The aim of this BLOG is to give
an insight into how I decided to set up and look after a Curly Hair (Brachypelma
Albopilosa) 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
NEW Spider Video - showing how the Spiderling Curly Hair (Brachypelma
Albopilosa) interacts with the environment. Either click the image
below or CLICK HERE to see the video.
07.12.2005 - Spiders in the Post
Spiderlings have arrived. They came today in a little cardboard box. Got
delivered to the office and I made sure there was someone there to collect them.
The Spiderlings were well packed inside the cardboard box with Styrofoam and
kept safe within a couple of 35mm camera cartridges stuffed
with tissue. The Spiderlings are located in the middle of the tissue.
The base of the box is covered in (at the most) an inch of vermiculite. This is
a 'mica' based mineral available in many garden centers.
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.
I then popped the camera cartridge into the box, teased off the lid, and gently
pulled out the tissue. The Spiderling was happily sitting on
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.
The Spiderling when in the tank happily started to explore straight away and
wandered about. It's about 10mm including it's legs - tiny!
08.12.2005 - Feeding Curly Hair Spiderling
I acquired some 'pin head' crickets. These are possibly the smallest crickets I
have ever seen. They are very small, and I had great difficulty
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.
20.03.2006 - The Spiderling Diary Continues
It's been a while since I wrote in the BLOG - this is primarily because I
thought I'd try a different approach to the diary this time as
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 Chilean Rose
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 Chilean Rose diary and not this one.
25.03.2006 - Food Stuff
The Spiderling seems to need to be fed approximately one to two times a week.
This depends on the size of the cricket.
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.
27.03.2006 - Close Up and Personal with Spiderling
I managed to lure the Spiderling out. He has been more active recently and goes
on little journeys around the tank. When they are
very small the Spiderlings tend to stay put and do not come out. However at this
size they start to explore their surroundings. Note
the tiny hairs on the legs and the abdomen. These have only just started to show
through. Not also the strange pattern on the
abdomen - this appears to be where he has shed and got new skin, the darker area
being the original skin from when he was smaller.
It is worth noting too that when they feed the spiders abdomen becomes really
stretched and taught. This is quite amusing, but
does go to show how delicate they actually are. Dropping a spider of this size
will probably kill it.
28.03.2006 - Shedding Examples
Above you can see two exampled of the Curly Hair (Brachypelma Albopilosa)
Spiderling's shed skins. The one on the left is it's
first shed skin - which occurred soon after I got him last year and the picture
on the right shows the Spiderlings shed skin about
four weeks ago (I think he might be due for another shed soon). Note how small
the first skin is. The coin is a UK 1 pence piece.
The reason I am not sure of the shed dates is because after shedding the
Spiderling tends to hide the skin in it's burrow. It wasn't until I actually
went about looking for it did I find the skin under the camera cartridge lid. It
is not unusual for the Spiderlings to move the shedded
skin about, or even appear to guard it.
29.03.2006 - Non Hungry Spiders
Attempted to feed the Spiderling last night. The cricket went in and wandered
about by the spider but it didn't take it. I am assuming
that the Spiderling is going to shed it's skin soon. As a general rule the
spider attacks the cricket straight away.
31.03.06 - Spider on Food Strike
Tried feeding the spider again last night, but once again it wasn't having any
of it. It went and hid in it's camera cartridge. I even got the
cricket to go in there but the spider wasn't hungry. This did mean I had the
pleasure of trying to get the cricket out the camera cartridge
and back into the cricket house.
01.03.2006 - Shedding Spiderling
No April fool. My Spiderling shed his skin tonight. He was all white (literally
all white bar his abdomen). I noticed that once he had shed
he lay on his side and performed a really strange maneuver with his legs - as
though cleaning himself. Also when just shed Spiderlings
tend to sit in slightly different positions from what they would normally -
spread out or in a tight ball.
Another thing worth noting too is that because the Spiderlings do not eat before
shedding, their abdomens shrink. When they have gained their
appetite back (they are usually VERY hungry after a molt) the abdomen fills out
again. I assume the lack of food and the shrinking of the
abdomen (the only real soft part of the spider) means it is easier to shed.
Though this is obviously only conjecture.
07.04.06 - Feeding Again
Spiderling is quite big now. Currently overtaken the Chilean Rose in size. He's
been very hungry and was fed today. I only gave him a
small cricket but it was snapped up almost instantly.
10.04.06 - A New Home?
Spids are starting to get big and I need some way of rehousing them. What I've
thought about doing maybe is getting a glass tank and
then dividing it in half (this way I don't have to buy two tanks). I've seen a
few plastic ones about but they tend to have a draw angle on
(because of the way they are made) which makes it difficult to heat using the
heat mat.
I've posted a question on a spider forum so looking forward to seeing what the
community can suggest!
12.04.06 - Feeeeding...
I fed the Spiderling last night and he jumped on the (quite large) cricket like
he hadn't been fed for months. What did get me thinking
however is about half an hour later he had left it on the floor and wandered
off. I don't think he'd been disturbed by anything as I'd been
having my tea. I looked again ten minutes later and he'd come back and picked it
up again. I've never seen any of my Spiderling do that before.
25.04.06 - More Feeding...
Spiderling was very hungry last night. Only fed it a small cricket though. I had
to move him this morning as the builders were in and didn't
want the Spiderlings to get damaged!
28.04.05 - Moving Again
Spiderling has spent a great deal of time in his camera cartridge since he was
moved rooms because of the builder coming in. I think it's
colder on the floor than in the kitchen where he currently resides. I'll be
moving him back soon.
01.05.06 - Lack Of Photos
Yes, I know. There has been a serious lack of photos on the BLOG recently. So at
the weekend I decided to take some. The only problem
I had was every time I went near the Spiderlings tank (let alone open the lid)
he scurried off into his hidey hole. I even tried feeding him
but to no avail. Came to the conclusion that the Spiderling either hated me for
moving him about the other day, or was about to shed.
Looked in this morning and there was a white Spiderling and a skin. He shed!
I'll endeavor to get some more pictures.
03.05.06 - Flat Spiderling
It's a strange thing shedding skins. The Spiderling when it has shed it's skin
is not only a pale colour, it also spends a great deal of it's
time spread out as though it has been stretched. This is something I have noted
with all the Spiderlings. It looks somewhat similar to
if the spider was sunbathing. Another curious position they also lie in is with
some of their legs underneath them and some not.
It looks as though they have had an accident. Last night I looked at the
Spiderling and he was in this position, I thought he had died.
I lifted the lid off and he jumped into usual spider position and then scuttled
off into his hidey hole.
When the Spiderlings have shed their thorax is bigger than their abdomen. I
think this is because they have not eaten for a while, though
it might be because water from the abdomen (or some sort of liquid) is used in
the shedding process which dehydrates the Spiderling.
04.05.06 - Larger, Hungrier, Meaner... not
Decided that the Spiderling was probably a bit hungry today. It's been a good
while since he ate and his abdomen was looking all small
and shriveled. When I opened the lid of his tank he scurried away into his hidey
hole. I located a small cricket and popped it into the tank
and then went off to make some lunch. When I came back the cricket was still
milling about so I 'encouraged' it near the mouth of the hidey
hole. The Spiderling shot out, took the cricket and then wandered back inside.
Hopefully when I next see him he'll be a bit fatter!
05.05.06 - Spiderling Shedded Skins
Above is the Spiderlings newest shed skin in relation to a UK penny piece. It
looks pretty small, but if you compare it to the other skins
in the picture on the right you can get an idea of how tiny the Spiderling was
when he arrived. The shed skin is just a fraction of the size!
06.05.06 - Shedding Skins Comparison.
The Spiderlings shedding skin is one of the most amazing things I've ever
experienced. I've got a Chilean Rose Spiderling too (you can
see her BLOG by going to the links page above).
08.05.06 - Larger Spid
The Spiderling has grown loads. He keeps on coming out of his hidey hole and
exploring. He's significantly hairier now.
I decided to feed him and the cricket was dispatched quickly.
10.05.06 - Exploring Spiderling
The Spiderling has been exploring even more and has now taken up a regular
position on top of the camera cartridge like the Chilean
Rose seems to favour. Either that or it spreads itself out onto the camera
cartridge lid. It's still a bit nervous when I move about in the
kitchen (such as washing the dishes or putting things away) it will go and hide.
The Chilean Rose is not bothered by such things. I'm
not sure if all Curly Hair Spiderlings are this nervous or just mine. He is
looking a bit better after feeding and his abdomen has filled out.
12.05.06 - Big Cricket
I decided to have a little test. I've been feeding my Spiderlings small crickets
recently as I'm aware that the bigger ones can struggle quite a
lot and I didn't want to damage the spider. However, I came to the conclusion
last night that spiders have been around considerably longer
than humans, and so could probably look after themselves. I gave the Curly
Spiderling the biggest cricket I had. The cricket was about the
size of the Spiderlings body, it was massive. I popped it into the tank, it
walked a couple of paces and the spider zoomed out its hidey hole
grabbed it and went back into the darkness.
There was no struggle, no kicking, no running about - a very swift kill. I
wondered why it had been easy for the Spiderling, but looking closer
he had gripped the cricket by the neck and killed it instantly.
This morning the Spiderling was looking considerably fatter in the abdomen
department!
13.05.06 - Spider Video
I have included a spider video to download so you can see the spider interacting
with me when I tap the spider house. CLICK HERE or below
to watch the FREE Spiderling video. He really is very curious!
19.05.06 - Hungry Spids
Spider was fed today - didn't waste any time eating the cricket!
22.05.06 - Spider Fed
I decided to feed the Spiderling. Wasn't too sure if he'd eat or not as he'd
been fed recently - but I popped the cricket in and the Spiderling
went for it straight away.
26.05.06 - Growing...
The Spiderling is certainly getting bigger. I'm not too sure how this works
though, if the skin expands and stretches as more fluid is taken
on. I decided to see if the Spiderling was hungry last night. I popped in a big
cricket and the Spiderling hid in his hidey hole. The cricket
wandered about a bit and then the Spiderling came out and very slowly crept
towards to the cricket. For some reason this seemed to
be a really stupid cricket - they are usually quite canny and sense the spider
and freeze. The cricket however wandered towards the
Spiderling with gay abandon. The Spiderling jumped, as did the cricket. The
cricket got away and the Spiderling when a bit mad and
ran off to the other side of the tank.
He then started to come back slowly to where the cricket had landed. I'm not too
sure how the Spiderling knew where it was. I am assuming
it can sense it because of the fine mesh of web on the vermiculite. The
Spiderling jumped again and missed, but this time the cricket didn't
really get away. The Spiderling jumped for the second time, got the cricket and
ended up on it's back for a moment until it righted itself and
looked as pleased as a Spiderling can!
The Spiderling then proceeded to complete it's little dance while weaving more
web, and ended up standing on it's tip toes eating the cricket.
04.06.06 - Not eating
The Spiderling is not eating at the moment. Have tried feeding it a couple of
times and it simply ignores the cricket or the locust. Think it's going
to shed within the next week or so.
06.06.06 - Still Not Eating..
The Spiderling is still spending a lot of time hiding in his hidey hole. I've
not tired feeding him again. Will leave it for a week and see if he sheds.
Looking forward to seeing how he copes with the new locusts (see below).
11.06.06 - Shedding Curly Hair Spiderling
The Spiderling has shed it's skin. It's looking massive now (as they always do
when they have shed). As usual stretched out and stayed like that
for a while and then went into a little weird ball. I tried to feed him a locust
yesterday but he didn't come out of his house.
13.06.06 - Hungry Spiderling
The Spiderling decided that it was hungry last night. I popped a locust in and
as it walked past the front of the hidey hole the Spiderling grabbed it.
18.06.06 - Food!
Popped a locust in the Spiderling tank and it got eaten very quickly! The
Spiderling zoomed out it's hidey hole (which must be getting a bit small for it
now).
25.06.06 - Still Hungry!
Fed the Spiderling again today. He seems to be very hungry now he's bigger. The
locust wasn't moving much and the Spiderling moved over towards it.
The Spiderling then actually put it's feet on the locust - and still it didn't
move. They stayed like this for some time and then the locust moved and the
Spiderling ate it! It does imply that the Spiderlings hunting sense is primarily
based on movement and touch. Certainly when close up.
I've got a video of the Spiderling catching a locust - but at the moment it's a
bit too big. When I get the chance over the next couple of weeks I'll edit it
and
post it on the BLOG.
27.06.06 - Curly Hair (Brachypelma Albopilosa) Spiderling Image
I've taken some more photos of the Spiderling though it looks like only one has
come out with any clarity - it does however show how big the Spiderling
is now. Although you cannot see it in the photo he has started to dig quite a
big hole in the front of the tank and half hides down there. I've seen a new
home for him - but it's a case of going to get it.
03.06.06 - Finally Fed
I haven't fed the spid for a couple of days. Ran out of crickets and couldn't
get to the cricket shop! Finally got round to going at the weekend and bought
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!
06.06.06 - More Feeding
The Spiderling is hungry!
12.06.06 - Famous Spiderling
Got the Spiderling on video and feeding and doing his little dance after eating
(where I think he is laying down his web). Will try and
upload as soon as possible.
20.06.06 - More Feeding
I've got both crickets and locusts now to feed the Spiderling with. Figure a
change in diet is always a good thing! The crickets tend to fight back more!
07.07.06 - Spiderling Video
Well I've finally got round to adding the Spiderling video - of the Curly Hair
Spiderling eating a locust. You can click the link above or click here to see
it!
08.07.06 - Food
The Spiderling has been doing more digging lately and even more wandering about.
The entire left hand side of his tank has been excavated. I'm not
sure why he is suddenly doing this, though I think it may have something to do
with the fact he's getting too big to fit into his camera cartridge.
11.07.06 - More Food
Spiderling got the cricket after a couple of steps. He then put the cricket down
after a while did his little dance and picked it up again.
14.07.06 - Feeding
Spiderling was fed a locust again. The Spiderlings approach the prey slowly and
steadily now (they used to do it in fits and starts) and then at the
last second they pounce. The locusts are quite small compared to the Spiderling
so they don't stand much of a chance. They are also completely
non aggressive. I have never been bitten my a locust or a cricket - I am
assuming they have always relied on large numbers and their ability to
jump to avoid predators. This doesn't help in a one to one closed environment
like the tank!
25.07.06 - More Feeding
I've been away for a week so I'm not too sure if the person who was tasked to
feed spids has fed them much - all I know is that they didn't bother
changing the crickets and they're all dead, along with my cactus...
29.07.06 - Feeding Stopped
The Spiderling has stopped eating and is hiding all the time in it's hidey hole
(which is now at an angle because the Spiderling has burrowed
down into the vermiculite). I'm not sure what has started the sudden bout of
digging.
31.07.06 - Curly Hair New House!
Okay so the Spiderling has been growing and growing and sooner or later it was
going to get too big for it's current house now in his new home...
Here's how I did it.
It's worth noting first that 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. If you've got
the
one Spiderling you can either put it in a smaller tank than the one I've used or
do this and then increase the divide so the tanks 'grows' with the Spiderling.
I believe that putting a smaller spider in a big tank stresses them out, but
this doesn't sit well with 30 million years of evolution and them being outside
in
the desert or the jungle (both being larger than your average fish tank).
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 from my local exotic pet shop and came with a lid. I figured it wasn't
worth buying the tank online as glass is heavy and costs a lot to post.
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 a
bit of cut off which I picked up for 2 pounds GB. 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).
Next you need to work out how big the tank divider will be. I popped the tank on
it's end and drew round it on a piece of card. Remember
to take into account 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 shown above (though you could probably use an electric
saw) to roughly cut around my template. When cutting make sure
you don't lean on the plastic if it is hanging over the edge or saw too fast -
otherwise this will crack the Perspex. I coated the blade in wax (by running
a candle along it - this helps reduce friction). When sawing go slowly as to
avoid mistakes. I did this on a workbench.
Once the Perspex was roughly the correct size and shape I used a Bosch Disk
Sander (I prefer to call them whizzers) to get a more
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.
The pictures above show how I attached the plastic divider to the tank. I'd
spent some time wondering about this and had come up
with all sorts of ideas involving plastic extructions which the Perspex slotted
into 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 divider
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 Spiderlings into
the tank (as above) and then removed the lids.
01.08.06 - Hiding Spiderling
The Spiderling has come out of his house when I've switched off the lights and
wandered about quite extensively. The old house is
covered with a fine web though the Spiderling is still hiding in it's little
house.
I've yet to remove the old tank from the new habitat - mainly because the
Spiderling is still hiding in it!
02.08.06 - Nested Spiderling
The Spiderling is still spending most of it's time hiding in it's new nest,
though it had decided to make an appearance this morning and
was hiding down by the side of it's old tank (which I haven't moved yet). Don't
want to disturb him too much if he is about to shed his skin.
03.08.06 - Not Impressed Spiderling
The Curly Hair Spiderling has been doing more digging today. I tried giving it a
very small cricket and it completely ignored it even
when it touched it's leg. I took the cricket out (well actually it was a locust)
and the Chilean Rose snapped it up!
When I was making some food I looked into the Spiderlings house and he was
upside down which usually means they are
shedding. I remember seeing my first Spiderling upside down and wondering what
the hell was going on. Luckily I left it, but a good bit
of advice I heard once was that Spiderlings curl up and die, they don't turn
upside down and die. I decided to be very quiet and not disturb
the Spiderling and left him to it.
04.08.06 - BLACK Spiderling
I've checked the Spiderling this morning and he has shed okay! The Spiderlings
skin discarded in the tank and the Spiderling looking
very much bigger and very BLACK! He looks ace! Couldn't see him very well as he
was half hiding in his nest.
07.08.06 - Withered Spiderling
Spiderling who is now living in a burrow (for the first time of his life) is
looking very withered. His abdomen is looking very small indeed
compared to the rest of his body. I thought this didn't look too good and so
decided to feed him a small locust. The locust landed and
Spiderling turned around in his burrow. A few steps later by the locust the
Spiderling was out the burrow and had one of it's legs on top
of the locust. They stayed like this for about a minute and then the Spiderling
just picked the locust up. They really don't offer any resistance
at all and the Spiderlings just do not have to work for their food. I might move
them onto crickets again as they usually gave them a run for
their money - running about the tank, over and under obstacles!
10.08.06 - More digging
The Spiderling has started to dig again, but this time he has started to make
some major excavations UNDER his old house - which is
going to make it a bit difficult to remove! There is a great big pile of
vermiculite which he has moved so the burrow must be pretty substantial.
11.08.06 - Feeding
The Spiderling has finally eaten something again. The cricket made the mistake
of heading into the burrow. All I saw was a flurry of
black legs and the cricket was gone.
14.08.06 - More Digging :: More feeding
The pile of vermiculite has increased so I am assuming the Spiderling is either
making the stuff or has pretty much burrowed out all the
substrate under the old Ferrero Rocher box. I popped another locust into the
tank and (like the last one) it decided to go for a little wander
down to the Spiderlings burrow. It was eaten fairly fast!
15.08.06 - Hiding Spiderling
The Spiderling hardly ever comes out now during the day. Every so often I see a
pair of legs sticking out, but the only times I have
seen the Spiderling since moving it to it's new house is in the dead of night
when I go to the kitchen to get a drink. I saw him last night -
he wasn't moving, no doubt wondering why it had suddenly turned to daylight
after several hours of darkness.
I've even managed to spell check the BLOG too... hopefully it'll make a bit more
sense now!
16.08.06 - Making a Liar out of Me...
Well as I thought... the Spiderling has made a liar out of me. It was wandering
all over the place yesterday while I was making some food! It's
really black now except for some of the hairs on its abdomen which are brown.
I'm thinking of changing the look of the BLOG. I'd be interested to hear from
anyone who might have any ideas about it, but I know it's a pain in
the arse to view all the way to the bottom. Still it does get good Google
ratings. A BLOG which is not read is a waste of time in my opinion.
If you do want to contact me, please use the form on the contact page.
21.08.06 - Hidey Hole Spiderling
The Spiderling has spent quite a lot of time out of it's hidey hole these past
couple of days. He's been hiding in his plant pot and sticking
his legs out the edge. I am assuming this is probably to do with the fact the
little fella is starving as I haven't fed him in a couple of days.
I managed to get hold of some more locusts at the weekend and popped one in the
tank for him. When I did this he was hiding and slowly
emerged as the locust wandered about the tank. It was interesting watching him
come out - being able to fit into such a tiny space and
then literally unfolding.
The locust made a move to get away and the Spiderling jumped. I thought it was
going to eat it on the surface but it decided to take it back
to it's hidey hole to munch on there. NO WAY I thought, it's not going to fit. I
was wrong - I don't know how they do it, but the Spiderling
managed to get back into it's burrow with the locust still in it's mouth with
minimum effort. They just keep on surprising me!
I'm still planning on changing the site - but I definitely need more photos of
the black spiderling. Now he's coming out more I'll try and get some!
22.08.06 - hungry Spiderling
The Spiderling has been very very hungry. You can just make out in the picture
above the hidey hole he hides in just to the right. I have
no idea how he fits down there, especially with a locust in his mouth!!!
23.08.06 - More Locusts!
The Spiderling just doesn't seem to stop eating!!!
26.08.06 - Food
The Spiderling is spending quite a lot of time out of it's hidey hole at the
moment. I assume this is so it can catch the numerous crickets I am
popping into the tank. I'm still a bit worried about over feeding them.
27.08.06 - Food Plus some
The Spiderling hides when I take the top off the tank, but soon comes out when
he thinks there is food. I saw the Spiderling digging today. He was
brining quite large amounts of vermiculite up from under the Ferrero Rocher box
and dumping them in the corner of the tank. It was quite interesting
to watch. The Spiderling seemed to know exactly what it was doing. It would
carefully place the vermiculite down and then pat it with it's feet.
29.08.06 - House and Home
The Spiderling is eating me out of house and home! His appetite hasn't abated
yet. To my knowledge he is eating all the locusts I feed him and
not storing them somewhere (though there could technically be hundreds of them
under his old house, hence why he is moving vermiculite out the way)!
01.09.06 - Yummy Crunchy Nut Crickets
I decided to up the game a bit this weekend and purchase some larger crickets. I
went for one's titled 'Medium Silent Crickets'.
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 fed the Spiderling a nice fat cricket and it too it down into it's hidey hole
to eat.
04.09.06 - Hidey Holed Up
The Spiderling has done something very strange. It has decided to hole itself
up. It has completely (and quite expertly) sealed itself in its
burrow. I'm quite impressed but he hasn't made any attempt to come out.
Now I'm of the belief that Spiderlings do this sometimes - and I've read that
some do it to shed their skin - but there's no way that there's any space
for the Spiderling to shed it's skin under there. Not a chance. I'm half tempted
to dig him out and see what he's doing - but I'm not going to.
He's managed to dig the burrow so well that I guess he can get himself out if he
needs to. It's not like it's collapsed either as there was nothing
to collapse on (the vermiculite has been pushed up the hole and it's got web on
it which I think is what is making it stick and not fall back down).
Although you cannot see it on the photograph there is a space under the moved
vermiculite.
As you can see from the photo above the right hand side (between the acrylic and
the Ferrero Rocher box) is where the entrance used to
be to his burrow. It is now totally filled up with a mixture of vermiculite and
silk.
07.09.06 - Hiding Spiderling
The Curly Hair Spiderling is still in it's hole. There has been no sign of the
hole being unblocked and then blocked again. I might put another
cricket in the tank for it and see if I can tempt it out of it's nest but I have
a feeling that it's going to be in there until in needs to shed.
11.09.06 - Hiding Spid
The Spiderling has been hiding all weekend. I put another cricket in and it
wandered around the sealed entrance to the burrow but the Spiderling
made no attempt to come out and get it. Think it's going to be a case of sitting
and waiting for it to come out when it's good and ready!!!!
As you can see from the photo below - the Spiderling has made a fairly large
burrow. You can just make out his shed skin to the right of the picture.
I have no idea how he managed to shed in such a confined environment.
15.09.06 - Food
The Spiderling is quite big now. I've got a good look at him - he's been
exploring his new environment. I've moved his old house to the side
and added more vermiculite for him to dig.
17.09.06 - Still not eating
The Spiderling is still not eating. Though he has been doing a lot of exploring
lately around his house, climbing the walls and going into
his old house. He's also spun a lot of web on the floor of the tank.
20.09.06 - Hungry Spiderling
I popped a cricket in today and it got eaten fairly instantly - the cricket
basically hit the vermiculite and the Spiderling was on him
29.09.06 - Still Hungry
Fed the Spiderling again today. There was a bit of a battle as the cricket had
managed to get down the side of the Spiderling's old house
and thus a difficult catch. The Spiderling managed to get it in the end though
and took it back in to the plantpot.
30.09.06 - More Food
The Spiderling has been eating loads. Every night he has some food.
01.10.06 - Food
The Spiderling has been going nuts trying to get the crickets. It's appetite is
massive (similar to the Chilean Rose).
02.10.06 - Climbing Spiderling
The Spiderling spends most of it's time peeking out of the plant pot. It has
also been doing a lot of climbing up the center of the tank.
He has also been wandering about exploring the tank. Watching it trying to climb
over the old Ferrero Rocher box.
05.10.06 - Still Hungry
Fed the Spiderling today. The cricket was pounced upon!
10.10.06 - Spoke too Soon
The Spiderling isn't eating any more! D'OH! I put a cricket in and the
Spiderling ran away when the cricket touched it's leg. Usually it
jumps at the chance when there is a cricket in spitting distance. The cricket
followed the Spiderling into the plant pot and the Spiderling
ran out! Very unusual behaviour considering it usually goes bananas when a
cricket is about. It took me ages to get the cricket out as
I had to try and not disturb the Spiderling too much. In the end I used a trusty
spoon to lift the cricket out the tank. The Spiderling soon
went back in it's house.
20.10.06 - Still Not Hungry
Still not taking any crickets I put in...
25.10.06 - Not Hungry Spiderling
The Spiderling is spending a great deal of time just sitting in his house. He's
hardly come out for days. All he does is poke his legs out. I
assume he is going to be shedding soon as it has been a while since he last
shed.
27.10.06 - Baby Baby... Crickets
I thought I'd lost a cricket the other day. It jumped when I was getting it out
the cricket house... it had infact jumped into the Spiderling's
tank and made a nice little home there. I found it yesterday. Today however
while looking at the Spiderling I saw something move out
the corner of my eye. On closer inspection it was a very very small cricket. I
had a look around the tank and there's loads of the little fella's.
Looks like the escapee cricket has laid eggs in the nice moist vermiculite and
they've hatched. Not too sure how to get rid of them.
I think I'm going to have to take the Spiderling out and replace all the
Vermiculite.
He is due for a change, but talk about a pain in the neck. The thing is I think
he's due for a shed soon so I'm a bit worried about doing it.
Then again I'm worried about not doing it and him shedding and getting stressed
out by baby crickets crawling about all over the place!
29.10.06 - Crickets Gone
I decided to remove all the vermiculite. I gently pushed the Spiderling into his
house and then covering up the entrance with a margarine
lid I moved him in his plant pot to a holding tank (also known as a Fluffy Candy
Floss plastic box).
I then proceed to scrape all the old vermiculite out with a cup and then my
hands. I didn't see one single baby cricket. I've no idea where
they have gone. Although a couple of people have suggested that the Spiderling
has eaten them, I doubt it. They were about 1mm to
2mm long and I just cannot see the Spiderling finding them, let along being
bothered to try and eat them. Also added to this is the fact the
Spiderling hasn't / wasn't interested in any food prior to me finding the baby
crickets.
What I think has happened to them is they either died because of lack of food -
or they simply crawled out the tank (I haven't seen
any in my flat).
I replaced all the vermiculite with fresh substrate and then popped the
Spiderling (still in plant pot) back into the tank. He didn't come
out, but it all looks a lot cleaner now. I'm thinking about changing the Chilean
Rose, but it's a viscous little fella with a lot more web.
30.10.06 - Hide And Seek
The Spiderling finally decided to come out and have a look about after a day (it
may have come out at night of course while I was in bed).
It has taken up its customary position of just having a couple of its front legs
poking out the plant pot entrance.
I might get it a stone or some bark to sit on / dig under. The Chilean Rose
Spiderling spends most of it's time on top of the plant pots
whereas the Curly Hair seems to prefer sitting inside.
31.10.06 - Shedding Spiderling
I had a look into the Spiderlings house today and the Spiderling had too many
legs. As I thought it's shed. A couple of hours later it had
brought the shed skin out of it's house and placed it on the ground -
Spiderlings obviously like to keep their houses clean!
Looking in at lunch time the Spiderling has come out of hiding and is spread out
on the vermiculite. I assume it's drying out when they
do this. It's certainly a lot bigger and as usual it's all legs (their abdomens
seem to get smaller when they shed - probably from lack of
eating or the transference of fluids to some other part of the body).
02.11.06 - November
We're into November now and it's getting very chilly - even in the flat. The
Spiderling has spent more time out it's plant pot and appears to
have covered most of the vermiculite in a fine layer of web. I popped a cricket
in today and the Spiderling ran away and hid. It did come
back out again put it wasn't interested in eating at all. I have read somewhere
that when they shed the Spiderlings also lose the lining
of their stomach - so I am guessing that I'd probably not be all that hungry if
I'd lost the lining of my stomach either!
10.11.06 - Eating Again!
The Spiderling has started to eat again! It ate a great fat juicy hopper today
which I found out are called desert locusts (Schistocerca Gregaria)
and wreak great havoc on Middle Eastern Crops.
15.11.06 - More Food
Spiderling is still eating!
20.11.06 - Still eating away!
Spiderling is still hungry. I popped a cricket in, the Spiderling shot out the
plant pot and ate it.
01.12.06 - December Time
It's been nearly a year since I got the Spiderling and it's grown a lot over
that time, mainly I think because I haven't stopped
feeding it with a variety of six legged goodies.
I've recently popped some bark in the tank. The image on the right above is the
original piece of bark I got from the shop.
It cost about 4 quid. Make sure you don't get ripped off by greedy shop keepers.
It's fairly big and I only used a fraction of it
for the Spiderling. I'll probably use another bit for my Chilean Rose when I
clean out the tank and then give the rest away.
Before I put it in I made sure I washed it with warm water.
The Spiderling has explored it quite a lot. Walking over it, around it, under it
to "see" (or rather feel) what it is. The Spiderling
has also started to dig again in the corner of his tank by the plant pot. I'd
love to know the trigger for these little excavating
bouts of activity. Then again, the Spiderling does actually spend quite a lot of
time walking up the sides of the glass. It spins
web up the sides which seems to aid it's ability to stick. Now it's getting
bigger it is quite interesting to see it defy gravity with such ease.
It hasn't been eating the last couple of days. Maybe it's due for another
shed...? Or it's fed up with eating the same food!
04.01.07 - Happy New Year
It's been a while since I last posted on my blog 'cos of all the Xmas parties
and whatnot... I'll be posting some more images
in the very near future so remember to check back soon!
29.01.07 - Winter Has Arrived
Well, winter has finally arrived with the onset of frost outside here in the UK.
The temperatures have started to drop so I'm
making sure that the Spiderlings are kept nice and warm (I check the heat matt
every day).
As you can see from the photo above the Curly Hair Spiderling has made quite an
impressive nest. The vermiculite used
to be totally level. If you look in the top right of the picture you can see
vermiculite on the top of the bark. The Spiderling has
spun web from the glass to the bark and then placed the substrate on top. A
proper engineer. The only problem with this
though is it seems to collapse every so often and therefore needs rebuilding on
a regular basis.
I have propped a DVD case against the side of the tank where the nest is so as
to give the Spiderling a more nest like
feel with a reduced amount of light. I assume this is why it has dug such a deep
and elaborate burrow.
I thought the Spiderling may have had mites the other week. Tiny little specks
of white around it's jaws. I've checked around
and apparently these can be removed with a paint brush (the ones used for
painting model aircraft) but they seem to have
disappeared. I'm making the assumption that they probably were not mites (as the
tank never has any dead food material
left over in) and were probably specs of vermiculite from the Spider digging so
much.
I fed the Spiderling today, but the cricket went down one of the numerous hidey
holes in the burrow so I've no idea if the
Spiderling has eaten it or not.
07.02.2007 - Bad Building
For whatever reason the Spiderlings house has collapsed. All the vermiculite has
fallen in and the Spiderling no longer
hides under his bark. I just don't think he's very bright to be honest. This
does mean that he now spends a great deal of
his time in the plant pot which he has avoided since building his house. I am
tempted to flatten all the vermiculite and let
him start again.
I bought a paintbrush the other day incase he had mites - but the little white
specs have gone now from his body and
mouth - so I assume they must have been vermiculite from all the digging. There
was a couple of bits on him which I
moved with the brush. He didn't seem all that bothered by it and certainly
didn't try and attack the brush like I thought he
would do.
08.03.2007 - Shedding Spiderling
Well the Spiderling hasn't eaten for at least 6 weeks to my knowledge and has
spent much of his time in the hidey hole
which has undergone numerous patches and repairs.
It has been starting to worry me a bit, though I know the winter does slow them
down. Today however on my way into
work I looked in and the Spiderling was upside down. To the casual observer this
is not good as the Spiderling looks
dead. NEVER MOVE A SPIDER IF IT'S UPSIDE DOWN! Spiders don't fall flat on their
backs when they die they crunch
up into a ball. If it's on it's back chances are it's shedding its skin and must
not be touched.
10.03.2007 - Finished Shedding
The Spiderling has finished shedding and has moved its skin outside it's hidey
hole. I haven't seen it moving about
yet though I did touch its foot and it moved away (if it were hungry it'd jumped
and tried to eat the stick I touched it with).
I have heard that during their shed they remove their stomach lining. I do not
know if this is true but it would help explain
why it isn't eating...! I'm assuming now it is larger it will also take longer
for the exoskeleton to dry out.
19.03.2007 - Shedding and Vermiculite Purchase
Well - I forgot that I had mentioned about the shedding in my blog. However the
Spiderling finally came out of his hidey
hole for the first time in some 8 weeks (he may have come out at night but I've
not seen him).
I popped a locust in the tank and the Spiderling turned around, I blinked and
the locust was gone! I'm assuming the
Spiderling is hungry still and no doubt I'll try and feed him again later. I
think he might need to have a substrate change.
It's been quite a while since I did this though I didn't want to disturb the
Spiderling if it was going to shed.
I bought some more vermiculite at the weekend. 5 pounds for 10 litres worth. 10
litres is A LOT and will probably
last me about a year - so if you're just starting out it might be worth trying
to get a smaller bag. I bought this from Homebase
but I've got it from B&Q in the past. It'll be near the gardening equipment and
maybe next to compost and potting materials.
20.03.2007 - Feeding Frenzy
It looks like I was right about the Spiderling being a hungry little chap. I
popped another locust in and the Spiderling
went mad trying to get it and looked very pleased with itself when it had. It
came out its plant pot and did a lap of honour
around the tank.
23.03.2007 - More food
There are not many crickets left. The Spiderling has been doing much web
spinning lately. It's basically covered all the
tank in a fine layer of web. It's even been climbing the sides of the tank
spinning web up there. I think it spins the web on
the side of the tank which makes walking up the sides easier. I seemed in no
great rush to get this done and was
spinning at a leisurely pace for quite some time.
24.03.2007 - Last Cricket Standing
The crickets / locusts I had have all gone, bar one cricket. It has lasted about
two months which is a record. I didn't
really want to feed it to the Spiderling as it was the oldest cricket I've ever
seen. I've no idea how it lasted to long -
they usually die quite quickly. I'll have to get some more crickets soon!
25.03.2007 - More Crickets
I bought some more locusts today. They're known as size fours. I was going to
get some size 6's which I think are the
biggest but decided against it. The Spiderling wasn't hungry.
One thing which I have noticed the Spiderling do is spread out on the
vermiculite. It's a strange thing to watch as they
are really quite long. There's not a great deal of room in the tank for it to do
this and the Spiderling has been spending
quite a lot of time in it's plant pot (I've only seen it in it's hidey hole the
once since shedding).
26.03.2007 - More feeding
The Spiderling is getting quite large now and looks really mean. He's really
fury and you can see where they get their
name from! I decided to see if the Spiderling was hungry and popped a locust
into the tank to today. The Spiderling
didn't seem to notice at first (it could have been asleep - how do you tell)? It
then lazily turned around. The locust
jumped a few times and then the Spiderling, quite relaxed just picked it up in
it's mouth and ate it! There's no fighting
anymore. I think the locusts are a bit too docile for the Spiders. I seem to
remember the black crickets putting up a real
fight which always makes feeding time more interesting.
20.04.2007 - Feeding Again
The Spiderling hasn't been interested in food really lately, though it has made
some impressive webs. I tried feeding the
Spiderling with a locust today. The locust (as they often do) ended up jumping
onto the Spiderling and the Spiderling
caught it and had a feast
I tried taking some more photos of the Spiderling with my new camera (my old one
got stolen) but they turned out poorly).
I'm trying to get my hands on a new Nikon or Canon...
How to look after Spiderlings :: Spiderling in new house :: Spiderling ::
Chilean Rose :: Grammostola Rosea :: Baby Spiders :: UK images ::
How to look after spiderlings :: Spiderling in new house :: Curly Hair ::
Brachypelma Albopilosa :: Baby Spider :: UK