# My Tarantula Collection Log.



## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Nov. 7 /2012
Here's some pics of my tarantula enclosure setup, I basically took my old 10.5"x7"x6" critter keeper and stacked three 350ml salad tubs in it. Added some dried java moss in the bottom corners of the critter keeper for aesthetic purposes.




























Nov. 8 /2012
Here's some pics I took, on Nov. 8 /2012 (my birthday) when I first received my tarantula slings. TarantulaCanada is the best place to get Ts here in Canada! Premium service at it's best, they're located in Quebec and they ship internationally. They also gave me a free newly hatched Brazilian giant blonde, along with my original order.

My Costa Rican tiger rump (C. fasciatum) - 3/4".









My Chaco gold knee (G. pulchripes) - 1/2".









My Brazilian giant blonde (N. tripepii) - 1/4". Hairiest little tarantula hatchling I've ever seen lol. It's got more had hair than my other two older slings.









Nov. 10 /2012
Updated pics of my T condo, added Exo Terra plantation soil (3.6qt/4L bag version) Finer grains of dried coco husk, the Ts seem to like it as they all burrowed. Can't see them any more lol, just openings in the sub with webbing around it.

Full tank shot









Condo close up









Half burrowed Tiger rump sling (C.fasciatum)









Brazilian giant blonde sling (N.tripepii), blending in with the coco fibers quite well









Nov. 17 /2012
Happen to get a few updated pics for you guys, of my 3/4" Costa Rican tiger rump sling and 1/2" Chaco gold knee sling.

My Costa Rican tiger rump sling getting ready to ambush a cricket, stuck in it's webbing.









My Costa Rican tiger rump sling, tearing into the cricket after successfully ambushing it. The attack was fast, quick as a blink.









My Chaco gold knee sling, dragging the cricket it just killed, into it's tunnel to feast upon it.









Nov. 19 /2012
Here's a couple of pics of my slings drinking from the DIY water dishes I made for them. They're too small for a entire bottle cap, so I cut the interior of the cap out and use them as mini/sling water dishes (refer to pic #3, for size of the DIY sling water dishes). The first day I put them in, the Ts just crawled up to them and started drinking like it was second nature lol.

Chaco gold knee drinking from dish









Costa Rican rump drinking dish









DIY sling water dish made from interior of water bottle cap. Note the size, smaller than a thumb tack.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Nov. 26 /2012
Here's the morning after photos of what my tarantula slings look like after they have drank their bellies full. I apologize for the foggy pics, misted their containers earlier in the morning when these were taken, but you can still see how fat they got.

Costa Rican tiger rump, fat as hell lol. It's abdomen is double the size of it's carapace, length and width wise.









Chaco gold knee









Dec. 28 /2012
On Christmas morning I woke up and discovered, that my C.fasciatum sling had molted. The sling use to measure 3/4", but now measures 1.1". The size difference is pretty noticeable, as you can see in the pics below. The sling's overall body thickness has doubled and so have the thickness of it's leg segments.
When I first received the sling, it looked more like spider, but now after the molt it's getting that sub-adult T look. In pic # 4 you can see my freshly molted sling beside it's molt, comparing the growth. Pic# 5 is just the molt itself, pic # 6 shows the entrance of it's burrow, where it spent the majority of one week prior to it's Christmas morning molt. I'll be getting a larger container for this sling after it's next molt. Enjoy guys.
































































Jan. 12 /2013
Just a quick update guys, been pretty busy with my new college program. Here just two pics, of my C.fasciatum and G.pulchripes.

C.fasciatum sling 1.1", feasting on a large feeder cricket. 









G.pulchripes sling, just molted 2 days ago. Now 3/4" and finally showing some color development in it's legs.









Jan. 22 /2013
Small update, my G.pulchripes has finally hardend after it's molt. Has a orange hue to it now and the hairs of it's abdomen are red. Most likely from gut loading the crickets with carrots lol. Enjoy.




























Feb. 25 /2013
Finally got another update for you guys, here's my G.pulchripes again. He just molted an hour ago, sucks that I couldn't catch on camera though.

In the 3 pics below, you can see that he's beginning to get his adult colours. His carapace has finally turned black. Just need to wait 1 week, to see him how much he's going to grow, after he hardens.




























His molted exuvium, even though it is just his molt, those fangs still look pretty formidable lol.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

This is pretty awesome! Thanks for the pics...it makes me want one now LOL!


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Bringing it back from the dead I see? I agree, nice spiders.

I wouldn't keep them, but I do enjoy looking at them


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Man! I didnt see this before, your spiders are beautiful!

My husband hates spiders so much so I can't keep them :/ I secretly adore our jumping spiders in the apt. >.>


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Ciddian said:


> Man! I didnt see this before, your spiders are beautiful!
> 
> My husband hates spiders so much so I can't keep them :/ I secretly adore our jumping spiders in the apt. >.>


So do my friends, they think it's cool to keep a tarantula, but they think I'm insane for actually doing it LOL.
The last time I had friends and family over who wanted to check my tarantulas out, they stayed 10 feet away from me while I brought my tarantulas out to show them.
I scared a friend who slept over my house before, after a party. She had a few to many, so I let her stay the night. I eventually came up with a hilarious idea at that time, while my she was sleeping.
I took one of my old tarantula's molts and glued it back closed, so it looked like a live tarantula and placed it on the pillow my friend using. In the morning I woke up early, hid behind the couch and gentle tickled my friend's nose with a paint brush. Slowly she started to wake up and when she finally saw the tarantula molt in front of her face, she flipped out and screamed like she was in a horror movie, while jumping off the couch and flying through the air. Much like a cat does, when it gets startled. I basically dropped on the ground laughing so hard that my stomach started hurting, while she was smacking the crud out of my with the pillow LOL.
I did eventually apologize, because the prank made her cry. She doesn't sleep over anymore now even if she's drunk haha.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Keep an eye out for Tuesday guys, I'll be receiving a new T


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Just a heads up for anyone interested in getting a few Ts, scorps, trapdoor spiders, centipedes or whip tail scorpions. Tarantula Canada just got in a lot of new stock and re-stocked on some old favorites. TarantulaCanada ships Internationally.

Here's some deals on the main page, which include 5 scorpions for $40, 5 T slings for $25 or 5 slings special mix for $50.

http://tarantulacanada.ca/news.php

Here's a link to their entire stock list, if it's posted on the list it's in stock.

http://tarantulacanada.ca/price.php


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

WOOOW! Those spiders really look good! Too bad I can't keep one, mom will just kill it lol. Do you regularly held your spiders to your hand? What if they bite you?


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

brapbrapboom said:


> WOOOW! Those spiders really look good! Too bad I can't keep one, mom will just kill it lol. Do you regularly held your spiders to your hand? What if they bite you?


Once in a while, mainly when I'm cleaning their enclosures. I handle all my Ts except, for my Costa Rican tiger rump. Lately he's been getting very aggressive and merciless, often killing his food by tearing their limbs off. Really sad for the feeder crickets by even more so that I can no longer handle him.
I actually did get bitten by my Costa Rican tiger rump a week back. I'm lucky he's still just 1.25" juvie, so the venom wasn't potent enough to send me to the ER. The bite did swell a small portion of my palm and cause a blister though. Here are the pics below, taken that day when I got tagged by my Costa rican tiger rump. I would compare the bite to similar to a minor bee sting. When they reach the adult size of 8", I hear the pain can be slightly worse than a bumble bee sting.


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## cape (Jun 18, 2010)

Great pics, just wondering are all Ts are venomous? If So,when they get older you can not handle them?


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

cape said:


> Great pics, just wondering are all Ts are venomous? If So,when they get older you can not handle them?


Yes all arachnids are venomous, but with tarantulas the potency varies. Generally new world Ts have less potent venom than old world Ts. New worlds are genrally your hairy looking Ts.
Although there has never been a report case of a fetal bite from a T, some people do develop strong allergic reactions to their bites or hair and end up in the ER. 
Handling Ts is possible, but Ts are best left alone. They can become accustomed to being handled, but they're more comfortable being left to do their own thing. Especially with fast moving Ts.


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## cape (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks for all the awesome info.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Alright guys, got a small update. Due to the still going on winter weather here, CanadaPost has been delaying deliveries. So I'll actually have my new T shipped to me next Tuesday. I'll keep you guys updated.


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## irminia (Dec 10, 2011)

Nice T collection! I'm very passionate about them myself and have been keeping them for years. Raised many species to adults from the sizes yours are at now. I love everything about them, from their morphology to their evolutionary lineage. They're amazing in captivity too, with most species' requirements being very general, and their minimal spacial requirements allowing you to keep a huge variety of them. I posted a part of my collection in the other thread http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41822&page=2


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Been a while, since I last visited here, much to do with work, school related stuff and the storm 2 days ago. We I actually have a few updates:

1. My female Phidippus.audax (Bold/Daring jumping spider) laid her first clutch of eggs last week and they have developed into tiny spiderlings yesterday morning. I'll post pics soon.

2. My Cyclosternum.fasciatum (Costa Rican tiger rump) tarantula sling just molted yesterday afternoon. Now measuring a little over 2", will get some pics as soon as possible. 

3. I'm getting a Pterinochilus.murinus (orange baboon tarantula) sling some time next week. These guys are also commonly called the "OBT"/Orange bitey thing, as this tarantula has the tendency to bite VERY often, because of it's very defensive nature. The venom from this species is quite potent aswell, as with all old world Ts, due to the lack of ultricating hairs for defense. It's advised to seek immediate medical attention, if ever bitten as with all T bites. Though the venom won't kill you (unless you have a rare allergic reaction) the bite has been described to be more painful than a rattlesnake's or equally as painful as slowly driving a white hot 3" nail through your hand.
Really is a double edged sword with this species, extremely beautiful tarantula, but lethal at the same time.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Here are some pics of my tiger rump's molt from yesterday.

Over view
http://imageshack.us/a/img15/376/rlg9.jpg

Underside exposing the fangs
http://imageshack.us/a/img189/9102/6d2n.jpg

Molts from November 2012 up to now, missing one molt, it decomposed due to humidity.
http://imageshack.us/a/img841/1871/0oza.jpg


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