Um...Jackuul?

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Postby Marinepits » July 24th, 2009, 6:16 pm

That was a pretty cool video! Thanks for sharing it.
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Postby juniper8204 » July 24th, 2009, 6:31 pm

Spiders have freaked me out since I was a child...friend of mine threw a stick at a wolf spider (I think) and babies when crawling everywhere...since then, I get goosebumps just thinking about them.

However, I'm a big biology nerd, and I actually found this thread pretty entertaining...especially about the comparisons between crickets and roaches. :wave2:
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 6:32 pm

I'm looking into getting a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) for my own personal use - or a microscope that can take pictures at least, so that when they do molt I can examine their exuviums (molted skins) and be able to say "Yep... it's a girl".

Unfortunately I have 20 dollars, and they cost 60 grand.
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 6:35 pm

juniper8204 wrote:Spiders have freaked me out since I was a child...friend of mine threw a stick at a wolf spider (I think) and babies when crawling everywhere...since then, I get goosebumps just thinking about them.

However, I'm a big biology nerd, and I actually found this thread pretty entertaining...especially about the comparisons between crickets and roaches. :wave2:


Well, wolf spiders are actually excellent examples of "caring" arachnids, as they carry their babies with them to keep them safe. Basically all of those little babies got scared.

http://i.pbase.com/v3/63/136263/2/47585687.IMG_9794.jpg

Imagine having that many little kids yelling "are we there yet!?"
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Postby amazincc » July 24th, 2009, 6:37 pm

Jackuul wrote:
juniper8204 wrote:Spiders have freaked me out since I was a child...friend of mine threw a stick at a wolf spider (I think) and babies when crawling everywhere...since then, I get goosebumps just thinking about them.

However, I'm a big biology nerd, and I actually found this thread pretty entertaining...especially about the comparisons between crickets and roaches. :wave2:


Well, wolf spiders are actually excellent examples of "caring" arachnids, as they carry their babies with them to keep them safe. Basically all of those little babies got scared.

http://i.pbase.com/v3/63/136263/2/47585687.IMG_9794.jpg

Imagine having that many little kids yelling "are we there yet!?"



LMAO

I think I'm *almost* ready to get a spider myself now. :shock: :shock: :oops: :|
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Postby mnp13 » July 24th, 2009, 7:03 pm

I managed to read the entire first page of this thread, and started reading the second when I saw a giant picture of a brown spider on a green background and gave up.

My heart rate is about triple the normal rate and I'm sweating.

Thanks, but I'll not be visiting this thread again.
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 7:08 pm

mnp13 wrote:I managed to read the entire first page of this thread, and started reading the second when I saw a giant picture of a brown spider on a green background and gave up.

My heart rate is about triple the normal rate and I'm sweating.

Thanks, but I'll not be visiting this thread again.


Exposing yourself to pictures often will lessen the resulting reaction until you can look at one without feeling different toward it. Additionally reading more and more about their lives will lessen fear. I was once very afraid of anything with more than six legs, and would run away.

Now I save them and put them outside (except for house spiders of course, they get to go back into the basement. The only ones of those I have seen are just males looking for spider womenz - they'll be dead within a month or two considering their short lifespans).
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Postby iluvk9 » July 24th, 2009, 8:24 pm

I work with a teacher that LOVES snakes and spiders. We share a room and she has two tarantulas.

She brings them home in the summer. Last year, she "lost" one at home. :shock: Six months later, her husband (who is not as fond of them) calls her to the living room. The tarantula was crawling up the couch arm.

Just thought I would share. :dance:
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 8:25 pm

That is one very luck spider! Six months without food is fine, but water is the real killer, along with the risks of pesticides used to control insects that can wander in. Very lucky spider :)
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Postby iluvk9 » July 24th, 2009, 8:29 pm

Jackuul wrote:That is one very luck spider! Six months without food is fine, but water is the real killer, along with the risks of pesticides used to control insects that can wander in. Very lucky spider :)


She was very upset because she kept saying; "Look how thin and dehydrated he is!"

I, of course, did not look.
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 8:33 pm

A dehydrated spider is a sad and sick spider :(. But putting it in ICU (yes, you can build your own spider ICU center) will help it, as inside you usually include a small water dish, a damp (not moist though) paper towel for it to sit on, and keep it in a very dark place. One great way to actually get a spider back if you lose it is to leave a water dish out, and check on it at night - they might be sitting there taking a drink.
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Postby iluvk9 » July 24th, 2009, 8:34 pm

Where did you learn about spiders?
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Postby Jackuul » July 24th, 2009, 8:38 pm

I am a member of the spider forums out there (arachnoboards primarily) and my own (which I am still working on... but as of yet has not taken off), and before I even got my first one I read and read and read each and every relevant topic I could find. I consume knowledge when it comes to something I am interested in, and I am in no way an expert or close to being on on spiders as I am still learning every day still... but I have biology pretty much down, as well as care - as those were my two main focus areas in the beginning.
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Postby iluvk9 » July 24th, 2009, 8:41 pm

Jackuul wrote: ...I consume knowledge when it comes to something I am interested in...

I am the same way with Cowboys. :wink:

You impress me with your knowledge of those little buggers. :mrgreen:
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Postby Jackuul » July 26th, 2009, 3:33 pm

I have some great news (well, for me anyways)! It looks like I might be getting a female Grammostola Pulchra for under 200 dollars! This is a w00t event, as usually females are more than 300 :)

They're the (currently known anyways) most docile species in the genus grammostola, which means they're on the whole the most docile tarantula. That's not to say individuals of other species can't be docile, but it is to say that on average G. pulchras don't even kick hairs or throw up threat displays like other species (even rosies have "bad" days - like my mother at times). This will be my first of two I eventually plan to get, as I always would like to have species in pairs as it increases the chances of one day, with a male, breeding a successful sack.

Pulchras are NOTORIOUSLY HARD to breed, not that they mind the spider... uh... procreation part (females don't eat the males as often) but rather that their babies are often stillborn (or still-egg...?). When I get her I will take a few pictures and show her off :)

After my mission for pulchra is complete I plan to go for Grammostola formosa (they're gray, rare, and not a confirmed species as of yet). That means they're a tad bit more expensive in the long run - but right now I have seen prices around 220 for females. As you might have guessed, I like grammies (Grammostola). They're universally the on-average most docile, easy to care for spiders.

I may branch into Aphonopelma one day, since they are the North American tarantulas (anyone who lives in California to Oklahoma including Texas has run into them during mating season - and usually always the males).

My overall goal though, and addiction, has me wanting to have two females of every kind of Grammostola species so that I can keep their lines alive. Tarantulas like roses will likely never be faced with extinction in captivity - but others like the rarer pulchra, formosa, and even some not in the hobby yet may face extinctions due to land development and environmental changes. Some may cry out to save the whales, other to the snails, but I want to save the spiders >.>
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Postby Jackuul » September 24th, 2009, 12:36 am

Don't mean to bump a dead topic: I got her!

She's tiny though - a lot smaller than advertised... had I known I would have saved that money and added it to the other 100 I got - and gotten an adult 5inch G. pulchra instead of a 2 inch :-/

In other news, I have found the False Rose to be much more docile than the real roses. Turns out rosehairs may not be the best starter spider as they are prone to mood swings (Ms. Fuzzy is a b*tch now - "You want a cricket?" "NYAAAR GTFO MY AQUARIUM!" vs Sweetie crawling up and down my arms without any objections ).

Most rosehairs (G. rosea) are docile, however more and more I am finding that, compared to other species in Grammostola, they are not as nice. But the good news is that the False Rose is very cheap (15 dollars) and is pretty easy to order if your overnight it when the weather is good. So I have changed my recommendation for a good starter - False Rose (Grammostola porteri). One seller has them with overnight for 30$ total. Or you can get 5 for 60 + 15 shipping. However we are at the tail end of safe spider shipping, since the weather is getting cold, and by the end of October it will be risky to ship, even if over-night.
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Postby BullyLady » September 24th, 2009, 12:39 am

Jackuul wrote:(Ms. Fuzzy is a b*tch now - "You want a cricket?" "NYAAAR GTFO MY AQUARIUM!" vs Sweetie crawling up and down my arms without any objections ).


LMAO LMAO LMAO
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Postby Marinepits » September 24th, 2009, 7:21 am

LMAO too!

Any pics of the newbie?
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Postby TinaMartin » September 24th, 2009, 8:31 am

Where are the pictures! >(
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Postby Jackuul » September 24th, 2009, 11:25 am

I'll put them all in the "My Fuzzies" thread. I need to take some new ones of the babies too, four out of five of them have molted recently and gotten a little bit bigger. One of them hasn't though, and it worries me since they are all siblings (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon). The larger (but still smallish) G. pulchra has yet to be named, since at this age she is very skittish. She wont bite, or flick hairs, but she runs away as if Godzilla just stomped on a store next to her whenever I say hi.
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