Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

As one of my largest spiders, Big Spood is often the subject of my photography attempts. I love the way she walks - lifting each leg with slow deliberate movements. I love the way she charges at her food - sometimes so fast that she tumbles over, taking her prey with her. I love her markings and the way her fur is so defined in her photographs - though I do regret not having named her some derivative of Beetlejuice, for the dark and white stripes. I also love the way she can be very expressive of her moods. I have previously posted photos of her sitting in her cage looking very concerned, as well as photos of her reared up on her back legs, baring her fangs. Today, I post images of her bipolar nature - or perhaps her "hanger". These photos were taken when I opened her cage to perform the basic weekly maintenance and feed. She took particular offence to me attempting to remove her water bowl for cleaning - she is one of many of my spiders who likes to use their water ...

Incy Wincy is a very shy spider - since going into his larger enclosure I pretty much never see him. He spends the majority of his time hiding under his bark hide, and when he is out and about he will scurry away as soon as he sees any movement. He is the complete opposite personality type to Big Spood. I do try to get photographs - these are usually blurry photos of a spider with the lights off so that I don't disturb him, and I often suspect that there are clearer photos of the Loch Ness moster than there are of my largest spider. But I still try: He's made quite an impressive canyon in his enclosure, having dug right down to the bottom of the plastic. I am sure that he's trying to make a break for freedom, as he likes to pile the excess dirt up at the sides, almost like a step ladder out of his enclosure... Big Spood does the same thing, actually, so maybe they're conspiring to escape...? I've managed to get some photos of him while he's chilling in hi...

Well, that is clear as day! I was casually doing my spood spritz - opening each cage, checking the spoods were alive, taking note of their molt state, etc, when Big Spood too a special dislike to my interference... In not so many words, she told me to Fuck off! Obviously, I closed the lid and left her alone - this is a spood who does not want company right now.

I finally got a video of the Happy Dance!! I had thrown a locust into the enclosure, and I hung around for a little while to see if she would do it (as I usually do) but there seemed to be no sign and I had all but given up. I went to feed another spood, and when I came back, she was doing this: This dance is often seen in Big Spoods species, although a lot of other species do it too. They are essentially spinning in circles, laying a web - a feeding mat - underneath them as they do so. I've read a number of theories as to why they do the "happy dance" when they feed, but there is no definitive answer. Some of the most popular theories include: Threat detection Liquidising and slurping a critter takes a long time, and during that time, they are vulnerable if sitting out in the open. By laying a web underneath themselves they are better able to detect approaching predators. Vibrations from predator movement are more easily transmitted through the web silk, in the sam...

So as of writing, my scorpion - now named Diablo - has been home for one night. Obviously, having scrambled to get an enclosure together for him, his housing situation is less than ideal. His roaming space needs to be about 12 inches by 12 inches, and he really needs a substrate deep enough to dig into. I get this, so the first thing I did once he was settled into his temporary accomodation was to order him an enclosure that was much larger. I've also ordered him a water bowl, better substrate, feeding tongs, and a thermometer/hygrometer to keep a better eye on his environment. I spent about £51 in doing so. (I could have got it for £35 plus postage from TSS, if only their earliest delivery date wasn't in 7 days time!) But really? Did he really have to circle his enclosure *all night*, tapping on the plastic as if trying to find the weak spot? I barely slept as I was hugely anxious that he would escape! And then his tapping intrigued the cat who spent part of the night tr...

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...

The Spooder Prince is giving me cause for concern. Much like Winnie when she first arrived, he is not eating. He hasn't eaten since he arrived about three weeks ago. He's definitely active enough, wandering around his enclosure, and being mostly happy to be handled, but no matter what I do he just won't eat. The first thing I tried was moving him into a smaller container so that he didn't lose his prey in the enclosure - after all, that worked for Winnie. But he just sits there looking at it. Then I tried changing up the types of prey I offered him. When he's not running away from fruit flies then he's letting them walk all over his abdomen, When confronted with a mealworm, he bats it on the head as if to get it away from him. I haven't had any success in getting him to eat green bottles either, though that may be more to do with the fact that I can't get them to pupate successfully. I really hope he eats soon, because I am very worried right now...