Beautiful Tarantula

Most people would never refer to any spider as beautiful, but I really think my big boy deserves such a word. He's got such lovely colours, he really is pretty. My male Pamphobeteus sp. platyomma molted a few days ago, and I've just been waiting until I could get a good shot of him post-molt before showing you all the photos. I feel oddly proud, like a mother I suppose. The first photo is of him pre-molt on his back, preparing.



There you have it, a metallic purple-pink spider bigger than your hand. My handsome lad! It's taken four years for him to reach maturity, and he started off the size of a quarter. I'm a little sad that the darling turned out male since that really shortens their lifespan. Females can live up to twenty years, but this fellow only has a year or two left to go. I am definitely going to cry when he dies. I hope at least some of you can appreciate these photos. Cheers!

New Arachnids

Some of you may be aware of my large collection of pets, but today I've made two new additions to my little zoo. I already have 8 tarantulas, but most of them are either adults or in the late stages of being a juvenile. It's been a long time since I've had little baby T's around. So today - with a lucky opportunity to have them dropped off for free from Tarantula Canada - I got two slings, baby tarantulas.

The top one is a Hapalopus sp. Colombia large aka Pumpkin patch tarantula. The bottom one is a Cyriocosmus elegans aka Trinidad dwarf tarantula. They're both less than 1/4" in size right now, but they'll grow to several inches in size. I'm so very happy to have these little ones under my care, they'll grow into beautiful adults. I hope you're all having a good weekend. Cheers!

Gratuitous Tarantulas

I think the title is enough of a warning there! My tarantulas are a lot like my children. I know that's a stretch, but I've raised some of them from the size of my pinky fingernail to the size of my palm and they're still growing. You get attached with the effort and care that involves.

One of my largest tarantulas has recently molted - discarding its exoskeleton to grow larger - and has developed more of his mature colours. He's just absolutely gorgeous and I have to share. Hopefully someone out there enjoys these next photos and I don't frighten anyone off! I'll keep them smaller in the post, but they're available in large format on my Flickr so click away if you're brave!

The first purple-pink one is Pumpkin, the large one that recently molted. There's a clear ruler on the outside of his tank on the left, and his upper left foot is near the 5" mark, the give you an idea of his size. The other little fellow - he's only about 2" in leg span - is Dmitry. I just love his copper colour.

Up top is Thor, my very first tarantula. The black thing is a pop bottle cap, and when I first got him, he was small enough to fit inside it completely and have room to spare. He's also going to grow very large, but is of a more slow-growing species and it'll be another 4-6 years before Thor is as large as Pumpkin. Next is Houdini (because he magically makes his food disappear) standing over a blue pop bottle cap. Tarantulas don't weave webs but they do produce silk, and as you can see, they can make a lot of it.

Hard as it may be to believe, I croon over these things like people croon over babies. I actually call them that half-jokingly; my tarantula babies. They just fill me with awe and wonder and curiosity. I could watch them for hours, they're such fascinating creatures. Anyway, if you got this far, yay! Thanks for tagging along with the crazy Spider Lady. Cheers!