She Moulted!

My little girl has had her first moult! This morning I checked in on her and found her to be much bigger, with a paler body - it was then that I noticed the tiny shed skin in a depression in the substrate!

I'm so relieved that she's shed safely, and she's a fine looking beasty now!

I'll try and get some pictures soon.

Red in "Not Hungry" Shocker!

Last night Red was offered a bean weevil and paid it no attention. I took out the weevil and gave her a little cricket, she couldn't care less.

I know it's not a definate indication of an approaching moult, as has been discussed, but combined with the darkening of the skin and the previous hunger it's a suggestion that it could be on its way.

Either way, I'm not going to offer her food tonight and see what happens if I give her a cricket tomorrow.

Strike a Pose!

So, I'd been going on about how the little girl is growing and getting a nice figure on her and I decided I should have another go at photographing her so you can have a look for yourself.

Photographing spiders is tricky. They don't like light, as slings they are pretty much the same colour as the substrate and are really difficult to get a good auto focus on. Still, here is my best effort:

You can see the legs and pedipalps (leg like appendages at the front) quite clearly and also make out the eyes. The abdomen is now quite large and getting a bit darker. Notice the black spot on the dorsal surface of the abdomen, this spot was the total size of the abdomen when Red arrived!

Last night I added a tiny piece of cork bark in to the spiderling pot and created a small depression underneath it to act as a hide. I'm hoping Red will want to investigate this. Even if she doesn't go under it she may like to sit on it for a different texture and elevation to experience.

"You're The One For Me, Fatty!"

Those of you with superior taste in music will get the post title :)

Little Red is filling out nicely to become a plump little Red. I'm still feeding one prey item every other day and then giving her a rest for a few days. Every time I feed her she voraciously goes for the meal.

Sunday nights feed was another good one in her progression insofar as there was no struggle. The cricket went in and as usual she was straight on it, but this time she subdued it straight away.

Her abdomen is still filling out so much, in a healthy looking way, that I'm sure a moult must be around the corner. I'm expecting her to go off her food soon in anticipation of this.

It is really nice watching this development in her hunting and feeding behaviour, it makes you feel like a proud parent!

Anyone for Cricket?

Red is turning out to be a master hunter. Last night I caught her a small cricket, which was about twice the size of a micro cricket, and popped it into a feeding vial. To avoid disturbing her, and as I thought these crickets would have a bit more jump in them, I left the lid on the sling pot and tipped it down the feeding vial access that is fitted into the lid.

True to form as soon as the cricket hit the ground Red was on it in a flash, but in a manner reminiscent of the first encounter with the bean weevil she jumped off again!

The cricket hopped to the opposite side of the spiderling pot. I wondered what Red would do, and if I would have to remove the cricket.

A minute or so later the cricket started to walk around the perimeter of the pot, towards Red. This was make-or-break I thought, how would Red react? Last time she did this with the weevil she didn't want any part of it. Not this time!

Learning from her previous life experience she pounced on the cricket for a second time and this time hung on! She dragged it over her burrow entrance and finished the job.

I think I'll leave it until Sunday night to feed her again, I don't want to over do it. I feed her every other day and only one prey item, that's no where near over-feeding her but I don't want to take the risk. Really over-feeding can shorten their lives, I have read.

For the time being, I'm just glad she's showing healthy natural instincts and is eating well.

Named!

It might not be the most exotic or original name but the sling is now officially answering to "Red". It seems to fit and is unisex. Also, many years ago, I had a pet fish called Red so it's keeping the name alive!

Feeding time tonight, Red has cricket on the menu, I'm trying the "small" size rather than "micro" so I hope she's up for it!

Bean Weevils!

Having fed the little sling again on a bean weevil last night and she took it with the same gusto that she did the last one, I have no hesitancy in recommending these to anyone with a spiderling.

Firstly, after the initial attempt, she seems to love them. They are easy to keep and catch and best of all once you have spent only a couple of pounds on your first culture you will have free spiderling food forever! Here's how it works:

Once you've bought your bean weevil culture (this is a tub of black eyed beans with bean weevil eggs on them) and some have hatched off, you can transfer some of the culture to a new tub with some more dried black eyed beans. You can repeat this process and always keep a culture developing with no need to buy any more.

As a varied diet is vital to health, and to ensure that the baby tarantula does not miss out on any nutrients, I shall continue to feed her crickets as well.

Go sling! Go!

I was very proud of my girl last night.

I was out of micro crickets and only have bean weevils for her, and I was certain she needed feeding. I decided to try another weevil despite the aborted attempt last time out.

I took the entire spiderling pot out of the terrarium and removed the lid, this way I could drop the weevil right next to her rather than down the feeding vial.

It worked a treat!

The second the weevil landed on the substrate, about an inch away from the spiderling she shot on to it and grabbed it with her jaws. The weevil was fighting back and scrabbling it legs about. The spiderling readjusted her position and tried to hitch her legs up, resting some of them on the sling pot walls to keep them out of the way, all the time attacking the potential prey.

I really didn't think such a battle would ensue and I was poised to intervene should the spiderling look in trouble. I need not have worried, in an example of ringmanship that any fighter would have been proud of the tiny tarantula held on to her prey and used the edges of the pot to her advantage and to keep her limbs out of the action. She was also elevating her position to stop the kicking weevil from using the ground to get purchase.

She then showed what an intelligent hunter she is. She carried the scrapping bean weevil over to her burrow hole and suspended her body and the prey over the drop into the hole. This meant that she could keep herself safe and give no advantage to the weevil until she was victorious.

Eventually she was, and she took her prey onto the flat surface of the substrate to slowly consume it, which she did over the course of an hour.

She has a fat little tummy now, sorry - I meant a full abdomen! I doubt she will want to feed again for a couple of days so I'll leave her be.

I've ordered some more micro crickets to keep her diet varied, but its good to know she can take a weevil. Someone on the Arachnophiles forum suggested that her reaction to the previous weevil might have been because it fought back at her, it looks like she has learnt from this and over come it. Good girl! :)

Strange Feeding.

Last night I dropped a bean weevil in to the sling pot and after a few seconds the spiderling shot over to it and pounced. As soon as she "hit" it she jumped straight off again and wouldn't touch the weevil again.

I wonder whether she doesn't like the taste of them? Maybe they are too big and she can't get her fangs in?

I think I'd better get some more micro crickets.

She's Back!

So, a valuable lesson has been learnt in spider escapology!

I came home last night to find the little tarantula outside of the sling pot but inside the terrarium.

In order to reduce some humidity in the spiderling pot, I had left the cap of the feeding vial open a few millimeters. Big mistake! Learn from my error and NEVER give a spiderling a gap bigger than the pinhead holes in the pot lid!

Despite the end of the feeding vial being off the ground and away from the pot wall, with a minute gap to escape from - she did! Thank goodness for the extra enclosure around the sling pot which retained her.

I was able to catch her and return her with a minimum of fuss. Perhaps I'll name her Houdini.

All's well that ends well I guess, I'll see if she's up for a feeding tonight after her adventure.

One of our Spiderlings is Missing!

I arrive home last night to find an empty sling pot! I shone a torch in to the pot to have a good look down her burrow and it does appear that some digging has gone on down there. I am hoping that she has burrowed herself in and not escaped somehow! If she has escaped I have no idea how!

Maybe the lack of eating was a sign she was about to moult and she has extended her burrow to do this in private?

Anyone else had this happen?!

Not Hungry?

Over the last few days since my last post I have offered the spiderling food twice, on both occasions it has been spectacularly ignored!

On the first instance I added a bean weevil, which had at last hatched, and settled down to watch. It's important to observe the sling feeding if possible to keep an eye on its health and happiness.

The weevil wandered about in the sling pot, and seemed intent on having a good drink in the condensation on the walls. Once his thirst was slaked he walked right up to the baby spider (I'm not really liking the name I gave her earlier so its back to the drawing board on that one) and sat under her legs! The spider didn't even move!

I watched for about half and hour in total and then left them to it. On returning a couple of hours later the weevil and spider were still happily cohabiting so I took the former out and put it back in the weevil pot.

I wondered whether the spiderling just didn't like weevils, so two days later I put a micro cricket in. Again the spider seemed disinterested and the cricket even walked up to her and under her body and started playing beneath the spiders mouth parts! This cricket was seriously taking the pee! Brave or stupid its not clear, but the cricket survived.

So I'm not sure if the sling is preparing to moult, two days since the last feeding attempt she hasn't shown any signs. Maybe she's just not hungry?

I know that tarantulas go of their food sometimes, and having G.rosea I know all about this! They really do have some funny feeding habits.

I hope the little spider is OK, and I don't know what to do other than offer some more food tomorrow if she hasn't moulted by then. Fingers crossed.

What's in a Name?

I'm really not sure on a name for the baby B.Boehmei but I have been giving it some thought. I wanted it to be unisex as I have no idea of the gender of the spiderling yet, and won't do for some time. After the killer instinct it showed the other day I came up with calling him/her: Asesino. It's Spanish for "Killer!"

It sounds pretty cool and reflects the spiders Mexican heritage. What do you think? My girlfriend suggested trying the name out and see if it fits, so I think I'll do that. Any alternative suggestions can be posted in the comments section! Sorry Iain, "Polly Jean" just didn't seem to suit her!

Back to the spider itself, last night I thought I'd feed her again. I dropped a cricket in and was a little disappointed that she didn't react straight away again. Maybe she wasn't that hungry. I watched for a while but the cricket wisely kept out of her way. I went to have my dinner, which didn't contain crickets, and on my return little Asesino had fed!

On returning the spiderling pot to the terrarium (I had taken it out too add the cricket) I accidentally jolted the pot a little and the sling bolted to her burrow. I was upset that I'd disturber her, but also quite happy that she new where "home" was and associated it with safety. This is a very natural reaction and I wish to look after her in a way that preserves her natural instincts.

On inspecting the burrow I observed that she had widened it a little, putting her own personal stamp on it. No doubt she will continue to do this as she gets bigger and stronger.

Sling The Killer!

I was away for a couple of days over the weekend and really missed the little spider. I had checked with the experts on a tarantula forum that as long as the temperature and humidity was OK and that there were no left over food items (alive or dead) in the sling pot there was no issue leaving her.

On my return the baby spider was happily crouched on the heated side of the pot. I immediately caught a micro cricket and dropped it down the feeding vial. The response was amazing! The nano-second that the cricket hit the substrate the spiderling shot across at it and grabbed it! I was so proud of my little spider!

I sat and watched her eat for a bit - she seemed quite pleased with herself. I could see the tiny dead cricket in her jaws, despite it being so small the little sling stood up on "tip toes" to eat. I left her alone for a bit and when I returned she was warming herself and chilling out after her meal.

There was a real sense of happiness and pride at watching my new charge hunt and eat using her natural instincts, which I'm sure all tarantula keepers know about.

Pictures - and the First Feed!

Here are some of the pictures I meant to upload in yesterdays post of the arrival.

This is the spiderling in her travelling pot, sitting waiting to see what was going on:

This is her after being transferred into her new spiderling pot, she's sitting on the far wall:

Micro Crickets, as the name suggests - they be tiny!

So that's the pics form yesterdays post. Last night I was excited again to get in from work and check on the sling. As I peered through the terrarium enclosure into the spiderling pot I was instantly worried that I couldn't see her, then I hoped that meant she was in her starter burrow. I carefully lifted the sling pot out of the enclosure and removed the lid. Sure enough my heart leaped as I saw three sets of her legs poking out of the hole! I was so happy that this little spider, although captive bred still an animal with wild instincts, had accepted the temporary home I had designed to meet her needs.

I replaced the lid and prepared to give her a feed. I placed the tub of micro crickets in the fridge for 2 minutes just to slow their metabolism down a bit and make one of the tiny insects easier to catch. This worked, as with a minimum of fuss I persuaded one in to a feeding vial and snapped the lid shut. I then tipped it in to the vial in the sling pot lid and into the spiders lair!

These crickets really are tiny, about 2mm across. I'm pretty sure the baby tarantula will soon move on to bigger prey, which is just as well as they are hard to see once they are on the substrate and its important to be able to monitor if the spiderling has eaten or not.

The sling did not immediately go for the cricket, so I left them be for a couple of hours. On my return the spider was out of her burrow but I was able to see the micro cricket in the pot. I decided to see what would happen over night, after all tarantulas are nocturnal feeders.

Sure enough, in the morning I was not able to identify the cricket in the sling pot so I have to assume that my little charge had fed! I really would have liked to have seen the act of feeding, but maybe next time.

It's important to make sure that live food isn't left in the pot too long as crickets can nibble at a spider and damage them, particularly during and after a moult.

Next post will be on Monday, hopefully I'll have lots to report then - 3 days is a long time in the life of a tiny tarantula. :)

Have a good weekend.

The Big Night!

Firstly, I've forgotten to bring my camera to work (where I am writing this blog) so I'll post up photos tomorrow. With that out the way...

I think I might have raced home a little last night (once I'd got through the Bristol traffic), hopefully I didn't go through any speed cameras! I was pretty excited to get the spiderling home.

When I did get home I placed the sealed delivery box on my bed with the duvet spread out flat. This would create a soft landing should the spiderling make a dash and also a large surface area for me to catch it in should that happen. I had considered doing the unwrap in the bath (plug in hole!) but opted for the bed as the set up was in the bedroom and everything was close to hand.

I used a pair of sharp nail scissors to cut through the tape on the box and opened it up to find it well packed with polystyrene chips, in the middle of this was a small pot containing a soft tissue, with my new sling sitting on the top looking at me!

The little fella was about 10mm across and incredibly cute. It really was hard to imagine that if all goes well it will become a 6 inch tarantula.

I took the prepared sling pot from the enclosure, removed the lid and cautiously opened the pot containing the spiderling. I tilted one to the other, and with a bit of very gentle coaxing the baby B.boehmei stepped in to its new home!

It was a thrilling moment, and I left the pot on the side for a few moments before returning it to the heated and humidified terrarium so I could watch his/her first reactions to its new surroundings. In typical spider fashion the little sling walked round and round the pot getting a feel for the new environment it found itself in. It tried a bit of unsuccessful climbing and investigated the feeding vial which was hanging out of the sky in his new world.

Once I was happy that baby spid was happy, and indeed healthy, I placed the spiderling pot back into the enclosure near the heat mat. The tiny tarantula continued its tour of the pot and I turned out the lights and left him/her be for a bit.

I've decided I'm going to refer to the spiderling as a "her" from here on in, I have no idea of the gender yet but it will just be easier!

I checked on her regularly during the evening and she had settled down a lot. This morning she was resting at the side of the pot near where some condensation was formed, perhaps she was thirsty? I watched her for a bit until she moved (worried dad syndrome!) and got on with getting ready for work.

I was a little disappointed that the burrow starter hole I provided hadn't been used. Maybe she will investigate it more today? I'm a bit worried that I might have packed the substrate down too tightly, I really pressed it down hard - my thinking was that this will prevent burrow collapse but maybe I over did it? Any advice on that will be very welcome.

Tonight I will give the spider her first feed with me. I wanted to give her a rest after her ordeal so didn't feed her last night. I have pinhead crickets, and my goodness they are tiny! Just a couple of millimetres long. It's going to be an ordeal catching one and transferring it to the sling pot. I think I'll place the feeding vial in the cricket box and wait for one to crawl in. I fed the little crickets last night on special cricket food and they all swarmed over it - they must have been hungry!

So all is well at the moment and I hope it continues to go that way. I'll post the pictures up tomorrow of last nights arrival.

She's Here!

I'm very excited, the new spiderling has arrived! She's been delivered to my office so I'm having to be good and leaving everything sealed up until I get home - there's no point stressing her more than I have to (I hope it's a her but it might not be!).

I have a feeling this afternoon is going to drag!

I guess those of you who have already been through this process know what I'm feeling right now - excitement, and a fair bit of nerves about doing the best for my 8-legged baby!

I'm going to have to think of a name for him/her soon, but I think I'll wait until we've met properly for that!

If possible I'll get some pictures tonight and report back on the big move-in tomorrow.

At Last!

Finally I have been able to confirm that my new B.bohemei spiderling will be in his/her new home tomorrow! OK, I haven't had to wait that long, but I've been excited and it's little fun looking at an empty sling enclosure every day!

Tonight I will switch the heat mat back on make all the last minute checks to the humidity and substrate ready for the spiderling's arrival and generally just check that the enclosure is all as it should be. Here is a better picture of the whole set up than I've previously posted:



Before I sign off ready for tomorrow's big day, here's a picture of my G.rosea sitting on her cork bark, waiting for her new neighbour!


Speaking of cork bark, everyone who needs to provide a shelter for their tarantulas should strongly consider opting for cork bark as a material. Not only is this a natural product which the spiders would, i assume, prefer over an artificial material and it looks great, but it helps to support the threatened cork forests which are an important natural habitat that are fast disappearing due to the decline of cork as a stopper in wine bottles. Give your tarantula a good home and save a bit of the world at the same time - can't be bad! :)

Waiting!

I was hoping to have obtained the new tenant for my currently empty spiderling home, but alas the little fella isn't available yet. It was expected to be the end of last week, but alas it is not to be. Fingers crossed for today.

I definitely want a Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican Fireleg tarantula) so I am happy to be patient to wait for the right spider, there's no point getting a different species just to avoid waiting.

Maybe Arianrhod, my Chilean Rose, knows that a new arrival is imminent. She was doing a little dance on top of her cork bark hide for most of yesterday!

The Set Up.

I was looking forward to getting home from work last night with my new spider gear, what's the point of a hobby if you can't mess about with new stuff?

I started by modifying the sling pot. I took the pot, one of the feeding vials, a pin, a small Phillips head screwdriver and a lighter. I used the pin to create breathing holes in the lid which will also allow moisture to pass through. The holes from the pin are small so I put lots in.

I decided to locate the feeding vial at the edge of the lid to avoid dropping food and water directly in the centre of the spiderling pot, where I plan for the sling to burrow. To do this I heated the end of the Phillips head screwdriver with a lighter for a few seconds and gently made one of the pin holes enlarged with it, to enable the fitting of the feeding vial. I had to repeat this a few times, checking the diameter with the vial until it was large enough to take the vial yet still be a snug fit. Once the correct diameter was determined I found that heating the shaft of the screwdriver and passing it rapidly through the hole would smooth the edges. I fitted the vial and using sharp nail scissors, snipped the end off.

I mixed the vermiculite and peat substrate (about 70/30), heavily moistened it and packed it down firmly in the spiderling pot to about 2/3 of the way up. Using the end of a pen, I created a depression about 15mm deep in the centre of the substrate to serve as the start of a burrow. I then gave the surface a spray of water from a mister.

I fitted the lid and now had a spiderling pot that was ready to go. It was secure, suitably ventilated for water and oxygen exchange and had a system fitted for unobtrusive feeding and watering. The completed sling pot can be seen below:

Here's a shot from above, where you can see the hole in the substrate to encourage burrowing when the spiderling makes it home:

With the sling pot completed, I set it aside and turned to the terrarium. This will serve as a controlled environment around the spiderling's immediate world, and also at a much later stage a new home once he or she has grown large enough. It is not in the best interests of the spiderling to keep them in too big an enclosure, or they will not be able to find their food. In the wild they live in their burrows and wait for food to pass near them, this must be replicated in captivity. I digress...

I fitted a dial thermometer at the rear right hand side of the terrarium. It will be vital for me to monitor the temperature of the spiderlings environment. On the outside of the terrarium and at the rear left hand side I affixed the heat mat. Vermiculite was placed on the terrarium floor to a rough depth of 20mm and heavily misted. The spiderling pot was then placed in front of the heat mat. The picture below shows the set up, its a little dark so I have annotated it:

In this set up the spiderling will have a warm and cool side in the pot, ie: it can move from one side to the other and regulate its own temperature. I can also move the pot closer or further away from the heat mat should I need to. I will be adding drops of water to the substrate in the spiderling pot for humidity and to allow the sling to drink, but can also increase humidity outside of the pot too by misting the vermiculite.

To ensure there were no equipment problems I switched on the heat mat and left it on over night. The picture below shows the whole set up viewed from the front, with condensation forming.

By morning the condensation had evaporated and everything looked perfect. It's all ready for the sling, I've just got to wait for the ideal specimen to be ready now.

A quick note about the bean weevils I'll be using as food. They come as a culture and need to hatch, so if you are thinking of using them - get them well in advance! I will have to get some pinhead crickets so the spiderling can eat when it arrives!

The First Post.

Firstly, thanks for reading this far into my blog - you've made it 12 words in and I'm very grateful for your attention span!

I am currently a dad to a young adult Grammostola rosea (Chilean rose tarantula) who has been with me for 9 months now, and although I'm still a novice I feel I am now ready to raise a spiderling.

I really hope that all manner of people with an interest in spiders will follow me on this journey: novices like me (who can learn along the way with me and swap information) and also more experienced people who can give advice. Both of which I'll be very appreciative of! Even if you are just curious, I hope you find the growing up of my future spiderling as fascinating and rewarding as I hope it will be.

I have spent the last month researching the needs of a spiderling (or "sling" for short, I think I will use these interchangeably from now on) and I highly recommend that anyone else thinking of caring for a sling (see, told you!) do this. Get on a few of the good web forums relating to tarantulas and ask questions, look at web pages which will have care sheets and recommendations, and also get some books. Also, give good thought to which species of tarantula you wish to become a parent to. When considering this latter point, make sure you pay equal attention to its needs as a spiderling and as an adult and that you are happy you can provide for its entire life span and that you have the necessary experience for the given species.

This is what I've been doing up until this point. The research was a valuable process as I feel I've ironed out much of my confusion and have a clear plan ahead of what I'm going to do before getting the sling. Yesterday I ordered the equipment I needed to provide a good home for the little chap (or chapess) and today it arrived. Tonight I will set it up so it is all sorted in advance of getting the baby tarantula. I'd rather sort out any problems without the spiderling being present and potentially suffering.

As I already have substrate at home (I will be using a mix of sustainably sourced peat and vermiculite) I didn't need to order that, also I already have a few tools like forceps etc which you will need if you don't already have them. So today my parcel contained the following:

• a mini terrarium
• spiderling pot (63mm x 48mm)
• 2W heat mat (3in x 3in)
• thermometer
• feeding vials and pipettes

The species of tarantula spiderling I plan to get is Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican flame leg tarantula) - more about that later - but just to mention whilst I'm looking at equipment that this is a terrestrial species (ie it lives on the ground) if you are going for an arboreal species (ie it wants to live in a tree) you will need to get a taller spiderling pot.

So, my set up is going to consist of the moistened substrate filled to two thirds of capacity in the spiderling pot, which will have small air holes punctured in to the lid. A larger hole will be made to insert the feeding vial. The prepared spiderling pot will then be placed within the mini terrarium. The floor of the terrarium will be carpeted with vermiculite which I will mist with water to ensure humidity is maintained and on one of the walls I will affix the heat mat. Note, the heat mat is not placed underneath the sling pot. The thermometer will be placed inside the terrarium near the sling pot, but obviously not immediately adjacent the heat mat.

I'll set all this up tonight, ensuring that it is in a shaded and stable postion that won't be disturbed, and try to get a good photo or two to post up tomorrow. I can then obtain the spiderling and the fun will really begin!

I have also purchased a bean weevil culture, as apparently these little bugs are good food for baby tarantulas - we will see!

Thanks again for reading this first post, I hope it was interesting or useful. Please leave any comments you wish (I could regret saying that!). This is just the first step, and no doubt it will get more entertaining once the sling arrives.