Any invertebrate hobyists on these boards?

[Jaygnar]

I was wondering if anone besides me here keeps any tarantulas or scorpions as pets.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Any invertebrate hobbyists on these boards?

I used to keep tarantulas as pets...I had a male of an old-world species similar to a Mexican Red Legs (but it wasn't that particular species) named "Spidey", and a female zebra tarantula named "Christina". When I stopped hearing the cheerful chirping of crickets at night, I knew it was getting close to time to get some more.

Their habitats were 15 gallon glass aquariums with mesh tops, a sandy soil, a shallow dish of water, and a nice semicircular log in each so the spiders would have some place to sleep.

Christina moulted in the late-1990s and then escaped (probably freezing and dying); I kept her exosketon in a transparent plastic box and had that until late-2004 when it was then lost when I moved.

 

[Uriah]

Yes Tarantula's are awesome pets.I have had my Mexican redknee (Brachypelma smithi) for over 10 years.And also have a Antilles pinktoe(Avicularia versicolor) which is my avatar.You couldn't get any better pets for small in the house critters.

 

[Arkayne]

I've had tarantulas for almost 20 years. I've had this guy for 7 years now since he was the size of a dime. Now he's as big as my palm.

 

[greenlight]

eew, I prefer earthworms.

 

[geepondy]

What do you feed your tarantulas?

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Any invertebrate hobbyists on these boards?

What do you feed your tarantulas?

I don't know what he feeds his spiders, but I fed mine crickets and (a lot of people are not gonna like this) on one occasion, a baby mouse.
When I had tarantulas, somebody found a small litter of baby mice (probably a few days old or less) in their house, but the mother mouse was nowhere to be found...so they were going to be worm food anyway. Guess who got dinner that night? :green:

 

[TedTheLed]

I kept a black widow in a clear box for a while..one day I tossed her a big ol' potato bug,

it took her a long exhausting time throwing lasso after lasso of thread around the lumbering critter, but she finally slowed it down enough to...

 

[Arkayne]

I made bi-monthly trips to the reptile shop to buy crickets.

 

[Jaygnar]

I've thinned out my collection recently. I'm down to my chilean rose tarantula, my brazilian black tarantula and my hysterocrates gigas tarantula and one arizona hairy scorpion. All are girls.

 

[bitslammer]

Wow...very nice photo Arkayne. The colors really show.

 

[luigi]

I guess everybody here has vertebras. Searching for Alien life?

Luigi

 

[Eric_M]

Has anyone here who keeps them been bit?

I remember watching a demonstration at the zoo and the handler described it as having a fork stuck in your hand (or wherever you're bit) and shaking it.

Those fangs always make me nervous.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I've never been bitten by my spiders, but yes, those fangs do look intimidating.

 

[chesterqw]

i don't think so...
everyone has his own backbones right?

 

[Arkayne]

I've never been bitten. As long as you don't go poking your fingers in front of his/her face (if you consider a spider having a face) you'll be ok.

 

[Uriah]

Not bit but fang raked by the one shown in my avatar.Was cleaning her cage and letting her walk around on me and i didn't feel her moving around anymore and looked down on my hand and she was just flexing her fangs all the way out and bringing them down real slow and i flicked her off my hand.I don't think it was an aggresive type of bite nor defensive i think she was thirsty and looking for water.Those fangs are so sharp i didn't feel it rake my hand.I picked her up and put here in another container and noticed two trails of blood on the back of my hand.WHEW that was a close one!!!!!!!!!

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Just a FYI: Tarantulas are ***NOT*** poisonous to humans, so even if you do get bitten, the effects of the spider's venom is generally no worse than getting stung by a honeybee.