Winnie is here!

She is finally here!! She arrived at lunchtime today. I knew I was going to be at work, so I asked for her to be shipped to the university to avoid her potentially sitting in a cold porchway for hours until I got home. I was so anxious about her arriving okay that I was checking my emails every 15 minutes in case there was an email to tell me I had a package at reception. Just before 1pm, it finally came.
I immediately went to collect the box. I had opted for stealth shipping - there would be no branding or labels on the box informing handlers of its contents, because I didn't want to scare people who might not like to be handling a box with a live spider in it. The first thing I wanted to do once I got her into the warmth of my office was to check she had arrived unharmed. Unfortunately, when I opened the box to check, I found that she was so securely acked that I wouldn't be able to get her out safely until I was ready to put her into her new home, as I couldn't guarantee that I would be able to get her back into the container safely. I just had to trust that she was okay. Given that I still have another 4 hours of work and a 2 hour commute to get home, the rest of the day seemed to crawl by. But at least I knew that she would be warm in my cozy office.

Once I got home, unboxing became the first order of business. Inside the postage box, I had Winnie in a very small spiderling tube - She was cozied up to a nice warm heat pack to keep her cozy, and I was pleased to find that it was still giving out heat. There was also a wingless fruitfly culture - Drosophila hydei - an extra box of mealworms that I had ordered, and the starter kit. As expected, the enclosure in the starter kit was flatpacked and required assembly, so checking on Winnie in the tube would have to wait.

I had promised my 5 year old daughter that she could help me to build the house for Winnie. She was up and waiting for me to get started, and so we soon got stuck into peeling the protective plastic off of the sheets. Made of acrylic and held together with thick elastic bands, the enclosure itself was quite simple to build, although I did need to refer to the Spider Shop's how-to video several times to be sure that I was doing it right. It took us maybe an hour to get the whole enclosure built and set up, bearing in mind that my daughter was 'helping'. I don't think we did too bad a job, truth be told.

As can be seen from this photo, the pieces simply slotted together. There are hexagonal bolts and an Allen key included to secure a mesh netting to the ceiling of the enclosure, allowing ventilation and reventing the spider from escaping through any pre cut air holes.

I was quite anxious when it came to opening the small cylinder that held Winnie. I wasn't sure how big she would be, how eager she would be to get out of there, or even if she was still alive. I am still arachnophobic, and the idea of an angry juming spider launching itself from the tub at speed was absolutely terrifying, no matter how cute she might have been. I needn't have worried though. Once I popped the cap off the container and opened the tissue inside, I found very cute, very fluffy little subdued spider, just waiting to be released into her new home. Using a paintbrush, I gently guided her from the tissue and into the enclosure, where she soon disappeared into the decor.