Arachne grew again (WARNING: large spider pics)

[kaninchen]

it is similar to a snake shedding. it's called molting and it's really quite interesting! small spiders (often called true spiders to distinguish from tarantulas) will molt if they live long enough. but most true spiders are short lived species. as tarantulas have exoskeletons and fairly (it varies by species) lengthy lifespans, they have to break out of the old exoskeleton to grow. the hairs stay on the molt.  they even shed their fangs. it looks, often, like two identical spiders! one being a little bigger and brighter.

a major problem with handling tarantulas without a lot experience is the fragility of them. for all their strength and power, their abdominal walls are paper thin and a bad fall from even a small height can cause massive internal injury. as for why it can stress them, i think it's quite like what you said. it isn't natural or similar to natural. strange smelling, feeling. just disconcerting i imagine. though i had many I handled regularly. it varies by species and individual temperment.

[invaderhorizongreen]

lovely spider i love how she looks we are caring for our sisters till she tells us how to ship deady back to her. She loves to eat june bugs and spring peepers.

[kaoskat]

I need to get hubby to get her old skeleton out for me and then track down the box with all her old skeletons in it and take pics of them all lined up. Arachne grows in leaps and bounds! It's hard to imagine she ever fit in that old skeleton once she's out!

[kaninchen]

my erzebet was the same way. she was a t. blondi (goliath bird eater) and i had her since a spiderling. lining her molts up was amazing!

[Vintergatan]

Dawwww! I can't even imagine how awesome it must feel to follow through with a tarantula since it was a tiny little baby! Kaninchen, do you have a pic of her molts?

[kaoskat]

Yay! I got it! Resulted in her glaring at me once I was done but I don't think I disturbed her too much. She always glares at me. She was such a teeny little thing when I fist got her now she's pretty big! Hubby thought I was nuts picking her for my first but I fell in love with her sweet little face! He said she was too teeny and I might not be able to keep her alive, but she's definitely still alive!

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[xdartfrogx]

So she was about the size of a quarter to 50 cent piece range when you first got her? She has really grown! I remember my first tarantula as a kid, a red knee, and when it shed, I started crying because 'my spider is dead'. My Grandmother laughed and pulled the exo out. I was only five!

[xeevee]

wow, they are massive spiders.  I think owning a spider would be very interesting.  I don't think I could do it.  I'm not scared of spides per say, but I am not sure I actually want one as a pet.  You must have so many pets, Kaos

[kaoskat]

Yup she was about the size of a quarter. She was so teeny and cute! I didn't actually realize she'd shed so many times already until I pulled out her skeletons. It's kinda hard to remember her being so teeny. I'm so used to her being bigger. I can't wait until she gets to her full 11 inches! *hopes she makes it to her biggest size possible*

Not nearly as many as we used to and probably currently not really as many as it seems! LOL But I've had alot of pets in my life and alot of different sorts. We have 20 right now, 21 if you count my marimo. We have 4 dogs, 1 hamster, 1 Guinea Pig, 1 sugar glider, 1 squirrel, 2 doves, 1 fish, 3 turtles, 2 tarantulas, 1 cockroach, 3 cats, and 1 marimo.

[xeevee]

20!  Good lord.  I have had more animals than that, but most of them were chickens, so that doesn't count.    I love having animals around.  It's hard not having any at the moment.  I especially miss owning dogs. 

Also, I didn't even know you were allowed to own squirrels! Now I want one of them.  There are people who sell squirrels at the food market here, but they're almost definitely wild, and I doubt they'd make the best pets in the world.

[kaoskat]

They are not good pets and they aren't legal and I don't recommend them. Trouble is there is nothing to be done with this one as he can't be released and there's nowhere to send him. He was orphaned during hurricane Katrina. He was a bottle baby. He was released once but ended up right back here again a few days later after he got his leg broken. The animal control officer has him in our file as "being rehabilitated for release" with the understanding that he's not releaseable. For a squirrel though, Pocket is very well behaved. He's well passed his crazy teenage years (when most get too aggressive to stay pets). We had 3 others we raised later who were all successfully released. If Pocket were wild, he would have likely died several years ago. Most wild squirrels only survive a few years before they get too slow and make mistakes that get them killed. So in a way he's lucky I guess.

[xeevee]

Ahhh fair enough.  I did wildlife caring in Australia.  If an animal was not releasable it had to be euthanised unless there was some really good reason not to.  The only time I ever convinced them not to put down an animal I couldn't get fit for release was a magpie who was really good at feeding baby magpies.  It's nice that you have other options there.  I had a little possum once who had something wrong with her eyes.  I had her checked over and they gave the go ahead to release, so I soft released her and she hung around the house, so that was nice. 

[Midnight_Dream]

Thank you all for answering my questions. I would look the information up, but as part of my phobia I can't even look at a picture of a spider without freaking out. Needless to say, that is very annoying when I want to learn about the creature I fear even when I know there is no way the thing will pop out of the picture or something.

One of you mentioned(I forget who) that tarantulas are not "true" spiders and I was wondering what that means?

Also, how long do tarantulas live? From the way some of you talk it sounds like they can live at least five years or so. And does that just vary between species or....what?

Oh! And if any of you breed you tarantulas, are they like other spider in that after they mate the female kills and eats the male? If they do I cant imagine many people don't because those puppies are not cheap and it would just plain suck watching a boy you spent good money on get nommed by your female.....or maybe that is just my opinion.

[Gingerbread]

Tarantulas are a very primitive type of spider. 'True' spiders and 'primitive' spiders can be distinguished by a few different factors, such as fangs - tarantulas only have a very simple up-and-down strike action whereas most other spiders have a pincer action, tarantulas do not make webs or funnels as such, more a simple mat with sensor lines emanating from it, and there are a couple of other physiological differences too I believe.

Not all male spiders get eaten when mating - it's in the male spiders best interest for the male to get away and the females best interest to eat as soon as possible so it does happen, just not as often as people believe. I have supervised roughly 40 tarantula matings and I only twice lost a male to a female, one male ran underneath the female after he unhooked her and the second just wasn't quick enough. Most of the time the female won't immediately go for the male anyway, they will sit there for a while as the male makes his escape

[Vintergatan]

wow Kaos, I´m so impressed! By the molts and your animals! I also can't believe you have a Marimo as a pet! The project I work on with the Natural History Museum is trying to figure out why their numbers are declining in a local lake here