P. irminia question

[RyTheTGuy]

Yeah. That's a good container. I could use a few. :-D

What kind of vial is that? It looks nifty.

Idk what brand it is or anything or where it came from. It was in my pantry, and was full of rice. The top had a removable air vent lid. I took that off, you cants see but it has a screen type thing on the top. Ill try to find them online and post.

[natebugman]

I have two female P. irminia. They're beautiful and feisty and I love them. That said, they aren't the most visible T in the world. Your set up looks pretty good for the size of spider you've got. As he/she grows, I would go with something a little taller, but don't go crazy with a huge container. I made that mistake with my first. I have her in a 12"x12"x18" Exoterra and it's just too much for her. She wanders around it from time to time, but she would do just as well or better in one of those tall micros. As for what your spider is doing right now? I can't say for sure. My suntigers have on occasion barricaded themselves in for weeks or months at a time. I assumed they were preparing to molt only to have them come out looking the same as before, just a little hungrier. He/she could be preparing for a molt or just getting over the stress of being rehoused. From the looks of her, I wouldn't worry about feeding her for quite a while. She'll be fine until she comes out searching or waiting for her cricket. Just keep the water dish full and try to keep the humidity up, but I've found that they are fairly resiliant little things. Keeping the cage wet to keep the humidity up and daily misting usually leads to fungus which is a real pain in the rear. Don't stress too much about the humidity. Mist maybe one or two times a week.

One more thing. I know that everybody says P. irminia and P. cambridgei are arboreal and I guess this is technically true, but they aren't arboreal in the same way the Avicularia are. I see where the OP (Storm76) replied to one of the comments about them being burrowers by saying that some burrow as slings but they move their homes higher as they grow. That may or may not be true in the wild, but in my experience, the opposite is true. I kept my slings in those little plastic craft cubes that alot of people seem to use with some substrate in the bottom and a piece of cork bark usually glued inside the top. My slings tended to spend most of their time on the cork bark, building tube webs on top of it. As they got larger, they began extending those tubes down the sides to the substrate. As they became, adults/sub-adults, I moved them into larger containers with more substrate and more vertical climbing space with a vertical piece of cork bark usually leaned securely from the substrate to a wall or corner near the top. In these new cages, my P. irminia immediately built her web retreat at the sheltered base of the cork bark and remained hidden there for several weeks, digging a hidden burrow under the substrate. Now she comes out sometimes 4 or 5 days a week. Sometimes she'll sit on the cage door while I'm trying to do maintenance and make things more difficult, but she's not like my Avics, always at the top of the cage and almost always visible. My P. cambridgei was similar. Same set ups as the P. irminia. She was even more fun. Taking crickets from my tongs, investigating every intrusion into her cage, even the occasional threat display or slap. She showed no fear. She showed no inclination to burrow, even when she grew to around 5" dls and I moved her to her large cage. Moving her was quite a battle...she even pulled my paint brush out of my hand. LOL! Then she went into premolt and dug a burrow. I didn't see her for several months. After she finally emerged, she was big and beautiful...7.5" and a yellowish dark gray, but her personality had changed. Now she's usually hiding in her burrow...she'll only come out during the day when she thinks its feeding time. I see her first thing in the morning when I first turn on the light, but she's usually gone by the time I get out of the shower. So what was my point again or was I just talking about my pets again? Oh, right, don't just assume that, because your little suntiger is considered an arboreal, you are going to see it climbing on the side of it's cage or on it's cork bark all the time. There will be lots of times when it's doing just what it's doing now and if you're like me, you'll be wondering, "Is something wrong?, Did I do something wrong?, Did I get the screwed up one? Should I try to help it?, Should I look and see if it's ok?". The answer to these questions is almost always no.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I answered any questions or just rambled on....or if anyone will even read it.

[Storm76]

Actually, my female molted yesterday and is now sitting in her corkbark-tube hardening out and "guarding" her old skin. I tried to remove it today, but seing her instantly face my tweezers, I thought it's better to just leave her be and wait. Her colors are very vivid now from the looks of her legs, though I can't tell how much she has grown since she retreated deeper into her burrow so I don't disturb her and just let her be.

As for what you wrote, natebugman, my second P. irminia is a sling still (really small, ~1,5cm maybe) and he likes to dig. Instantly went to start digging once I housed him. Basically, from what I read, they tend to go up the older they get - then again: Individuals vary and hence it's only a "guideline" not a set fact.

So, yeah, she's fine from what I little I saw of her and I'll wait now till next week before I try feed her. Her abdomen looked smaller due to the molting process, so she should be fine by then to start eating again.

Thanks for all the advice, people!

[RyTheTGuy]

Anyway, I'm not sure if I answered any questions or just rambled on....or if anyone will even read it.

Nope, you did a very good job. I read it all.


STORM76. Pictures of your freshly molted P.irminia please!

[Storm76]

Nope, you did a very good job. I read it all.


STORM76. Pictures of your freshly molted P.irminia please!

I read it completely, too.

As for pictures, I'd -love- to. Just that she sits in such a bad spot, that I can't currently. I do hope though, that she might come out later tonight, or tomorrow. I'll post pictures as soon as she actually poses a bit The one thing I am really glad about, is that she is ok. That's all that counts!

[RyTheTGuy]

I am really glad about, is that she is ok. That's all that counts!

Yes, this is true. Every time my Ts molt, I am worried something will go wrong.

[Storm76]

It's rewarding to see your T molting without problems and returning to full health, growing. Considering I got her with a BL of approx. 3 - 3,5cm I wonder how much she has grown now.

Either way, I wrote a mail to Adam today and he answered that he'll send the new cages my way at latest upcoming monday. So once they arrive, I'll rehouse her into one of those nifty arboreal cages (depending on her size either medium/large), which should be in approx. 2 weeks considering the delivery times from the US to Germany. Kinda glad she molted now therefore.

[Storm76]

STORM76. Pictures of your freshly molted P.irminia please!

This was the best I could do today morning, as she is still in her burrow. The molt is located on the right side of her in those pictures (you can't really see it, but she pretty much sits on top of it, lol)




I will try to get better shots of her whenever I get the chance to


EDIT: I just tried to get out that mold again since she retreated completely into her burrow showing her back to the entrance. I thought "get in quickly, grab molt, pull out even quicker" would work - WRONG! She turned around and slapped the tongs in the blink of an eye... So no way currently since she's cornered in there and -very- territorial obviously...

[ZergFront]

Just keep the water dish full and try to keep the humidity up, but I've found that they are fairly resiliant little things. Keeping the cage wet to keep the humidity up and daily misting usually leads to fungus which is a real pain in the rear. Don't stress too much about the humidity. Mist maybe one or two times a week.

One more thing. I know that everybody says P. irminia and P. cambridgei are arboreal and I guess this is technically true, but they aren't arboreal in the same way the Avicularia are.

I've found this to be the case with keeping Psalmopoeus and Lampropelma. Misting as often as these species need I usually end up with a fungal mess or have to add more ventilation to the already 35 holes I put in. They use the water dish often enough to be worth the maintenance. Even the spiderlings get the tiniest plastic caps I can find for water.

Arboreal/terrestrial life styles for Lampropelma and Psalmopoeus seem to vary from individuals and cage design. I have some who burrow down deep and still might make a web tunnel or two going up the side or a decoration. I had a P.reduncus male who used one of those cubes with the deeper lid to basically construct a little web "attic" where he spent most of his times waiting or molting. He pretty much abandoned the burrow he'd constructed, so they do sometimes change things up a bit. I'll be getting a bigger cage for my female L.violaceopes soon because it seems she's abandoned her burrow and I can hear her moving one of the fake plants around.

I guess the rambling is contagious. Storm, your P.irminia is gorgeous. Don't take offense to her attitude. Psalmopoeus seem to get more bold as they get bigger. I find their bravado quite cute. She might want the exoskeleton as a first, post-molt snack. X-D

If you breed her, I'd love to get one of her sons for Nike. X-D

[Storm76]

I don't take offense on her attitude and I'm well aware they get more bold the bigger they get.

The reason why I got these species is simply, that I consider them one of the most beautiful T's out there, especially, of the NWs. They have an attitude and are teleporting, but aside those two things? They usually use their speed to get "out of harms way". Oh boy, I can already see how much fun it'll be to rehouse her. Especially, since so far - I have NO idea how much size she gained after that mold. From what I can tell about her legs, I guess quite a bit...

Kinda wondering how to transfer her best...but I'll deal with that, once the enclosures are here.


As for breeding her - would be kinda difficult to send them to the US from Germany without a permit