A. Avic!

[Jessicat]

W00t, I went to the pet store to buy some aspen yesterday. In the back of my mind I was kind of hoping to see an Avicularia Aviculara (Pink Toe) Tarantula there. I had seen one once before at that particular place, but acted too late. The second time I went back there it had been gone.

Well, I was in luck! They had this little one for sale. She had an amazing funnel web going on, and when I inspected her all looked well. Good abdomen, all legs in tact, no bald spots.

I'm so excited to finally own an Arboreal Tarantula! She's about 2 1/2'', so I figure a good size for me to start on. The realllllly small babies kind of scare me. I tried to raise an A. Versicolor last summer and failed. A. Avicularias are suppose to be a little more hardy. This one being a bit larger I think I'm going to have good luck.

Here are a few pictures I took of her last night. She's a bit dirty because the employee who collected her for me gave up on trying to coax her into the cup, and ended up scooping her up on the substrate she was standing on and dumping her in. ><

I just took a few better pictures of her, her underside (for accurate sexing), and her 5 gal all set up, but I don't think I'll have time to edit and post those before I head out to work.

For now, here are a few crappy shots of her.. I'm so excited!
I think I'm going to name "her" Bump. :laugh: I guess that could work if she turns out to be a male as well.

Here she is being placed into her temporary Critter Keeper last night.

Ack, I can't get over how cute and fuzzy she is! Even my boyfriend described her as "cute". I even like the little pink toes.
She's now in her 5 gal and seems to be "scoping it out" a bit. She's got herself jammed into the front corner, but she seems to be moving up and down it as if sizing it up for a silk burrow. I can't wait to see what she makes!

I'll update later tonight with some more pics of her little home, tummy, and a few less dirty shots.

 

[The Snake Guru]

Congrats!

Those are absolutely insane when they are adults!
Fun little "T's" for sure!

~B~

 

[LBoz]

Wow, you're a brave one. They're cute and fuzzy and all that, but I'd have nightmares about them crawling on my bed.

But isn't it always fun to find just what you've been looking for? Congrats! :cheers:

 

[Allison]

She is beautiful! There are a couple for sale at a local shop in my town. I often walk by and consider it. I love their pink toes!

 

[Maize411]

congrats...(sorry I can't say it's beautiful..I'm just not one to see beauty in spiders...) but I do congrat you on your new baby :0)

 

[Jessicat]

Unfortunately there's a higher chance of buying a male in a pet store, especially if the animal is WC. Males wander around looking for females in the last stretch of their lives, are more likely to get caught, AND are more likley to be near the end of their lives.

This T looks pretty small though, and the girl who was helping me said they'd had him/her since it was pretty small. She said it has at least doubled in size.. so that gives me hope that it is CB.

I can't wait to see a silk hide in there... Last night she moved into the back corner and hasn't moved since.

I'll have to post the other shots I got later, my PC (which I just uploaded the pictures to) is currently unplugged.

 

[The_Thunderer]

Avics are SOOOO kewl! I had quite a few a year ago... before I decided to get out of T's altogether. It was a real difficult thing to do!

You've got quite the looker there. Looks nice and plump! LOL.

I'm rooting that she really is a she for ya!

Congrats!

Fred

 

[Jessicat]

Well, perhaps some of you that know how to sex visually can help me out. I have a picture that shows the underside of "her" abdomin. I don't know anything besides the indents that indicate book lungs. I'm not sure if this little one is still too young to tell, but here is a shot.

I don't see any claws on the first set of legs, but there's so much hair it's kind of hard to tell! Also, I'm not sure where the claws would be. Kind of looks like they are in the middle of the leg from other pictures I've looked at?

Here's Bump's new 5 gal.

First I created a barrier because I have the tank on its side.

Then I covered most of the screen door with saran wrap to keep moisture in. I'm not sure how well this is actraully working.. The heat source seems to dry the cage out a bit. Any other suggestions?

And here's the tank all set up with a few pieces of wood in place to hide the cardboard barrier.

 

[Jessicat]

Bump took her first cricket (with me) tonight! Yay, i'm so excited. I orrigionally wanted to wait until she made a silk retreat, but I already had Crickets for my H. Lividum, so I figured I'd throw a few in. I guess she was hungry!

Sorry for the TERRIBLE picture, but here's the "proof".

She seems to have taken a liking to that back corner. I really hope she doesn't build a silk retreat there though, because it's right up against the door. Every time I open the door I would be destroying her work.

This is what happens when I open it..

I just LOVE her little toe pads!

When I transferred her from her temp Critter Keeper to the 5 gal I had a chance to get a few shots without glass in the way. She definitely seems to love hanging out on lids!

She STILL has a little piece of dirt hanging on her abdomin. I'm a little annoyed at the girl's method of collecting her, and her refusal to let me do it. Ah well, after a few day's worth of misting it should be gone.

And here's the best picture I got the other night without flash.. so you can see what she looks like to me.
I already <333 Bump so much! It's great having a Tarantula I can actaully SEE!

She's nice and plump. I'm hoping a molt is just around the corner!

 

[Rich in KY]

She is a lil cutie...as far as spiders go

 

[Kaleidescope_Eyes]

OMG she's adorable!!! I want one but my roommates will kill me =( Congrats on your baby!

 

[Jessicat]

Your roommates never even need to know! Tarantulas are very inconspicuous. Even if your roomies stare straight into the T's viv they might not necessarily know there's an animal in there..

---

Guess who decided to web up last night? ...Right in the back corner. :sobstory:
As suspected Bump has made her silk retreat smack dab on the door of her enclosure. Now I can't open it up without disturbing her work. I guess this means I'll have to re arrange things. I'll have to move that chunk of wood into a different position to make that back corner less alluring.

The web looks cool though! I think I'll try to go a few days without opening it up. I can mist in there just fine, so until her water dish goes dry I think she'll be okay. Of the two Crickets I gave her last night one has already been eaten, and the other is "stashed away" in a little cave-like place in her viv. It's kind of cute, except that the Cricket twitches every now and then, making me wonder if it's still alive.. :uhoh:

Here's Bump's silky work:

I can seee you!

 

[The_Thunderer]

LOL. I was about 50/50 when I "guessed" at the sexes of my T's... BUT if I had to hazard a guess... I'd say female. Seems to me like there is a "pocket" there for accepting sperm deposits.

I could be completely wrong, so take that "guesstimate" with a grain of salt. LOL.

Love the additional pics. I thinks "she" looks awesome!


Fred

 

[Tula_Montage]

I call these the kittens of the T world. They are my fav spidies evur!

 

[Jessicat]

The shape of the abdomen seems to say female to me... nice and round. The book lungs are spread kind of far apart too.

I'm going camping tonight and I'm actaully kind of disappointed that I won't be able to Tarantula watch!

Elle, how are your Avics doing? Wanna know something silly? Last night I searched back and went though all your T threads!