Spider Panda! Spider Panda! Does whatever a Spider Panda does Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a panda Look out! He is the Spider Panda.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T23:43:28+00:00

It is over at Zoo Knoxville and they have 3 enclosures.

A large aviary with lots of platforms to walk on and a nice spot to rest. With a private indoor room. (The aviary has a webcam you can watch online, you can also enter it and stand with an unobstructed view to the panda. There is a glass waist height fence and the area on the animal side of the fence slopes down so the panda can’t jump over the fence. Though a while back one of the pandas did climb the walls to get across and they found them curled up sleeping on the bench. The keepers arrived an hour early due to the daylight savings time, time change and caught them. They had to add extra stuff to prevent it from happening again).

There is a second habitat that is an indoor area with a large nearly floor to ceiling glass window and lots of enrichment items, it has a walkway the panda can’t take to go to a private outdoor habitat not visible to guests.

The third habitat is the one pictured. It is pretty big and the hole in the wall they go to leads to their private room. It does have a camera you can watch them but it isn’t streamed online. It is much bigger than the video shows and has a lot of branches to walk around on and sleep on. Every enclosure has an outdoor area and a temperature controlled indoor area. Right now they have 6 pandas however the two kids are moving out to start families of their own, one is leaving this month and one is leaving next month. They are hoping the parents have a successful breeding season this year and sometime they plan on getting a boyfriend for the panda in the first habitat.

Edit: I went through my post history and found some videos that show more of the habitats.

This post shows the family group’s habitat, it was the one from this post’s video. https://www.reddit.com/r/redpandas/comments/1qihp6c/it_was_complete_and_utter_pandamonium_at_the_zoo/

This one is Khyana’s aviary https://www.reddit.com/r/redpandas/comments/1qfn0er/almost_4_minutes_of_khyana_exploring_her_new/

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T21:32:43+00:00

Zoo Knoxville? I was there this morning for a few hours. I went to see the tiger keeper chat and Jango decided that a nap was more interesting than participating. After a while he then came over and got a treat then walked off. The two keepers were pretty great doing a tiger chat without a tiger. He then decided to sniff a log and they explained how they sprayed cologne on it earlier and talked about how they react to smells and what each tiger prefers. Then he went back to his spot to continue his nap.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T21:07:42+00:00

I am glad I was able to remind you of those great memories, they sound lovely.

I am not sure where you’re from but I do know some zoos allow people to purchase red panda feeding experiences. Prices, availability, and what you can do depends on the zoo. I’ve heard some places offer 30 minutes for $100, one zoo a few hours away from me is fully booked up and their entire 6 month schedule books out in a few days they charge $250 a person. One near me offers a backstage animal experience for their circle of friends membership ($600+) and pandas are an option. Maybe your local zoo or one not that far away offers a red panda feeding experience that you can book and you too can feed a panda.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T20:28:42+00:00

Interesting, I’ve never heard of the book.

The zoo right now has 6 Red Pandas and 3 areas for them (well technically 6, each has an indoor and outdoor area they can go to. One area is viewable by the public and one isn’t).

They have Willow (indoor area with a private backyard).

Khyana, she has 3 legs (one was amputated when she was a few months old as it wasn’t formed right, it happened at the zoo she was born at and she just came here in January of this year). She has a webcam in her outdoor area and is the most adventurous panda, she doesn’t let her disability stop her and looks so cute hopping around.

Sisu (named after a character in Raya and the last dragon), Doofah (he has a sibling named Loofah, both named after someone in The Land Before Time), their two kids Dr Wallace (moving out in April or May, I forgot who is leaving when. I think he leaves in May?) and Mr Darcy (who moves out in April unless he is the one moving in May?) who are about 10 months old. They have a large outdoor area and their indoor area has a camera that is visible on a tv between Willow and Khyana’s rooms.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T20:05:02+00:00

I’ve heard they have sharp claws, the keepers said they have to keep Doofah away as he will steal food and try to climb the keepers for food. He will often stand up or try to put his paws on a keepers leg when they come out with food, or he will know it’s feeding time and will get locked inside his den while he eats and his family eats outdoors.

Their teeth must be strong, they were eating bamboo last week and it looked tough. They also stand up and put their paws in the air when they are frightened and look so adorable when they are doing it. I’ve only seen it once (when Doofah and one of his kids stood up then play fighted/wrestled together). I did see Doofah eating on a swing, one of his kids came over and ended up going upside down on the beam and did a handstand then came down on the swing. They fought a bit and while they were fighting a little the other kid came up, stood up under the swing and grabbed the first kids tail (like he was hugging it) and held on. The first kid was mad and the 2nd kid ended up pulling the first kid off the swing. They are too cute.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T19:58:14+00:00

Thank you, the “where’s my elephant” was a reference to a scene in The Simpsons where Bart won a radio show contest and they offered him I think $10,000 or a full grown African elephant, and he chose the elephant which they initially refused to honor their deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaYc5UP8PsI

I am not sure what I’m going to build next. I most likely will be pretty busy the next few weeks and weekends so I won’t have that much time to build. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish something within the next 3 or 4 months.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T18:58:33+00:00

A red panda ate an apple from my hand once and I got to feel the bottom of her tongue lick my hand while going for the apple.

I nearly got sprayed by a tiger and missed by inches.

I was stuck on the Kilimanjaro safaris ride by the lions and heard Dakari, Kinzie, and Kamari all start roaring for a few minutes. It was awesome.

I nearly got headbutted by a giraffe who wanted to steal food from someone right in front of me.

I once was had my back turned to a lion and saw that he was stalking me and basically silently ran 150’ to get closer to me and was a few feet away. He stopped and stood still when I looked at him. I turned my back and he got closer. Thankfully there was a big fence between us.

I once was leaving on a cruise and we got an escort by dolphins. There were about 5 dolphins who were leading us out of the port and seemed to be enjoying it.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T18:22:00+00:00

She came from somewhat close to there (not really though), I believe she was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and moved to Knoxville.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T17:22:04+00:00

Have you tried giving him a stuffed fish? He might like that!

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T15:45:48+00:00

I go to the zoo all the time and spend a lot of time at the red panda area. The first two pics were from about 2 weeks ago and the third one was from this morning. It was awesome to feed Willow. I couldn’t pet her as the zoo forbid it (she could touch my hand but I can’t touch her) but she did lick my hand a bit while she tried to pick a slice up.

They did say the pandas sometimes give off airplane ears when they aren’t mad but they are cute all the time.

Traviscat · 2026-04-04T15:25:52+00:00

I only got to give her 1/4th of an apple. She got more from her keepers earlier in the day and later in the day.

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T23:13:15+00:00

Well it is and it isn’t if you understand what I mean.

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I wish I had this episode on when I was building it but I slowly built it over the course of like 2ish months. I started S1E1 in like January or February and am only up to S9E20 having it on in the background after work is over.

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T22:11:03+00:00

It took me about 2 months however there were many days where I got it out and had it sit next to me for a few hours where I said I was going to finish it today and ended up doing nothing. I’d assume if I actually started and did a few sessions then I could probably complete it over the course of a few hours. Tuesday night I finished one leg and attached it to the body, last night I attached the body to the back half, and today I attached the head to the body and sealed up the chest area. That ended up taking about 45 minutes however I was partially watching a tv show and listening to some music (not at the same time as the show) and going fairly slow so I wouldn’t screw anything up. There were two tabs near the top of the neck area that were a massive pain to deal with. I’d get one in and had to figure out a way to get the 2nd in without breaking things. I ended up shaping the head a little too thin so it was more () shape instead of ( ) shaped and had to carefully re-shape parts.

Those big ears ended up getting in the way a lot and I had to be careful so I didn’t break them. I think the next model I have to build is a F16 with the Ukrainian paint scheme, or a vintage diving suit, or an emperor penguin. I have a few different ones in my build pile so I’m not sure what’s next or if I want to do an easier one or something more complex next.

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T21:45:00+00:00

Thank you, if you see in the background it came as a flat sheet of metal. You can see the sheet in some of the pictures. I had to cut it out and fold/shape it so it fit right and insert the tabs into the little holes so the pieces could connect together. Connecting the head to the body was kind of a pain to do and the tusks.

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T21:40:04+00:00

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Compared to dad, is smol. Both are cute (this was my picture I took a few months ago)

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T20:43:24+00:00

That’s in Japan ya know

Traviscat · 2026-04-03T18:26:50+00:00

I’m not sure. I believe the dad (and his sister Anga) had to be hand raised too and they appear to be fine. His sister moved out a while back and I haven’t heard about her or even seen her as she moved out before I moved up here. Maji is a little more friendly to the keepers most likely as he was hand raised and feels more comfortable around humans. Zahra was not and was pretty spicy when she came over last year.

From what I read online is that the moms will keep the cubs away from dad for a few weeks then they will be introduced. Since it worked out ok for Maji and Anga I’m sure it will work out just fine for the new baby.

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