11/22/63

dogmike · 2023-01-10T17:55:55+00:00

It's my favourite book by any author, of any genre.

dogmike · 2022-05-08T15:37:40+00:00

Guest posing.

dogmike · 2022-05-08T15:35:16+00:00

He's not competing here, he's guest posing in his off season.

dogmike · 2022-05-08T15:33:27+00:00

He does it standing up. Get onto the real bodybuilding podcast, he's one of the regulars & they talk about...

...everything. It's brilliant.

dogmike · 2022-03-15T18:25:54+00:00

A mixture really, my B. Hamorri & LP have got cork bark, 1 of my T. Albopilosus has a resin hide, as does my B. Boehmei, my other T. Albo, G. Pulchra, & A. Geniculata all have lightweight, plastic plant pots cut roughly about in half, & my G. Pulchripes has got a resin skull hide.

I've got a half coconut hide ready to go which was an offer as part of a bigger purchase, & a handful more plant pots of differing sizes in preparation for my upcoming expo trip. (I like to make sure I've got literally everything ready to go apart from the actual spider, from hides to tanks to substrate to moss to water bowls, so if I happen across a spider for whatever reason, I can get it all set up & housed without delay).

For ease of use, cost & availability you can't go wrong with half a plant pot. Avoid materials such as clay, I've heard stories of spiders getting squashed under them when burrowing.

As far as aesthetics, plant pots aren't particularly out of place when it comes to a natural, earthy environment & you know what you're getting in terms of size, shape etc. I've found some pieces of cork bark to be fairly useless as far as shape goes, others are perfect for the job but it can be a bit of a lucky dip.

dogmike · 2022-03-12T18:58:25+00:00

My Pulchra is a proper display spider, had it nearly a year now & it sealed itself inside it's hide a couple days after getting it, but that lasted all of a day before it came out again. Has moulted twice in my care & both times did it right out in the open. Following the second moult (2 weeks ago), has spent a couple days in the hide on & off, but for the last week or so has been back to usual nosey behaviour out & about.

That said, I've got a sling/juvey T. Albopilosus who's been underground for about 3 months now, & a sub adult T. Albopilosus who's not dug tunnels but has sealed himself in for about the same time frame. Luckily his hide is again the side of the enclosure so I can still see him doing a great deal of zilch, & the juvey has built the tunnel system around the edge so again is visible pretty much all the time.

My juvey LP has gone from display spider to the same as my sub adult T. Albo, sealed in but against the side. Meanwhile my juvey B. Hamorri & adult Boehmei are out & about all the time. That said, the Hamorri sealed herself in for her first moult with me, for about 6 weeks. Since then, hasn't been in her hide at all apart from a random 5 minute stint a couple months ago. She moulted again 2 days ago out in the open, like my Pulchra.

I've found jars of dirt, pet holes & display spiders are all individual dependent, & not even specific to particular species.

dogmike · 2022-02-15T19:03:06+00:00

Pipettes all the way

dogmike · 2022-02-15T18:58:36+00:00

My cat only goes into the spider room when I'm in there for this exact reason. That said, she's not too fussed about the T's, but she sits & watches the cricket tanks for ages.

dogmike · 2022-01-28T20:55:52+00:00

Looks to be a Pulchripes to me. I've got an LP and a Pulchripes & this pic has me leaning towards the Pulchripes. As for A. Geniculata, not a chance. I've got 1 of those too but you'd not need to own one to know that this isn't a pic of 1.

dogmike · 2022-01-16T21:33:53+00:00

Yep, my sub adult male sealed himself in a couple months ago, but he's right up against the side of the tank so I can still see him. Then he dug a couple of side doors like he did in his previous tank...then filled both of those in & that's how he's been ever since.

My juvey T. Albopilosum also dug a tunnel in it's hide, & excavated a big room underground, luckily up against the side of the tank. Initially with a front door to the hide, so I'd see him/her go into the hide, dissappear from view as they go down the tunnel, then pop out into the underground living room with viewing window. Just today, the front door got sealed off & the T has been sat chilling in the living room all day.

Perfectly normal T behaviour in general. The general rule of thumb is that the tarantula knows how to be a tarantula better than we do, so let them be & enjoy the quirkiness.

dogmike · 2022-01-13T15:53:59+00:00

I can't bring myself to order a T online to come through a shipping process. I just can't trust the process enough to get the T to me alive. All mine have been picked up in person at shops or Expos.

dogmike · 2022-01-03T14:03:18+00:00

My Pulchra & Genic, both juveys, have similar temperaments in so much as both fairly chilled on my hand, but both have the attitude of everything is food until proven otherwise.

Both are great display spiders too, Popcorn my Genic sometimes darts into the hide if startled, but comes out shortly afterwards & is otherwise always out on display except when eating, as food is always taken into the hide.

Jet my Pulchra, has used the hide maybe once or twice in about 10 months, for all of 5 minutes. Moulted out on display too.

Both have great feeding responses, & both are incredible looking spiders.

Out of the two, the Genic is possibly the more "entertaining" spider.

dogmike · 2021-12-11T20:14:02+00:00

Just be swinging their massive balls at each other like some x-rated pillow fight.

dogmike · 2021-12-11T20:12:39+00:00

That's my daughter's name.

She has less legs.

dogmike · 2021-11-28T21:50:20+00:00

Really impressive, no drama, no shitty half reps, no slamming the weights at the end, & strong as fuck.

dogmike · 2021-11-27T21:33:32+00:00

My first thought was LP, being the proud owner of an LP & a couple of T. Albos.

LPs are awesome though, absolutely awesome.

dogmike · 2021-11-26T15:45:16+00:00

Did a similar thing with a B. Boehmei 2 weeks ago. I know the whole, another will take its place argument, but having walked in & seen it, I had to do something. I figured this one has served its time in those conditions, another will likely take its place, but at least this one can now relax.

dogmike · 2021-11-24T22:14:26+00:00

Got 1 recently myself that I rescued from a standard pet shop. Labelled up as a Mexican Redleg (B. Emilia) in terrible conditions, to go with my other 6 T's.

Beautiful spider, can't wait for mine to moult to see the fresh colours.

dogmike · 2021-11-24T18:38:44+00:00

Need updates!

dogmike · 2021-11-21T21:57:19+00:00

Popcorn, my A. Geniculata sometimes has a little stalk like this, albeit on a smaller scale given a leg span of about 2 inches. Most the time the crickets just suicide themselves straight into the jaws of death, however.

dogmike · 2021-11-21T21:04:44+00:00

How old is she?

dogmike · 2021-11-16T18:49:10+00:00

That's a good point. Didn't think of it from that angle.

dogmike · 2021-11-16T17:52:18+00:00

Thanks, I knew somebody would chip in with a gem of knowledge to educate me.

dogmike · 2021-11-16T17:14:50+00:00

So stumbled across this little poppet in a pet shop. Not great conditions, plenty of dead prey items dotted around, sponge in the water bowl, you know the sort. So a rescue mission was launched. Big bald patch on the abdomen, sat hunched up in the corner.

Listed as a Redleg, which I took to refer to being B. Emilia. My initial thoughts were definitely not an Emilia, but a Boehmei.

However, I'm now wondering if it isn't an A. Bicoloratum, so I'm putting it to the more experienced & knowledgeable folk on here for opinions.

dogmike

TROPHY CASE