Day 3 - Crazy Spiderling

Decided to give the C. fasciatum a cricket last night and he was on it in an instant! He looked a bit hungry. Today he has been burrowing a bit, and we looked just now and he is head first into a burrow that was started a bit for him.

On the other hand, the B. smithi managed to, somehow, move over to the other side of his seperator last night! Couldn't work out how he'd done it! But never the less he looks fine, and seems to be preparing for moult as there is some sign of webbing and is staying in one spot. We also decided to make their substrate a little dryer, by adding some dry substrate. The humidity levels were a bit too high, as measured with a hygrometer in an equally substrated empty pot.

Day 2

Later in the day yesterday, I decided to move the B. smithi into another tub, so I could open the lid easily and monitor it's feeding easily. The tub is a bit big, so it has a splitter down the middle. I'm also wiping off the condensation that appears on the lid, just so it isn't too himid.

The C. fasciatum is in the film canester, and was quick to pounce on a cricket yesterday. This spider is generally being quite relaxed, but has been ambling about. The Red Knee is not interested in food at all, I gave him a cricket again this morning but removed it after 15 mins because he simply wasn't interested, the cricket went up to him about 5 times and the spider was like "Nah I'm cool, not hungry" So it's probably going to moult, he has the tale tale dark patch on his abdomen!

The Arrival

Upon deciding to raise spiderlings, we finally decided which species to go for. Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red Knee - a popular and classic tarantula) and the beautiful Cyclosternum fasciatum (Costa Rican Tiger Rump) was our final choice. We ordered them from www.thespidershop.co.uk, and they came in a well packed box in wee boxes with a single use heat mat at the other side of the box to keep them from freezing overnight.

10.30am saw us receive this package!

We had prepared the living containers the night before, two empty film pots and two small boxes, pushed in air holes, and provided some substrate. Probably one of the most nerve wracking experiences of my life was transfering the first spiderling to the film container. It was all warm and cosy in it's wee travelling pot! So here they are, little spiderlings:



To give you a rough idea, the tissue used was a damp piece of toilet paper. The Red Knee, is about 1cm, but the Tiger Rump is not even half of that, so incredibly small and delicate! The Tiger Rump is very happy in the film pot, and has even had a pinhead cricket for tea. The Red Knee, we suspect to moult soon as it was not bothered about food and has a dark patch on it's abdomen! :D


Mexican Red Knee - above
Costa Rican Tiger Rump - below

They are both doing great and are probably looking forward to a nice rest after travelling (!)