Metal Pets: The Tarantulas

I have not done one of these in a very long time (looks like damn near 10 years exactly).  And well, I did not have time today to do a full album review and wanted to keep my streak alive, so this is a pretty quick and easy way to get a post in.

What could be more metal than owning a bunch of tarantulas?  For years I have wanted to get one, but just never really got around to pulling the trigger.  I have done a massive amount of research leading up to it and last fall I found a Craigslist ad by a seller in Lincoln who had a bunch of tarantulas for sale.  One in particular caught my eye as a very good introductory species:

This is a chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, commonly called the green bottle blue tarantula.  This was my first one.  He has been named Cuddles.  This is a pretty easy introductory species and I kind of wanted a male, in case I decided tarantula-keeping was not for me, it would not be a real long-term commitment as males only live three to four years.  Well, I got attached to him quickly and now I am dreading the day I lose him.  He just finished molting today for the second time since I got him.  I am looking forward to seeing him out and about again in a day or so.

I decided I wanted to expand my tarantula population soon after the first molt.  I had a couple of near-buys over the next several months, but for whatever reason, it just never quite worked out.  Until just recently.

A few weeks ago, I added this very young grammostola pulchra, commonly referred to as a Brazilian black tarantula.  I picked it up from the same seller as Cuddles, who have come to refer to as My Spider Guy.  I like this one a lot because it has been very active, wandering around its enclosure.  I once saw it carrying a chunk of substrate around in its mouth.  It is a voracious eater as well.  About two weeks ago it buried itself in its substrate under a leaf and has not been seen since.  Hopefully he will molt soon and come back out.  This will eventually be the largest of the tarantulas I currently have.

Just days after I purchased the above tarantula, I received this very young brachypelma emilia or Mexican redleg tarantula as part of an online order I placed with a friend.  I liked the species a lot and nearly acquired an adult a few months ago, but the deal fell through.  This one molted within a week of me purchasing it, which is good because now it is finally starting to eat.  So far it does not have a real strong food reaction but it stays out almost all the time instead of hiding.  Hopefully it will get a little more reliable about eating soon.  This picture was taken just after its molt.

This is an adult female ceratogyrus marshalli or straight-horned baboon tarantula.  This was my first Old World species, which are generally for a little more advanced keepers as they tend to be faster, more defensive and have more potent venom.  This is also my first burrowing species, but she tends to stay out of her burrows most of the time.  I picked her up from another seller last weekend and she has quickly become a favorite.  I just love the little horn she has in the middle of her carapace.

I had to use the previous owner's picture to show off my augacephalus ezendami or Mozambique baboon tarantula.  I bought it from My Spider Guy last weekend at the same time as the above tarantula.  Unfortunately I have yet to actually see it in full since it has burrowed beneath its hide.  My Spider Guy said it had been in pre-molt for some time, I am guessing its molt will be occurring very soon.  I hope so, because I would love to see it.  So far I have only gotten very brief glimpses of its legs in its hide.  Thursday its legs were sticking out just a little bit when I walked in the room, but it quickly moved all the way back in the hide.  This is another Old World species.

The tarantulas have become my recent obsession.  I am not sure if I will add any more right away, but I feel like I have a decent start and some diversity with ages and species.  I only know the genders of two of the tarantulas, the others are too young to tell yet.  Tomorrow I will be back to a regular metal post.