New Family Member!

[Sparky]

Went to the big reptile show in Sacramento today hoping to get two tarantulas, but nobody had any pinktoes so I only ended up with one. She's a Tucson Blonde (or "Mexican Blonde"), a species recomended to me by pitbilllady, and I like her because she's already pretty big, probably 4 inches legspan, and I'm kinda scared of getting a teeny spider. I tried to get a photo but it's just too dark in the apartment, but here is a shot of the same species I found on a website:

http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/myimages/mexblonde.jpg

Until we got her home she was huddled up in her plastic container with her front knees clasped over her face. I always knew when she was peeking because my brother would go "Awwwww!"

I still want a pinktoe for the other side of my divided terrarium though. One guy at the show had some powder blue pinktoes and some versacolors, but they were all tiny (I would have paid for a larger versacolor, though I think I'd rather have a common pinkie anyways).

She hasn't found her burrow yet; she spent a while cruising the perimeter of the terrarium and now she's hanging out beside the bark covering the burrow. She just sits there until you bend down to look at her and then she starts rubbing her mouthparts with her pedipalps. If that means "Food goes here" she's gonna have to wait because I haven't bought her any crickets yet. -_-

[GrimTheLost]

That is really cool. In a "I'm afraid of spiders kind of way".

[Cassini90125]

Oh my stars, Eduardo would be so freaked out... :)

[G-man]

Ill always be interested in spiders no matter what,hopefully she wont cause you any trouble either,good luck with her.

[BlooCheese]

I'm not normally overly fond of spiders, but that thing is cool.

[One Radical Dude]

Not really fond of spiders myself, but I believe that is an impressive image of one. ;)

[Sparky]

Okay its a lousy shot but I'm a lousy photographer and this is the best I could do. I had to take her out of her tank for some redecorating so as long as I had her in the well-lit kitchen I took this:

http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/myimages/taran3.jpg

She's darker now then she was when I brought her home because apparently she's already preparing to molt. She's normally more like the other photo I posted.

[scary_dream]

Oooh she's lovely! I think it's neat how soft they are. I've only got to hold one once because I've never actually owned one, but it was still a cool experience. I don't think I'll EVER own one, now. :( My boyfriend is deathly afraid of spiders.

[pitbulllady]

Ah, THERE she is! Yep, she's gonna moult, alright. Aphonopelma chalcodes turn that orangey-rust color like that when they're in pre-moult. Make sure she has plenty to drink, since moulting dehydrates them, anyway. She is a really pretty girl. Like I said, I've got four of this species, and I love 'em!

pitbulllady

[kaytea]

she is so beautifulll
lol spiders scare me but for some reason Im not afaird of tarantulas
strange isn't it :/

[Matchsticks]

Even though spiders scare the living daylights outta me, I must say she is quite the beauty.

[Imaginary Light]

I'm, like, deathly afraid of spiders, but this spider looks so adorable. I just want to hold her:)

[pitbulllady]

Tarantulas are, for the most part, very docile and "tame" to begin with. This species is especially known for it's good nature; I sorta think of Aphonopelma chalcodes as Golden Retrievers with eight legs! It really isn't that odd for someone to like tarantulas and still be afraid of plain ole' spiders, though, since there ARE a lot of differences, beyond size(some tarantulas stay quite small; I've got adults that are no bigger than an average-sized Wolf Spider). I guess it's that furriness that appeals to many people, along with their usually-slow and deliberate movements. They just remind people more of familiar and "comfortable" animals like dogs and cats and bunnies. I used to actually dislike regular spiders, while keeping tarantulas, but once I got into Macro photography, I started to find our native true spiders to be interesting and usually very non-aggressive as well, and I now keep some of those as pets, too.

pitbulllady

[Matchsticks]

I just had a bad exprience with spiders. When I was five a nightbor kid lost their spider and I found it in my bed. *shudder*

[Sparky]

I picked up a Costa Rican Zebra, or Stripe-Leg, today, to go in the other terrarium. Now, females are generally better to have as they live longer, and I examined this one both on its underside and its recently-shed skin, and I'm new at this but I *think* that this spider is a boy. But I liked him, and he was on sale (lol) so I decided to take him. Here he is in his deli cup:

http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/myimages/zebra1.jpg

He's bigger than the other one, and very nice in temperment. Having shed recently he'll be hungry, so I'll try feeding him tonight. The other one probably won't shed for at least another week.

Speaking of shedding, I took his skin home too, lol:

http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/myimages/zebra2.jpg

If it weren't for the shriveled abdomen it'd look like a live spider, it has fangs and everything. Its so soft and furry, like a puppy! 8D

[koosie]

oh my! I had no idea they did that.

What will you do with that then?

Put it on ebay! or If you fancy swapping it for something........

[vannielou]

that's so cool but so blech!
Spiders scare me


but that's kinda cool

[Bloo2daMacs]

http://www.fosters-home.com/forum/myimages/zebra1.jpg


wow... that's... surprisingly AMAZING-looking to me...

[Sparky]

Now I'm angry, and I feel really stupid, because I think the store sold me a Chilean Rose and not a Zebra. They have similar leg markings but the Zebras are generally a bit more black than brown, though they *can* be brown which is why I figured this was a Zebra. Also I always throught Roses were less furry, but I've been looking at pics of Roses online and they all look like my new spider. And I was getting excited because I re-examined the molted skin and I thought it may be a female after all. I guess I'm going to take it back, because I really want a Zebra. :P I feel like a major idiot now.

[Sparky]

Well I took the poor thing back, but the tarantula they *did* have that they were calling a "zebra" definately wasn't a Costa Rican Zebra, anyways, so I didn't get it, so I'm back to having only one speeder now. :P

[vannielou]

unfortunate.

[pitbulllady]

Might I ask WHY you want an Aphonopelma seemani so badly? I mean, I've got two of 'em, and they're probably the least "exciting" of all my tarantulas. It's not because they're so spazzy so much as they don't really do much at all and love to go on these long fasts for no reason. The blue-phase specimens ARE really pretty, though. Me, I would have kept that red-phase G. rosea, since they are actually quite rare and hard to get, and it DOES look like that's a red-phase G. rosea, after all.

You can tell if a suspect tarantula is a Costa Rican Zebra, though, by looking at its spinnerettes. If they are orange or chestnut-colored, it's an A. seemani. That's the only species I know of that has that feature. Be aware, though, that immature A. seemanis are a dull brown all over with very indistinct stripes, so unless you look at the spinnerettes, they are easy to confuse with something else.

Meanwhile, here's a pic of my old grouchy A. seemani gal, followed by one of my newest acquisitions, a young blue-phase A. seemani female. You can see the latter's orange spinnerettes in the photo so you will know what I'm talking about with that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Spider%20and%20Other%20Arachnid%20Photos/DSCF2920.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Spider%20and%20Other%20Arachnid%20Photos/DSCF2913.jpg

And here's another of the blue girl, eating a cricket.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Spider%20and%20Other%20Arachnid%20Photos/DSCF2905.jpg


pitbulllady

[Cassini90125]

Fascinating, and quite beautiful, actually. Have any of yours ever reproduced?

[Sparky]

I don't want one "so badly." I'm in no hurry to get my second spider, that's just the species I'm looking at right now. *shrug*