Nuttin' Honey

I was going to post earlier and got busy and just completely forgot. Now I need to hit the sack so I can get a couple hours sleep before work in the morning{{{{{groan}}}}}.
I will take time tomorrow to continue on Aphonopelma...maybe.

Aphonopelma Flagstaff Orange D.O.A.

Yesterday my wife called me at work to tell me my package had arrived. I was excited like a kid on Christmas morning. I had ordered a new tarantula from dealer in Arizona I'd done business with before. I figured there should be no problems and the 4.5" female was at a really good price. After I came home about four, I grabbed the box cutter and carefully sliced through the tape. Pulled back off layer of styrofoam, peeled back the newspaper and there it was! A 160z plastic tub that you might find at the supermarket full of potato salad, all taped up and nestled in a deep bed of crumpled newspaper. I pulled it out out and pulled off the lid ,removing the cushion of moist paper towels and found.....a tarantula in the classic "death curl", legs all folded and pulled up underneath her. I tried everything but she was a goner. I sent a message to my friend in Phoenix and he is sending me a replacement on Monday for her. He also sent a free P. murinus. These fiesty little burrowing, old world tarantulas are from Africa and Angola and come in several colors, this one a bright orange commonly called OBT, for "orange bitey thing". They can be extremely agressive and defensive and over time will fill their enclosure with clouds of silk. It is only 1 inch in diameter but I dropped him a cricket slightly larger than himself, and he did'nt hesitate to tackle it.

I really hate that the flagstaff did'nt make the trip alive, but sometimes that just happens no matter how cautious you prepare. The murinus will make a great addition and should grow pretty fast. I have a female already that is over 4 inches after last molt. Gorgeous little beasts.

I guess I can wait until next week for my Aphonopelma, I have no choice anyway and just hope the weather warms as its forecast. I am posting up a couple of pics. The one in my hand is the deceased flagstaff and the other is the tiny murinus sling (spiderling). Good thing I just bought more crickets. I housed the little OBT in a small Beta tank with a couple of inches of peat moss and he's already dug in started webbing it up. That puts me at 35 with another 2 coming next week. I also have a velvet black demon from Thailand coming in next week. Haplopelma species, these are even more aggressive that the P. murinus and fast as greased lightning. That should get my heart rate up, transfering it from the shipping box into its new home! I may be blogging about my tarantula attack next week, lol. Back later.

Aphonopelma pics

Here's few more of my Aphonopelma tarantulas. Most are from Arizona and a few locally here from Texas and also Oklahoma. I have previously stated these are mostly docile and not prone to bite but, any of these have the ability to bite and all are venomous. A bite can sometimes be "dry" in which no venom is injected, but even if envenomated the reaction is usually no more severe than a bee sting. However, anyone that has an allergy to bees or wasp can also have a serious reaction to tarantula venom.

Many tarantulas also have urticating hairs. These cover the abdomen of most T's and are used as a defense against predators. These fine hairs are kicked by the back legs and come off in a cloud that can get in the nose, eyes, or mouth of a potential enemy causing burning and inflammation. Exposure of these hairs to human skin can cause extreme itching that last for days and can be uncomfortable.

A few of my pets

Tarantula's as a whole are pretty misunderstood and feared by most people. Most would step on them or grab the can of insecticide at first sight. They are far from being dangerous killers that crawl up in your beds at night or spin huge webs in the garage or the barn in an attempt to capture the family dog or one of your children. They do help eliminate insect pest's such as crickets, grasshopers, beetles, moths but will also take mice, frogs and even snakes as a meal in the wild. They are either terrestrial or arboreal. Terrestrials live in deep or shallow burrows, under logs or at the base of tree. Arboreals live exclusivelyin trees, off the ground. They are kept by a variety of people as interesting, low maintenance pets and most can be safely handled. I do not recommend the practice of picking them up, but I do myself handle almost all of my own. Most are not actually aggressive but can be defensive and will put on a great threat display, raising the front legs and baring fangs. Some of the Asian Haplopelma species and many of the Pterinochilus from Africa will rare up so fast that they will almost fall over backwards. These are not pets for everyone, obviously. The lifespan depending on species can be from 7-8 years up to 20-25years for some. Females are heavier bodied with a greater legspan in almost all species and also live much longer. Most males average to adults in 3-4 years and will usually not survive more than a year or two after the final molt. Most of my tarantula's are females but I have a few males as they were sold unsexed. Females will be more expensive as they are wanted by breeders and collectors (like me) that want a larger tarantula with a longer lifespan. Some adult females such as a Poecilotheria metallica are highly sought and can sell for $250.00 to $400.00 each.
So today I thought I'd put a few pics in a gallery of some of my tarantulas. I'll start off with the Aphonopelma's. These are the type of tarantula's found in the U.S.A. so if you find an actual tarantula whether you are in Arkansas or Arizona, it will be from the Aphonopelma family. They are the ONLY type of tarantula that occur naturally in our country but also are foundin several areas of South and Latin America. Most are from 5-6" at adult size while there are a few dwarf species that are only 2-3" adult size. There are no known species that occur naturally East of the Mississippi river.
One of my favorites is the (Latin name) Aphonopelma seemani. These are known in the pet trade commonly as "striped knee" or "Costa Rican Zebra". These are fairly docile tarantulas but can be skiddish and bolt at the slightest movement. One variety that is a dark blue or black with white vertical stripes on the legs. There is a variety from Nicaragua/Guatemala that is brown with pale tan striping on the legs. They do well kept on mostly dry substrate, I mist about half of the 5 gallon enclosure for mine twice per week. I feed crickets, one or two twice per week for my big female. I use plain peat moss for the substrate, about 6 inches deep and have a few fake plants (she's buried them under peat) and a simple hide for her that is just a black plastic cup turned on its side. She is about 7 years old and is close to 6" in legspan. I'll try to put a pic on here of her if its not too big. Her name is Gypsy and she is one of my favorites. She molts about once a year at her present age. When they are young spiderlings, they can molt every couple of months and as they get older, molt less frequently. Gypsy pictured above.
This is about all for now on my Aphonopelma seemani, I'm going to watch the Steelers/Chargers playoff game right now! I'll post again later today.

1st Post

O.k. so I have been keeping invertebrates for pets for about four years now and thought I'd throw them all into a blog so that even more people might discover how interesting these creepy crawlers are. Hopefully, by posting my experiences with tarantulas and scorpions I can provide information that may help improve the image of these, "deadly bugs".
First of all I am not a trained entomologist. Its just my hobby, (obsession my wife says) and the little that I have learned over the years comes from other fellow invert enthusiast, books and of course, the www.
Right now I am keeping thirty five tarantulas and seventeen scorpions.These range from desert species kept in very low humidity conditions, to tropical species that originate from rain forest and have to be kept at high humidity with deep substrate for them to burrow in. I feed them all mainly a diet of farm raised grey crickets with feedings two times per week. Most also require frequent watering and occasional maintenance of their enclosure. This keeps me on the busy side at least two days per week. If I have a T or scorp in premolt (about to shed their exoskeleton), they require little or no food depending on how close they are to molting. I just have to keep water available. Usually two to three weeks before molting, or in some larger species it can be months, they will go off feed and ignore any feeders placed with them. I will wait a day or two and then remove the crickets if they are not yet taken. You can see that they will actually avoid the feeders which is totally not the norm. Most of the time, a cricket will be grabbed or pounced on within seconds.
The question my friends ask me more than any other is, "What do you DO with them?" This is usually accompanied by a look of disgust or horror. I tell them they are just like fish, display animals. Interesting to watch, different sure, but to me normal is boring.
I guess thats all for now. I'll be posting lots of pics here, so far I have around 420 in my photobucket I've saved. Its getting late so I'm outta here for now.