- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
- Messages
- 222
Yesterday, my wife (thats what I call her IRL, so that's what I'll call her here, If anyone wants to discuss it we'll do it in the WH) called me at work to tell me that it looked like Severus, my A. avic, was dying. He looked like he was missing a leg and wouldn't react to anything. When I got home I checked him out, and he did cast a leg, but he has moved a bit since then. He has been real sluggush and hasn't eaten in weeks, and constantly falls off the side of the tank. And he looks like his hair is falling out. Poor guy, he's getting old. He was a mature male when I got him so, even though it saddens me, it doesn't suprise me. I'll miss him when he does go.
Now for the good news. I stopped at Pet Supplies Plus last night in hopes of finding one of those "Rose Hairs" with the red knees that PetCo is always selling. They had four spiders in the case with prices on the sign for "Rose Hair Tarantula," and "Stripe Knee Tarantula." Two of them were definately G. roseas, one looked like it could have been A. chalcodes (but I'm not positive, I'm no expert and I've only seen pictures). The fourth was a dirty grey with stripes on her legs. The underside of her abdomen looked lighter than the rest, so I decided to ask if I could open the case to look a little closer. I tried to get her to climb up the plastic a little so I could see her underside more clearly but she just scurried around the edge of the case, low to the dirt and (even thought I've told them about it several times) the sponge. I didn't want to make her angry enough to bite by teasing her, so I popped the top and picker her up. She had the tell-tale light underside of an A. semanni. I jokingly asked Sonja if I could buy her, knowing she'd say no because she's still squeemish about the spiders, and money is always tight. To my suprise, not only did she say yes, but if we had the money on us, she would have bought the other three as well. They had them in these tiny little plastic cases that they could barely turn around in, with dry sponges and a little loose dirt in the bottom. Even though she hasn't caught the addiction yet, she can't stand to see any animals, especially ones I like so much, in those cramped conditions. With my luck, the dirty grey is the result of her being a hybrid of some sort, but I can always hope that she will molt and be nice and black. She was also the most active of any spider on the day I brought her home. She spent a long time pacing the perimeter of her new home (approximately 2.5 gallon Kritter Keeper). It took her awhile considering it's easily four times the size of what they had her in at the pet store. She ate two crickets and seems very happy now, (if a spider can be said to be happy) I know I'm happy.
So now my collection consists of:
3 G. roseas
1 E. campestratus
1 P. murinus
1 seven legged A. Avicularia
1 unidentified Lycosidae (I caught it myself)
1 light colored A. seemanni
Now for the good news. I stopped at Pet Supplies Plus last night in hopes of finding one of those "Rose Hairs" with the red knees that PetCo is always selling. They had four spiders in the case with prices on the sign for "Rose Hair Tarantula," and "Stripe Knee Tarantula." Two of them were definately G. roseas, one looked like it could have been A. chalcodes (but I'm not positive, I'm no expert and I've only seen pictures). The fourth was a dirty grey with stripes on her legs. The underside of her abdomen looked lighter than the rest, so I decided to ask if I could open the case to look a little closer. I tried to get her to climb up the plastic a little so I could see her underside more clearly but she just scurried around the edge of the case, low to the dirt and (even thought I've told them about it several times) the sponge. I didn't want to make her angry enough to bite by teasing her, so I popped the top and picker her up. She had the tell-tale light underside of an A. semanni. I jokingly asked Sonja if I could buy her, knowing she'd say no because she's still squeemish about the spiders, and money is always tight. To my suprise, not only did she say yes, but if we had the money on us, she would have bought the other three as well. They had them in these tiny little plastic cases that they could barely turn around in, with dry sponges and a little loose dirt in the bottom. Even though she hasn't caught the addiction yet, she can't stand to see any animals, especially ones I like so much, in those cramped conditions. With my luck, the dirty grey is the result of her being a hybrid of some sort, but I can always hope that she will molt and be nice and black. She was also the most active of any spider on the day I brought her home. She spent a long time pacing the perimeter of her new home (approximately 2.5 gallon Kritter Keeper). It took her awhile considering it's easily four times the size of what they had her in at the pet store. She ate two crickets and seems very happy now, (if a spider can be said to be happy) I know I'm happy.
So now my collection consists of:
3 G. roseas
1 E. campestratus
1 P. murinus
1 seven legged A. Avicularia
1 unidentified Lycosidae (I caught it myself)
1 light colored A. seemanni
