Feeder: Dubia

I started with a colony of Dubia with 15 pairs of adults 30 juveniles and 70 nymphs.

Juvenilies & Nymphs

Adult male has the wings and the female don't have wings. 

Brachypelma Boehmei (Mexican Fire Leg)

May 21, 2013
Today I got a pair of B.Boehmei, according to the seller, they are siblings. One of them just molted I found the old exoskeleton in the container.

Width: 2.25cm
Feeding: I havent fed them yet.

I'll call this B1

This one will be called B2

May 22, 2013

I've fed one of my B.Boehmei, B2, today. The other one is on post molt that's why I haven't given him anything yet. At first, the spider run away from the roach that I tossed in, but after a few minutes, this is what I found:

May 23, 2013

Both of the Boehmei was fed with a small lat. 

June 4, 2013 - Molt

B1 molted, now, it's showing the fire leg. After the molt it's almost an inch when measuring diagonal leg span. 

Brachypelma Albopilosum

May 18, 2013
This is the smallest spider I got, I got this from another online dealer. To feed it, I need to cut a roach into half and put it in the container. Then after few hours, I didn't see any changes to the roach but what I saw is a bigger abdomen of the spider. This spider keeps itself under the substrate. It only come out when it's hungry, I seldom see it in the surface, it keeps on burrowing to the deep. I don't want to keep my attention to this little one. I just make sure that I keep it moist and offer food once in a while. Hopefully it will molt faster because it's still small.

Width: 1cm
Feeding: It eats very small. You have to give a pre-killed prey.
Behavior: Walks quick, maybe because it's still small. It burrows a lot.

I have to dig her burrow just to get this shot.

May 21, 2013

After a couple of day burrowing in the substrate, my B.Albo finally molted. This morning I found the exoskeleton in the surface. Then I dug him up to take a picture. It's not that big difference in his size yet, maybe because it just molted. I'll try to take another picture after 2-3 days. For now, I just sprayed some water in the container for moisture, I think he needs that. 

This is the exoskeleton I found 

May 23, 2013 

Still under its burrow, no movement at all, I can see it from the bottom of container. Like the B.Vagans, I'll wait for it to come out to the surface before I feed it. It's still on a post-molt so probably it's still recovering and trying to get the fangs stronger. 

Brachypelma Vagans

May 18, 2013
I got this B.Vagans together with the C.Darlingi. It was a package deal from the dealer for only 500 pesos.  It's 1 inch when I got it. I tried to touch it but it's not that sensitive it won't react that much when I touched the tip of its legs unlike my other T's. I'm assuming that it's sick, I don't know.  Then when I feed it the first time. It was actually aggressive to the prey. It grabs the prey right after a few seconds of circling the container. Right now I still put the spider in its original container. The transparent KFC gravy container. This spider is a good eater, it already ate 2 small lats. One of the reason I want to get a bigger T is that it can kill a prey, you don't have to give them a pre-killed prey.

Width: 1 inch
Behavior: Docile, doesn't react too much when touched.
Feeding: 2 lats in a row, eats the prey alive.

May 23, 2013

The B.Vagans is still a little bit sluggish today. I haven't given it some food yet, I know he won't eat it anyway. It's still under its burrow, I'll wait for it to come out and wander at the surface before I give it something to eat. Hopefully it's in a pre-molt. I'm very excited to see the adult color of this spiderling. 

June 1, 2013 - Molt
This morning I saw the B.Vagans together with the old exoskeleton. I knew that it just molted because some part of the exoskeleton was still in the abdomen. Looking at the third picture, the red abdomen is noticeable, the red rump. However, It still looks like a spiderling to me.

Ceratogyrus Darlingi

May 18, 2013

I got the spider from an online seller. This is my first old world tarantula. I got it at 1.5 inch, in adult color, inside a clear KFC gravy container. The substrate was wrapped in a like a ball. This spider is a fantastic web maker. I tried to transfer it to a small tank but it was fast and it got out very quickly that I have to catch it again with a plastic container. This spider runs very fast. After few hours, It already made its burrow in the new tank. 

Width: About 1 inch

Behavior: Very aggressive, nervous and fast.

Feeding: Will eat the prey before it drops down to the ground from the tweezers. Fed 2 small lats in the first day.

Later this afternoon, I gave it another roach. This time I think it's already full. It doesn't mind the cockroach at all. I think I'll just feed them after few days. 

May 21, 2013

 

By now, you can see a lot of web inside the tank, she also created a burrow, a little hole beneath the substrate supported by the web. This is where she stays all the time. When she went out and wander around,  I assumed that she's hungry, that's why I threw in a little roach. And she snatched it right from my tweezers. She looks very hungry, next feeding time is on friday, together with the other slings.

May 23, 2013

Fed with a super worm today but the spider didn't grab it from the tweezers as it usually does. But ate the super worm after few minutes. Sorry no pictures, she brought the worm inside her burrow. 

June 1, 2013 - Molt
Today, my C.Darlingi molted. I found the exoskeleton inside a spin of web. I noticed that the horn is more visible compared before where it was kind of like a flat black spot. Now, it's more visible.

You can see the horn more visibly in this picture. 

Tarantula Journal

Hi I recently got my new set of tarantulas and decided to put this journal on for sharing information and also to seek advice and tips. What I got is a 1.5 in Ceratogyrus Darlingi (Rear Horned Baboon), a 1 inch Brachypelma Vagans (Mexican Red Rump) that's still have a sling color and a 1cm Brachypelma Albopilosum (Curly Hair) which is very small. I got them from a dealer online. Then on monday I'll be getting a couple of .75 inc Brachypelma Boehmi (Mexican Fire Leg). This is my second attempt to get a tarantula as a pet. My first was a Gramostola Pulchripes (Chaco golden knee) a couple of years ago but it already died.

In this blog, I'll be describing each of the spiders based on my experience. I'll be writing a weekly update on how they were fed, their eating habits, their condition, their appearance and behavior. I'll try to post as much pictures and videos as possible. Each of my blog post will start on day 1 no matter how large the spider is when I got it.


As a starter, I got a video of my Ceratogyrus Darlingi. Enjoy!