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The aim of
this tarantula BLOG is to give an insight into how I decided to set up and look
after a Chilean Rose (Grammostola Rosea) Spiderling.
The reason I
chose this type of spider was the fact that it is easy to care for from
what I had read on other sites and had a very small price tag.
These can be
bought from many distributors in the UK. I got mine from:
The Spider Shop.co.uk : Tarantula Suppliers
This blog on the Chilean Rose has been going for quite a
while and I'm still updating it so remember to give me feedback and come
back again
soon!
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Feel free to contact me on Facebook if you've got any questions about the Blog. It's always good to hear from people who have a genuine interest in spiders, especially the Chilean Rose. I've not updated the blog for a while, but the info still stands and I'm using the principles which I developed here to keep other spiders. A quick note when you contact me on facebook now, let me know you found me here as I've got a couple of different blogs! Looking forward to hearing from you!! |
sure there was someone there to collect them. The spiders were okay and looked healthy.
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I purchased mine at B&Q for 4 pounds UK. You get a very big bag for that price (at the very least 5 litres). Many spiders like to burrow and
make a little nest. Vermiculite is ideal for this. I have heard that sand is not meant to be used, though peat and vermiculite is a good idea.
This will all depend on where your spider is indigenous.
the tissue paper. Previously I have removed the tissue paper in the bath incase the Spiderling escaped, but this time I was brave and
opened it in the kitchen. At first the spider was a slow to move, but a slight prod with my finger encouraged him to move.
in getting them out the packet. In the end I used a small piece of paper and encouraged them onto it with my finger. I then popped them in
the tank with the curly hair Spiderling. I needed a couple of them as the relative size of the ferrero rocher box is like a football field. After a
couple of false attempts, the Spiderling finally got hold of one of the crickets and scurried off to eat it. I removed the remaining crickets.
On the photo below the marbled effect behind is the heat pad which is used to keep the spiders warm.
recording everyday I feed them seems a little time consuming (especially when I have two Spiderlings and both are fed at the
same time)! You may find that the sister BLOG relating to the Curly Hair Spiderling has similar content. Bear with me on this
one and remember that there may be other people out there who need to look at the Curly Hair diary and not this one.
I have given him crickets the same size and he seems to have no problem with these though they do fight back more
than the smaller variety. I have been feeding my crickets on a mixture of butternut squash, and carrot. I tried feeding
them some bacon, but for some reason they didn't take to it like the last lot of crickets I had.
depend on how often it is fed. As a general rule they do not east a few days either side of molting and the crickets
should be removed if they have not been eaten within several hours. From my experience, if they spider is hungry it
will pursue the cricket with some ferocity. If it runs away the spider is either not very hungry or the cricket is too large for
it. The latter is usually only applicable to very small Spiderlings.
and sits on the camera cartridge. If you blow again he moves about as though he's trying to find out what is
happening - sometimes fast and jumpy, sometimes slow. Continued blowing on the top of the lid the Spiderling puts
it's front legs on the roof and stays there. Further blowing the Spiderling actually goes upside down on the lid and
then has a tendency to fall off and then hide.
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has grown considerably since she was delivered and is a lot more confident. Soon after I took these pictures she disappeared
into her house. I then fed her. It was a bit of a battle as the cricket was very jumpy and at one point jumped out the tank
and onto my hand - I was sure the spider was about to follow it. Luckily the cricket made the mistake of jumping back into
the tank and almost into the spiders jaws.
Like the Mexican Red
Knee, the Chilean Rose (Grammostola Rosea) does a little dance when the cricket is being
eaten. Once again I think this
is as she lays down web ready to detect
the next catch (you can see a thin layer of web on the camera cartridge
in the
images above).
away then hides in the camera cartridge. Her colourings have turned darker and she is spinning a lot of silk recently (both on the floor
and even some of it attached from the lid of the tank to the camera cartridge!.
where it was. She certainly looks bigger than before and no doubt quite hungry!
to do about this as I need a solution which will fit on my kitchen surface and allow the head pad to do it's work.
which would not damage her if it started to kick (this is something crickets seem to do sometimes when in their final death throes).
As a general rule the Spiderlings stand on their tip toes when the crickets' kick, when they are really struggling they do the opposite
and pin the cricket to the floor using their thorax and the spread their legs and abdomen upwards to avoid damage. It's quite a sight and
I've only ever seen the Chilean Rose do it once with a very big cricket (in comparison to the size of her).
more. Today when I opened the lid of the tank the Spiderling wandered up the side and onto my hand. She is getting very confident
and I have a feeling that soon she'll be on my hand. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if she decides to move very fast or bite me - I'm
worried about hurting her by dropping her or freaking out when she sinks her fangs into me. There is also the small possibility of me
being allergic to the venom which would put me into anaphylactic shock. Not ideal.
Still, I'm going to have to
pick her up sooner or later and might as well start when she is small.
If anyone has any advice about handling
spiders or Spiderlings
(especially the Chilean Rose) please get in touch.
hardest thing is to get started, especially with Spiderlings which can spend a great deal of their time either stationary or hiding. They're
also difficult to photograph when they are very small (as they run and hide at the first sign of danger). The Chilean Rose is even
more active than usual and I think it wants to escape from its house. It still sits on top of its camera cartridge and puts its legs on
the roof - especially when there is a noise. I am making the assumption that their feet are very sensitive and can pick up all sorts of
vibrations not only from their webs but also from other objects.
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increase on the legs. The Chilean Rose has also been spinning more web on the top of the camera cartridge.
with a small cricket which kindly went and hid. It took several minutes to appear and when it did the spider finally had some food.
I had to move the Spiderling this morning as the builders were in. It's currently in my bedroom (still in tank).
colder on the floor than in the kitchen where he currently resides. I'll be moving him back soon.
hidey hole and got the cricket. The Grammostola Rosea out of all the Spiderlings I have had seems to move the most.
If anyone who is undecided about a Spiderling and is wondering which
breed to get, so far I don't think you can go far wrong with one of
these
little fellas. She is always doing something to keep your
attention. Be it scuttling about, weaving a web, or feeding. It's even
fairly amusing when
she tries to attach herself to the roof and then
falls off! Luckily I don't think she has hurt herself yet.
It is certainly very
curious and will regularly wander about and investigate objects in it's
home. If you run your finger across the tank (e.g. from left to
right)
slowly the Spiderling will come and have a 'feel' (I say feel as I
assume it is feeling the vibrations with it's feet). It will then follow
your finger along. It will sometimes do it quite a lot, backwards and
forwards.
The Spiderling still goes mad when you blow on the top of
the tank. It's the most bizarre thing to watch. I've still not held it
yet though.
I think the thought of damaging her is what's putting me off
the most. There's quite a fall off the kitchen work surface where she
lives and I know she can move very fast. How would I catch her if she
escaped? The being bitten aspect isn't ideal, but I think it's not too
bad.
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going on. I popped a cricket in which wandered about a bit. The Spiderling took a few steps towards it, a few more, a very cautious couple more
steps and then pounced. She got it good and proper. Usually the crickets will fight, or at the very least resist and twitch - but this one didn't move
when she'd got it.
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been fed on dynamite. I've never seen one of the little blighters jump so much, or so high with the minimal of stimulus. Usually a prod
on the backside towards the spider means they wander about a bit, worse case scenario they wander in the wrong direction. This
cricket jumped. It jumped hard, it jumped fast and it jumped EVERYWHERE. It took a good ten minutes for it to finally make the mistake
of jumping into the jaws of the spider. Even then it was still twitching and the spider had to climb between the camera cartridge and the
side of the tank to avoid the desperate last kicks of the cricket.
going on and the cricket walked right up to it, but the Spiderling just ignored it. I'm assuming it is going to shed within the next couple
of weeks or so. It is looking considerably smaller than the Curly Hair Spiderling, who last night had the biggest cricket I've ever seen.
cricket in. The cricket jumped, but it made the mistake of jumping at the Spiderling and was quickly caught and eaten. The Spiderlings appetite
has increased significantly since shedding!
days ago - but the Spiderling didn't waste any time in going for and getting the cricket. As with the Curly Spiderling once the Chilean Rose
had got the cricket it did a little dance and then went into it's hidey hole.
crickets. As usual, they didn't have any and would be getting some in on Tuesday (this magic day were crickets rain from the sky and spiders
rejoice. It's not the first time they've given this excuse and I often wonder why they don't simply buy more crickets if they keep on running out.
If they get a delivery once a week then the crickets don't die in a week.
Anyhow, I figured my spids were going to need feeding this week
and so the chap asked me would I be interested in some locusts (as he
shifterly pulled a package from under the counter). The locusts are
quite the most amazing little creatures I have seen in a long time.
They're white / yellow with very artistic camouflage. Their markings
remind me of the arachnids in the Starship Troopers. They can also
jump
considerably further than any cricket I've seen. I will take some
pictures soon and post them on the BLOG.
I took one of the locusts out of the tank (well it jumped out,
they're like that) and opened the Spiderlings tank. Next minute the
locust jumps
again towards the tank and before it lands the spider has
caught it in mid air and is happily chomping away. I was quite surprised.
Didn't
think he'd be all that hungry!
To my knowledge they don't bite (that is to say it didn't bite me when I was holding it) but they do have one hell of an appetite, a lot more
so than the crickets! The colourings are quite amazing and they have the ability to jump a foot or so when on my very slippy worktop. They
have the curious ability to stick to just about anything too, whereas the crickets were unable to climb the sides of their plastic houses - these
little beasts tend to spend a lot of time on the ceiling next to the air vents.
An amusing thing to do is surprise them. It only takes a couple of
them to jump and then it kind of sets off a chain reaction were they are
knocking into each other which sets others off similar to a nuclear
reaction. The tank's like a tin of popcorn - the simile is augmented by
the
fact that they are yellow, moving at high speed and make a
racket when their hard heads hit the side of the tank.
anything to it which was a bit weird. I took the cricket out. I assume it didn't get bitten as it is still alive after a couple of hours.
lying flat out. The colour hasn't come out yet but it does look at lot furrier.
tank. I popped one in and the Spiderling came over and had a look. Wandered up to it and grabbed it without a fight. As the Spiderling get bigger
the amount of time it takes for them to eat them reduces rapidly.
doesn't run around after the food any more. Instead she wanders up to the locusts and simply picks them up. I think it's because the way the
locusts don't go mad like the crickets do. I'm not sure why this is, they simply do not seem to put up any fight, or even jump. The crickets on the
other hand have a habit of just going totally nuts - jumping, running, kicking. Anything to try and get away. Non have made it mind, but they do
put up a damn good effort!
I've actually run out of food for the spiders at the moment. I'm not too sure what to get them next. The locusts have certainly gone down well!
open the lid of the tank the Spiderling is quick to investigate what is going on and quite often tries to get out. I think it has learnt that when there
is a great deal of movement - then there is usually food on the way. A sort of invertebrate example of Pavlov's dogs - Spiderman's Spids!
The Spiderling has grown considerably since I last took a photo of
him. I've been unable to get his shed skin out the tank too as he comes
to
investigate when I do anything. When I pop my hand in he moves over
rather rapidly and I'd rather not get bitten by it. The speed at which
it can
move is also incredible and I am planning on getting a video of
this to prove to people how fast these animals are. He was in his house
facing
the wrong way and I blew on the top of the tank - in an instant
(and I mean I didn't see it move) it came out and was ready to do
whatever it was
planning on doing. I don't think it's an aggressive
species as such - but it certainly is pretty much fearless and very
curious as to what is going on
in it's local vicinity.
some locusts and crickets. Figure variety is the spice of life! Popped a locust in the tank and it was eaten barely before it hit the vermiculite!
didn't move much. So I got a bit of pasta spaghetti and brushed the floor. Because the Spiderling has created a thin layer of web over the vermiculite
it can sense what is going on in it's immediate environment.
The Spiderling moved over towards the pasta. I moved the pasta to the
side of the tank and popped my hand there. The Spiderling started to
walk up the tank and onto to hand. I moved the pasta a bit more and the
Spiderling got interested and moved right up to it. I thought okay here
he comes and started to withdraw the pasta. The Spiderling attacked the
pasta fangs fully out and I saw the venom come out. Considering the
size
of the Spiderling there is quite a lot of venom ejected. I can see why
the crickets don't stand a chance as it must take up at least a quarter
of
their body volume when injected.
Needless to say I moved my hand and the pasta and popped the lid back
on. Although the Spiderling isn't very big and I don't think I would
have
been bitten it is obvious that they are very aggressive to objects
which are not even crickets. I assume that it may be something to do
with the
Spiderlings limited experience of such things. In the wild
there would be the learning curve of attacking objects which yielded no
food - here the
only things which the spider has encountered which move
are food. If anything it probably came as a bit of a surprise that the
pasta was not
edible (for the Spiderling anyway)!
I fed the Spiderling soon afterwards with a cricket.
mid air by the Spiderling and quickly eaten.
bother changing the crickets and they're all dead, along with my cactus... The Spiderling is not hungry at the moment though so I guess it is
going to shed it's skin soon.
looks like a proper tarantula!
First off I've got two Spiderlings so I had to find a tank which could
fit them both in AND be big enough for them to grow. This means I had to
split the tank in two. I'll post the tank measurements later but you'll
see about how big it is in the following photos. The tank cost circa 15
pounds GB and came with a lid.
When I bought the tank I noticed there was a DIY shop over the road
so I wandered in and asked them for Perspex. Luckily they had an
old
bit of cut off which I picked up for 2 pounds GB and this was some
three times bigger than I needed. Make sure you don't get ripped off
when
buying plastic - it's clear and three / four mm thick. You don't
need anything special or branded (unless you want to get some funky
coloured
acrylic - but note that this can be more expensive than the
tank).
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to take into around the fact the divider is going INSIDE the tank (i.e. minus the width of the glass from your drawing). Also take into
account the shape of the roof. Spiders and crickets are very good climbers, if there is a gap between the divider and the lid they may well
climb over - you don't want to have spider wars!
I used a large hacksaw (though you could probably use an electric saw) to roughly cut around my template. I did this on a workbench.
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accurate edge to the Perspex. The best way I found to do this was to place the plastic in two pieces of wood and clamp them together
using the workbench. I then whizzed the plastic down until it was up to the cardboard template. The whizzer is very fast and although
it looks like there is quite a lot of plastic to remove it took a matter of seconds. At this stage it is best to take your time as making a
mistake now could be costly. Note: You must use the correct safety equipment when doing this as bits of plastic are flying everywhere!
Once the plastic was
roughly the right shape and size I took it out and tried to fit it in
the tank. I'd been a bit generous with my
measurements as it's better to
have the plastic a bit bigger and cut it down than a bit smaller. If it
didn't fit I whizzed it again and repeated
until it fitted.
I then used varying grades of sandpaper (or glass paper) to take the
edge off the plastic and to shape the top so it fitted snugly into the
lid of the tank.
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with all sorts of ideas involving plastic extructions and glue - in the end I figured I was making the solution far too complicated and
opted for clipping in the plastic. This way you don't need to worry about poisoning the spiders with glue (some are highly toxic) and
if I want to remove / adjust the diver at a later date it will take a matter of seconds.
The vermiculite was added next (this also adds to the
stability of the plastic divider) as was some water. I popped the
Spiderling into
the tank (as above) and then removed the lids.
about - though it had a bit of a problem getting over the side of the old spider house. In the end it climbed onto the plant pot and
scooted down the side.
In the morning the Spiderling had spun strands of silk all
over the place. It was hiding behind the plant pot and every so often
would
climb the side of the tank and then wander back down again.
I popped a locust in the tank and the Spiderling caught it quickly and then hid again.
I've removed the old tank from the Spiderlings new house now.
of the tank now with it's silk so it can tell of approaching creatures. I then popped a locust in - it's weird the spider didn't pounce on it.
It just wandered up to it, popped it's legs on the locust and then picked it up. No struggle, no dramatic swift jumping spiders or running
around - almost like the locust wanted to be eaten and the Spiderling grudgingly accepted.
time climbing up the side of the tank and then walking about and then down again. I guess having an extra dimension to walk in
makes the tank even bigger in a way.
I popped a small cricket into the tank which the
Curly Hair Spiderling didn't want and the Spiderling literally caught it
in mid air and
had a chomp. It's appetite is fierce as!
again today!
web is actually quite thick and literally covers everything. The locust jumped out of my hand today and the Spiderling caught it while
sitting on the plant pot before it landed!
As with my Curly Spiderling BLOG I have even managed to sort out a spell check.... So this BLOG should make a bit more sense!
up to in the kitchen.
As with my Curly Spiderling BLOG I'm thinking about changing
the format / colours etc. If anyone has any ideas or thoughts on this
please use the form on the contact page.
overfeed a Spiderling? It looks like I'm about to find out.
I think it might be aware now that when I open the lid to the tank it is going to be fed (as opposed to me trying it eat it).
eating when it is no longer hungry. It's eaten three days on the trot now without showing any sign of stopping! I'm not about tonight
to feed it, but will see if it's still hungry tomorrow!
locusts get stuck in it, they also pinpoint the exact location of the prey to the predator. If you look on the picture above you can see
where the Spiderling caught a locust as it jumped onto the plant pot. The black mark is the Spiderlings venom (I assume it is the
venom as this is the same colour as the venom when the Curly Spiderling has missed its prey.
on the side of the tank (I don't think she can sense it like she used to be able to do on the plastic) she does still come and see what is
going on when there is movement in the kitchen.
These are about two or three times bigger than any cricket I've fed the spider before. Though the locusts are quite big, they are mostly leg.
The crickets are fat and round and scurry about very fast as well as sometimes jumping (the locusts only really jump and can not move
very fast otherwise).
The crickets aren't actually silent to be honest. I
was bringing them home in the car and I could hear the little fellas
singing away to
each other in the back. They're not very loud, and you
can happily read or watch TV with them singing - but I doubt you'll be
too happy
if they were in your bedroom. Then again I was sitting there
reading my book with the crickets chirping away in the background and
it
did remind me of being on holiday in Continental Europe - but
without the blue skies, bikini clad women and humid drunken evenings...
Okay, so it was nothing like being on holiday.
I popped one of the the crickets in with the Chilean Rose Spiderling and
it pounced on it straight away. The noise wasn't very nice, a
kind
of crunching as the Spiderling wrestled with it. Still it seemed happy
enough.
I asked the guy in the shop about if it was possible to
overfeed the Spiderlings as I have been feeding them almost non stop the
last two weeks. He suggested that it wasn't possible to overfeed them as
they simply will not eat if they are not hungry. He actually
suggested
putting a couple of the crickets or locusts into the tank at a time -
I've not done this, nor am I going to do this as I think it
might stress
the Spiderling out. I can see it being fine in the wild as the
Spiderling can walk away if there are too many crickets
pestering it -
but in closed environment there is no where for the Spiderling to hid or
go where the crickets cannot follow.
The chap in the shop said that it
was a good idea to feed the Spiderlings on a mix of foods as the
crickets contains lots of moisture
(which the Spiderling needs as it
doesn't really drink) and the locusts contain lots of 'goodness'.
me wonder sometimes as it jumped right into the Spiderlings jaws - as an evolutionary escape mechanism, I've not yet seen a
cricket actually jump away from the Spiderling...
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moving a good tens minutes after it had been caught (I assume something to do with the calcium ion channels still firing in it's muscles
as it should have been long since dead. The Spiderling popped the cricket down, covered it in some web (though not like you see garden
spiders do with their thick envelope) and then picked it up again in it's mouth.
I'm assuming that the Spiderling is actually going to be massive when it next sheds. No doubt I'll have to put it in another tank soon.
this but it did it at night. It has also started to join the plant pots together with silk. Both the upper surfaces are covered in a fine layer of silk
and the Spiderling has made areas of the silk cross from one plant pot to the other. Near the substrate the Spiderling has spun excessive
amounts of silk making a little barrier.
I fed the
Spiderling another large cricket. It picked it off with a minor
struggle. Because the Spiderling is getting quite big and is still very
fast the crickets don't really have a chance.
not eating and it's spending a lot of time in it's new nest. I am still making the assumption that it will shed soon as this is classic
Spiderling shedding tactics! That is, stop eating and hide!
the tank so it doesn't get damaged. Typical! Any other day would have been fine but the Spiderling has decided that this would be the best time
to undergo it's delicate and complicated metamorphosis. I managed to delay moving the tank to the last minute and luckily the Spiderling
had shed it's skin and was hiding so I haven't seen it.
and spends quite a lot of time down there!
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getting faster as it gets bigger. When I fed the Spiderling today it caught the cricket mid air. Still not sure how they do this!
lot I bought which made a noise!
pluck the cricket out!
water as they should. The mister works really well spraying the sides (I've been popping water in by the heat pad and letting it evaporate and
then condense on the colder sides of the tank previously). I've come to the conclusion that a sprayer gives me greater control - though I
did spray the Spiderling by accident when it had the cricket and it was not impressed. It ran as fast as it could (with a mouth full of cricket) into
one of it's flower pots! and sulked.
not pleasant and really has put me off picking it up. The Spiderling has been roaming the tank a little bit. The weather is getting
colder though here in the UK so the Spiderling has spent quite a lot of it's time sitting near the heat pad.
it's going to shed soon. When I tried putting a cricket in the other day it went to investigate but didn't bother trying to eat it.
I took the lid
off to day and the Spiderling didn't do anything for a moment and then
had a fit trying to hide somewhere. I'm not too
sure why. It's not
usually all that bothered about when I take the lid off. I thought that
it may have been asleep or something and I
woke it up?! I assume they
sleep and as they haven't got eyelids there's no way of me telling that
they are awake or not.
I popped a cricket into the tank and the Spiderling went to have a
look (it is the most curious creature I have ever encountered
considering the size of it) but it didn't want to eat. I removed the
cricket and the Spiderling went and hid in it's plant pot.
webs and was just lying there. I left it be, when Spiders die they don't go on their backs. I've been trying to work out how it turns over, if it
climbs up something then flops or if it can actually turn itself. If anyone knows, please send me an email from the contact page!
After
finishing work in the evening I checked the Spiderling and it looked
considerably bigger and was the right way up. The shed skin
couldn't be
seen and I haven't disturbed the Spiderling looking for it. I will leave
it for a couple of days before doing this.
it's skin. I am assuming the silk protects the Spiderling from the ground and insects accidentally wandering in and disturbing
it when it is shedding. The Chilean Rose web does not appear to be used to specifically catch the prey, but I am certain it is used to
alert the Spiderling at to where it is.
taking any crickets.
I spotted that she was in her plant pot
today and decided to take a chance and pop a large hopper in. The
Spiderling ever curious came
out for a look and placed it's hands on the
hopper. It stopped. The hopper moved and the Spiderling attacked. I
guess after at least three
weeks the Spiderling was a bit hungry! It
took the hopper back into the plant pot and proceeded to eat it there.
I'm going to have to get
some more insects to feed the Spiderlings as I
am running low. I've been having a think - are there any bigger insects
I can feed it?
I think the large hoppers were the largest life food the
shop had!
have removed the Spiderling old skin. Sometimes they guard it with a passion, other times they chuck it out of where they are nesting
almost immediately.
consider getting a more powerful one? I need to get some more crickets fairly quickly
selection of animals (from fluffy cute rabbits to fluffy spiders). I bought some singing black crickets and some size four locusts. It's quite
handy actually. This pet shop grades their food so you can say which size you want in a number. The locusts go up to six so I'm
thinking about getting some of those next time - the Spiderlings will love having a fight with those.
The Spiderling came over to investigate what I was doing (I was
pushing the locust about with my wooden pointed). The
Spiderling got
hold of the pointer and looked like it was about to eat it. I kept it
very still and it got bored and wandered off.
The Spiderling is quite
strong considering it's size - I could feel the strength when it was
pulling at the skewer. In the end
the Spiderling got the locust, but it
was another lesson that I'm not going to put my fingers near him when he
is hungry. They
MUST hunt almost entirely on feel as the skewer isn't
even remotely like any of it's natural prey or the prey it has been used
to when I have been feeding it.
or have him escape and me chase round after him!
Mark (I did email you back but your email address doesn't seem to exist) too who suggested the use of Wax Worms to
feed the Spiderlings. I'm looking into that and I've emailed the people at the website you sent over.
I've
been slowly going through the blog too and correcting typo errors. This
will probably take ages. I also believe I need to change the white
text
on black background as it's hard to read. But.. it is kind of a brand
now so I don't really want to!
I have
this nasty feeling that the Spiderling can pretty much handle anything I
can give it, maybe bar people. But it's had a go at me a couple of times
so it's certainly fearless considering it's probably equivalent to me
having a fight with an oil tanker (that is the first and last time I'll
ever be
compared to an oil tanker).
I still
need to change the vermiculite of the Spiderling. No doubt I'll do it
this weekend at some point. I've been trying to work out if the
Spiderling
is classed as vicious or if it just doesn't differentiate
between food and moving objects. I've yet to put my hand in for any
length of time and find out.
It might be a sub adult thing I guess and
when it's a bit older it'll mature and become less aggressive...?
Apparently the locusts are called Schistocerca Gregaria and are desert locusts orginating from around the Middle East. Isn't Google a wonderful thing!?
blog in the next couple of weeks, so be sure to check back soon!
pad behind the Spiderlings quite a lot to make sure that it's still on. It's strange though at the Spiderling has spent a
great deal of it's time on the side of the tank AWAY from the heat and behind the bark. It's as though it's too hot for it.
The last week or so has also seen the Spiderling
hiding underneath the bark. All you can see is his feet sticking out
the
bottom. He no longer goes into his plant pot except to eat.
The brown crickets I have been giving him recently (he hasn't been
very hungry) have the ability to jump quickly and
great distances.
They're also very slippery so are quite hard to pick up. I nearly lost
one the other day in the kitchen
underneath the washing machine. I've
not moved so quickly in ages getting the washing machine out in one
swift move
and grabbing the startled cricket who obviously though that
he was safe in the dark. No chance!
I thought that the Spiderling might have mites, but I haven't been
able to see any on him. There are a couple of white
specks, but I think
these are bits of vermiculite. I'm going to keep a close eye on the
little fella though to make sure. I
believe mites come about when there
is an excess of dead food left about. I never leave any dead crickets in
the tank
and only ever feed the spider one cricket at a time.
me cook - unless I drop something like a pan and then it runs off and hides in the plant pot.
over to see what they are and follows them about it still hasn't eaten any of them.
As with the Curly Spiderling I expect it will shed in the next couple
of days (probably some time this week). Their
shedding seems to have
synchronised which is quite interesting.
I did find a mite the other day in a wetter part of the tank. I'm not
too sure if there are any more, but I'll keep an eye
out for them!
excavated underneath its piece of bark. The last few days it's been spending a great deal of time under there hiding
and the next minute it's
dug a bloody great big hole which I'm rather impressed with.
The Spiderling is still not interested in food - though it is
interested in anything in it's tank. As usual it goes over and
explores
anything new but simply does not eat the locust... No doubt it'll be
shedding soon....
Although I don't think I've mentioned it before I
regularly spray the sides of the tank with water (though I avoid
spraying
the Spiderling directly as it doesn't like the water at all).
digging though.
was a real pain in the arse trying to get it out again.
The Spiderling has been doing
a lot of digging though again. I'm thinking about changing the tank
tonight... Should
be interesting...! I'm tempted to pick it up as if
it's not hungry I assume it's not going to bite me unless it feels
threatened.
Famous last words.
(he wandered in okay) and then removed all the vermiculite I could and gave the tank a good scrub. The glass is a
lot cleaner now.
I then popped a good
couple of inches of vermiculite in and then the bark (washed in boiling
water). I put it at a
different angle this time. I gave the tank a quick
spray of water and then popped the Spiderling back in.
photograph and post here on the website
up to it and ate it.
turned it over!?
tank lid off. On closer inspection I realized the Spiderling wasn't in the tank which meant it had escaped.
Luckily I figured it would not have got very far. Spiders
like dark places and are not known for their ability to fly. A warm
dark
place was the most likely place to find the little fella. I looked down
on the floor and there was the Spiderling
looking up at me.
I popped her in a little box and then put her back in the tank. She
didn't move for a long time (12 hours or so). I thought
that there might
have been something wrong with her (they have a tendency to burst if
dropped or break legs). I've no
idea how she got from the kitchen
surface to the floor and I've no idea why the other Spiderling didn't
make a run for it either!?
out the way but I put that back. It's got a nice little nest now to hide in.
started to spin webs!
hiding and not come out.
wandering about like it usually is; investigating this, investigating that!
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on. As you can see from the image above the Spiderling's skin (which I have removed) is very brittle and breaks up easily. The
Spiderling wasn't hungry when I tried to feed it a locust (or grasshopper as my mate calls them)!
Below is a picture of the Spiderling when it had escaped the other week! And yes, I like candy floss! I've still no idea how it got on the floor!
Winter is here and the days are cold - luckily the heat pad keeps the spider warm but it never seems to spend much time next to it.
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locusts, though it did eat one.
I've bought a digital thermometer and a
hydrometer for the tank so I can monitor the temperature and the amount
of water in
the air (humidity). The hydrometer has fallen off
the side of the tank and is on the peat and reading 100 percent
humidity.
Personally I would not recommend the Exo Terra hydrometer - and invest in a digital one.
is still eating though and is as curious as ever.
I've updated the blog with a couple of additional features. Remember
to contact me if you have any questions. I always
enjoy hearing about
your own spiders!
more objects in the tank for it to explore, probably some bark. It hasn't been interested at all in the plant pot and I think that
they really do prefer smaller enclosures to bigger ones. Note on the photo below the web which allows the spider to 'hear'
where the cricket is pretty much anywhere in the tank.
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