Me and my tarantula family

[Andrew Oels-Wallis]

Hey everyone.

I've been a member on here only a short while, but in that time I have managed to acquire more than just the planned one T, and now have four already! I have the intention of acquiring a few more from the B.T.S. Exhibition on the 23rd May, if I give in to temptation!

Anyway, here are a few photos of my new friends. I'll keep this thread updated with any new Ts and also growth of the young ones too.

Rosie, the female Grammostola rosea is a very big girl! I bought her from my local exotic pet shop in Eastbourne a couple of weeks ago, and she's just gorgeous.


Just saying 'hi'



Clearing her cabin ready for moving in.



She's just caught a big juicy cricket, and is getting ready to have her dinner.



And after dinner, having a well earned drink.


This is Eve, the Grammostola pulchripes sling. The first T I acquired (from Virginia Cheeseman), which was only a couple of weeks ago, but hope to see 'her' grow to her full potential in time too. 'She' has just molted, so just everso slightly larger now.


This is Tia, the Cyclosternum fasciatum, that I bought from my local exotic pet shop last weekend. She's very pretty, and has settled in fine in her new home.



And last, but not least, Lola, a 14 month old Grammostola pulchripes, which I received earlier this week, and is only in a temporary home until I get a new enclosure for her. Maybe from House of Spiders at the Exhibition. 'She's' a lovely docile little thing, but hoping that she'll grow to an impressive adult in a few years.




And this is where they all live. In my dining room/conservatory, now renamed the T room, for obvious reasons! The cricket 'hotels' are the other plastic boxes down below on the right.



I've also uploaded a few videos to YouTube, if anyone's interested in watching Rosie doing some spidery things around her vivarium.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walswebworld&aq=f

[Sarah Willis]

You've got a lovely collection already and some great pictures! I'm new to the hobby myself and got my first (G.Rosea) in February. She's my only one at the moment, due only to lack of funds, but I intend to be getting a few more later in the year.

[Andrew Oels-Wallis]

Some new photos of Tia and Lola in her new enclosure. I think she'll be happier in there until she gets too big for it. I thought a circular enclosure was a nice change from the norm too.



Tia, on the other hand, has just caught a cricket, and was in the process of mashing it up. The cracking sounds of her chewing was quite jarring.

[Carole Dallison]

Hi Andrew.
Wow! You have some fab piccys and a lovely looking collection going there. Some real beauties! Like the cricket hotel too, lol!

[James Box]

great looking spiders, all!!! some of my favourites!

[Dave Grace]

Some quality photos there, and i do like your grey rosea, also like your tank setups too : )

[Kathie Franotovich]

Wonderful Ts ! Rosie is beautiful, I might even say rosa-licious ! I'm getting real close to choosing my next couple of Ts, and G. rosea is right up there on my list. Tia is also lovely. I'm also considering a C. fasciatum. My wish list just keeps changing.

I'm a new T-mama, so I'll post some pic's in a bit, maybe in the morning. (I'm in the US, so it's not Wednesday morning yet.)

Kathie

[Mandy Clinch]

Wow, they are beautiful and i really like the 2 bigger vivs, where are they from?

They all look very happy and settled in. It's an addictive hobby isn't it? Did you get many new ones at the BTS?

Mandy x

[Colin D Wilson]

i really like the 2 bigger vivs, where are they from?

They are "exo-terra" vivariums, they come in varied sizes, 30x30x30cm, 30x30x45cm are the two that are most commonly used in tarantulas. They are primarly used for reptiles / amphibians ... for which i believe they were originally designed for.
I personally think they are better designed for arboreal spiders as you can only get around 3 inches of substrate in them before it gets piled up and falls out the doors if you have a "subby shifting" spider.
the height of the tank after you have filled it with substrate to its limit is still too high in my opinion for a terrestrial spider, the chance of climbing and falling onto tank decor is too risky and it would be easy for a spider to suffer a snapped leg or puntured abdomen due to this.
With most arboreals needing a slightly higher/constant humidity though, the mesh on the top causes a lot of heat and humidity to escape so some cover needs to be manufactured to hold this in, yet let enough escape to preserve good ventilation.
The mesh itself can be a problem as spiders have been found hanging by a tarsal claw after getting it stuck, and in severe cases they have broken fangs trying to chew their way out.

At the end of the day they look good, stack well and many people use them without bother with inverts.
many petshops stock them as do online shops.
Just browse around untill you get a good price.

Bit of a critical review but relevant

[Andrew Oels-Wallis]

Thank you for the compliments.

The vivariums are the Exo-Terra 12" designs, but I also have some new ones on order from House of Spiders to house the four I bought at the B.T.S. Exhibition recently.

It is an addictive hobby, as I started out only wanting one, but now I have 12! Six of those are slings, which won't be rehoused until they get a little bigger.

Photos to follow once I've got them all set up.

[Andrew Oels-Wallis]

They are "exo-terra" vivariums, they come in varied sizes, 30x30x30cm, 30x30x45cm are the two that are most commonly used in tarantulas. They are primarly used for reptiles / amphibians ... for which i believe they were originally designed for.
I personally think they are better designed for arboreal spiders as you can only get around 3 inches of substrate in them before it gets piled up and falls out the doors if you have a "subby shifting" spider.
the height of the tank after you have filled it with substrate to its limit is still too high in my opinion for a terrestrial spider, the chance of climbing and falling onto tank decor is too risky and it would be easy for a spider to suffer a snapped leg or puntured abdomen due to this.
With most arboreals needing a slightly higher/constant humidity though, the mesh on the top causes a lot of heat and humidity to escape so some cover needs to be manufactured to hold this in, yet let enough escape to preserve good ventilation.
The mesh itself can be a problem as spiders have been found hanging by a tarsal claw after getting it stuck, and in severe cases they have broken fangs trying to chew their way out.

At the end of the day they look good, stack well and many people use them without bother with inverts.
many petshops stock them as do online shops.
Just browse around untill you get a good price.

Bit of a critical review but relevant

Yes, I do agree about the vivarium design, and once I save up again, I may go for a complete HoS design set up, with the terrestrial layout in mind. They look good for the moment though, and Alice (A. geniculata) has already been up on the 'ceiling' before now, but hasn't suffered, or fallen off yet. Luckily.