Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

I don't have much to say right now - my recent order hasn't arrived yet, and not a huge amount has happened. Both Loki and Pratt have molted, though I don't have pictures of them as they like to hide, but that's about it. So I am sharing these photos of some of my larger slings. Both Shelob and Lolth escaped again during a recent maintenance session on their enclosures, so I have ordered braplast tubs to upgrade their homes. Maybe they're a little small for a 1.3 litre braplast, but they definitely seem too large for the little sling boxes they are in right now. And every time they escape, they scare my daughter, which is the opposite of what I am trying to achieve here. So, long term, Shelob, Anansi, Lolth and Joy are getting moved to larger enclosures. At the same time, I intend to move Loki and Pratt back into their smaller sling tubes, as I think the boxes they are in are too big and they seem unhappy. So a major rehousing session will be imminent. In the meanti...

So, this makes me a little bit anxious. Today I noticed that Shelob was on her back. There's only one reason why a spider would be on their back, and that is molting. Usually, if they die, they die in situ, where they are standing. So I knew this was a molt. Now, I did have some warning that this was due. Firstly, she had stopped accepting any food. This is a classic spider sign of an impending molt, and combined with the second sign - the fact that she went into hiding under her water bowl - is known as "premolt". Shelob had been in premolt for about a week. So when I saw her upside down, I knew what was coming. I've never caught a spider in the act of molting before, and I really wish I could have stayed to watch, but I have children and life goes on. Ultimately I was unable to watch her, though I did take some photos if the various stages. I tried very hard not to disturb her, as I know they're very delicate at this stage, but I did manage to get this very shor...

While the new Spoods are settling in, I thought it might be nice to see how the original three Spoods are doing. Each one of them has had one molt since they came to me, so they have slightly changed colour and have definitely gotten bigger! This is Lolth. He hasn't really changed much in colour, but he has definitely gotten larger. You can see the marking on his abdomen that I have previously mentioned. At certain angles, it looks like a human skull. Not from this angle, mind. Lolth has been pacing his enclosure, and recently made a dash for freedom when I was doing what I call "the Spood Check". He only climbed out and ran across the desk, but he scared my daughter so badly that she was sobbing. I didn't touch him, but I was able to guide him onto the lid to his enclosure and put him back in - so this is a win!! This is Shelob. She is still grey. She may not be the most flambouyant of Spoods, but she is very sweet. She mostly keeps herself to herself, hid...

This is Lolth, my Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco golden knee). Gender is currently unknown, but for naming purposes I am assuming it is female, as she is named after the Dungeons and Dragons spider goddess of the Drow, Queen of the Demonweb pits. If she turns out to be male I have no plans to change her name. She is about 1cm across, diagonally, so quite small. You can't see it in this picture, but at the moment she has a marking that looks almost like a skull on her abdomen. She was the last spider to be removed from her sling tube, but the first one to demonstrate a threat pose. So she is definitely feisty! Meet Shelob, named after the Middle Earth great spider, Spawn of Ungoliant, part spider, part demon. She is a Brachypelma verdezi (synonymous with Tlitocatl verdezi ), or Mexican rose grey. She will grow up to be grey, with pinkish orange hairs. Not an especially distinctive looking spider, but I am excited to see her grow. She was the most restrained of the three w...

Winnie has been spending a lot of time in her nest lately, I've not seen a lot of her. So I thought it was time to talk about something else: the Spoods. As well as Winnie, I now have three tarantula spiderlings. I ordered these thinking that I was further along in my arachnophobia journey than I really am. I've actually been able to put my hand in Winnie's enclosure and attempt to handle her - she hates it. She must think I'm icky because whenever she's on my hand she jumps and flops about like a fish out of water. Maybe I'm too warm, or maybe I smell funny? Maybe I just don't have enough eyes, I don't know. But the point is, I have been trying, and I take this as a very good step forward. In fact, I thought this was such a great step forward that I thought I wanted and could handle more. So on that note, meet the Spoods: The Spoods is my collective name for what is essentially Winnie's extended family. I have mentioned this before, but T...