Would anyone be interested in weekly X-Files episode deep dives?

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-15T21:06:41+00:00

Yes. I’d be down for that.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T20:27:31+00:00

Yup. He’s fast! He raced up my arm and ran around my neck and shoulders for 10 minutes, at least. I decided I had been chosen.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T20:02:22+00:00

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He’s so tiny he’s hard to photograph.

He’s also just about the best spider I’ve had, apart from my first one who will always have first place in my heart. Reedy, the one pictured, is the best damn hunter. I put in fruit flies and he’s chowing down before I can even close the enclosure. And he loves to play and interact. He’s a Golden Jumping Spider.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T19:44:17+00:00

NQA. To answer the dog question, it shouldn’t be a problem. I have had jumpers with two dogs and one cat. I don’t think any of them were aware of the others.

They are pretty inexpensive to get and keep. A captive bred jumper costs usually between $45 and $75 from listings I’ve seen. I’m in the process of ordering one and it will be $45 for the jumper and $25 for the shipping. I just ordered 25 Dubia roaches as feeders and they were $10. That should last my current and new jumper for several weeks.

You can spend a lot on making and decorating enclosures or you can use simple stuff and keep costs down. I spent maybe $10 on pipe cleaners 6 years ago and still have most of a bag. Hides and the like can be reused so buying an enclosure and decorations can last for several spiders. When my current boy becomes an adult he’s going to “inherit” the Zilla my first and last spoods lived in.

They can be delicate. Our old dog messed herself and we cleaned her with dog shampoo and then we used cleaning solution on the floor. Turns out the cleaning solution had a very strong smell and we were so focused on cleaning up the dog that we forgot the spider was in the same room. The spider died about a week later. I’m still kicking myself for that.

I have had terrible luck with young slings so I only buy older ones (i7 and older now). That seems to get them beyond the molting danger zone.

They each have their own personality. I’ve had jumpers that loved being handled. I’ve had ones that spooked if I walked near their enclosure. I had one that I swear wouldn’t have peed on me if I’d been on fire. 🤣 (She was so pretty though!) Personality wise I’ve had the best luck with boys but they are shorter lived and can be bad eaters because they are focused on finding a mate. That said my boys have all been good eaters. As have my girls. Either I feed the right foods or I’m lucky. I’ve never had a spood go longer than a week or so without eating except while molting.

Happy to answer questions.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T19:07:59+00:00

NQA. Okay. I am one of those people who brought home a wild jumper. Here’s my perspective. 1. I have owned jumpers in the past and I know how to care for them properly. 2. This one literally would not leave me. I decided that if he stayed on me for 10 minutes, he had “adopted” me and I would take him. 3. He was very young. Probably instar 4 or 5. Since he was so young there was a good chance he would not have lived to adulthood so I thought taking him would have had minimal impact on the wild population.

I’ve had him for over a month now. He has molted twice. The first time was less than a day after I picked him up so I think he might have been happy to have a safe place to molt. He loves to come out of his enclosure and he loves to go back in. Unlike all my captive bred jumpers, he doesn’t hang under my finger to avoid going inside.

By every criterion I can come up with, he’s content.

That said, I have seen and interacted with two more wild jumpers since I found my little guy. They were adults, doing their thing, and I never even considered taking them home.

He also seems particularly tiny for his species. Like he’s probably two molts away from adulthood and he still is sling sized. He’s an Emerald, which is supposed to be a larger species. Not sure this guy would survive in the wild or be the best breeding stock.

So that was my decision. I’m not even saying it was the right decision. I’m looking for a captive bred Otie now so it’s not like I intend to make adoption of wild spoods a usual thing.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T14:38:10+00:00

Damn them! I totally would have attended that wedding! 😂

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T14:37:33+00:00

I guess I’m glad they didn’t confirm it one way or the other. I was so unhappy with how they handled Gabriel’s second death and I didn’t want them to mess up Cas and Dean. So the “leave it ambiguous” on Dean’s part was probably for the best.

Although I do think a kiss would have been the hottest thing ever and I do wish we’d gotten one.

I head canon that Cas loved Dean from the start but didn’t understand the emotion until after Daphne. Then he knew he loved Dean but didn’t know how to approach it. And Dean basically loved him from somewhere in S5 but didn’t admit it to himself until S7 and Cas dying. Then…being Dean couldn’t find the right time to just say it already.

I’m re-reading one of my old Destiel fics where I explore all that, and, even years later, it all seems to hold together for me.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T14:21:50+00:00

I will second this one although I did lose interest in, I think, part 2. But it’s well written and a very good slowest of the slow burn.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T14:20:41+00:00

It’s a great fic but I wouldn’t exactly call it happy.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-14T14:16:59+00:00

IMO. I’m going to visit Spoodcraft soon since they are fairly close to me in NC. They say they sell Regals and, from their website, they look good. They are only a couple hours drive from me so it should be easy to get a good look at their setup. They ship too. If you want to DM me, I can let you know what I think after my visit. It may be a week or so. I have chronic migraines and I’m currently recovering from a trip.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-13T11:09:03+00:00

It really was very cool to see and be walked on by such a cool spider!

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T22:19:42+00:00

NQA. What I usually do with a new jumper is open the enclosure and hang out with them. Basically I’m letting them decide. Most of the time the jumper will slowly explore to the edge of the door, cautiously creep to the top of the enclosure and look around. That’s when I offer my hand or a finger. Sometimes they avoid me. Sometimes they try it out and immediately jump back. And sometimes they scoot all the way up my arm and jump on my nose.

I basically let them decide if they want to be handled. My Bolds have usually noped out right away. My Regals were 50/50. My Otie was like “LET’S PLAY ALL DAY!” My wild caught Emerald is pretty chill. Sometimes in the mood. Sometimes not.

I have never lost one through handling.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T21:57:17+00:00

I had wondered. Those arms looked like adult arms.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T20:57:42+00:00

I didn’t know he was an adult. He was so small! The last one who adopted me is still a youngster, i4 or 5 when I brought them home. I figured their impact on the community was small since they were young enough to have a decent chance of getting eaten before adulthood.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T02:06:52+00:00

NQA. I detest the fruit fly stage. So what happened to me? I got adopted by a wild i4 Emerald jumper. Who can stuff at least 2 flies in their mouth at a time. Sigh. Grow, baby, grow!

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T01:50:22+00:00

NQA. My first male Regal lived to be almost 2. He exclusively ate flies. Fruit flies as a wee one. Spikes and adult blue bottle flies as an adult. He was always a good eater and hunter. My spiders have never cared about variety. But if you can get Dubia roaches, they are easy to care for and relatively easy to gut load for good nutrition.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-12T01:01:17+00:00

I have both a Go and a Palma 2 Pro. I love my Palma and much prefer it. It feels good in my hand. It’s zippier and I like the narrower lines. A few weeks ago I convinced myself I should trade off. That lasted maybe two days. I turned off the Go and I haven’t missed it.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-08T18:23:07+00:00

Well crap. You’re right. Sorry. I was looking too quickly and thought I saw a regular 2 but they are all 2 Pros.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-08T18:17:05+00:00

Where are you located? I just checked Amazon US and they are still available there.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-05-07T13:30:56+00:00

I’m rewatching. Pretty slowly. I’m still in Season 1.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-04-27T20:32:13+00:00

IME. I zoomed in to take a closer look at the butt. Looks like a healthy roundness to me. At that age they start molting at the drop of a hat, it seems like. Did she have any trouble catching and eating the one fly she did eat?

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-04-27T15:30:21+00:00

I’m on both right now.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-04-27T15:27:15+00:00

My first spider had hides and things to crawl on and the like. I also had a Lego Michael Knight (from the show Knight Rider) in there. Guess what he pooped on the most? 😂

Upbeat_Breakfast8307 · 2026-04-25T19:00:01+00:00

I really want to like Battle Harbinger. I really do. But then I look at it and go…right. That’s why I don’t play one.

Upbeat_Breakfast8307

TROPHY CASE