New T.blondi worries.

[andrew donaldson]

weak legged/cramped conditions coupled with under feeding?

[wayne balcombe]

glad to say this particular T.Blondi is now doing very well apart from the fact its male and will probably bature on its next molt lol.

[andrew donaldson]

oh bugger ! oh well at least its in experienced hands top marks 4 that

[wayne balcombe]

as much as that was a dissapointment i may do ok out of it, there are a few members on here who may want to set him up on a blind date when the time comes.

[Peter Lacey]

... i suspected she may be due a molt fairly soon looking at the darker colour showing under the hair on her abdomen and the general condition of her exoskeleton but she's still feeding...

I'd be interested to hear whether you decide on the dry or moist enclosure and whether that has any bearing on the change of colour from the rust at the moment to the darker chocolate colouration that I've found those have living on dry conditions.

[wayne balcombe]

hi peter,
i'm tempted to move it to a dryer enclosure to see if the darker colour makes an appearence. i will keep you updated and post some pictures when the time comes.

[andrew donaldson]

im not to sure myself i think my female blondi[5inch] is gearing up 4 a molt had her two days shes webbed a new feeding mat. shes in the dark black form not the usual rusty brown and where shes hair kicked is dark tanned pink as opposed to light colour what would u reckon please?

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Andrew, first point, is she eating, if she is then she's not up for a moult, and the mat she's laid is triggerd response when they catch and eat food. If she's not eating, and she's up for moulting then her abdo will go black very soon before she moults.

[andrew donaldson]

shes not eating the biggest giveaway was when she was collected from said shop a locust was placed into her packeging wich she didnt eat found it dead at bottom of packaging .by packaging i mean what she was transported in that is lol!

[wayne balcombe]

i think its a bad idea having prey items in with spiders when transporting them, they will be stressed out enough without a hopper or cricket jumping around close by irritating it.

sound to me like its in pre molt mate.

[Yvonne Woolley]

Hello, we all now know how important humidity is to to Blondi and I think I have mentioned before we all achieve this in our own way and as long as our charges are well and happy thats fine. I keep my large Fellow in a 3 foot tank, and the slightly younger ladies in 2foot ones but in all cases I have found that a large plastic container about one third the size of the tank sunk into the substate as deep as the substrate but just a couple of ml above the surface level and kept soaked all the time withe the large water dish sitting on top keeps the tank nice and humid (even if you have to leave it unattended for a few days) and at the other end a dry large cork hide half dug in seems to give several conditions without too much hassle so to speak, I have a thermostatic controlled heat mat at the back on the outside of the tank part of it just below the level of the substate in a central position so that the hide is not in front of it and behind the heat mat on the outside polystyrene so the heat is all sent forward this way you do not need a huge heat mat, I hope this gives some more ideas to the growing list and so far it seems to work for me.Plus of course the artificial plants that give the tank a more natural look.

[andrew donaldson]

the guy at the shop had put a locust in with her upon arrival.guess what she surprised me this afternoon to by eating! oh well what can i say it showed signs of gearing up 4 a shed

[wayne balcombe]

i've noticed this befor, they show signs of pre-molt and then feed, it doesn't mean she's not gearing up to molt it just means she has a little longer to go befor she does it.

the bald patch on the abdomen is a good indicator when judging if a spider is due a molt, it would normally be a tan/mid brown colour getting darker, almost black when a molt is closing in.

[wayne balcombe]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but just thought i'd let you all know that i've just found this particular spider upside down ready to moult.

Its been in pre moult now for about 2 months and finally the wait is over, i fear i wont get much sleep tonight as i'm quite interested in this member of my collection and am tempted to keep an eye on it.

I'm looking forward to being able to confirm the sex as ventrally sexing is still something i'm not totally happy with though i'm sure i will get the hang of it with experience. would really like it to be female but i'm not getting my hopes up as I have terrible luck with Theraphosas(they generally turn out to be male.)

Peter, I've tried your experiment and for the past 3 months i've kept the spider on almost completely dry coir with a full waterdish and a spray down once a week, tempereture has been around 25-27degrees day and 19-22 at night.

I'll post some pics when it shows itself enough to snap a few shots.

[Eleanor]

Did you get to see it then?! They are fantastic to watch if you get the chance - it is so much more impressive when they're that large.

Your experiment with the way of keeping them is very similar to the way I have always kept mine, except that I don't spray.