My tarantula, baby Sabbath :D

[cowmuflage]

It can be a bit complicated. In general females do tend to get a bit larger and bulkier. It's hard to tell when they're young, so I'll probably have to wait until he's older so I can take a good look at his molts. This page goes through most of the methods though: http://www.tarantulas.com/sexing.html

I can see why it would be. Hard with things that don't have dangley bits

[Zuilu]

Congrats! Brazilian blacks are absolutely beautiful, I was contemplating getting one before I got my brazilian pink birdeater. I think my next T will be an arboreal, likely a green bottle blue. It would be nice to have a docile one, though, maybe a red knee. :3

[Samskeyti]

Aww it's so pretty! If my outdated latin is right, pulchra means beautiful.

When I was in the UK, I got a baby chilean rose from a very nice reptile shop. It was only a cm long!! But one day, I think I gave it too many crickets, and when I opened the little tub where it lived, it was... gone. I was heartbroken. I think the crickets ganged up on it and ate it. I learnt my lesson.
I also had to do a lifesize illustration of the biggest tarantula there is, and that shop had a specimen of Theraposa leblondi. They just borrowed it out to me! I had a photoshoot with it, but my, that one was grumpy, hissing and shedding hairs! The pictures turned out nice though, although they're now somewhere on some memory stick...
I wasn't overly happy with the illustration, but this is what the spider looked like:


I'd love to have a tarantula again, but currently living at home, my parents would kill me Looking forward to see updates of your little one. Especially curious about the name

[Vephriel]

Wow, that's amazing! T. blondi's are wonderful creatures. Some day in the future I'd like to have one when I can dedicate the time to it. Though they're certainly intimidating and can be aggressive, they can also be complete sweethearts and gentle giants. I love this video of handling one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNHK565cVe8

Your picture is just beautiful Sam, I love how you've captured all the details! One of the best T illustrations I've ever seen.


So I slept on it overnight, and there's one name that just won't get out of my head. xD I had a feeling it would be this one, but I'm going to go ahead and name him Sabbath. If he ends up being a female then it can totally work as a unisex name. I need to find a better camera, we just have an older crappy one right now and it's not very good at taking close macro shots. >.< Hopefully I can get some better photos of him soon.

[Wain]

Wow very cool Spiders fascinate me. They also give me the creeps but I know that's a primitive instinct and I try not to let it get in the way of me admiring them.

Out of interest, can these guys shoot their body hairs as a defense mechanism? I know some can. I remember reading about an owner who ended up with scores of tiny hairs embedded in his eye and had to have surgery. Not to scare you... I'm just curious.

[Vephriel]

Yup, G. pulchras indeed have urticating hairs, but they're rarely known to use them. Brazilian Blacks are sometimes called the 'teddy bears' of the tarantulas, they have such fantastic temperaments. Shelob has them as well, but I've never seen her kick them, and she's a grumpy girl. Those hairs are actually what itching powder used to be made of (and probably still is in places). The reactions vary from person to person. Some people aren't bothered at all, and others have an allergic reaction. They can be similar to little bits of fiberglass. It's particularly bad to get them in the eyes or nostrils.

It doesn't concern me though. Like their fangs, the urticating hairs are there and while the possibility of being bitten or having hairs kicked at you is always there, I know my spiders well enough to read their behaviour and ensure I'm not bugging them when they feel the need to be defensive. The hairs especially are more of a risk with some of the aggressive species.

[Wain]

Yup, G. pulchras indeed have urticating hairs, but they're rarely known to use them. Brazilian Blacks are sometimes called the 'teddy bears' of the tarantulas, they have such fantastic temperaments. Shelob has them as well, but I've never seen her kick them, and she's a grumpy girl. Those hairs are actually what itching powder used to be made of (and probably still is in places). The reactions vary from person to person. Some people aren't bothered at all, and others have an allergic reaction. They can be similar to little bits of fiberglass. It's particularly bad to get them in the eyes or nostrils.
It doesn't concern me though. Like their fangs, the urticating hairs are there and while the possibility of being bitten or having hairs kicked at you is always there, I know my spiders well enough to read their behaviour and ensure I'm not bugging them when they feel the need to be defensive. The hairs especially are more of a risk with some of the aggressive species.

Ah cool, thanks They really do sound pretty gentle.

[GormanGhaste]

Spiders just seem so delicate compared to insects; I would be afraid of hurting it if I picked it up.

[Zuilu]

Spiders just seem so delicate compared to insects; I would be afraid of hurting it if I picked it up.

'Tis why I wouldn't try to handle mine, I'd be waaaay too paranoid about spooking her and having her get hurt.

[Vephriel]

Lots of images! Got some better photos of Sabbath finally. ^^ For scale, he's about the size of a bottle cap right now. It was hard to keep him in focus, he kept walking up my arm. xD

[Zuilu]

Awww, what a little cutie! You're making me want to get another one! :c

[Boven]

Gonna show my arachnid ignorance, but is the bump in the middle of his head his eyes? I thought they were a bit more spread out than that on most spiders. I really can't remember the eyes on the one we briefly had.

Back in the 80s when we lived in southern Arizona, our dog was going nuts one day, nosing and digging at a corner of our back yard's stockade fence. I assumed he'd cornered another horned lizard. He couldn't resist those things, even though they were spikey and tasted bad. So I went out and pulled him back to discover that he'd cornered a tarantula instead. I know they're not big biters, but I'm still surprised he didn't chomp the big soft nose that'd been poking at him.

Putting the dog inside, I got a big mason jar and caught the fellow. We kept him in there overnight, trying to decide what to do with him. He ended up being named 'Tony' for some reason. I even went outside and caught a couple crickets to toss in the jar. We decided to let the lil guy loose in the desert away from the subdivision so he would be a bit safer.

I was told that a local store would've paid 40 bucks for him. Eh. I was happier knowing he was out in the wild, though I was sorely tempted to keep him.

[JezzebelPop]

Veph your baby is SO adorable! I would love to raise a little spider myself but I'm taking it slow. I've currently got a Chilean Rose named Andariel who is my first spider. Think she's a couple years old now, had her last moult as a juvenile last year, the moult which I am told would reveal the gender.

I'd love to handle mines but as I said in a different thread I live in the same house as a man who has told me he will be killing her if he finds her out of her tank. =/ So she's not been handled at all.

But aww your wee Sabbath is just a treat! Until I saw the picture of your hand I didn't know how small s/he is.

@Boven: Yeah that little bump is indeed the eyes, perched as high on the head as possible. Still they have awful eyesight :p Some spiders do have slightly more spread out eyes such as the jumping varieties which have much better vision and use it to pounce on unsuspecting prey. http://www.tulsamastergardeners.org/ins ... spider.jpg (how cuddly does that look xD)

Nice story, I'd be tempted to keep it as well but I would have returned it to the wild eventually. I have a friend who took a crab from the beach and kept it for years in a tank. :s

[Vephriel]

Hee, yeah their eye clusters are so cute. ^.^ I love the little fuzz.

Links to large, close-up photos of tarantula eyes:
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/34/112301 ... 823a_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/341 ... 3870cc.jpg

[Samskeyti]

Nawww little baby Sabbath I'd love one too... one day...

[Vephriel]

Moar photos!













Face close-up

[Miacoda]

Awwwww, so cute!!

[Meggers]

Veph - I am not a spider person at all but the video you posted...I looked at that guys videos a long time ago and omg he cracks me up! Talks to them like they're cuddly little kittens. "Awww zilla" etc. Haha.

My dad used to want a T when I was younger but my mom has phobia. Haha. If I ever ended up with someone that wanted one I'd probably get (or see about getting) a P. Metallica. Such a pretty blue! With little yellow bits that are on the underside of legs.

[Vephriel]

Oh the P. metallicas are absolutely gorgeous spiders. They're stunning to see in person, the colours are just phenomenal.

And I'm glad you liked his videos! His personality is just so addictive, I love watching him interact with and talk to his Ts.

Sabbath is doing well. ^^ He's eaten a few times now, it's really cute to watch him pounce on the little crickets. I keep waiting for him to molt, I swear he's getting ready for it, but he's being stubborn.

Also, he has the cutest behaviour...G. pulchras are known to be diggers, especially when they're young, so he's taken to excavating under his little hide. It's fascinating and adorable to watch. He'll wave his butt around for a while to spread webbing over the substrate, then he'll gather it together with his legs into a little ball, clutch it in his mouth, and waddle with it outside the opening of his hide to dump it down. He's building a sort of wall in front of it.

[cowmuflage]

Both those spiders look wonderfull!

The one Meggers put up looks fake XD I know it's not but that blue it's so bright!