they are nice looking spiders..i used to just think of them as a big dull brown spider...but they grew on me..and now i like the brown. kinda velvety looking. i'd consider blondi a moderately difficult species to keep. they aren't insanely fast like Poecilotheria or pretty any arboreals..but they can kick up a big storm of urticating hairs, and they require higher levels of humidity. the higher humidity coupled with any left over food remains is a perfect invitation for parasitic mites. make sure to clean up all the food leftovers you can, and occasionally check for mites with a flashlight in the dark. just shine the light right over the top of the substrate and you should be able to see them (if they are there) moving around..they are just small little round looking grey/white bugs. i've had some before and didn't even notice with my eyes, but realized it after taking some close up photos and looking at them on the computer. then i could see them while looking for them, but until then i had no clue. oh.. and with the higher humidity, you want some good ventilation too.

yea, the bald spot is from kicking the hairs off as a defensive mechanism. i guess some of them could rub off the spider rubs its abdomen on something..or is digging a burrow etc. the hairs (the small ones, not the longer more prominent ones) are only hanging on to their abdomens by a small "stalk" (not sure what the word for that part is)..so it doesn't take much for them to become seperated from the abdomen. one other thing about the hairs..only spiders from the new world, NA/CA/SA, have the hairs..but there is at least one genus from south america that doesn't have them..theres been speculation about them being related to some of the tarantulas from asia that were seperated when continents drifted apart. all the spiders from the old world do not have them..so your regalis can't flick itchy hairs at you..the only thing she could do is run, give you a nice threat pose..or bite you.

sounds good about the feeders..as long as its not: they can't walk because something is wrong with them. but to me it just sounds like they are stuffed and nice and fat. i asked some people on the american tarantula society boards about nutrition for spiders, but it seems not much is known about specifics. there isn't a lot of money in the world of studying spiders unfortunately. the general answer i got though, if you really want to ensure a very healthy spider, offer a variety of food so that it should be able to get different nutrients from various sources. on the other hand, i'm sure there are a LOT of people who only use crickets. i am pretty much one of them hah. though i have though of starting up my own roach colony so i don't have to drive to the pet store every week.

in the end, i'd say it sounds like you're doing a fine job taking care of them.

thanks, im really diggin it.

im doubting my way of taking care of the feeders though. I have an extra tank in which i put my small crickets (they grow faster and hardly die). but i also put my grasshopers in there, they really seem apathic and already 4 have died in 2 weeks. The small crickets eat the carcasses (which is a good thing i suppose) but it all gets really smelly and the bottom is covered in shit. just a failed experiment i guess.

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ehh feeders die all the time. if i get crickets..i put some food in for them..then about 4 or 5 days later..any that are left are likely dead. i would try and give it a good cleaning when you get new feeders though. if you leave all the dead ones in there mites could likely infest your feeders..then if you don't notice them on the feeders (it happens) and you feed them to your spiders..your spider will wind up with mites too.

i keep my crickets in those "kritter keepers" the plastic containers with snap on lids and a hindged clear door in the top of the lid. the feeder ones have black tubes going down into them for the feeders to crawl in..they like the dark.. and i just shake them out until there is one or two left and then fling them into the enclosure with the spider. once i run out of that size of crickets..i give the whole thing a nice rinse in some hot water, then wipe it dry with some toilet paper. (since its there in the bathroom where i rinse them out)

you don't have to go crazy and clean it everytime theres a dead feeder..but try not to let it get too nasty. and yes, CRICKETS FUCKING STINK!!!!!!!! ..thats actually one of the main reasons i want to eventually switch to starting a roach colony. easy to maintain, don't stink, they don't chirp (some make hissing noises i guess), and depending on the species..don't climb, fly, or jump.

well this morning i found some little bugs in one of my jumping spiders enclosures.

P. johnsoni and crew
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/IMG_8452s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/IMG_8454s.jpg

so far i've only counted about 12 at most. was annoying trying to count them since they kept moving around. could be more in there i didn't see..they are small and would be almost impossible to see on the substrate. i'm not sure what the average number of eggs they lay.

edit..this morning i see there are quite a few more that have emerged..about 50 in total...plus or minus a couple..they don't all sit still for counting ease.

I have an iguana named Lizilia. I'll post pics later.

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Very nice!

i'm having trouble with feeding my regalis..........i cant fetch the last fucking cricket! , as you know, ive put them all in a larger tank so they could grow, and theres one left who just keeps jumping away, haha i feel dumb

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hah yea sometimes they are a real pain in the ass. what are you using to catch them? i just have this little plastic cup and drop it over the cricket and slide a piece of cardboard or something underneath and just lift it up and drop the cricket into the enclosure with the spider. of if theres just one..tilt the whole thing and just make it slide out into the spiders tank, or just into something else you can easily dump the cricket out of to get eaten.

ill try that, im using my bare hands now

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hah i would try using something else..i just scoop them up with a pen cap for the smaller ones..or something a little larger for the adults. well besides the tubes in the plastic container they are in. some people use forceps but i've only done that once..it takes some getting used to to grab them without crushing them.

easiest way for me, besides the pre made tubes, is just to corner the cricket in the container so that its got nowhere to go but in whatever you are trying to get it in. sometimes they'll jump over or whatever..and it can be a pain in the ass..but it is pretty easy most of the time.

im starting to get handy at this...

cool, the regalis has exposed herself for quite a time yesterday. At first when i fed it and then when i woke up...it still didnt go to bed

And my vagans seems to have settled too, he/shes really walking around and sitting at cool places shes never sat before (ie up against a rock). Once again i have to say: awesome new hobby

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cool...yea once they get settled in, they'll start making themselves more visible. you gotta remember, though they aren't nearly as intelligent, they each have their own personality regardless of species. generally each species has the same behavior across the board..but there are always exceptions. sometimes their personality has been noted (by hobbyists, never seen this in a published journal) to change after a molt. sometimes though, you could wind up with a display species (meaning its out in the open mostly) that winds up being a pet hole (see genus Haplopelma heh).

vagans are generally out a bit more often..i know mine is. it has been since it was small. have you ever seen yours kick hairs?

glad to hear you're liking it. i got hooked pretty quick haha..i had one..then i ordered 2 and got a free one as well. before i knew it, i had over ten. just watch out..cause at first its easy with just a couple..but after a while it becomes more of a time consuming thing. i just spent about an hour or so catching baby jumping spiders and putting them in these small containers by themselves. kinda surprised i didn't get bit once..but they were not as quick to disperse from their containers as i thought they'd be, so it was pretty easy..just took a bit.

here is most of them from one female...i have another one that should be adding to the pile of deli cups soon. if it wasn't so damn cold everywhere i'd offer to send some to any of you for just shipping cost. its a bit too cold, and it wouldn't be worth buying a heat pack for each of these little bastards.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/IMG_8536s.jpg

also caught this little spider while catching the jumpers...i thought it was one of them that got past me at first..don't know what it is unfortunately...my guess is some wolf spider...Lycosa or Hogna maybe...its still too small for me to tell..thats as far as i can zoom in with my camera.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...n/IMG_8541s.jpg

Are there any spiders which can survive purely on fruit or easily available meat ( ie not insects) ?

how long can a spider survive without eating/drinking (if spiders even drink ???)

my girl trapped one under a cup and when she came back from uni like 3 weeks later it was still alive somehow

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none that will eat fruit that i know of, but you can also feed them lizards, baby to small mice, i've also seen pics of one eating a small bird, a frog, and even a piece of raw chicken. (i think it was chicken) i guess thats all i can really think of right now. in the uk i know its illegal to feed vertebrates to invertebrates, so you'd be pretty much stuck to inverts.

i just stick with normal invert prey items..though once when i had a pinky mouse that a snake wouldn't eat, i tried feeding it to some of my larger spiders...it was weird. one all but bit it...stood right over it where the spider could just bite without even grabbing it first..but nothing. the next one attacked it, but left it alone after biting it at least once. the last one i tried just ignored it..but the mouse was dead i am pretty sure. i was surprised since i figured they'd snap it right up. would've snuffed out the mouse faster had i known it was gonna just lay there and die like that heh.

after that i would only give them to my old adult centipede..that thing would chew right through those mice like butter.

edit..




they can generally go for quite a while..some species are more dependent on humidity so they wouldn't last as long..but some are living in the desert. sometimes they'll fast for months without eating..i think they drink if they can during that time though. honestly can't say..and i wouldn't want to find out with one of mine heh. they get a good deal of moisture from eating..but i am not sure how long an adult desert tarantula could go without eating or drinking. would have to look into that.

tarantulas drinking:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_8524s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_2313s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_2327s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_8521s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...x/IMG_4261s.jpg

are centipede's dangerous to humans?
they eat mice?! never knew that...got any vids of yours feeding?

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some of them are. if the adult i used to have would've bit me..i'd probably have gone to the hospital just in case. as far as i know, there haven't been any recorded deaths..if there have, it was either related to small children, old people, or otherwise frail people.

no videos of anything really..i don't have a video camera. heres a picture of the largest one i've had drinking. it was about 7" long (a little under 18cm).

Scolopendra subspinipes
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...x/IMG_4760s.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_5400s.jpg
close up
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...MG_5390crop.jpg

they'll easily eat scorpions, adult tarantulas, mice, small birds, frogs, whatever else that isn't too large. they won't win every time, but they have fairly strong venom for smaller animals which really helps them come out on top most of the time.

i posted this at least 3 times here haha but here it is again..i love this fucking video. this is the largest known species of centipede Scolopendra gigantea catching a bat in mid flight. somewhere in south america.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgLmUb5P_Ws

wow! cool vid, that thing is creepy.
i love bats poor little guy.

i really fucking hate spiders, scorpions, centipedes etc but they're seriously interesting.
could never keep any but it is an awesome hobby

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savage - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5g...related&search=

edit:

urgh, check this shit out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoXf...related&search=

thats pretty nasty

that mouse did not stand a chance

edit2:

that looks painful...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RJ9...related&search=

man, you tube is full of stuff like this, facinating to watch

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yea, they are nasty fuckers! just for the record, that was one of the most docile species of tarantula they could find hehe. Brachypelma albopilosum. not to say they aren't vicious towards their prey or possible predators.

when i lived in hawaii for a couple years, i went out to open our garage door (manual style) and didn't have any shoes on. i stepped on a centipede in front of our garage at night..couldn't see it but felt it wrap around my foot and bite the shit out of me. hurt like a bitch..granted i was in 6th or 7th grade..but i can't imagine it feeling much better now that i'm older. luckily i don't think any of the more dangerous types are out in hawaii. i think they are more common in south america and asia.

hell yea! was doing some feeding last night and noticed my Theraphosa blondi has a very dark abdomen.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/IMG_9242s.jpg

basically that means its going to molt any time now. this species..probably genus as well, are somewhat known for molting complications. not something that happens to all or most, but its definitely not unheard of. if i can catch it in the act, i'll take a sequence of pictures as it goes, but otherwise i'll just be able to get pictures after the fact, and hopefully be able to tell what sex this fucker is.

heres what the abdomen looked like when i got it.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_8283s.jpg

and heres another where you can see how light it was in the upper left corner, but the photo was more to show the webbing.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMG_8517s.jpg