I’ve kept some H. incei slings in the past, but unfortunately they didn’t last very long. I love the coloring, their ability to live communally, and they are GREAT webbers! I decided to get another one a few days ago..it was so cute & tiny, I couldn’t resist! Too bad he hides and I can’t get any better pics of him!!
It’s hot here today, so I figured I should spritz everyone’s enclosures and feed at the same time. I started messing with the outside of the OBT’s container to see what kind of moos it was in, sometimes its scared and scrunches into a corner, and other times it runs around like a miniature orange lightenong bolt. Today, he did this …and just stood there..even though I spritzed a little water on him..he stood like this the entire time..it was cute, yet I was glad to get the pose, instead of the strike!
…and I have no clue what sex it is!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It’s really cute that there’s a tiny blue spot where you look to sex it!
So after all of the horror stories I’ve read about OBT’s escaping during rehousing, or worse..owners getting bitten- I’m proud to say that I moved the little guy out of his old container inti a nice big one where he has plenty of room to roam! He went in peacefully without much resistance, the only thing he did was try to stay in his own container. I pushed him and some of his webbing into the new container and he didn’t even know what happened to him 
So I walked into my office earlier and this is the surprise I found on my desk! The little one hadn’t been eating for a while, nor had I been feeding it very much (trying to see if I can slow the molts/aging by slowing down the feeding), the light feeding didn’t seem to slow down the molts at all.
The colors are now.much darker than before, there isn’t as much purple either, the colors have turned into a dark brown/off white color with the bright yellow under the legs and the belly band much lighter. I still need to try and sex him/her…the organs look like female to me when compared to other people’s sexing pics that I’ve found online ..but I’m the worst at it & I always end up wrong! I may bring this little one to the bug store and ask for help from professionals!
*Note: the very first whole body picture is from before this latest molt. Post molt pic coming soon!
Although I’ve been feeding this male verrrrry sparingly, he molted anyway..it doesn’t seem like there’s any way to slow the maturing process down!
His personality hasn’t changed after this molt either, he’s still very calm & docile..and doesn’t mind being handled at all once you let him know your hand isn’t food!
So, I had been trying to slow down the molting (and growth) of this guy for the past year by feeding sparingly because I was never sure, but always had a suspicion that I had a male on my hands.
Tuns out, I was right!
Last week I noticed he had his ultimate molt and he had some very obvious tibial hooks and some new pedipalps that have little bulbs on the ends now! Personality-wise, this is the most calm & docile I’ve ever seen him. He didn’t even run into his cave when I opened the lid to take pictures, nor did he freak out when I touched his rear leg with my paintbrush!
I’m going to trade him into my LBS (local bug store), and hopefully they’ll mate him with another female and make some babies with him! It would be a shame to just let him pass away without trying to breed him!
Since he won’t be passing away in my care, nor do I know when he first hatched from his egg… I can only guesstimate that he’s going to live for another couple of months, which will make his lifespan approximately 2.5-3 yrs.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog:
Crunchy numbers
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 53 trips to carry that many people.
In 2011, there were 53 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 130 posts. There were 112 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 188mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was November 2nd with 37 views. The most popular post that day was Lunch time for P. regalis.
How did they find you?
The top referring sites in 2011 were:
Some visitors came searching, mostly for xenesthis intermedius, avicularia diversipes, monocentropus balfouri, pokie tarantula, and tumblr high heels.
Where did they come from?
Most visitors came from The United States. Philippines & The United Kingdom were not far behind.
Attractions in 2011
These are the posts that got the most views in 2011. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts in your Site Stats.
- 1 Lunch time for P. regalis 0 comments November 2011
- 2 Tarantula High Heels! 0 comments October 2010
- 3 Hello…I am addicted to tarantulas. (More new additions!) 0 comments February 2011
- 4 First time handling B. smithi & A. geniculata! 0 comments February 2011
- 5 ThinkGeek :: Oven-Baked Tarantula 0 comments October 2010
Some of your most popular posts were written before 2011. Your writing has staying power! Consider writing about those topics again.
Click here to see the complete report.
*** Thank you, to all of your who regularly view my blog, share my posts & leave comments. I really didn’t think my blog was going to make it very far, but it gets a surprising amount of views every single day & that’s really what keeps me going & keeps me blogging & taking pics of my spiders. Thanks everyone!! ***
This little guy ate 1-2 roaches & then stopped eating for over a month..I figured he wasn’t hungry, I was NOT expecting a molt after such little food! He sure is beautiful though!
I never realized how big this guy had gotten until today when he decided to completely stretch out against the side of the container!! I also tried to get a pic of his spider junk in case anyone can make an attempt at sexing…but the pics are blurry because thay area is so dark. I really need to move this guy into a bigger place! He’s gorgeous though!! I can’t wait to get some pics of him from the top because the tan & purple colors are amazing!
I always fail horribly at sexing, no matter how many pics I look at…it’s really sad! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
This is my larger G. pulchra..which is why I’m going to assume it’s a male…and hopefully my other smaller one (from the same sac)..will turn out to be a female of I can ever manage to get pics of her underside!!
It was feeding day today & I guess the P. regalis was finally hungry! He hadn’t eaten in months after the last molt…a roach actually died in his tiny enclosure because he refused to eat for so long. He just kept hiding behind the cork & refused to come out…till today!
His colors are gorgeous..the purple on the carapace, yellow leg bands & pattern on his back are so pretty. Eventually I’m going to move him to a bigger house, hopefully he doesn’t web that one all up because I’d like to take more pictures of him since this site IS called “Social Pokies”…its strange that there are barely any pictures of any pokies at all on here!!
This little guy loves drinking out of his & dipping his toes in when its hot. Also looks like he’s due for a molt soon, judging by the dull looking colors on his abdomen. Such a cute little spider!!
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Halloween Craft - Cute Pom-Pom Spider This cute spider is not scarey at all and ist just made with black yarn, black chenille stems and a couple of wiggly eyes. It can be used to decorate a Halloween buffet table or even as a play pal for the kids. |
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| For more cute Tarantula craft ideas, please visit http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org!! | |||
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Supplies Needed: - 1 skein of black fringe or fuzzy yarn |
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Anatomy of a tarantula (B. smithi)
I can’t believe how the colors have changed on this guy since I first brought him home!! At first, he looked like a mini jack o’ lantern with legs…
(if you want to see baby pics, click the “Categories” tab on the upper right of the main page & scroll down the list & find “Pamphobetus platyomma” & it will show you all the past posts & pics about him!)
Now he’s a bold velvet black color with an iridescent purple-pink color…this is the most beautiful molt so far, and I’m sure its only going to keep getting better!!
He’s not one to be handled (too jumpy & unpredictable for me!), but he does stay very still when I remove his lid & take pictures of him! He molted a couple days ago, so here he is…
And here’s a picture to show you what I mean! I love this guy’s colors, who would think a spider would have such striking colors?! Nature is amazing!!
This guy is probably going to live for 20+ years at the rate he (or she) is going, he barely moves…or if he does, I rarely ever see it, and he moves back into the exact same position he’s been sitting in for the past couple days to trick me! I thought a molt was coming…but I was wrong, he just wasn’t hungry for the past few weeks, but he’s hungry tonight!
Who were they?
Your most commented on post in 2011 was Roaches eating dinner!
These were your 2 most active commenters:
Perhaps you could follow their blog or send them a thank you note?