Skip to main content

My new Purple Bloom tarantula

Just a short post today, to share a better picture of my new Purple Bloom tarantula, or Pamphobeteus sp. machalla. This spider doesn't have a name as yet, because I really want to call it something related to the colour purple, but I am hoping it will be a boy, and all those names sound decidedly feminine. For example, Violet. Or Lavender. A random name generator came up with Shadow, Cobweb or Webster. Well, I already have a Webster, and Cobweb was the name of my friends' little white cat. So I need some new ideas... I'm sure something will hit me.
So, here is his ass, in all its naked glory. Seriously. This spider has a bald patch on its ass. A New World tarantula like this one will kick it's abdomen when it feels threatened or stressed to send a flurry of 'urticating' hairs into the air. These hairs are an irritant, both to skin and when inhaled. The result of this to the tarantula is that the hair on its abdomen disappears, leaving bald patches. They will return when he sheds his skin, but for now he looks like a scraggly little thing. Incy looked much the same when he arrived, so I am assuming that they have kicked as a result of being packaged up for transport. I'll share a picture when he is settled, and has the hair back. In the meantime, I need to be thinking of names...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Purple Spood has a Name

This new spood finally has a name! It has taken me a while to get around to it, because I was really struggling. I am really hoping that this spider is a male, because the males of this species take on a really vibrant purple colour once they grow on, while the females are a dusty brown. So I wanted a male name, but also something linked to the colour purple, to highlight my hopes for him. All of the purple-themed names I could think of sounded really girly, like "Lavender", or "Heather". But then it occurred to me - Purple Rain. My partner really came up with it, not me. But he's named after a certain purple singer/songwriter - Prince. Yeah, it might be cliche, but I'm really happy with it. So Prince it is!
Post a Comment
Read more

In Memoriam: Summer edition

Unfortunately, due to the delayed nature of the posting on this blog, the things that I write about in the Summer don't get published until Winter, or vice versa. That's the limitation of a prolific poster writing up a buffer, to be released at regular intervals. It doesn't usually pose a problem, but as I write this post in the middle of Autumn - firstly, it is not going to hit the blog until next year. Secondly, due to the nature of the content here, it may interrupt continuity - I am writing to remember the charming little critters that I lost over this summer. Some of the deaths were expected, there had been plenty of warning. Other deaths were...surprising. But while I mention them here, due to the pre written nature of the content to come, there may be posts further down the line where these names and faces crop up again, almost as though I hadn't lost them. I've been umming and ahhing over the best time to place this post, and to be honest - there's...
Post a Comment
Read more

Blogger Absences!

Sorry guys! I don't know if anyone actually reads my spider blog, but I'm sure if you do you'll have noticed that it's on a temporary hiatus. There are posts queued up, waiting to be edited and finished. I have plenty to write about, including the recent loss of my elderly mantis Catchy, and the rehousing of my Poecilotheria metallica (which was tense). But right now it has to wait, as I am currently juggling my job, my fmaily, and now my new Masters degree in Environmental Management. I will come back and update on all the lovely (and not so lovely) things that my critters have been up to. But for now, I'm afraid it will have to wait. Be safe all, and don't squish that spider!
Post a Comment
Read more