Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

A bit of a light hearted giggle today... I am subscribed to the TSS weekly newsletter - there are still some species that I would like to add to my collection, and I would be gutted if they came in stock and I missed them. So I scan the newsletter each week to check the latest arrivals. And this week, I found....this: I mean, nothing screams "I'm a spider!!" harder than an orb weaver species. My sister has sent me photos and videos of species similar to these from her holidays in Florida, and I have literally thrown my phone across the room as a result. These are some of the most spidery looking spiders I've ever seen. They are not one that I feel like I could handle right now. But I have to admit, curiosity got the better of me, and I read the page for more information regarding the care of these monsters... Yes, you read that right - these fellas don't need a cage to live in. No. Just give it your conservatory! I don't think I would ever go into th...

There was a post floating around my Facebook feed over the weekend that asked a very simple question: "Are there any arachnophobes out there who have been helped by jumping spiders?" This got me to thinking about my own situation, and the answer is....yes. I was as arachnophobic as it was possible to be for 30 years prior to my mission to get over it. I would freak out when ever I saw a spider sometimes I'd scream, sometimes I'd freeze, other times I would throw things. I would hallucinate spiders when awake and have nightmares when I was asleep. Some examples of how ridiculous my phobia got include: - There was once a time when my sister sent me a Facebook video that included a spider coming out from under a cabinet - I threw my phone across the work lunch room, and my manager had to pick it up and cancel the video for me because it was on a loop. I couldn't face it. - Another time I was playing World of Warcraft with my eyes shut because there was a spider ...

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...

Tonight, I held my Winnie for the first time! The first successful time, I mean. I've made several attempts in the past to hold her, but she always flopped around like a dead fish in an effort to escape. Tonight, she just sat on my hand. She looked around a bit before she started washing her face with her little pedipalps, and then sucking on her toes - presumably cleaning/grooming herself. SHe was incredibly cute, so here are some pictures: This is a big step forward for both of us - a sign from her that she's starting to trust me, and for me....I actually held a spider!

Living where I do, just walking into a shop and buying a spider isn't an easy task. Actual pet shops are few and far between, and in general I don't even like them. With my fish, I prefer to get them from a specialist store - Someone who knows their livestock inside and out, can give me accurate care information, and can help when things go wrong. Why would this be any different for a spider? I have done some looking around, and due to my not being able to drive, my best option for getting my pet spider is mail order. This makes me so anxious. There are a lot of webstores around which will ship out a jumping spider. There are even a lot of independent breeders I could buy from on social media, and then there are those less reputable people who go out into the world and catch the spiders from the wild for a profit. (Fortunately, due to Phiddipus regius being an American species, the number of these latter people in the UK appears to be next to none). Fortunately, whil...

Now that I have desensitised myself to sudden spiders on my social media streams, I feel ready to tackle the next stage of my mission - learning to live with spiders. To do this, I feel the need to get a pet spider. I am very aware - as many have said - that I can just pick up a spider out of the garden. For free. I've been told that I'm wasting my money buying a spider, that I don't need one, that this is a fools endeavor. And maybe they're right. But nothing ever came of giving up before you even start and I want to do this. I don't feel like I can just pick up a sider from my garden. The majority of spiders in my garden are garden spiders, Araneus diadematus . I hate these spiders with a passion. They hang upside down, seemingly in mid air, with a predatory attitude about them. And yes, I know that spiders are predatory, that's kind of the point of them. But these ones are just......nightmare fuel. And every time I walk down the garden path their...

So, firstly a little bit of back story. My name is Ally, though many people call me Tig. I am a 40 year old animal science laboratory technician at an agricultural university. I graduated with a first class degree in Zoology with aquatic biology. In my time as an undergrad I undertook grassland sampling, invertebrate sampling, kick sampling, and I spent several weeks doing biodiversity work of all kinds in the Borneo rainforest. I have had plenty of exposure to invertebrates, and I have enjoyed it. In my personal life, I have kept giant African land snails, Indian stick insects, and giant millipedes. I love all animals and have no fear of insects - I love to handle them, the bigger the better. ......except for spiders. Spiders, spooders, nopes. More recently I have come to call them Ticklers of Terror. My fear of spiders is such that during my first year of uni I resisted all efforts to have me visit the endangered cave spiders at a site of scientific interest. During my seco...