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One of my favorites--Warning spider picture

patrick

patrick

Found this female with a new outfit on this morning. When tarantulas grow they slip out of their old skin, called an exuvium, with a brand new skin that has developed under the old skin. The new one is larger, flexible and very soft. This is one of the most dangerous times for them. A few days later it will become hardened and they're good to go. Anyway I thought I would post a couple of pics of her. Hope you enjoy.

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In the first and third photos you can see the old exuvium. I'll take the exuvium and place it under a microscope to find out the sex of the spider. This one happens to be a female and is one of the more rare species. She's about three inches long from the tip of a front leg to the tip of a rear leg on the opposite side. Her current value is around $300.

Hope nobody got too nervous and thanks for checking her out.
 
very cool creatures, but they creep me out! what do you feed him? I have a jumping spider living in my growroom and without pests idk if he'll survive there. should I get him some mosquitos or something? lol
 
DickT said:
When you say dangerous time for them, is your meaning the spider is most vunerable. Pretty neat
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Exactly Dick. Tarantulas are basically a hairy water balloon. Right after a molt the exterior part of their body is extremely soft including their fangs and claws. They can't really defend themselves from predators and if they happened to run into a sharp object it could pierce ther body. Their blood, called hemolymph, doesn't have a clotting mechanism in it and they'll rapidly bleed to death.

Sickmont you're in luck buddy. I've got a whole bunch to choose from and I'd be happy to sell/give you one. Just say the word.

5/6 I feed them crickets or roaches. I actually have a colony of South American roaches called Blaptica dubia. I keep them in a 50 quart plastic tote. Now before you guys get all freaked out about keeping roaches dig this. They do not smell, they cannot fly, they cannot climb plastic or glass, and they don't make a sound. They eat fish food, fruit, vegetables and are very cheap to keep. If one were to escape it could not survive. They are a tropical species and a picture of snow would probably kill them. Plus they make a real satisfying crunch when an adult tarantula hits one.

If you really want to feed your jumper get him some flightless fruit flies. She'll tear 'em up! Jumpers are very cool. Here's a link to some photos. http://atshq.org/forum/showthread.php?t=646
 
:drooling::drooling:

Very nice! Congrats on it being a female! I can't wait to get my snake back this month..it's been a little over a year since I dropped it off at my friends house.
 
Wow patrick that site is really cool. I was reading a couple threads and I can't stop! I read the whole brown recluse bite thread. These guys are great, I'd probably immediately need 4 mg of xanax and a punch to the jaw if I got bit by one. Im really creeped out by spiders but I'm also amazed at their intelligence. Maybe I'll get one to help me get over the fear.


Are brown recluse and Black widow or any other spider you know as "harmful" native (indigenous?) to NJ or the Northeast USA?

don't mean to hi jack :)
 
No brown recluse in Jersey but you may be on the fringe of the black widow spider as they are found as far northeast as Massachusetts.

Be careful when you're buying bananas as the Brazilian Wandering spider will show up in a bunch every now and then. These can potentially kill you. The widow and recluse usually don't.

I know several people who were once arachnophobes who have gotten tarantulas to help them get over it. It does work. I'd be happy to send you a baby. Let me know.

Hey Brian! Good to hear from you man. You got dry feet yet?
 
patrick said:
No brown recluse in Jersey but you may be on the fringe of the black widow spider as they are found as far northeast as Massachusetts.

Be careful when you're buying bananas as the Brazilian Wandering spider will show up in a bunch every now and then. These can potentially kill you. The widow and recluse usually don't.

I know several people who were once arachnophobes who have gotten tarantulas to help them get over it. It does work. I'd be happy to send you a baby. Let me know.

Hey Brian! Good to hear from you man. You got dry feet yet?
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Yes, my feet have been dry for a little bit now! It feels great.

I'll second the whole people that buy spiders as pets to get over arachnophobia. I have read several stories about that very idea. My other favorite is the "my spouse hated my spiders..at first." haha Slowly disgust gives way to curiosity, then that turns into fascination. Before you know it, they have a larger collection than you!
 
Sorry Talas, that's the reason for the warning in the thread title. Keep you 'phobes from losing sleep.

You know for the most part being afraid of spiders is a learned fear. Watching mommy and daddy screaming like little girls when they saw a spider will do it 9 out of 10 times. That one other time will spark curiosity and that's where the spider fans come from.

I didn't start out as a fan of them believe me. Youngest son wanted one for a long, long time. Couldn't get one because of the wife, wouldn't have it in the house. When she decided she wanted out of the marriage, but wanted to stay in the house for a few months to save some dough, I went right out and got the boy one. Helped her move up her moving out date to less than a week. Been a fan of tarantulas ever since. ;)
 
Thought I'd add another pic of one of my little ladies. This is a Pamphobeteus nigricolor fresh after a molt. The pattern on the abdomen will disappear as it gets older. Right now it's about an inch and a half long.

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I have got a black widow I caught here last year caged up, I figured it was better than killing it and I didnt want to release it. How hard is it to take care of a tarantula Patrick? I wouldnt mind taking one of those babies off your hands.
 
It's surprisingly easy. The younger they are, the more delicate they are..still not difficult to care for. I would feed mine once a week (sometimes I'd feed the small ones a little more often so they would grow a bit faster..until they put on a little size) or so, make sure it had some water available to it, and clean any food remains after it ate. That's about it. Give it the appropriate sized habitat..which is actually quite small, though I usually give mine a little extra room to breath. Also, make sure you have a secure lid, and keep your cats away if you have any. There are several horror stories of that whole deal.

Some species like more humid environments depending on where they naturally occur and so they require a little more attention than most. If your house is cold, you may want to find a nice warm (and dark) place for the container, or maybe buy a small heating pad.

They are nocturnal, so they enjoy the dark. Having said that, I've had some that I would always see out and about during the day, some I'd only see at night, some I'd never see during the day..or almost ever in some cases, etc. They each have their own little habits and personalities.

One male tarantula I had loved to always flip over his water dish (a 20fl oz bottle cap) and bury it in the corner. Most of the time, he would do it the same day I cleaned and refilled it. :rolleyes:
 
Xgrafcorex is right, he should be he's kept T's for a long, long time.

I've got a few extra Psalmopoeus cambridgei spiderlings that I would be happy to send one to you. Here's a photo of one of Xgraf's old P. cambridgeis. It's a female and probably close to being an adult if it isn't already.

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Right now it's about an inch long. You feed it every four or five days it will be over three inches within a year and quite possibly five to six inches within two years. These get close to seven inches as adults I believe.

I'll send you a container and substrate so you don't need to spend any money to get started.

I can send you all the care requirements via PM so we don't bore the rest of the folks. Taking care of T's is extremely easy. You can go on vacation for a few weeks and not give them a second thought.

Back in your court millworkman.:)

I will give you one heads up though. Keeping tarantulas is extremely addictive. Very few people that I know in the hobby have less than 20. Some have thousands. We almost hit the 1000 mark but that was including 600 babies one of our females produced for us. I sold/gave away all but one.
 
Yep, most of the one's I've owned were shipped through the mail. I also sold almost all of mine through the mail. Shipping prices vary depending on what type of shipping, so if it's $20 overnight, I would use that as an excuse to buy more spiders at one time instead of spending 20 on shipping for a spider that cost about that or less. (There are many that cost well over 20 bucks though!)
 
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