Lost my first tarantula.. :(

[Loafman]

I have had 9 T's now for nearly 2 years. One of them, acquired as a tiny sling at the BTS show in Coventry in May 2015 for £2, was a P.Cambridgei, which I called Crais.

He was fine the other day, wondering around his enclosure. He had grown so fast since I got him, well, compared to all my other T's, including my other P.Cambridgei, called Chiana, which is still tiny (about 2 inches) and I got her in Feb 2015! Crais had grown to around 5 inches in leg span, and was very attractive to look at, with orange stripes on his feet and a iridescent green carapace.

I just had a look for him as I hadn't seen him for a few days, which is unusual as he was very active, and I couldn't see him. I could see something hidden down the back corner of his enclosure, so I opened the enclosure and had a look and he had moulted. He had successfully finished the moult, but was curled up under the moult, and looked very shrivelled. I guess he had exhausted himself and didn't have enough left in the tank to get to his water bowl.

I'm absolutely gutted as I have never lost a T before.. On the off chance I have sat him at his water bowl, but there is no sign of life at all, I guess I'm just clutching at straws.

Sleep tight Crais.

 

[Loafman]

Here are a few pics of Crais taken a week before Christmas 2016. So long buddy x

 

[Loafman]

 

[Enn49]

I'm so sorry, he was such a beautiful boy

 

[Pasodama]

Such a beautiful T.
Can imagine how you must feel.
My condolences on your loss.
R.I.P. Crais

 

[Loafman]

Cheers guys.. I appreciate your kind messages.

I'd just made him a new bigger enclosure out of clear acrylic too, I was going to put the finishing touches to it tomorrow.. unbelievable timing.

I've got an early start in the morning but I'm not going to be able to sleep any time soon (it's just gone 1am here in the UK) so might as well put a DVD on.. goodnight all.

And goodnight Crais, gonna miss ya!

 

[Enn49]

Cheers guys.. I appreciate your kind messages.

I'd just made him a new bigger enclosure out of clear acrylic too, I was going to put the finishing touches to it tomorrow.. unbelievable timing.

I've got an early start in the morning but I'm not going to be able to sleep any time soon (it's just gone 1am here in the UK) so might as well put a DVD on.. goodnight all.

And goodnight Crais, gonna miss ya!

In a way it's good that you hadn't moved him because then there would have been the thought that the stress had killed him. Now you have time to make it really special for another occupant.

 

[MassExodus]

Aw, gorgeous boy. Shoulda got him some tarantula poon

 

[Loafman]

In a way it's good that you hadn't moved him because then there would have been the thought that the stress had killed him. Now you have time to make it really special for another occupant.

This is true, although he was at the point of needing a bigger enclosure, so I hope the delay wasn't part of the issue.

I am going to make a second identical enclosure and use them to house my 2 P.Metallica's, which are only around 2.5 inches across, but will soon grow to fit the space. I will of course need another T to fill the void left by Crais.. now what to get? Hmm..

 

[Loafman]

Aw, gorgeous boy. Shoulda got him some tarantula poon

I have what I believe to be a female P.Cambridgei too, I've had her even longer, but she never seems to eat or moult, and is only about 2 inches across. The reason I think she is a she is because of the exceptionally slow growth.. or there may just be something wrong with her..

To be honest I don't think Crais was quite mature yet, he was only about 5 inches across (I've heard they are mature at about 6-7 inches), so I hadn't even thought of introducing him to a female yet. Although maybe he was just on the small side for a male P.Cambridgei..

 

[Enn49]

This is true, although he was at the point of needing a bigger enclosure, so I hope the delay wasn't part of the issue.

I am going to make a second identical enclosure and use them to house my 2 P.Metallica's, which are only around 2.5 inches across, but will soon grow to fit the space. I will of course need another T to fill the void left by Crais.. now what to get? Hmm..

It wouldn't have affected him. I have a mature male T. gigas that I had intended moving to a larger container when he moulted and matured and I decided not to stress him by moving him and left him in the home he'd made his own, 9 months on he's doing fine.

I have what I believe to be a female P.Cambridgei too, I've had her even longer, but she never seems to eat or moult, and is only about 2 inches across. The reason I think she is a she is because of the exceptionally slow growth.. or there may just be something wrong with her..

To be honest I don't think Crais was quite mature yet, he was only about 5 inches across (I've heard they are mature at about 6-7 inches), so I hadn't even thought of introducing him to a female yet. Although maybe he was just on the small side for a male P.Cambridgei..

Females tend to be larger than males, in some cases quite a lot of difference. My mature male P. irminia is only around the 5" mark too. I've been caught out before by the small size that males mature at. I have 2 L. parahybanas that were bought at the same time and both the same size, one is now a mature male and nowhere near the 8-10" that they are supposed to reach whereas the other is barely 5" and hasn't moulted for 18 months so guessing female.

 

[Loafman]

I've decided to console myself by investing in some new T's. Obviously one T wouldn't be enough as Crais was quite a big boy, so I have ordered 3 more T's.. a juvi P.Regalis (I am a real Poki fan and love the fractal patterning on the regalis!) and two P.Murinus (RCF variety) because I love the colouring, and the aggressiveness too..
Hopefully they will arrive Friday.

 

[Enn49]

Well done. They won't replace Crais but new Ts always ease the pain a bit.

 

[Pasodama]

Great news on the trio you have ordered.
Don't forget to post pics after you get them.

 

[Loafman]

Well I finished off making Crais's new enclosure this evening.. I'm quite pleased with it, shame he never got to try it out. I will make another identical one and put my two P. Metallica's in them on Friday.
Then my two P. Murinus's can go in the P.Mets old enclosures..

 

[Loafman]

 

[Enn49]

That looks great, well done

 

[Loafman]

That looks great, well done

Nice enclosures

Thanks guys, I did my research and spent quite a bit of money buying all the tools, chemicals etc. that were required to do a proper job. I figure I'll get plenty of use out of the equipment I bought by making a lot more of them over time..

 

[Enn49]

Thanks guys, I did my research and spent quite a bit of money buying all the tools, chemicals etc. that were required to do a proper job. I figure I'll get plenty of use out of the equipment I bought by making a lot more of them over time..

You could make a few to sell, make a bit extra cash to spend on Ts

 

[Loafman]

I'd love to make them to sell, but to be honest, it takes a bloody age to make one, so I doubt it would be financially viable. I just love doing things like that for personal satisfaction.. cos I'm weird!

Firstly, I built a mitre block jig (to use as a square corner) out of 19mm thick MDF. This took about 3 hours. This is obviously reusable though (can be seen in the pics).

I then bought some 10mm thick perspex and some 5mm thick perspex (perspex is very expensive by the way) and measured it all by hand, then cut it all with a hand held circular saw using a special blade. The perspex cost about £55 (enough perspex to make two 20cm x 20cm x 30cm vivarium's the same as the one pictured). I think I may have a cheaper source for the perspex in the future though.

Then I sanded all the cut edges down with medium wet and dry paper, re-sanded all the edges with fine wet and dry. I then cleaned it all up with a special degreaser. And finally clamped the sections in position in the jig (one bit at a time) and chemically welded it all together.

Not including making the mitre block and buying the tools etc. (as they are all re usable) I reckon it cost about £30 and took about 3-4 hours to make just one of them! Mind you, it was the first of many, so maybe if I can get cheaper perspex and with a little more experience I can get the cost/time down to a reasonable level, so never say never. It wouldn't really be viable at the moment though, unless someone wanted to pay around £45-50 each for them, plus P+P! And you can get them a lot cheaper than that mass produced (although mine are of course hand made, so therefore infinitely better.. ).