I'm getting a B-Day gift from the kids!!

[prism_wolf]

My daughter and I were looking through Botar by Eights (http://www.botarby8s.com) last week because she plans on getting a tarantula sometime after the baby is born. As we were checking things out I had mentioned how the A. versicolor was at the top of my list right now and eventually planned on getting one. She couldn't help herself from telling me after she got confirmation from the seller yesterday and the s'ling should arrive this next Wed. or Tues.

Plenty of time to get a critter keeper ready. I'm SO excited!

[Quig]

Eeewwww, spiders :o

[MrsWTownsend]

NO WAY!!!!! That's totally frickin' cool!!!!!

Oh~ I'm going to have to be jealous now... :D

[c1rc4]

Eeewwww, spiders :o


Exactly what I was thinking..

[prism_wolf]

NO WAY!!!!! That's totally frickin' cool!!!!!

Oh~ I'm going to have to be jealous now... :D


I KNOW!! WAY COOL!! The spider itself is pretty inexpensive. She said it's the shipping that gets high, but he really packs his babies with every intention of it getting there alive.

[MrsWTownsend]

You can always offset the cost of shipping by getting more than one item... ;)

[prism_wolf]

Don't temp... :nono:

[MrsWTownsend]

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/evillaughter.gif

[zoocrew]

What is the commen name of it?
My sister used to have a mexican redleg and a rosehair (or something like that)

[MrsWTownsend]

What is the commen name of it?
My sister used to have a mexican redleg and a rosehair (or something like that)


Antilles Pinktoe T. :)

Freaking stunning species. I think Stone's got one posted in Inverts somewhere...

[MrsWTownsend]

:drool:
This is my Avicularia versicolor (Antilles Pinktoe Tarantula) I loved watching this one go through all of those color changings with each molt. Just got more and more beautiful with each one. Here is the final result.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/StoneBrandon/100_0678-1.jpg

:drool:

[prism_wolf]

THAT would be the one ladies!! ;D

[zoocrew]

wow, for a spider, that is very attractive. ;)

[prism_wolf]

I pick it up this afternoon from my daughters house... ;D. The s'ling is supposed to be there about 3:00. I hope he placed a good heat pack in there. We had our last hard freeze last night. My flower beds are covered with sheets and pillow cases right now.

[MrsWTownsend]

I hope all goes well picking up your little s'ling~ I'm extremely jealous of you V, you lucky girl!

Wait a minute~ when is your birthday? I didn't see it on the birthday thing...

[prism_wolf]

It's not until next week.

Wait a minute~ when is your birthday? I didn't see it on the birthday thing...


Next week... ;D

I picked the s'ling up yesterday and immediately realized the large critter keeper was way too big. This thing was delivered double-packed in a pill-bottle sized vial and it's about the size of my thumbnail. Pics to come. I already have some, but I didn't get them off the camera last night. It's fast...but not as fast as I thought it would be. It was feeling the air with it's little arms. VERY cute and it already has a lot of the rainbow colors on it's carapace you see in larger specimens.

[prism_wolf]

Absolutely PRECIOUS!

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3757/aversicolorthumbxl9.jpg

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/3924/aversicolorupsidedownjy9.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6199/aversicolorcomparisonul6.jpg

[Quig]

HE'S SO TINY :o Id be afraid he'd get squished or somethin;

Quig

[c1rc4]

spider! ahh!..I generally like fuzzy things, but that thing is just..uck! :o

[Stone]

How in the heck did I miss this thread?

Congrats on your new addition Veronica ;D Definitely a beauty ;D I can post pics of what I keep arboreal species s'lings in if you would like?

[MrsWTownsend]

NO FREAKING WAY!!!!!

Oh~ look how itty bitty it is! What would you have done if it had run off your finger?

Holy crap I am so jealous of you!!!!!

It's so perfect!

[prism_wolf]

How in the heck did I miss this thread?

Congrats on your new addition Veronica ;D Definitely a beauty ;D I can post pics of what I keep arboreal species s'lings in if you would like?


Please do!! Right now it's in a small critter keeper with a couple of small fish tank plants and it's taken residence up in one of them. That won't last long though.


Oh~ look how itty bitty it is! What would you have done if it had run off your finger?

Holy crap I am so jealous of you!!!!!

It's so perfect!


It's speedy...but it's not so fast that I couldn't get a hand in front of it's path. It is perfect isn't it... ;D

[prism_wolf]

It already went through it's first molt!! The 2 baby crix are gone...so it must go out and hunt. And it DOES look bigger already. These guys must grow fast... :o

[zoocrew]

Wow, he is soooo tiny!
Of course he now looks more like a spider and therefore is more icky to me..........lol.
When they get bigger they are more cool to look at b/c to me they don't look so spidery. ::)

[MrsWTownsend]

Geez~ that was fast! Do you have it all set up in a nice little spice bottle now?

It would be cool to take pictures of all of it's markings/phases between now and adulthood. I think it changes through several different patterns before the final adult colors... I think I read that somewhere!

Stone, Rosenkrieger or anybody else who's kept A. versicolor: Can you confirm or deny this?

[prism_wolf]

Everything I've read days the same thing. This molt still has baby markings. Believe you me!! I will be taking pictures of the different phases!

I haven't done the spice bottle yet. As long as I see crix disappearing I may not. I WILL use it for future reference though!

[kasifaith]

not sure how I misssed this but congrats on the baby. hes soo cute.. I love that hes blue! Im not really a big spider kinda gal but that is soooo sweet. are they hard to take care of?

[prism_wolf]

They're not hard if you do your research. Some are from more arid conditions while some are pretty tropical and humid, some are burrowers and some are terrestrial...but once you know how you need to keep it...then they're pretty easy.

[kasifaith]

For some odd reason I am fasinated by that little guy.. and Im freaked out by most all bugs.. exspecially spiders.. but I love him.. hes sooo cute and at first I thought that was a quarter and then I realized that it was a dime and that made me go AWWWWWWWWWww even more.. Jade (my oldest) saw the pics and said "oh mommy look at candy spider how cute" paige said "A BUG!!!!!!! :thumbsdown:"

[prism_wolf]

LOL...that's cute. The T will, of course, be much larger as an adult...but at this stage you can watch it grow and get accustomed to the size in stages. Ts are measured diagonally in a relaxed position which is with legs kind of stretched as the body lays on the ground. From front toe to diagonal back toe it will measure about 6". If you look in my gallery there's another photo of the curly hair tarantula I have had for several years being held by my youngest girls best friend. That is about how big this one should get.

[Quig]

OK, dumb question number fortyleven.........Why are they measured diagonally?

Quig
curious in Michigan

[prism_wolf]

I have no idea. It's one of those things that didn't make sense to me either and when I asked years ago about it I never got an answer. Maybe one of our other arachnid experts could shed some light.

[kasifaith]

Ok I looked at your gallery and that spider freaked me out.. looks like something straight out of aracnaphobia... AHHHHH! for some reason a blue spider isnt as scary.. do they bite? are they poisonus like in the movie? I want a blue spider... lol, but not if it can kill me or the kids.

[MrsWTownsend]

I read through my whole book "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" (Stanley A. Schultz & Margueritte J. Schultz) again and I didn't find JACK in there about the official way to measure a tarantula!

My own guess is that it's a median area (across being smallest, front to back being largest) but that's absolutely speculation on my part!

[prism_wolf]

are they poisonus like in the movie? I want a blue spider... lol, but not if it can kill me or the kids.


They're not poisonous...well...some maybe...but they are venemous. Big difference. Some Ts are deadly venemous, some - most sold in the common pet trade - are only mildly. If you're allergic to bees/wasps...you maybe allergic to the venom of a T. The big difference is the delivery. Bees/wasps have one pointy stinger...Ts have two fangs. There are some really gorgeous tarantulas in the world...and I want several! Take a look through this website and see what you think:
Botar by Eights (http://www.botarby8s.com)

This is a family run business and they're so good about answering any questions you might have. The real deadly Ts have warnings in the bio.

[kasifaith]

thanks. I will check it out right now..

[MrsWTownsend]

Tee hee hee~ Oh Veronica http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/musicplaying.gif

Though it's not ENTIRELY your fault you have fueled my spider envy to the point of no return so I'm still blaming it on you when my husband finds out (which will be upon delivery). You won't mind, will you V? http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/whistling.gif
I'm getting a male pillimede for my girls, so to offset shipping I'm getting something else too~

0.0.1 Cyriopagopus sp. (Singapore Blue~ I'm calling it a Singapore S'ling) 2" <---- http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/cutespider.gif
0.0.1 Otostigmus sp. (Tanzanian Neon Blue Leg Centipede) 3-4" <---- freaking cool looking

I've always wanted a cobalt but this one gets like 9"!!!!!!! ;D It makes me giddy just thinking about it!

[prism_wolf]

LMFAO!!!!

Oh Gina!! I'm several hundred miles away...you can blame me all you want although I know you've been talking about expanding your collection already... ;D.

I AM glad I could offer that extra push off the cliff...http://www.mazeguy.net/sports/parachute.gif

[MrsWTownsend]

I'M JUST KIDDING!!!

In the real world you make the bed that you lie in but you have to agree that it's an exellent angle!!! http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/wiggleyeyebrows.gif

In the real world I just try to be extra cute when I tell him what I'm up to... ::) It works (almost) EVERY TIME! http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/bigcheesygrin.gif

[snakewrangler]

whoah, AWESOME. Spiders are not really my thing, and I've never owned one, but wow, that is beautiful.

[prism_wolf]

It is SO pretty Seth. Especially when the lights hit just right. It's iridescence is stunning. And boy is thing thing fast! I had it out again last night and it can really move!


I'm getting a male pillimede for my girls, so to offset shipping I'm getting something else too~

0.0.1 Cyriopagopus sp. (Singapore Blue~ I'm calling it a Singapore S'ling) 2" <---- http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/MrsWTownsend/smilies/cutespider.gif
0.0.1 Otostigmus sp. (Tanzanian Neon Blue Leg Centipede) 3-4" <---- freaking cool looking


So????? Have you received them yet? I'm sure you would have said, but it's been DAYS now!

[kasifaith]

I know Im a bit late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY Veronica... I know it was yesterday... sorry Im a little slow on the uptake here.. hope you had a great day. :D

[prism_wolf]

I know Im a bit late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY Veronica... I know it was yesterday... sorry Im a little slow on the uptake here.. hope you had a great day. :D


Thanks Kasi! It was great! I couldn't ask for better. Had my kid from VA here, the grandbaby by the other kids, and time to spend with both. I've been on vacation all week and the timing for everyone couldn't have been better. ;D

[kasifaith]

YAY! thats great.. Im glad everything was so good for you.. :)

[MrsWTownsend]

Well I'm WAY late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY VERONICA!!!!!!

I'm really glad you had a good one!

No, I don't have them yet... they were supposed to get shipped Thursday but something came up on the shipping end and he wasn't able to get them out SO next week some time. That's fine... I'll just wait...

I bet Thelma and Louise will be happy to see their new boyfriend! If I'm able to recognise millipede porn I'll post some (strictly for educational purposes, of course); seems like it'll be obvious unless they go under the substrate. ;D

[c1rc4]

..damn I fell behind. Happy belated birthday! ;D

[prism_wolf]

Well...an update. *sigh*

After much emailing and assurances...I was over the death of my precious little one. This T had died for no apparent reason. After talking to a couple of people I was told it happens to s'lings...a lot. Can't help but feeling bad...but I couldn't possibly let this death go by and not have a back-up plan for my daughter's sake. She was devastated when she found out. I had to come up with something fast - so I told her I tried to get in touch with Botar - but the business was sold and purchased by Ken the Bug Guy. He was very nice and answered lots of questions. I told my daughter he was going to honor a replacement T. Sometimes you have to travel in a gray area. Yes...he was going to honor a replacement...I just had to pay for it, but daughter doesn't need to know that part... ::)

So my second attempt at keeping one of these jewels. I have it in something smaller...the spice container that Stone had showed was what I modeled my little Ts new home out of. Here's hoping this time around works.

[MrsWTownsend]

I'm sorry V. This one will be better... :) I have a book on tarantula keeping called "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" by Stanley A. Shultz and Marguerite J. Schultz which has helped me out in the past

ALTHOUGH

if it makes you feel any better I relocated my Singapore into the smallest size critter keeper, premolt (I'm pretty sure), and it had a horrible molt because of it. It's missing 2 legs and had partial shed stuck on the end of another leg that it had to soak off in it's water dish... poor guy.