cheeky

[Louise~Nichols]

Ouch for you! I'm glad the deaths have settled now...I hate losing pets even from old age...but it feels so much worse when you get left wondering what happened.
Ah well, we learn from our experiences. And next time, your Robustum will be a happy long-lived baby. What else do you have at the moment?

[James Box]

thanks! hope so
well, at the moment (going by the shelf order, so i don't get mixed up):

Phormictopus sp. "Dominican Republic blue femur" juvenile
C. schoedti sling
G. rosea juveniles x2
P. striata slings x2
A. chalcodes adult female
B. albopilosum adult female
A. avicularia adult female
C. crawshayi slings x2
P. murinus slings x2
B. emilia slings x2
P. cancerides x3
L. parahybana x2
C. cyanopubescens adult female
G. pulchra subadult male

millipedes:
Giant African
3 Kenyan giant chocolate thingies... huge and brown lol
Redlegged millipede

and the scorpions:
O. glanifrons
I. politus
P. imperator x6
P. cavimanus
H. paucidens
H. arizonensis

Tailless Whipscorpions:
D. variegatus x2

Whipscorpion:
M. giganteus


Giant African landsnail 3x

Brazilian rainbow boa

possibly two velvet mites still alive as well, though not optimistic...

i think that's it! will edit if i've been horrible and forgotten something!

tomorrow, i'll have Vaejovis spinigerus scorplings, and Sunday who knows!

[Louise~Nichols]

Sweet collection you got yourself there! Excellent taste...amongst other awesome spideys, I see you have Brazilian Blacks and Greenbottles in there...oooh and Red Legs.
I hope those Velvet mites manage to hold in there...but you really have a lovely gathering of critters.

I really love Pulchra...I just mated mine...Macros is such a stud lol, and he got out safely, although Miranda didn't fancy having a munch on him anyways. Now I have to wait...and wait...and hope that the mating worked! (But that gives me time to finish off looking after my Chile Rose RCF clutch...eggs with legs and developing well)

[James Box]

thanks!

nice one on the pulchra mating! when i got mine, i was also getting a female for a mate, and Lee from the spidershop talked me into the male so that in a few years when he and my mate's she mature, we can try our hand at breeding them!
the emilias are too young to show their colours yet, but i'm looking forward to that. they're probably my favourite Brachypelma species, though i'm quite partial to my albopilosum as well.

i don't hold much hope for the velvet mites...to be honest, even though i quizzed the guys selling them mercilessly, i think they were out of my league. if those guys happen to be in Newark, i'll ask them more questions. there's a chance they will be, as i saw them at the last AES show at the Kempton Park race course. there's nothing about caring for this species of velvet mite online that i could find, and i searched by the Scientific name (which i've forgotten at the moment). think they're very new to the hobby.

nice one on the RCF roseas as well. my roseas are normal colour form, purplish. quite fond of the little beauties! hope they're conveniently gendered for some breeding joy
it'll be good if i can...definitely want more captive bred in the hobby, hopefully cut down on the wild-caught trade.

oh and you can see here the new scorplings you asked about on the other thread are Vaejovis spinigerus so excited!

[Louise~Nichols]

LOL...my Pulchra came from Lee too, and so cuddly looking! I'll be posting pics of them into the thread that I posted in the gallery...oooh I have got everything crossed that I don't get a dud eggssack from her!

The next Brachy I want is the Baumgarteni...such lurrrvely looking fluffy legs! LOL But I totally agree with the beauty of the Red Leg...stunning colours and contrast.

Roses are lovely whatever the colour...it's the *fluffy factor* that does it for me!! My reds were supposed to be male and female...but then one of them produced an eggsack just a month after coming home...and then the other produced an eggsack 10 days later! LOL So I didn't do any of the hard work...I've just been minding the nymphs. But like you say...the more captive breeding the better.

I'm going to be excited for you waiting for those scorplings...awwww...they're gonna be sooo gorgeous...will you be able to get photos of them?

[James Box]

well that's nice having nymphs that you didn't have to work for!
i'll cross a few things for your pulchra eggsack as well! definitely need more of them in the trade as well.

well i'd love to do photos, but i don't have a good camera! i'll ask my flatmates if they have something with a macro setting, as i think that's what's used for those nice close-ups. if i can get a pic or three, i'll post them!

it would be nice to document the collection, anyways!

[Louise~Nichols]

lol...yup...I can just sit back and grin like a cheshire cat as far as Rosea breeding goes, I missed out on the worry of the male becoming dinner, mating failure etc... and so I've just got the best part!
Thanks...keep everything crossed til I get a Pulchra eggsack....then cross whatever else you can cross so that she doesn't eat it!

As far as the photos go...yes, it's the macro button that really helps for tidy close-up shots...although I had quite a laugh trying to get a good shot of my B.Emilia...she kept walking straight at the camera! lol I'll definitely be getting more shots...they make good comparisons for the juves that are growing up too.
I'll just have to imagine your magic crew in the absence of photos!

[James Box]

oh yeah, i've heard rosea's are paradoxically hard to mate, due to aggressive females etc
i am definitely wishing you all the best for the pulchra and the successful raising of the young!

will do my best to sort out pics

[James Box]

to update my list a bit, all ten of the Vaejovis spinigerus scorplings have arrived safe and sound!

also, i've had some moults! a P. murinus, a B. emilia, and a D. variegatus!
can't believe how cool the variegatus looks, last night it was all blue green like it was a scorpion in black light, today, it's more black!
due to the now significant size difference, i split it up from it's friend, temporarily... hopefully the other will moult soon and i won't be concerned about it being eaten!

[Louise~Nichols]

Awwww...that's wonderful news! Congrats on your new arrivals!
And a *big thumbs up* for the shedding...woo, I find that process more stressful than anything...all you can do is get the humidity right, then watch and pray!
I had one of my B.Klassi shed last night, several tiddly avics, and a G.Aureostriata...thankfully all went well, and they all still have 8 legs each!
Ooooh...it's 24 hours til Newark! LOL

(Just checked my Robustum...got a shed skin sitting near the *pet hole*!!)

[James Box]

this is my first shed with the variegatus...i spray them quite often, but i've got them in the most basic set up...a piece of cork bark in a plastic cereal box with loads of holes in it. i chuck in a few crickets and even mealworms from time to time. i think they must've been chowing down on the adult beetles, as the crickets all seemed to be fine
also, i don't keep them too warm, as i read that they come out in the cool of the evening to hunt.
i've only had them since September, so still early days...but a successful shed is always a good sign! fingers crossed for the other, i'm sure it won't be long for its moult as well

congrats on your other moults, always nice to see them growing up!

[Louise~Nichols]

Thanks...and double-congrats for the variegatus first shed then!
A couple of my spideys are prone to keeping *companion crickets* lol...but if I throw in waxworms or a roach they go nuts! They seem to have different tastes at different times of year, although I try to vary things as much as possible every feed.
I keep my setups quite simple too...I'm always mindful of decor being a potential hazard etc, I provide enough to give cosy hiding places and moisture, but not too much so that it is a junkyard in a box!

[scott wilson]

hidey spiders

just to add....i bought a young starburst baboon afew months ago.got it a nice new tererium with cork bark to climb on,the best set ups i have done so far and i havnt seen the little sod in 4 weeks!!!!.i was expecting it to make the most of all the climbing to be had instead its dug a burrow right at the back never to be seen again,my only T thats not shy is my young smithi who sits on top of the bark burrow all day and night......like you say the only way you know theyre ok is the crickets not lasting long

[James Box]

my P murinus are very shy as well! but they're still slings, so hopefully they'll grow out of it.

[Louise~Nichols]

Ah well, we've all got hideys ...James, maybe you could start a *pet-hole fanciers club*...I reckon there'd be a few members for a curry meet-up night and discussions on burrow appreciation! LOL