BABIES

[Sparky]

Well...baby tarantulas. Don't click if you don't like spidey pics.

Went to the reptile show in Sacramento today; that's where I got my first tarantula, a Tucson Blond, last year. I got my second t a few weeks back, an unidentified-but-probably-hentzi Aphonopelma. Finally ready to get some more spideys, I decided to get some babies. So I got:

Antilles Pinktoe

He's super-teeny!

Brazilian Red and White

Lol, I didn't even realise this was a birdeater until I got online and looked up the scientific name...oh well big spiders are awesome.

I'm going to be setting up a "Tarantula Table" soon so I can get all these little guys organised. Oh and, dealing with teensy crickets is annoying. -_-

[jekylljuice]

Lovely collection you have there, Sparky.

Forgive the largely spider-ignorant jj, but does the antilles pinktoe, as his name suggests, actually have pink feet? Sounds very stylish if so.

[Nyo]

Aww, cute! Raise 'em well!

[pitbulllady]

Good luck with those little 'slings(for those of you who aren't into arachnids, a "'sling" is short for "spiderling"), especially that Avicularia versicolor, since they can be fragile little things! They are beautiful, though; they always remind me of little sapphires, with that electric blue coloration. As adults they will be absolutely stunning, even though they look totally different. I'm still wanting to get an Acanthascuria geniculata myself, though I'd rather get a larger one, since I can't get the small crickets here and have to breed fruit flies to feed the little spideys. I could still kick myself for passing up a five-inch female several years ago, that was for sale by the same guy I bought my Grammostola pulchra female from. I HAD a Nhandu chromatus, but mine turned out to be a male, which matured soon after I bought him, and of course, he didn't last too long after that. He had a nasty disposition, though, very quick to throw a threat display, so he was a "look but don't touch" spider.

There is a reptile show coming up nearby in Columbia the first weekend of November, and I can hardly wait for that one. Trouble is, there isn't always a good selection of arachnids at these shows, and you don't ever know who'll be there until you get there.

And yes, Jekylljuice, most of the Avicularia genus of tarantulas, known as "Pink Toes" in the pet trade, DO have pink or salmon-colored footsies, though the Antilles actually is one that doesn't. Some taxonomists now are debating whether it should even be classed with that genus, and recommend placing it in another, since this species also has a feature not found in other Avicularias-a shiny, highly-reflective patch of hair on the abdomen called a "mirror patch".

pitbulllady

[Sparky]

I actually got this shot of the avic later last night: Clicky

I thought it was cool.

I spent today reorganising the spider area, now they have their own table, covered with a spiderweb tablecloth lol. I collect spider-themed Halloween decor every year.

[Pawbah]

Your babies are adorable Sparky. I want to make them little shirts that say "we love our mommy"... Little shirts with 8 arm holes....

[Sparky]

Lol, make them say "Gimme the d*mn cricket, woman" and we'd be in business.

edit: Oh btw, I saw this today: His Name Is Brad Lol.

[Medikor]

I'm not big on spiders but I do enjoy seeing people have them as pets. I heard that spiders are really intelligent, so do they recognize their owner, like a dog or cat would or are they just really aloof, like a fish?

[emperor26]

Great pets you got there, Sparky.

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Medikor

I'm not big on spiders but I do enjoy seeing people have them as pets. I heard that spiders are really intelligent, so do they recognize their owner, like a dog or cat would or are they just really aloof, like a fish?

Most spiders really aren't bright animals at all. Tarantulas do not appear to recognize people, though I do have some that will actually voluntarily walk out onto my hand without coaxing, and seem to enjoy just sitting on my hand, probably due to the warmth. They have horrible eyesight, in spite of having eight eyes(really TEENY eyes), and are pretty much instinct-driven animals. It doesn't bother them at all if you never handle them, as long as they get fed, lol!

Now, JUMPING Spiders, on the other hand, are a whole different ball game, but keep in mind that even though tarantulas are spiders, they are classified as primitive spiders, while Jumpers are much more highly evolved. Comparing a tarantula to a Salticid(Jumper) is like comparing a 'possum to a Chimpanzee; yeah, they're both mammals with four limbs and lots of fur, but it's hard to find similarities when it comes to brain power! Jumping spiders have acute eyesight, and are capable of learning. Unlike my tarantulas, which just sit there when I come in or say anything, my two Jumpers(females, Phidippus audax and Phidippus regius, respectively) will actually turn to look at me and will jump to whichever side of their enclosure I put my finger on, so they definately respond to a person. Since no one else lives there but me, I really don't know how, or if, they'd react to someone else, or if they'd know the difference. Jumping Spiders are among the few animals, aside from humans, that can recognize their own reflections in a mirror, which indicates a sense of "self" that most animals do not possess. Even my brightest dogs, for instance, still reacted to their reflection as if it was another dog, usually be trying to attack it, or at least walk behind it to sniff its rear end, and were quite surprised that they couldn't find the rest of the dog! A Jumping Spider will react to another Jumper by either attacking it, or trying to court it, but will actually sit and watch their own reflection, turning this way and that, as though "stylin' and profilin'", admiring their appearance, or will just quickly get bored and scurry away. They seem to know that this is not another spider. I wish that Jumpers got the size of tarantulas; with their personality, that would make a great pet! As it is, even a big one is too tiny to actually pet without squashing it. Jumpers also have a very complex system of communicating, using gestures of their front legs, and can learn to immitate gestures of a computer-generated spider on a screen in labratory tests. We just haven't cracked their code, yet.

pitbulllady