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.

"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.

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! :)

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.