A Grand Day Out

So, we decided to go to the British Tarantula Society's Annual Exhibition a couple of weekends ago (what else does one do of a Sunday...?) and what an experience it turned out to be. We were anticipating a small school hall with a few different exhibiters. Instead we found THIS:


Plus another smaller hall packed to the gunnels with all manner of thing both creepy and crawly. I had set out on a mission to buy nothing more than another giant African land snail (rest in peace Snaily - at least 10 years old!) and some more hissing cockroaches. I was then presented with all manner of amazing mantises:


Tempting spiders:


And lots of other awesome critters:


I was accompanied by Mrs Jim and some other not-so spider-loving friends who I think enjoyed themselves, especially considering at least one of them has a pathological dislike of arachnids. The pub lunch afterwards probably helped. It was good fun seeing who else was there too: from respectable middle-aged people, to very friendly enthusiasts, to spider-geeks and also Birmingham's entire goth and mullet-wearing population. It was unusual to feel like one of the most normal people in a room for a change.

The main mission for the day for Mrs Jim was to acquire a little Avicularia versicolor, a stunning arboreal tarantula. Unsurprisingly, given the immense selection there, we easily found our spider and named her Darcy. You can't see her in the photo because she's tiny but she is incredibly beautiful. As a juvenile they have a metallic dark blue colouring, which you can make out as she sits on my hand:



But once they are full grown they turn into an even more colourful creature, with a bright green carapace and pink abdomen, both with a metallic sheen. Being arboreal, they are much better climbers than the ground-dwelling species that are most popular as pets. They are also a little more tricky to keep, but I reckon that with our experience little Darcy will do just fine. In fact, she has already successfully moulted once since we've had her which is a good sign. Juveniles moult on a much more regular basis than adults as they are growing rapidly, and take a lot less time to harden after each moult. 48 hours after moulting, Darcy had already eaten a cricket that was nearly as big as she is. Arboreal tarantulas are also a lot more fleet-footed than their ground-dwelling counterparts, and we've already noticed this when we had her out for her photo shoot, the only thing that slowed her down were my hairy arms!

We'll definitely be heading to the BTS annual exhibition 2012, and can recommend it for spider-fans and unusual haircut lovers alike.

T. blondi webbing

Our Theraphosa blondi, Xena, has started eating again after her recent moult and is now getting a lot bigger. She's larger than our adult B. albopinosa and has a long way to go too. She's large enough to take an adult locust, and really goes for prey - she's fast for a big spider.

Hopefully we'll get a hunting video up at some point soon, but for now have a look at her webbing the ground after taking an adult locust. I've seen both the B. albopinosa and G. rosea doing this after feeding, though I've no idea why they do it. Maybe it's to mark an area as a place with good prey, maybe they're just enjoying their food (a bit anthropomorphic, I know). Still whatever the reason, I think it makes for a cool video.

New Arrival: T. blondi, The Goliath Birdeater

As far a difficult to keep spiders go, there are few apparently as difficult as T.blondi, better known as the Goliath Birdeating spider. Although it very rarely lives up to its name as a birdeater (although will eat amphibians and small mammals) or its fearsome reputation, this spider is expensive pretty tricky to keep well in captivity.

So, cue having to buy a new house for our new arrival:



Just to give some sense of scale to this picture, the flower pot on the right hand side is large enough for me to put my fist into, so the left hand size one is pretty huge. This will be home to Xena, the Theraphosa blondi hopefully for her entire life. She is only a year or so old so this could be for the next 25 years, by which time I will be... rather old.

Anyway, Goliath Bird eaters are amazing spiders. They are among the largest species in the world (along with the similar Theraphosa apophysis and Lasiodora parahybana) growing to a maximum leg span of over 10 inches. Despite their size they are actually fairly chilled out and with practice by both handler and handlee can get used to being picked up. I imagine that you're thinking that sounds good in theory, but a bit more difficult in reality. Well, we decided to take the bull by the horns (or the spider by the pedipalps... Or is that just a little bit too geeky?) and hold her straight away. This was also useful to check for any mites or ticks - parasites which can be a problem for these sorts of tarantula.

Don't believe me? Well here we both are:



Yes, she is still a baby and will probably double in size before adulthood, but I still think she could be the largest spider I have ever held. It's a close run thing between her and our adult B. albopilosa, Curly, at any rate. T. blondi have a reputation of having some of the most irritating hairs of all tarantulas and it seems that Xena lived up to this reputation. My hands are still kinda itchy and I think gloves may be in order next time she comes out to play.

Xena seems contented enough in her new habitat, preferring the damp end to the dry end at them moment. I will be keeping the blog updated with any news about her, although having moulted in January, she is unlikely to moult again for a while. I will leave you with a picture of Xena in her new home.

New Year's Resolution

I have been a bit lax of late with updating the blog, I have no excuse, but rest assured that my New Year's Resolution will be to be a better blogger. It's not for lack of things to blog about, there's been much going on in the bug house of late. Moving has seen the bug house move into our new flat, and there is "technically" a new bug. I say technically because Curly is not exactly new or mine, but she now lives next door to Dorothy so "technically" new.

So as you can see, Curly is another tarantula, a Honduran curly hair (Brachypelma albopilosum) to be specific. She's the little one on the right, the incredibly dashing fellow on the left... Well, you can guess. Curly's around 7 years old and is possibly the most relaxed spider on the entire planet. If you've never held a tarantula before, then Curly is the best one to lose your spider v-plates to.

Other more sad news is that unfortunately Eric is no longer with us, poor little fellow. I have to say that I'm not really sure as to the exact cause of his demise. He's stopped using one of his claws for several months and was becoming increasingly poorly co-ordinated and found eating difficult. I had thought that a moult might be on its way, but searching online forums brought no definite answers. I have replaced him with a very feisty, and possibly gravid female, who has been named Erica in his honour. Look out for the future baby scorpion post!

Also been having an interesting time adjusting the heating of the bug house, but I think I will save talking about that post until a later date... For now, happy new year everyone! Here's to that New Year's Resolution...

New arrival! Mexican Blood Leg Tarantula

Isn't she gorgeous? A brand new, and (if I'm honest)a little bit unplanned arrival to the bug house is this lovely young Mexican Blood Leg Tarantula, Aphonopelma bicolouratum. It has been decided that her name is Penelope. She (although hard to tell gender at this age) is a year or so old, and is a little bit agitated at the moment, as can be seen by the bald patch on her abdomen.

When feeling threatened a tarantula will rub their hind leg across their abdomen and spray a cloud of incredibly itchy hairs called urticating hairs. These can be particularly damaging if they get in the eyes of a threat such as a predatory bird, or a foolish human (see bug-eyed). She's had a bit of a stressful time of it coming all the way in a van from the excellent Two By Two exotic pet shop in Plymouth, and who knows where before that, so I'll forgive her gumpiness.


Not that you could tell that Penelope was grumpy when she went for a little wander on me earlier. As you can see she's fine with handling so will be playing a full role in the Bug Explorers show when the time comes (and the show is completed - the script is written but now needs further refining). It is a bad idea to just buy any pet without much planning, they are a big responsibility. However, she's a stunning and placid species, the sort of spider who along with Dot will be well cared for and help promote the understanding of all bugs. All in all I'm delighted with the new addition.