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.
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.
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