February, 2000

February 2, 2000:
Early yesterday morning, Kuni sealed herself in her burrow with a great big mound of dirt and hasn't been out since. There was one cricket left in the cage, so I took that out and gave it to The Grinch (who ate it immediately.) The Grinch also moved out more dirt and piled it in her water dish. She comes out of the burrow quite a bit but usually retreats when the lights come on. Tick ate a big cricket too. Boots has been doing some weird disorganized webbing, but has been very visible. I may try to take some more pictures. Raul has done sqat. She occasionally moves in her burrow, so at least I know she's alive. I haven't noticed her bald spot getting noticably darker yet, but she could very well be approaching a molt.

I ordered a Grammostolla mollicoma and Chromatopelma cyanopubescens from West Coast Zoological today. They mostly deal in export, so they're a little less convienient than some of the other dealers (they also have a $100 minimum order) for a small order like mine, but they're OK by me because they are the only place that has those mollicoma furballs! They should be delivered on Saturday. It seems like certain species are exceptionally difficult to find, even though by all appearances they should be pretty popular.

February 4, 2000:
I gave the roach cage a good cleaning, and decided to put it in the spider room. I've had some die off, and they haven't been reproducing. I think if I keep them warm (like the T's) they'll be a bit more randy. Anyhow, I gave their tank a real good scrubbing (when it got into the warmth of the spider room, I started to notice the smell!) Then I threw in a layer of moist bed-a-beast and stacked a couple egg cartons in there for hiding. The bed-a-beast should help keep the humdity up a bit better. I gave them a couple large pill bottle lids for water dishes (with some rocks so any potential babies can crawl out) and a few pieces of bread, carrots and dog food for them to eat. I hope they get busy and bump uglies.

I'm pretty sure Tick ate a cricket yesterday, but I skipped a day on feeding The Grinch. I think Boots may have stopped eating again already, but I'll try her with some crickets when I get some more of an appropriate size. I'm running really low on big crickets, which I would normally feed to most of the spiders. I'm also have only one or two of the medium sized ones that Boots eats. I have plenty of really tiny ones though (but no tiny spiders to feed them to!)

I think the C. cyanopubescens that I'm getting will be small enough so that the tiny crickets will be appropriate. The G. mollicoma should be bigger though; The guy said 2-3 inches, and they're supposed to be a very stocky build. They should arrive tomorrow; I can't wait!

February 5, 2000:
I got some more large crickets yesterday, but they didn't have small ones (which are the right size for boots). There were a couple little ones in there though. I also picked up some more cages, including a couple extra of the size I'm using right now for Kuni and Raul (The Grinch will graduate into one of these when she molts). They had a smaller rectangular size which I hadn't seen before (7-1/8" long by 5-1/2" high by 4-3/8" wide as listed on the label). Those seem to be outside dimensions at the absolute widest points rounded up. At the surface of the substrate, it's really only about 3" wide by 6" long on the inside. I picked up one of those (though I think I probably should have gotten two). I also got another of the small round size that The Grinch is using in case the C. cyanopubescens is too small fo the small rectangular size.

Update: The new spiders arrived in good shape! The G. mollicoma is a bit smaller than I imagined, but she's probably about 2" in legspan (slightly larger than The Grinch but smaller than Kuni). I sure hope she's the furry critter on Troll's page; she doesn't look much like it yet, but she looks like she's in dire need of a molt (dirty, bald, and kinda ugly!) I decided to put her in the smaller rectangular cage. I gave her a cricket, and she gobbeled it up immediately (and ate another later in the day.) She seemed pretty calm, but she got pretty excited about grabbing that cricket.

The C. cyanoepubescens is TINY! She immediately acquired the name "Speck." She's hardly 3/4 of an inch in legspan; smaller than boots when I got her. Her legs are much skinnier too. She had already webbed up the vial she came in. She's proven to be skittish right away. I had a very hard time teasing her out of the vial and into her new cage. Even the small round one I got was much too big! I decided to put her in the larger vial that the G. mollicoma was shipped in. The tiny crickets are just perfect for her too. I threw a couple in after she had calmed down a bit, but they scared her, and she ran right out of the vial before I could get the lid on! I tried to tease her back in with a paint brush, and she started kicking hairs at me (though she's so tiny, I don't know how she could even have HAIR!) She then clinged on to the paintbrush, so I tried to lift her back in, but then she ran up the paintbrush and up my arm! I reached to grab another and then was able to chase her off my arm, down the paintbrush and into the vial. PHEW! She's been walking the walls ever since, I may have to take those crickets out of there if she doesn't take them out. She's already started webbing up the place in just her first few minutes in the vial (there's bits of bed-a-beast suspended all over the place.) I'll try to take a picture as soon as she calms down and gets off the walls.

February 6, 2000:
The G. mollicoma ate a couple more crickets today. She's really hardly done any digging or anything... She had layed down some webbing, but that got dragged around (along with the substrate stuck to it) when she went after a cricket. She's hardly gone inside the cork shelter except to chase a cricket. Instead of burying it half way, I just sunk it in enough so that it wouldn't shift around (with both ends open). She's mostly stayed in one small part of the cage. She's got a patch of hairs on her abdomen that looks like shiny crushed velvet or metallic gold cloth or something. It looks like she's kicked off most of it though. I guess I'll name her Sparky.

Speck failed to kill the crickets she was given, so I took them back out. She's not moving at all except when disturbed, and has stopped doing her webbing. She may just be in shock a bit from the shipping and her trauma yesterday, but I'm gonna keep a close eye on her and try to disturb her as little as possible. There's nothing to be gained by me meddling, and I could easily do her harm! I gave her a tiny cork shelter (carved from a cork!), so we'll see if she makes use of that. She's hardly touched the substrate, so it may be a while before she finds it. I don't think there's any way I could provide her with a water dish. I put a couple drops of water on the side of the cage in case she's thirsty, but she didn't show interest.

Tick ate another cricket today. She's been doing some new webbing, and as a result, she's a bit more visible (because of some holes put in her old web for the sake of the new additions.) She's also been poking her head out a bit more.

Boots has been doing some webbing, but she's had some real trouble getting the web to stick to the plastic in some spots and as a result, her web is really dilapidated looking. I don't think she's eating, but I'm going to try her again with some small crickets today. The Grinch, Kuni and Raul remain sealed in their burrows.

I took a bunch of pictures, so I should get the pages up for the new spiders tonight.

Update: Phew, Speck is moving around and webbing again! She's acting REALLY skittish and VERY FAST upon any sort of disturbance (she seems to especially hate light). I feel safe trying her again with a cricket. She's built quite a bit of webbing off of the ground, incorporating with the lid and the top of the cork.

I've also added the pages and pictures for the new spiders and a new picture of Tick.

February 7, 2000:
Well, I decided to do a quick check on all the T's after I got up this morning... Lets see... Tick's hangin' out, Boots is lookin' like Boots, Kuni's still buried, Raul's peeking out the window, The Grinch is just sitting there sealed in her burrow, Sparky's waiting for food, Speck is si... ACK! There's two Specks! I had a hard time determining which was the real one... She seems to have mostly recovered already as she is moving around normally (and kicking!) She was still moving around and webbing as of about 3am last night, and I first looked at her at about 10am this morning, so she really squeezed it in there. I've heard of this molt- after-shipping syndrome, but now I know what it's like! Caught me off guard. I sorta had the idea sitting in the back of my mind (which would explain why she didn't eat), but I didn't expect it! Looks like she molted well off the ground. She was sitting on her old skin, but she was moving around in a nervous manner, so I think she did it only shortly after I went to bed.

I was able to retrieve the molt after work, and posted some pictures. It was stuck to her web, so she seemed to get pretty pissed as I tried to take it away! She kicked like crazy and threatened to make a break for it... She thought better though! She later stretched out all the way on the side of the vial and I measured her... She's now easily over an inch, but she's not quite an inch and a quarter. Her butt is really tiny!

Tick and Sparky each ate a cricket, though Sparky seemed hesitant. She actually let it walk underneath her a few times, but once she realized I was going to take it away, thinking she wasn't hungry, she decided to grab it while she had the chance! The rest of the spiders didn't do anything, though Raul's been moving around more than usual inside the burrow.

February 8, 2000
Tick and sparky both got crickets today, neither hesitated a moment before catching them. Tick is getting bolder, and hanging further outside her web each day. She also is much more aggressive about grabbing crickets. Speck hasn't eaten yet, but her fangs are already quite black. I'll try her tomorrow. Her abdomen is really tiny, so I want to make sure she gets a chance to eat as soon as she wants to. Boots is also out quite a bit like Tick, though she doesn't seem to be interested in eating. The other three spiders remain sealed in their burrows.

February 9, 2000:
I picked up a Grammostolla rosea from a local pet shop today. She's about 5" in legspan, and I'm pretty certain she's female. When they first got her out of the display case, she was really hyper and climbing everywhere. After I got her home and in her new cage (a 5 gallon aquarium), she kept climbing and running around. I decided I had to replace the screen in the lid with something else because she already got her claws stuck a couple times. I had a clear plastic box and took a side of that and melted some holes in it and hot glued it into the lid in place of the screen. She can't grip it well, so she doesn't try to climb across the ceiling anymore. Now that she's been in there a while she seems to have calmed down though she hasn't payed any attention to the crickets I gave her yet. I didn't have enough bed-a-beast left for her cage, so I mixed in some peat moss until I had about enough. I glued together a few slabs of cork bark for a shelter (which she's not really used at all) and of course gave her a water dish as well. I'll take some pictures and make a page for her tomorrow probably.

Getting the new spider to stay in it's cage was a bit of a strugle. I had to keep chasing it around to get it off the edge of the cage. It ended up crawling on to my hand, and so I decided to take the opportuntity, since she seemed so tame, to practice handling... I let her crawl across my hands for quite a while, then eventually let her on to the floor. She just kept moving for the longest time. Seemed like she had a ton of energy to burn off or something.

Tick and Sparky each ate another cricket today. I think Sparky's abdomen is getting darker and shinier, but I'm not sure. She never leaves the one side of the cage by the cork shelter, but she only even goes in the shelter if she's chasing a cricket. Weird...

Boots didn't eat, and all the others remained sealed in their burrows. I can look through Raul's window to see that her abdomen is getting shiny, and she has quite the dark patch on top. I can't imagine she's too far from a molt; she hasn't eaten in over two weeks. I'd guess that she's probably about a week off.

February 10, 2000:
Sparky and the new rose hair each ate a cricket today. Tick ignored the cricket I offered her, we'll see if it's gone in the morning. I decided to put some plastic on the inside of the lids on the Grinch's cage and Sparky's cage to see if they'll hold the humidity better. I hot glued some clear stiff plastic I had to the inside top and part of the sides of the lid on both cages. I probably left more ventilation open than I need to, but better safe than sorry.

February 11, 2000:
The new rose hair has spent most of her time sitting on top of her shelter. She's stopped running around and climbing so much, so I assume she's gotten more accustomed to her new surroundings. She apparently ate the other two crickets in her cage, and snatched up another I gave to her. I'm gonna let her plump up until she looks nicely proportioned then cut her back to about two crickets a week.

Sparky has dug out some of the substrate to create a depression behind and inside the cork shelter, and has piled it on one side of the shelter and across the far opening of the shelter (the one closer to the middle of the cage).

Raul's whole abdomen is quite a bit darker than it was just yesterday, or even this morning. I suspect a molt is very near.

I think speck finally ate a couple crix.

February 13, 2000:
Yep, speck is definately eating. I didn't expect her to fast so long considering how tiny she is! The new rose hair ate a cricket yesterday. She has put down some webbing over the top of her retreat and a thin mat of it on the floor as well. Tick seems to have sealed off her web, but that might be temporary (she's closed and reopened it before). Boots seems to be sealed in, and has been that way for a while. Sparky's been eating, but she doesn't grab the crix immediately any more. I'll slow down her diet some. The Grinch and Kuni remain sealed in their burrows. Raul's abdomen couldn't possibly get much darker. She has to be very close to a molt.

February 14, 2000:
Tick seems to be fasting now and has closed her web. Boots's legs have suddenly turned almost a sooty black, and the Grinch's abdomen has suddenly turned black as well. I gave speck another little cricket, but she does virtually nothing with any sort of light on. She does plenty of webbing and hunting with them off though. Sparky didn't pounce on the cricket I offered her, so I didn't push the issue. She did venture out to the other side of the cork bark for the first time though.

A friend brought over a small jumping spider that he found in his car and had been caring for for a few months (and had named neutrino). It's really neat, I've got it in a vial in the spider room now. I'm going to take some pictures soon and try to identify it, or at least get an approximate idea of genus or something.

The crickets are starting to make a considerable racket, so I hope they start laying eggs.

February 15, 2000:
The G. rosea will be named Bob unless I come up with a good name.

Speck ate another tiny cricket

February 16, 2000:
MOLT! Raul was on her back inside her burrow this morning when I woke up. Looking at her over the past week, I knew she couldn't be far off. My guess of a week off (last wednesday) was exactly right. She had put down a light mat of silk sometime last night, and even some strands in front of the window. I misted her cage last night, but I don't know how much that helps inside her burrow. She hadn't gotten the carapace off by the time I had to go to work, and she was done before I got home. She got A LOT bigger. Her color got a lot brighter too, though it'll be hard to see for sure until her skin goes back to normal color and she comes out.

Boots and the Grinch should follow shortly (especially boots) as they are definately in PMS (pre-molt-syndrome). Kuni may be as well, and Tick will probably follow in a couple weeks, as she has stopped eating and usually molts not long after Boots. Boots should make a pretty significant color change this time because she's gotten a lot darker than she had before her previous molts. I don't know how far off Sparky is, but her abdomen is shiny, but not particularly dark.

Sparky seems to be hungry again, as she at a cricket without too much wait. Speck also ate.

February 17, 2000:
Sparky absolutely refused the cricket I offered her. I gave speck a cricket, but she probably won't eat it until later tonight. Boots was working on her web a bit. She's almost all black now, except for her tippy toes and the orange chevron markings on her abdomen (which are getting darker). The Grinch's abdomen is a sooty black color as well. I can't see Kuni well (I can just see a tiny bit if I peek in a small opening I made in the burrow, just enough to see that she hasn't molted yet), but based on how long she's been fasting and the other spiders, I'm sure she's in a similar state! Any of those three could molt any day now.

Raul didn't emerge from her burrow, but I opened up the entrance just enough to fish out the molt while it's still fresh. I took some pictures of it, and was able to untangle the abdomen enough (after moistening it) to get some close up shots of the important parts. I posted a pic on the arachnids-pix list on egroups.com, but I'm farily certain that initial sexings were right and that she's female. That was the initial response I got from the list as well.

February 18, 2000:
MOLT! The Grinch wasn't on her back when I got home, but she molted some time when I wasn't looking. I did the routine check/maintainance after I got home, then some friends dropped by, we watched a game and whatnot, then we all went to look at the spiders and she'd already finished molting! She had layed down a silk mat and everything. She had to cram it in about a three hour period total. She was still on her back doing excercizes at about 10:50 when I first noticed it. She looks all pretty and velvety again. She, like Raul, got much bigger. I'll have to get some more bed-a-beast and move her to a bigger cage when she recovers.

Speck was finishing up the cricket I gave her when I got home today. I also gave Bob a cricket. Raul has gotten most of her color back, but other than that, the spiders (aside from The Grinch) haven't done much.

I was handling Bob, and she pooped on me. She then seemed pretty stressed out for a little while after that and kept trying to escape her cage. I think I'll quit handling her.

February 19, 2000:
MOLT! Geeze, I'm having a moltarama here! Boots molted sometime early this morning. She was still doing stretching excercises when I left for work. By the evening, she had gotten her color back, and she REALLY changed color this molt. She's blue-black with pink toes with white or light pink tips. When she's up against the side, she seems to have a green iridescense on the underside of her legs.

Bob was sorta back to normal this morning, but she hadn't eaten the cricket I offered her. The cricket looked kinda disoriented itself, possibly dead.

I saw one of the female cockroaches and it looks REALLY FAT, so she's probably gravid. I hope I get some baby roaches soon!

Update: Bob is back to normal and ate the cricket. I prepared a new cage for the Grinch for when she recovers. It will be the same as the ones for Kuni and Raul, but I made the substrate as deep as I could (and still have some space at the top!) I was mostly out of bed-a-beast, and they didn't have any at the store, so I got a "Forest-bed" by T-rex, which is basically the same stuff, though the brick wasn't packed quite as hard. I'll predict that Tick is about two weeks off. Kuni is probably only a day or two away, based on the fact that all the molts I've witnessed (with the single exception of the Grinch) were between 20 and 23 days of pre-molt fasting. I think that they probably aren't that uniform usually though.

February 21, 2000:
MOLT! Kuni molted yesterday, or possibly even the day before. I retrieved the shed skin, but it was too mangled for me to sex it.

I took some pictures of Speck today. I'll hopefully post those soon. She's gotten bold enough to sometimes catch prey with the lights on.

Sparky refused food again, even after I left her with the cricket for quite some time. Since she doesn't hide, she comes into contact with her food a lot more than the other spiders, so I don't have to leave it in very long to realize she won't eat.

I let Bob have a double meal today since the crix weren't too big. It's fun watching her wrap up the crix.

Tick is still fasting, and the rest of the spiders are all still recovering.

I've got a lot of updates to do on the spider pages, and I still haven't written one for bob or taken any pictures!

February 23, 2000:
Raul opened up both ends of her burrow, but was hiding inside. I threw in a cricket and she immediately ate it. Boots seemed kinda jumpy and her web looked to be open, so I threw a couple crickets this morning, but I had to leave so I didn't get to see if she ate one.

February 24, 2000:
I don't think Boots ate the crickets just yet, but she should start eating any day. I gave Raul a second cricket last night and she ate it right away. I'd like her to come out so that I can take a picture. Her cage is kinda a mess, so I'll probably chase her out for a photo op, and clean her cage at the same time. I might even replace the substrate with bed-a- beast.

February 28, 2000:
Well, all the recently molted spiders are definately eating. Boots looks really cool now that she's got all her color back. Blue-black with hot pink shoes and orange zig-zags on her abdomen. Raul is freqently visible at the entrance to her burrow and is always making a mess of her cage! Kuni is still hiding, but the burrow has a small opening and crickets don't last long in her cage. I moved the Grinch to a larger enclosure (like the one for Kuni and Raul), and she immediately dug a deep burrow. She obliged and built it up against the side of the tank again, so she's very visible (and very pretty!). Tick should molt soon, and Sparky's abdomen has turned color so she should molt any day now.

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