at a time, I think it got one of the crickets that was in its cage. Right now, other than Tick, which is still recovering from the molt, the A. geniculata is the SLOWEST eater!

The B. vagans is by far the most active of the tarantulas. It's usually doing something. Crickets don't stand a chance. Usually they'll crawl in one of the small openings at the top of the burrow (usually not the main entrance which is mostly blocked with substrate and silk. When the do, or just walk around near the holes, the spider drops whatever it's doing and goes to get them. Sometimes it will suck on them for a while, then lay them down in the bottom of the burrow with some webbing for later. When it's not catching crickets, it's usually moving dirt or webbing. There isn't much webbing, but it's used very judiciously. She dug all the way to the bottom of the tank, mostly just last night. The entire length of the burrow is up against the plastic, and the bed-a-beast stuff (which the B. vagans seems to love) doesn't stick to the side, so it's really easy to observe the spider. I got some nice pictures of the spider and the burrow which I'll try to post soon.

January 25, 2000:
The B. boehmei was back in its hole this morning, munching on the cricket. I may cut back on its diet - it's looking morbidly obese. The window on the back of it's burrow is huge. The roof above that part was very thin, and the crickets demolished it, so the spider is left without much privacy! I fished out a left over jumping leg I found in the cage...

I watched the B. vagans for a while last night. She killed one good sized cricket and was munching on it for a while, but then noticed another prowling around, so he dropped the one, and went to grab the other. While the new one is still twitching (not nearly dead, but just starting to ooze out of its wounds), he ploped it down on top of its semi-liquid brethren and tied them both down with silk to be consumed later. I almost started to feel sorry for the crickets. The song from the Grinch that stole Christmas popped into my head... "... You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch, you've got cobwebs in your soul ..." The crickets are hardly the Whos down in Whoville (being that they're creepy, noisy, cannabalistic little freaks,) but the B. vagans IS The Grinch, and will be named as such.

By the time I got home, the A. geniculata had done some more digging, opened its burrow and consumed the two crickets in the cage. I threw in a couple more, and they were snatched up almost immediately. The Grinch had done even more digging. I don't think I've ever NOT seen her doing something. I threw in two appropriately sized crickets and they were caught in no time. She seems to like disabling them, then tying them down with silk and letting them die very slowly. One cricket was twitching for almost half an hour after it was first bitten. Boots has also been eating at a regular pace. I still haven't had a chance to get a good look at her. Today I finally saw her abdomen for the first time. The mango-orange color is substantially darker and richer, and the markings are a bit different. Her overall color is darker as well, and her multi-colored hairs are more apparent. Tick could start eating very soon. I didn't feed the B. boehmei today, it's looking morbidly obese, and could probably use a break.

January 26, 2000:
The A. geniculata resealed it's burrow. One cricket I had put in last night appears to be gone, the other was still walking about. Boots continues to eat crickets at a deliberate, unhurried pace. The B. boehmei mostly sealed it's burrow and opened up another window on the front side of the cage. She doesn't seem to want to go very deep, and instead goes out horizontally just below the surface. Tick is poking her toes out of her web, so she may start eating any time now.

The Grinch is crazy. She keeps digging and digging and digging. After going down along the side at a steep angle, reaching the bottom in one night, she started to go around the bottom. About a quarter of the way around, she started to go back up... STRAIGHT up. I had to remove and pack down some of the displaced substrate, and I moved the dish out of the spot where it was sunken in to a higher spot as far as possible from the entrance to the burrow to try to slow down the speed at which it gets filled with dirt. It left a depression, but that will be gone by tomorrow with the speed at which she does the landscaping. She may break back through the surface as well. I threw in a couple crickets... One was consumed almost immediately. The other seemed to be smart enough to keep its distance. The Las Vegas odds are 75:1 against it surviving the night. She's usually out on the prowl or at least moving out dirt many times each day. She'll drop whatever she's doing if she sees an opportunity to kill something. She'll often then resume that activity and will come back to finish the meal later. She seems to be utilizing the entire container, so I'll move her to something bigger after her next molt.

January 27, 2000:
Well, anybody going for the big payoff on the Grinch cricket would have been disappointed. There was no trace of it by this morning. One cricket was missing from Tick's cage this morning so I think she's eating again. They crickets usually hide at the top of the cage and her web is at the bottom, so that slows her down a bit (you'd think it would be the opposite.) The B. boehmei did a lot more digging. It closed off the burrow completely with a huge pile of dirt, and filled in the opening at the back of the burrow stuffing dirt to cover the window and coming out the opening at the top. She opened the window on the front of the cage more and could be seen busily working inside. The cricket in the A. geniculata cage wandered into the wide open burrow and commotion could be seen inside. I threw in three more crickets, and one wandered in to be met by fangs at the entrance. I don't think the other two will last long.

January 29, 2000:
The A. geniculata sealed its burrow last night after eating a cricket, but it's slightly open again this morning. I can't wait for it to start getting really big. There's been some talk on the egroups.com arachnid mailing list that there is some confusion between A. geniculata and A. brockelhursti, but all I care is that mine gets big and beautiful.

Tick has been eating, but I'm starting to think her and boots's cages are a bit on the big side. I suppose she's really still fine if she only catches one every couple days, but she used to eat more frequently it seems. Boots is eating at a slightly faster pace, though her crickets are much smaller.

The B. boehmei is pushing out more dirt all the time. I'm gonna scoop out some of the extra that's cluttering up the cage. The Grinch created a very narrow (I don't know how she constructed it, it looks too narrow for her to fit) tunnel straight up to the surface. The top and sides of it are very losely packed, unlike the rest of her burrow. It seems to be a booby trap for crickets, as they'll wander the cage, then stumble into the hole only to recieve death via large fangs. She had sealed off her main entrance, but I actually saw her halfway out of that entrance today, probably moving dirt.

Update: Well, The Grinch was walking around outside her burrow, looking hungry. I decided I would oblige and feed her. When I opened her cage, she retreated to the entrance of her burrow, with her legs sticking out. I dropped in a couple crickets, and they went straight for the trap door. Noticing the comotion inside her burrow, she came down. The crickets, realizing their predicament held perfectly still, for a moment. The larger one then tried to make a break for it, but instead quickly met with the fangs of fury. The little one, thinking that the large hungry hairy spider was occupied with his buddy, decided to sneak by... Bad idea. Without batting an eyelash, the cricket met its maker with a single crushing blow. Tomorrow I'm going to try her with an adult cricket. She should have little trouble.

January 30, 2000:
Geeze, the Grinch is turning into an agressive little monster. She showed no fear and did not retreat when I opened the cage. I was misting her cage, and she attacked the water I was spraying on the substrate. She didn't attack it like it was a threat, she tried to roll it toward her fangs with her front legs and pedipalps like she does with the crickets. She just kept catching air. She also struck at my brush when I was working with that. I threw in two adult crickets, and she killed them both IMMEDIATELY. She didn't even wait for them to aproach either entrance to her burrow. At the rate she's been eating, I would have thought she would be getting overly fat by now, but although she's gaining weight, she doesn't look like she's too fat.

The A. geniculata's appetite is increasing steadily. She took out two adult crickets only moments after they entered the cage today. Surprisingly, although she's eaten plenty, her abdomen hasn't grown as much as I would have expected (though it has grown quite a bit). She doesn't look oversized at all.

Tick also recieved some adult crickets today, though she only ate one right when I put it in. Boots got some medium sized ones, but she appears to be sleeping. It will take a little while for them to climb up to within striking range anyhow.

January 31, 2000:
The Grinch was out and about this morning, doing a weird hyperactive dance. She retreated to her burrow and started acting normal when I started spying on her. She'd broadened much of her burrow, and had made a mess of her cage again (a pile of substrate in the water dish). She seemed really hungry AGAIN, so I obliged and gave her an adult cricket, which was met with such ferocity that it was ripped directly in half. Both jumping legs got torn off as well. I'm gonna put her on a one cricket per day diet until she starts looking too fat at which point I'll cut that back further.

Tick and the A. geniculata were poking their front legs out of their shelters this morning. After her previous molt, Tick kept getting bolder and bolder about hanging out outside her web, until she got to the point where she was almost completely out of the entrance where I could take a picture of her. I hope she does the same this time. She's SOO pretty now, I may chase her out and do a photo session outside of the cage.

The A. geniculata is sorta doing the same pattern now. It's hard to see her right now, but she's starting to look quite fat. She's worked her way up to that huge appetite they're supposed to have - I think she'll have to go on a diet as well.

Boots was outside of her web dismembering a pretty big cricket, so I got a chance to finally take a couple pictures. She's fat as a house and starting to spend a great deal of time outside of her totally dilapidated web. She's started to build a new one between the cork and the side of the cage, but she's had one there and dismantled it on a number of occasions, so we'll see.

The B. boehmei hasn't done squat for days.

I don't know when I'll be getting my next tarantulas, but there are just two right now that are high on my list (though I could use suggestions!):
Chromatopelma Cyanopubescens - colorful but can be nervous
Grammastola Gigantea/Mollicoma - I know almost nothing about this species except that they are exceptionally furry and funny looking. Supposedly they get pretty big and are fairly docile.

I also would like to get some old world tarantulas, at least one terrestrial and one arboreal. I have no idea which I should get, so I'll take suggestions on that subject.

I posted a bunch of pics and stuff today, check out the what's new section to see. I also named the B. boehmei "Raul" and the A. geniculata "Kuni". Copyright ©1999-2008 Thomas Schumm