[Closed] Pokies 🙂

Thread of the day.

My wife would leave me or more likely me and the spiders would be homeless.

How many eyes does it have? If they escape do you panic? Would it eat a budgie or canary?

Another roper classic. You should be contracted to do one of these a week.

They also look after each other and will work together finding food.

This was my favourite bit.

Whereas my girlfriend sends me to do the shopping each week.

LOL.
They have eight eyes and I would have to catch any escapees. They can eat small birds and would probably kill a cat. Their venom is potent but not too complex so no one has ever reportedly died by one (which is true for all tarantulas).
I do keep these locked up though as they are quite fast and are pretty defensive so will bite.

What do you feed them?

What do you feed them?

roadies?

very cool, if not a little scary.

and would probably kill a cat.

You couldn't lend us one for an afternoon could you? 😉

"When mature they can be easily sexed"

Whatever floats your boat!

OMG I'm actually queasy looking at those pictures. 20cm? And quick? And bite? This is worse than the video of the blokes climbing the tower!

thanks roper. i love your spidey-threads.

how many creatures do you have?

I'm pleased some of you like them. 🙂

I have about 60ish spiders, scorpions and centipedes all together with a few breeding pairs so hopefully more slings in pipe line. They are not all mature so some are very small and in small containers.

I also breed crickets which is their main diet, but they will eat meal worms, cockroaches, moths and flies too just to give them a balanced diet (I think that was the idave diet if memory serves?). In the wild they will eat birds, lizards or some species fish and frogs or even mice and rats, but that's going a bit far for me.

Possible stupid questions, but how does a spider catch a lizard? I would have thought the lizard would outrun the spider, no? Is it by subterfuge or all out attack by a group? How does their particular venom work? Is it only smaller spideys that have complex venom?

As far as I know, tarantula venom is quite pure, does not have complex proteins, so as humans we just get the effects of the venom, which would be cramps, fever etcetera. The problems can occur to us when our immune systems start to fight foreign proteins from venom. Other insects like bee venom can kill people as there are complex proteins which the body tries to reject, which can cause the allergic reaction. There is research into tarantula venom and how our immune systems are ok with it to replace medical treatments which can be harsh such as some of those used in treating cancers.

They can catch faster animals like lizards by either camouflage, or stealth. Fast tarantulas are very quick at striking, some sp like these can do multiple times. As they bite down they also wrestle their prey with their legs. Regalis can corner prey which could be interpreted as hunting, as they don't eat each other and it seems to help, but I have also seen one watching over another while it moults, which is a very vulnerable time for them.

Out of coincidence I've been reading this too..

[url] http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/39/34976/tarantula-venom-could-help-muscular-dystrophy-pain-and-more.html [/url]

The novel peptide from tarantula venom, labeled GsMTx4, is the only agent known to block specifically pores in cell membranes called mechanosensitive ion channels. "These are the transducers that turn mechanical stress into cellular signals," said Sachs. "They are familiar to us as the sensors for hearing and touch. However, they also have been implicated in biological functions as diverse as muscle coordination, blood pressure and volume regulation.

"....Stretch-sensitive channels probably are involved in many normal tissue functions that involve changes in mechanical stress, such as bladder filling, heart and circulatory-system responses to changes in blood pressure, and fluid balance," he said. "They also are involved in pathologies such as cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, the elevated calcium levels in muscular dystrophy and the growth of brain tumors."....

Roper - are the centipedes venomous. We were staying in a house in spain and kept seeing them in the lounge, think they got in through a gap in the door. I didn't sleep very well after that...

This one skippy?
[img] ?t=1292063635[/img]

They are [i]Scolopendra cingulata[/i] they are venomous but nothing worse than a bee sting, unless you have an allergy to it. Some Scolopendra sp are quite dangerous to humans but non in Europe.

Lol, I love spideys but I'm not too keen on the 'pedes. 😳

Sorry Roper that really gives me the creeps and brings back the bad memories, yes it was like that and moved quite fast as well.

Stunning spiders Pete and I'm so jealous you have a colony of them. I'm just setting my P Ornata's new home up and I'll email you some pics when it's done. I've a long way go to catch your 60 up but I'm on 11 so who knows hehe
As for being venomous it's always best knowing what you buy
[IMG] [/IMG]

Great post Roper, I always enjoy these threads but a 20 cm spider, not round here thanks. 😆

Pete, just waiting to hear off a guy with a juvenile Metallica - I might have missed out though but he's a local lad to me so if he's worried about posting it I may, just may be in luck. It's going cheapish too 😉

'Orange Bitey Thing'

😆

Excellent.

Top thread once again Roper. And new spidey drawings?

Nice one hadge, I would love to see some photos. Have you been ableto sex it yet?
Good luck with the P.metalica too, for those that don't know they are quite sort after in the hobby. They are stunning too and look like this.

[img] [/img]
( not my photo or spider)
If you get one look for posts by Danhalan on spider forums. He has bread them and very informed about them.

No new spider drawings at the moment Fred, but do have a few I need to photograph.

A spider called Metallica? \m/(>.<)\m/

My B. Smithi shed yesterday he/she's starting to look pretty cool!

I haven't been able to determine the sex of the Ornata as it well and truly crumpled the skin so I will wait for the next one. It's still a juvenile as it's made a burrow at the base of the corkbark. It's nearly 4 inch leg span but they are sooooooooo long lol. I'll defo check up on the info you've just said if I get the Metallica.

Nice one Adam - the Smithi's are stunning spiders and my female is getting ready to shed again.

used to hate spiders as a kid and learned to deal with them by killing every one I saw - now I really like them and like to handle them... once kept a big house spider in a jar and fed it crumbs until my mate liberated it...
... but a 20cm spider would scare the crap out of me, I think I'd have to put a bell round it's neck so I knew if it was coming, and some sort of exploding collar/ implant with a remote detonator so if it escaped I could save the human race with the touch of a button
they do look very cool though roper, and I love the faux-tree you've got them living in

Brakes, you take them for what they are. Some are exceptionally docile and will calmly walk over you and don't mind being handled but I still like to just look and rarely touch. My C Rosea and my Red Knee are fine but they can still flick hairs which irritate your skin. I'd never handle a New World Tarantula as they have venom that can do some damage and cause serious problems so I'm always very careful when cleaning their homes etc. My kids have grown up with them and so they've no worries at all and they've no fear wih snakes either. I guess even when I was a very young kid, I never had any fear with spiders but as for centipede's - no - they really do get to me, especially those bloody huge 12" long ones!

wow really interesting! i am a complete wimp when it comes to seeing big spiders in the flesh let alone handling them, but they are fascinating creatures. i bet people ask you constant questions about spiders in the pub?!!

gives me an idea for some elaborate revenge - i am currently being done in the ass by a claims lawyer!! 🙂

(just kidding, or rather, fantasising)

Very interesting! 😀

I've got one of these as well
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5251049919_7cacb9aef2.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5251049919_7cacb9aef2.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajsheldrick/5251049919/ ]IMG_3067[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ajsheldrick/ ]aj.sheldrick[/url], on Flickr

You can't just say "got one of these" hehe. You've got to say what it is - I would have said - er guessed at H Lividum but doesn't seem blue enough. Looks friendly haha

Stunning pictures, a prof at Uni was a spider nut he really got into the lectures about them, he was a bit mad though.

I really like the spider threads because the spider geeks are so passionate about them.

Are camel spiders as bad ass as I have read?

Haha yeah H Lividum. I think its a Male as they're a bit greyer.

Spider geek - I love it. They are fascinating things and there's loads to choose from and they are relatively cheap and easy to look after. Here's one of my favs - My Chaco Gold Knee
[IMG] [/IMG]

Love the Lividum too - one on my "to buy list" haha

OOOOH Great photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lovely chaco Hadge, how big is she?
I am a bit of a fan of Haplopelma too. I have a small H.albostriatum sling so I've not seen more than a few legs for 5 months 🙂

Here's one of my favourites, [i]Chilobrachys sp Aladdin[/i]
sling
[img] ?t=1292085844[/img]

and a MM
[img] ?t=1292085451[/img]

and here building a sperm web
[img] ?t=1292085536[/img]

How many do you have Adam_85? Have you been able to sex the smithi yet? (I know, I keep asking that 😆 )

Pigface,

I'm not sure about camel spiders. I don't think they are spiders but more of a sub species. THey do not survive well captive but I think their bark is worse than their bite.

These on the other hand
[img] [/img]

are [i]Sicarius terrosus[/i] ( also known as 6 eyed spiders)and cover themselves with sand so you can't see them. I would love to find one in the wild but you would have to be very, careful as I've been told they can kill humans.

what's a sling?

sorry about that,
it's a spiderling (baby)
😳

Spiderling = S(pider)LING
The Chaco is just over 3 inch leg span so plenty of growing yet. It's a male though as I've taken a pic and had someone sex it for me.

Only got three at the moment the smithi which is only about an inch and a half, a little b.boehmei and the lividum who mostly lives down there hole but comes up most evenings to say hello.
I've not looked at horaces shed skin properly to try and sex him?

I would like to get some pokies now though 8) I had no idea you could keep them together.

Yes Pokies "can" be kept together but not always. I don't know if you use any forum sites but I use RFUK and Arachnophiles UK and you can get some very good advice - especially the latter one. I too have a Boehemi - called "Flick" as you can guess why - flicks it's hairs when it sees a shadow lol.
If you needed or wanted the Red Knee sexing, save the moult and upload some pictures on those sites. Someone will tell you no probs.

I am geeky enough to use a USB microscope to sex my spiders 🙂
[img] [/img]

You can pick them up cheap enough and they work well. Failing that a jewelers loupe does the job and you can get them under £5.

As far as pokies living together, they do very well as long as you are careful about how much room you give them. In the wild they live happily together if there is not that much space or too many hides. If they establish individual territories they will fight. If you encourage them to stay together and expand their territory as they grow, they tend to stay together. Where as most T's can go some time without food, and it might be quite good for them, I do make sure these have enough food.

Ok, the whole shedding/moulting thing. How the **** does it do this. And why? I can picture a snake slithering out of its skin like a sock, but I can't quite work out how the spideys do it?

These threads are fantastic. In fact, can we have a 'Friday Spidey' thread, to replace the sadly missed 'Friday Kylie' threads?

I want to see some pedelings now please.

What makes a 'good' spider? Is it the way they look? Intrigued.

More spider nurding from me then 🙂

Here is a clip of a tarantula moulting.

deadlydarcy,
you have probably seen a moult but thought it was a dead dried out spider. They are identical to what they were before, just a little bigger or more cleaner and colourful.

All inverts do it, it's how they get bigger. Most spiders moult their eyes, fangs, sex organs (see I'm at it again) and can use this time to re-grow a missing limbs or replace any urticating hairs they may have shead. The actual process can take some time, but they grow a soft exoskeleton under the hard outer. When it is time to moult, they will normally lay on their back and slowly climb out of the head area and push away with the new legs. As the inner exoskeleton is exposed to the air it will harden. If there are any problems during the "climb out" they can get stuck half in the old moult and the new moult hardens. If it's just a leg which is trapped they can chew themselves free and regrow it during the next moult. If more of them get stuck or their (book)lungs, they will probably die.

If they are free and waiting for their new outer to harden, they are very vulnerable. As all of the exoskeleton is soft their fangs, eyes, legs et cetera will be soft and very prone to damage or deformity. The [i]P.regalis[/i] I posted above are more unique as one will probably look after another while it is going through the moulting phase.

If you ever see a spider on it's back , normally on some sort of webbed hammock, they must be left alone, as they are probably moulting. Spiders don't die on their backs they tend toi go into the......."Death Curl". Slings will moult on a nearly weekly basis but an adult female like a B.smithi could be every year to two years.
Once a male has moulted to become a mature male, he will not moult any more and will eventually die.

Elfinsafety, maybe you should consider one? They take up very little space, don't make a noise, look after themselves and need feeding once or twice a week. I or other who have posted could recommend a good starter species. They can be inexpensive but if you found it wasn't for you, someone would buy it from you.

What makes a 'good' spider? Is it the way they look? Intrigued.

God knows.
I've always been interested in bugs but spiders are my favourites. If you get their set up right, you get a little window into a quite unique creature in the wild. Tarantulas are very good at looking after themselves so it you get the conditions right they will behave pretty much as they would in their native environment. They are an immense sp as far as evolution goes, some live in freezing condition, or in water, up mountains, underground, in deserts, beaches, up trees and most other places. Some hunt, hide, use disguise, webs traps and all sorts of tools. Some sp have hardly evolved since the dinosaurs and are pretty much living fossils. Their taxonomy and biology are quite unique too.
I like tarantulas but also like funnels webs, trapdoors and most "normal" or "true" spiders. If I see one I've not seen before, I tend to look after it for a while, to observe, and learn from.
As spiders never really travel very fair they are also very vulnerable to environmental changes. (Africa's largest sp was killed off during one battle in the 2nd world war.)
New sp are being discovered all of the time. The Chilobrachys sp Aladdin I posted is still not a fully recognised spider. It was only discovered a few years ago in Thailand and one of the two people who discovered them sent me the ones I have. Any observation could be unseen and helpful in understanding them. Being a bit of a geek I find this quite exciting. There are just under 1000 know sp of tarantulas but a conservative estimate is over 2000 different sp could exist. Times that by other sp of spiders and there are lots to discover, learn from and hopefully protect.

They are quite addictive though and evidently produce ramblings from arachno-fans. Apologies to anyone who may have fallen asleep, I'm sure my wife can sympathise 🙂