May, 2000

May 03, 2000:
Last night I discovered that the wolf spider had left her burrow to hunt (at least one of the fruit flies I had put in her cage was missing, though it probably could have escaped). There were many many tiny blue-gray little babies piled up on her back! Most looked like eggs with legs, though a few may have molted into spiderlings.

May 7, 2000:
I prepared and moved Tick into a new container a few days ago, but she hasn't built a new web yet, though she is eating and spraying poop. The previous times that I had moved her, she started building it within hours.

The new cage is a 2.5 gallon aquarium set on end with the opening covered with 3 pieces of plexiglass. The bottom piece is two inches wide, and is glued in place. It holds the substrate (bed-a-beast) in. The middle piece is 2 inches wide also, with twenty holes drilled (melted) in it, held in place by metal clips. It has two wire loops going through some of the holes for use as handles. The third piece takes up the rest of the space and has twenty holes at the top. It is glued at the top just enough to stay in securely (it could be removed if necessary), and the bottom is held in by the same clips as the middle piece. When I want to access the cage, I just slide the clips up and pull out the unsecured piece. I'll post pictures eventually. There's a slab of cork bark and a water dish in there as well.

The wolf spider babies have started to disperse. About two thirds of them have left her back and were crawling around in the container (and burrowing even). I decided to let her and her babies go, and dumped the substrate and whatnot outside.

Boots may have started fasting, though her abdomen isn't really all that large. Kuni has stopped attacking the water I put in her dish, so she may be full. Tick wouldn't eat a MHC, but she took crickets just fine. Bob has let another MHC I offered her live, and she doesn't seem to get the crickets very quickly at all now. Her abdomen seems to have grown quite a bit over the past two weeks, even though she hasn't really eaten as much as she normally does...

The other day I noticed that there was a whole bunch of little roach babies! Looks like about 30-40, so my roaches are finally (re)producing. I don't have any pinhead crickets yet, but they're supposed to take a couple weeks to hatch. I was poking around in the vermiculite tub a bit and I noticed hundreds of cricket eggs, so I should hopefully have some soon.

May 10, 2000:
I'm getting some mold on one of the cricket egg-laying tubs, and I don't know why. I'm going to let it dry out a bit, but I don't want the eggs to dessicate. I'm also getting some mold in part of Sparky's new cage, which doesn't make any sense, because it isn't really particuarly damp or humid, and it is well ventilated. It might just be spring or something, but I'm gonna scrape off the top layer of soil and let the cage dry out as much as possible.

Tick has started to build some webbing, but nothing substantial (though it does appear to be a start to a nest and not random webbing.)

May 14, 2000:
I had the opportunity today to purchase some fine spiders from someone who needs to sell of much of their (impressive) collection. I ended up getting a (sizes are approximate) 5" colbalt blue female, a 5" Usambara female, and a lovely 4" P. irminia. The Usambara and P. irminia molted about a week ago, which made them hard to resist. Aside from the cobalt blue, neither really nabbed me by pictures of them that I had seen. Many spiders are not done justice by their pictures. They're all stunningly beautiful. The prices were very reasonable considering the size of the spiders. A friend that came along picked up a baby A. geniculata and a baby cobalt, and I also picked up another baby A. genic for another friend.

The Usambara is totally psychotic. Of the 54 tarantulas in his collection, he said it was the only one he was really afraid of. I phear it also (with a capital PH!) The cobalt is no slouch either. These tarantulas are truly aggressive beasts, and should not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. They're gonna be a handful. Fortunately I was able to put them in their new containers without incident. Getting them out of their old containers at his house was another story. The sort of aggression demonstrated by the Usambara was awesome (as in, causing awe). The P. irminia, contrastingly, seems as gentle and graceful as its appearance would suggest. It, like most arboreals, can be speedy at times though.

Well, I'm finally getting some pinheads. They're hatching out in large numbers, and unfortunately, a few are escaping! The mold isn't getting any worse, and it doesn't seem to have had too much of a negative impact. Most of the original shipment are dead, but there's another on the way. I also ordered some zoophobas.

Tick's web is for real now. Speck will molt any minute - her legs are getting darker quickly. I have two P. audax now, one is missing a leg, but it's a bit bigger than the others I've found, so we'll see how it does. I've hatched out one wax worm moth so far. If I get a few more, they might even breed!

May 15, 2000:
The Usambara webbed itself into the cork bark retreat I provided over the night. That seems to be standard fare for that species. I think I'll name it Norman. Since I used a 5 gallon tank, which requires so much substrate (which weighs a lot), I buried an empty 2 liter bottle to reduce the amount of substrate required and also reduced the weight of the resultant cage.

The Cobalt didn't burrow, but it started making itself at home by laying down a mat of webbing. I didn't do the 2-liter trick with this one because this species burrows more, and I want to provide it with plenty of freedom to do that.

The P. irminia has explored all over the container, but it hasn't made much of any webbing yet. I'll try feeding all three today, probably giving roaches to some of them at least.

May 16, 2000:
The cricket shipment came yesterday, but the zoophobas didn't arrive yet.

The cobalt and usambara refused the cockroaches I offered (in fact, the roach actually chased the usambara out of her hidey hole without incurring any wrath, which I found rather peculiar). The P. irminia also showed no interest in the crickets I provided. I'll wait a day or two before trying again, to give them a better chance to get settled.

I cleaned Bob's cage last night, and did the 2-liter trick to get the substrate closer to the top. She seemed pretty pissed and refused to eat.

This morning I woke to discover that Boots had molted (I knew she was due because she hadn't eaten in so long, but I wasn't really able to see any outward signs). Also, Speck had flipped onto her back, and should be done molting by the time I get home. I knew she was going to go any minute because her legs were totally black. I expect a big color change because of how much she changed color pre-molt.

All the others (Kuni, Raul, The Grinch, Sparky and Tick) ate a couple crickets. I don't know how much more Kuni can eat, but I have to feed her in order to get access to her cage, so she'll keep getting fed.

Though none of the waxworms have spun silk cocoons as they are supposed to do, a few have managed to pupate into moths that have been hanging around in the cage. Hopefully they'll mate, and eventually I'll have a population of flying insects to feed to my arboreals. The moths aren't terribly big though, so it'll take a couple to equal the size of an adult cricket. They're a nice alternative though, and require less maintainance. I think that some of the ones I thought were dead are actually pupating. There are definately some dead ones though. I don't know why they didn't spin cocoons.

May 17, 2000:
The cobalt still hasn't dug its burrow yet, which bothers me some. I think I'll put some sort of shelter in the cage to encourage it to at least, well, take shelter. She's got webbing all over the place. I think it ate a couple crickets that I threw in, because I couldn't find them, and there wasn't anywhere for them to hide. I also think the usambara ate one of the crix.

The superworms (zoophobas) came today, and Kuni, Raul, Sparky and the Grinch all feasted. Tick, Bob and the Cobalt refused. I didn't offer one to the Usambara, because it was sealed in (though I have seen it come out on occasion, it seems to just always web up the entrance when it's not out), and the zoophobas tend to burrow in if left on the surface too long. I can tell I'm gonna have plenty of these things.

May 18, 2000:
Today I learned a few things. One, I learned that I shouldn't be stupid. I also learned that I shouldn't be stupid. Another thing that I learned is that I shouldn't go and be stupid. I also learned that I shouldn't do stupid things.

I decided to put a cork bark retreat in the cobalt's cage to encourage her to burrow. First I needed to move the water dish. Ah, she seems pretty tame lately, I don't have to be overly cautious. Well, I made it a close call as she struck at me (and came within about an inch of biting me) when I tried to move the water dish. Ok, I guess it is time for precautions. I covered her up with a plastic box so I could go on about doing my business. No problem after that. I gave her a nice cork shelter, moved her water dish, cleaned up some stuff, no prob. Carefully I removed the box. No problems there. She was sorta staring at me in a serous ass threat posture, but it was all under control.

Then I thought "Hey, let me get a picture of THAT!." So I grabbed the good ol' camera and snapped a few shots. I too a whole bunch and ended up with a kick-ass shot from the side, and a couple mediocre ones from the front. After viewing those, I decided that I should try to get a couple more from the front and back. Of course, that meant I had to tease her back up into the threat posture. That wasn't hard, but then she wouldn't let go of the paintbrush. When I pulled it away, she went berserk! Before I could blink, she bolted up the side of the cage, and out the top. I tried to contain her with the plastic box, but she ran around the outside of the cage (fangs a-blazin', clanking on the glass) faster than I've ever seen a spider move. The ran up the side of the P. irmina cage next to her. Again, I tried to contain her with the box. No such luck. She ran up to the top of the cage then to the top of the spray bottle sitting there. Fortunately, from there, she could go up no further. I placed the box in front of her, and she crawled in. I was shaking like a leaf and somehow she didn't bolt and stayed in the box just long enough for me to get it over top of her cage. She then jumped out and into her cage. I would have preferred it if she didn't fall quite so far then, but she seems uninjured.

Anyhow, I did get the one awesome picture. I'll be posting that shortly. I'm going to put a little sign on her (and the Usambara's) cage to remind me "Tom, don't be a dumbass. Leave her be." Nearly an hour later, my heart is still racing.

She did eat some crix right before that, so it's good to know she's eating. Also, they've been dissapearing in the night from the Usambara's cage. And the P. irminia ate in front of me today, which is the first time I can say for sure that she's eaten. She's started to lay down some silk too. The Cobalt's cage is full of silk also.

The cricket rearing cage is chock full of pinheads, so I guess my breeding project there was a success. There are several wax worm moths now, so hopefully they should lay some eggs. I don't know what the eggs will look like though.

May 22, 2000:
The cobalt still hasn't dug a burrow, but somebody suggested that the substrate is too moist, and that if it dries out some, she'll dig to maintain her own humidity. I'll buy that.

I've seen the Usambara outside of her hide at night. I even snapped a couple decent pictures, which I'll post sometime in the near future. I also got a couple more good pix of the fat-as-hell geniculata.

I was being lazy, so Speck and Boots got more time than the needed to recover from their respective molts. Speck is hungry as ever and took out a big cricket right away. She's REALLY beautiful now, so I'll try to take a picture or two. Boots looks pretty much the same, but it's hard to see her with her pretty extensive tube web now. Speck also has a tube along the ground and under some of the cork bark pieces. It's got multiple tunnels and entrances and is actually pretty cool. I'll be moving her to a larger cage soon. Boots will also get moved to a new cage if only to provide her with a clean one. She'll also get more space to work with.

Bob hasn't been eating. I think her cage is too humid. She wasn't eating much before either. She could be preparing for a molt or something even. Of course, she is a G. rosea, and long, unexplained fasts are normal for this species. I'm trying to dry out her cage as much as possible.

Kuni, Raul, the Grinch are all still eating, though they're all getting pretty fat (especially Kuni!) Tick and Sparky have healthy appetites as well.

The P. irminia is dissapearing crickets from it's cage, though it doesn't seem to be fattening up much. I have seen her eat a few of them though. She's quickly becoming one of my favorites, and has definately passed up Tick as my favorite arboreal. Her proportions are almost comical. Her legs (espeically the front ones) are long and get wider towards the ends. They're huge compared to her body size. When she moves around, it's so graceful and elegant, yet so comical because of her dimensions. I'm gonna try to get some better pictures of her, but the camera can't really do her justice. She's the lovelest velvety black with gold and silver markings on her abdomen, and golden swooshes on her legs.

The pinhead crickets aren't growing that fast, but they seem to number in the billions of trillions. I guess I'll consider my breeding technique a success.

May 23, 2000:
I posted some new pictures of Tick, the P. irminia and the Usambara today.

May 24, 2000:
I've been trying to increase the humidity in Kuni's cage, because she sometimes tends to sit on the water dish a lot. She's stopped doing that the past couple of days, so I think I've succeeded. I'm going to cut off some of the ventilation in her lid though.

The grinch's cage was getting too dry for a while also, but it's moist enough now. For some reason, her water dish seems to be leeching out all the water every day, so I may have to replace that. When I refilled it today, and she came over and took a big long drink. Then retreated to her burrow. She's been acting sorta spunky lately, and hasn't shown too much interest in eating. I think she may be starting to fast for her next molt.

Bob's cage is back to normal humidity, but she's still not eating. She (and possibly the Grinch) are the only ones though.

The crickets seem to be surviving longer this time. Also, I think pototoes are better as a cricket water source. They last longer than the oranges, and the pinheads have an easier time munching into them than trying to get through to the next "cell" in an orange.

I got a good look at Boots after work. She's got her overall black color with white tipped hairs, but now her carapace and legs are the most unusual iridescent color. Her abdomen has a steely purpleish sheen that can be seen under good light. I moved her into a new cage today, so I took a couple pictures while she was out. She seemed really calm, so I tried to handle her, but she wouldn't touch my hand for more than a second. She's been picky about her feet before, so I guess she thought I was dirty.

May 25, 2000:
I ordered an Avicularia braunshauseni, Poecilotheria ornata and Poecilotheria regalis from Arachnocentric today. They should arrive tomorrow.

May 26, 2000:
The cobalt blue FINALLY dug in yesterday. Somebody on the arachnids list suggested letting the cage dry out so that she would dig down to get to higher humidity. Sure enough, it worked. I guess that's the last I'll see of her!

It looks like Boots ate a cricket I gave her, so I guess she's recovered from the move.

Airborne Express fouled up the shipping, so the spiders won't arrive until tomorrow.

May 27, 2000:
Well, the spiders finally arrived today. They were in good shape except the P. regalis was missing a leg. I had two smallish crickets which I offered the P. ornata and A. braunshauseni, and I had to offer some of the micro-crix to the P. regalis. She snapped those up and the avic took it's crick. The regalis made a curious scrape in the ground then made a web and dirt dome over top of it. The avic started constructing a web near the bottom, and the ornata mostly just flattened out and hid under the cork bark in its cage. I used some small spice jars for each cage. One good thing about arboreals is that they frequently press up against the side of the cage for measurement. The avic is just over an inch (about the same as boots first was, but smaller body and thinner longer legs and a little bit different chevron pattern). The regalis is about an inch and a quarter and the ornata is just under and inch and a half.

They're all pretty speedy and spooky. The avic was even semi-aggressive when I was trying to chase it into its new home. Ran all over the table and even did a cute little threat posture when we had our disagreements.

May 30, 2000:
The big crix are starting to run out again, and my pinheads are growing really slowly. Everybody but Bob and the new P. ornata are eating. I'm reducing Kuni's intake as she's getting to the point where I'm seriously worried about her getting injured because of her MASSIVE abdomen. The P. regalis seems to be suffering no ill effects from her missing leg.

The Cobalt and the Usambara each got a medium sized MHc. The cobalt ate all of hers but the shell, but didn't seem to fatten up much (she's back out of her hole again). The Usambara only ate a small portion of hers then sealed herself back up.

Update: Well, sometime this morning or last night, The Grinch decided to molt. It was sorta surprising, but not totally. She had been spending most of her time in her burrow for a while, but had just come out for a while and even ate a cricket just two days ago. Last night she didn't show any interest in food though, and she wasn't moving about much, so I kinda felt it might be coming.

I caught the Usambara carrying back the leftover chunk of MHC back to her hideout I assume to be consumed. The cobalt had gathered up the pieces of roach left in her cage (they were scattered about) and mushed them into a smaller ball, so I assume she was consuming more of that as well.

Raul may be close to a molt, as her abdomen is balding and appearing to get darker. She's still eating at a reasonable pace though.

May 31, 2000:
I ordered a Poecilotheria formosa, Avicularia avicularia, Acanthoscurria fracta and Psalmopoeus cambridgei today. They should arrive Monday.

I also did some updates to the design of the page. It should work better in Netscape now. It's HTML and style sheet support is pretty buggy (it can't handle nested tables if you forget any of the optional </TR> and </TD> tags, and it's style sheets are incomplete and go to hell if you have any misplaced tags or FONT tags for backward compatability).

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