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Brachypelma emilia eggsac

My emilia laid an eggsac. It's kind of screwed up, though. She laid her web in the corner of her cage where there was moist soil and when she rolled it up into a ball, a lot of damp soil got rolled up with it. Now it's a gigantic ball of webbing, soil and eggs. This was on March 16. I think I'll remove the sac from her on about April 16 or maybe a bit earlier. Hopefully it will still be viable. And uneaten.

Breeding Emilias

I've been trying to breed my emilias, but it doesn't look good. I've put them together about 10 times, but so far no results. And I think the female is going to molt soon.

Flickr Set

Emilia Mating

I just attempted to mate my two emilias once again. I must have tried about 6 or 7 times so far, not sure if any of them were successful. Once, I put the male in with the female and he didn't move for the longest time, so I left them together overnight. In the morning, they were both in the exact same position! I assume no mating took place that night. Another time I put them together and they didn't move for the longest time, so I walked away and did other things. When I came back, the male was climbing the walls, trying to escape. Who knows what happened that time.

Tonight, the male was looking pretty active, pacing around his cage looking for some action. There's the remnants of a sperm web lying on the cage floor, so I assumed he was "cocked and loaded" as it were. I picked him up and dropped him in the corner of the female's cage to see what would happen. Luckily, they were facing each other this time. Another time they weren't quite facing each other and the male's mating attempt was really awkward, I don't think he was successful that time. Anyways, he sat there for awhile and then started to move towards her. After they made contact, they both sat facing each other for awhile. Then she pounced at him, but he blocked her attack in time! It was amazingly fast, no wonder males are so nervous when it comes to mating. He was so excited, he pushed her right on her back. I don't think this resulted in a successful mating and I was a little worried he would bite her while she was in such a vulnerable position. Eventually, he let her get right side up and I thought he would make a run for it. But no, he wasn't finished, he stayed in the game, pushing her back again and stroking her legs to keep her calm. I couldn't really see what was going on down there, but he had her "in position" for a long time and it looked really good. Eventually he did slowly break away and make a run for it. I let him run into my hands and I dropped him back in his cage.

Sorry, no pictures, I just kinda gave it a shot at the spur of the moment. I wasn't even going to try mating her for awhile cause I'm a little scared she's about to molt. But she molted in April '05 and she's about 10+ years old, so she shouldn't be due for a molt for awhile. Her colour does seem a little dull at the moment though. Oh well, I just hope the male can stay alive and "potent" long enough to try again if she does molt.

Male Emilia

I knew one of my tarantulas was a male for the longest time, but it wasn't mature. Until it molted yesterday that is! Yeah, he's finally got his little boxing gloves. Once he makes a sperm web I can try mating him with my female Emilia. Hopefully she won't eat him.

My Cobalt Blue - Out and About

I was feeding my T's last weekend when my Cobalt blue popped out of her hole. She looks healthy, although a little thin from her egg-laying incident.

Cobalt blue eggsac

After not seeing anything of my Haplopelma lividum for the longest time, I noticed something weird in her cage yesterday morning. At first I thought it was a ball of dirt she was excavating from her burrow, but upon closer inspection, I discovered it was an eggsac! Cool, I've never had one of my tarantulas do that before. I've raised this spider from a juvenile and it's gone through a few molts, so this eggsac was definately infertile. I cut it open and I figure it had about 40 or 50 eggs maybe. It was pretty heavy too, the spider must have put a lot of effort into producing the thing. After I removed it from her cage, I saw her come out of her burrow and walk around her cage. She must have wanted her eggsac back! [Ooops, sorry!] Anyway, at least I know that she's a female now and ready for mating if anybody has a male out there.

Brachypelma boehmei

And here's my little Brachypelma boehmei, isn't she pretty? ;)

Emilia Molt

When I woke up this morning, I noticed my female Brachypelma emilia had begun to molt, upright. The last time she molted, she tried to do it upright as well, but I flipped her over to try and make it easier for her. This time, she seemed too far along and I thought flipping her over would do more harm than good. So I let her be and she seemed to do just fine. It went rather quickly and she toppled over to her side once she was out of the old skin.
You might see a dead cricket in some of these pix, I guess she just killed the cricket and didn't eat it before her molt. I took it out of her cage right after the molt to avoid the dreaded mite infestation.

Boehmei eating a Cricket

» Click on thumbnail to download 1.36 MB AVI clip of my Brachypelma boehmei catching a cricket.

Spastic Gimp

I thought I'd take some pictures of my Haplopema sp. tonight, mostly to see if she has a "beard" like the spider in this thread. She has a bit of a fringe, but nothing like the "beards" on the spiders in this thread. And her abdomen seems to have more distinct markings than the Haplopelma in the first thread. I don't know, it does look very similar though. Anyway, I took the lid off her cage and holy shit did she ever freak out! She darted over to one corner, then back the way she came, paused, and darted across the cage again. Yikes, she's a lively one! Eventually she calmed down and I took a few pics. It's funny how she's so dead to the world during the day, but a total spaz at night. I've noticed both her hind legs are a bit gimped though. The last segment seems to bend back the wrong way a lot of the time. Not sure if this is a genetic deformity or maybe she'll molt and come out "normal". Anyway, interesting spider, glad I have her, even if she is a gimp.

Mmm, looking at this page, I would guess it's a Haplopelma sp. "Vietnam" due to its wimpy rear legs and darker colour.

Brachypelma boehmei

Here's my Mexican fireleg. She's almost getting too big for her container!

Haplopelma sp.

Here's my Haplopelma sp. Haven't taken a picture of her for awhile, since she molted. Just thought I'd see how she looks. Not bad, much better than when I first bought her when she looked all rough and beat up.

Brachypelma boehmei

My Mexican fireleg spiderling molted last week. Here's a couple pictures.

Brachypelma boehmei

Here's my little Brachypelma boehmei spiderling. Getting quite the belly, thought she might be getting ready to molt. But I offered her a cricket this morning and she snapped it up, the li'l piggy.

Peruvian Green

My Thrixopelma puriens molted yesterday. And this time I managed to get pictures of it without deleting everything, I'm quite proud. She sat flipped over for a long time before actually begining the process of shedding her skin. When you see that bit of clear skin at the top of her abdomen, you know she's ready to do it.

You can see the skin has split away on her abdomen and the top of her cephalothorax has popped off.

She's almost done here, just a bit more leg to pull out...

Right after the deed, all wet and slimey.

Close-up of her white fang area.

And after all that, she looks like this. Even right after a molt, her butt looks like it has a bald spot. This might be because she's old, I bought her as an adult from a petshop and I have no idea how old she is. I've had her for about 8 years?

And finally, here's a close-up of her carapace. I'm not sure exactly what species she is, I found many, many photos of tarantulas that look very much like her on the internet. But after she molted and I observed this green sheen on her body, I concluded that she was most likely a Peruvian green, Thrixopelma puriens. Her black colour with green highlights fades away to a light brown over time, until she molts again.

Brachypelma emilia molt

Took a look at my Brachypelma emilia yesterday and was shocked to find strips of skin torn off her abdomen! I think what happened was that she was about to molt and tried flicking some hairs for some reason. And ended up flicking off some of her skin! At first I panicked a little as there was a couple drops of liquid on the ground near her, making me think she might be bleeding. But it's usually best to leave them alone whenever possible, so I did. For awhile.

Checking in on her later, I saw her carapace had popped off, but she was still upright! She had laid down a mat of webbing and kind of half rolled onto it, but never made it all the way onto her back. I watched her for awhile, seeing if she could do the molt upright. After watching her struggle for awhile, I decided to roll her over myself to make her molt go a little easier. She could probably have managed the molt upright, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Her molt went well, she shed her old skin completely.

She looks good, like a brand new spider. I was watching her clean herself this morning and her fangs are like this weird pink-red colour. I guess it takes awhile for their fangs to completely darken and turn black. In a couple weeks I'll start feeding her again. And I'm sure my male emilia will mature sometime this year, then I can try breeding them. :D

I just realized why she was flicking hairs just before her molt. From here:
Just prior to ecdysis, the tarantula usually spins a sort of cradle to lie in while removing its skin. Species with urticating hair will line this cradle with the irritating barbs to prevent predators from having easy access to the spider during a very weakened moment. This webbing is embedded with urticating hair.
Doh, of course, I forgot all about that.

Aphonopelma seemanni molted

She molted while I was busy doing my taxes. Looks like she came through the experience just fine though.

Brachypelma boehmei

I heard the local pet shop had some Mexican fireleg spiderlings for sale, so I just had to get one. For $50.00, it was a decent deal. They also had some Avicularia versicolor spiderlings, but they were very small. I didn't want to risk buying one and having it die, like the last one I had did. Plus I couldn't afford it. Maybe next time.

Thrixopelma puriens

Oops, one more. Thrixopelma puriens, and a cricket. Not sure if the cricket survived the photo op. ;)

Male Grammostola grossa

And lastly, here's my male Grammostola grossa. I've had him for a year and a half, and he was an adult when I got him. This is the longest I've had a male T live. He seems healthy. And hairy.

Haplopelma lividum

Here's my Haplopelma lividum. She hasn't eaten any crickets since she's molted, nor has she dug a burrow again. I'm getting a little worried about her!

Male B. emilia

Here's my male Brachypelma emilia. The first picture shows where he was bleeding. The blue spot is where he was bleeding from his leg, the red spot is where he was bleeding from his abdomen. I checked him out today, there is still a bit of liquid beaded up on his abdomen. I hope he survives, I have a hot date for him when he's all grown up!

Female B. emilia

Here's my female Brachypelma emilia. She's looking fat and healthy. :)

Male emilia

I came home today and took a look at my male Brachypelma emilia when I noticed a bit of liquid on his abdomen and leg. I'm so mad, at the stupid spider for hurting himself and at myself for leaving him in a cage that was too tall. He must have fallen and hurt himself. I'm waiting for him to mature so I can try breeding him with my female emilia, so I really don't want him to die. Argh! I switched him to a shallower cage and now I'm just waiting to see if he'll recover. It didn't look too bad, just a couple little droplets. This spider has really pissed me off lately, it has refused to eat any crickets since he's molted a few months ago. While his abdomen is fairly plump for a male, I know it will shrink a lot the next time he molts if he doesn't eat anything. Little bastard.

He reminds me of a male B. smithi I had a few years back. That little bastard refused to eat any crickets and his abdomen was very small after molting into an adult. He only lived for a few months after his final molt. The thing is, I had him in the same kind of tall cage, and I never noticed him hurting himself even tho he was always climbing the sides. I suppose he could have hurt himself and I never noticed.

Haplopelma schmidti

My new tarantula is tentatively identified as a Haplopelma schmidti. He was fairly active running around his cage last night, which makes me think he might be a male. I hope not. Also, looking at my Haplopelma lividum, looks like he might be a male as well. Major suckage, I hope I'm wrong on this. Anyway, here's some pix of the new critter. You can see in the closeup, his front [Leg I?] left leg is deformed on the final segment. Hopefully this will be fixed on his next molt.

Haplopelma minax?

Here's my new spider, it was sold to me as a Haplopelma minax, but I have my doubts. I had a minax a few years ago and it looked nothing like this. The guy at the pet shop said it was about to molt, so maybe I'll have a better idea of what it is after it does.

Baby Blue

My Haplopelma lividum hadn't eaten any crickets for a couple months and I was getting a little worried about her. The crickets I put in her cage last week weren't taken and she never came to the top of her burrow anymore. So I decided to poke the end of a wooden spoon in there, gently, just to make sure she was still alive. There was no reaction, so I tried prying the webbing back a bit to at get a look at her. That's when the whole tunnel collapsed! Now I had to decide whether to dig up her burrow or take the chance of her suffocating in there. I opted to dig her up. Well, I dug her up right after she had molted, apparently. Bad timing. She seemed a little traumatized, of course, but undamaged. At least this gave me an opportunity to have a look at her before she builds another burrow and disappears for another year. She's getting bigger. And looking good.

Cricket Run

Had to get some crickets for my tarantulas today. It's been over two months since I've fed them! While I was in there, the pet shop, they mentioned that they had some tarantulas, so I had to check them out. There was a Gramastola pulcra, I think, that they wanted $250 for. A bit expensive methinks. They also had a giant pinktoe sub-adult for $110 and a regular pinktoe for $30. A Haplopelma minax for $30. A bunch of rosies for $30 each. And last, but not least, they had an immature male Goliath for $175. Guess it would be worth that much to somebody with a mature female. Wow, was it huge though. It was in one of those pet pals and its leg span covered the whole bottom, way bigger than any of the other spiders. Pretty cool.

I might pick up the Haplopelma on the weekend. When I came home, my Cobalt Blue was out at the mouth of her lair, the first time I've seen her in a couple months. It's like she knew I was picking up some crickets for her. :) She looked fine, a bit bigger [she must have molted] but her abdomen was still plump so no worries. I just wonder if she's ever going to renovate her lair. She dug that thing like a year ago when she was much smaller and it doesn't look like she's expanded it very much.

Male Emilia molted

My male Brachypelma emilia molted yesterday while I was at work. He came through fine, which is the most important thing I guess. But I was a little disappointed that he still hasn't matured. No tibial hooks, no little boxing gloves. I'm sure he's a male, the coloration is very different from my female and he matches pictures I've seen of male emilias. Guess I'll just have to wait until next year, I don't think he'll molt again for another full year. He came through with nice bright colours though.

Tarantula Forums

One of my blog entries [from February 14, 2003!] has generated quite a few comments, so I thought I'd direct some of these visitors to a few forums they might want to check out.

First, I'll shamelessly recommend my own forum. Sure it's empty, but hey you have to start somewhere! ;)

Probably the best source for tarantula info on the net is the Arachnopets Forum, Arachnoboards. It's very active with novices and experts alike. People are always posting pictures of their T's so you get to see a good variety of the latest and greatest from this amazing hobby.

Another great forum is Spidertalk.net. It's much smaller than Arachnoboards with less traffic, but it's still worth checking out. If you register, they have a mySpiders utility for keeping track of your tarantulas. Here's mine.

There is also the Petbugs forum. The layout isn't as nice as the first two, but it's ok.

Here's all the tarantula sites on my links page. If you know of any other good tarantula resources, just leave a link in the comments. [html is turned off in the comments, but if you leave a raw url like this: http://www.fungii.com it will display as a link]

Peruvian Green Velvet

This spider molted again this morning. Strange, it's an adult and it just molted six months ago. I just dropped a cricket in there yesterday, so when I saw it molting this morning I had to fish it back out before it nibbled on the helpless tarantula.

Cobalt Blue

Mike's Pets

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Old Skin

Here's her old skin, still moist from her fresh molt.

Back on her feet [all 8 of them]

She flipped herself over very quickly after molting. Fast recovery!

Free

Now completely molted and free of her old skin.

Houdini Spider

And here she's about halfway to getting her legs pulled out of the old skin.

Abdomen Skin

You can see the skin begin to come off her abdomen.

Brachypelma Emilia molt

Here's my Mexican redleg from last weekend, going into her molt.