They're Settled In!

Since my last post I have seen plenty of tarantula sightings. The two little darlings have been out and about. Smithy has been back to her usual self, clinging onto the side of the terrarium and Mustapha likes to sit outside his hide and then scurry back in as soon as he sees me come near:P

This evening after work it will be spider feeding and maintenance day. I have to pick through their leftovers, fill the water dishes and offer some bugs.

Chris and I are hoping that Smithy will be out, and that we'll be able to handle her. I'm not one for picking their hide up to get to them. If they don't feel safe in their homes, where will they?

My brother gave me a coffee grinder. I don't grind coffee so I'm using it to grind up cat food for the crickets. This will be the spider's first feed with the healthier crickets.

On Sunday we fed the Ts and Mustapha, who never wastes any time, tackled a rather large bug and they wrestled around the terrarium. Unfortunately, I missed that one but Chris said that their brawl actually made noise as they tumbled into the sides of the container.

Bottom line of this post, tarantulas are awesome. I'm still in love!

Come out and Play with Me.

Ever since the terrarium change + new hides, I haven't seen the little guys! I guess I knew this day would come. I had heard that once tarantulas were given nice hides they tend to prefer them over sitting out in the open. I miss my spiders!

Now I'll throw a bug in and they just disappear. No more seeing them hunt, eat and spin. Waaah.

I'm hopeful that they will come out and explore their homes soon and maybe even chill out on the side, or on the substrate once in a while. *crosses fingers*

Another Molt and ReHoming

Mustapha molted a few days later, on the 1st of January. So much for clockwork. I didn't think he'd be due for 2 weeks to a month later. Actually, he ate about 3 days before!

I *thought* Smithy had finally gained some growth ground on him after her last suit change but man oh man, he's huge! Considering he's nearly a year younger than her, he's definitely living up to fast growing reputation of the Brazilian Black and White.

So, I had to set them up with new houses, for the third time in six months. They're in (basically) Critter Keepers now. The next step will be a 5 gallon tank, so I hope they can at least have the new house for 4 to 6 months or so.

I'm currently using coconut husk bedding, slightly moistened. Smithy has a coconut shell hide and a pop bottle cap water dish. Mustapha has a split (half) log and a piece of cork bark on the other end of his home for decor. Also, a pop cap dish.

I want to add a piece of bark to Smithy's habitat but the coconut shell takes up a lot of room. I don't want to crowd her.

Getting Smithy into her new crib was easy and fun. We simply picked her up, played for a few minutes and stuck her in. Mustapha, being the shy guy that he is, hid in his container and I had to use a paintbrush to slowly scoop old (nasty) substrate out until he just went for it and run out.

Tarantulas are so counter intuitive. Most creatures run AWAY when they're scared. T's run toward you! So when he started running at me, needless to say, I turned into Flinchy McFlincherson.

I'll get used to their antics one day...Maybe:P