Recent content by Tortoise Tom

This guy usually spends time huddled under its bark. I didn't realize how much it had grown until I came in late one night and saw this: I've got a nano tall ready and waiting for this little beauty.

I've got 180 GBB slings. All 3rd or fourth installs now. Where are you? I'm in SoCal.

I have not observed this behavior in any of my other Brachypelma including vagans, albiceps, hamorii, smithii, albopilosum, or boehmei. Yes, they do climb around sometimes, but the auratum alone are almost always up on the decorations or the walls. I've tried experimenting with wetter or drier...

My two B. auratum tend to stay off the substrate and climb around the top a lot. I've not found much about the natural history of this species, but I wonder if they are more arboreal than some of the other tarantulas in this genus. Even if not technically "arboreal", maybe they simply seek...

Yes. Yes I am. Flying two juvenile male Harris' Hawks right now, and getting my female redtail ready for hunting season as we speak.

What size sling and what size prey?

My female GBB just produced 182 slings. I just fed them all for the first time yesterday. The feeding response at that size and age is amazing! I've been trying to learn how best to ship them out, and your video was helpful. I have also received tiny slings in those same type of vials, but...

These are green bottle blue tarantulas. Chromatopelma cyanopubescens. Both sexes are gorgeous from the time they are babies until they die of old age. Great eaters. Easy keepers. Heavy webbers. One of my favorites.

Indoors in summer the ants are looking for water and somewhere to escape the heat. Terro ant baits work great. The hard part is you have to wait for an invasion, or make one by leaving some food out on the floor, and then put the bait station in their path and leave it alone. As hard as it is...

Don't! It won't work anyway. Believe me, I'm no hippy, but spreading toxic pesticides all over your place simply doesn't work and does a lot of harm. The ants are underground, so the vast majority of them won't be reached, and the ****roaches will come right back as soon as the toxicity level...

I took some close ups tonight. I timed how long it takes me to do the feeding and watering. About 1:30 for every four cups. That will be about an hour and ten minutes. Not as bad as I thought.

In the time lapse segment you were dumping a baggie into the small tub. What was in the baggie, and how were you getting the food into each cup? Thanks for the videos. How will I know when they are ready? Judging by their feeding reactions today, they seem pretty ready now!

So I've begun the long process of feeding all these little beauties in their little individual cups. First: HOLY BATSH*T ROBIN!!! Every single one of them ran over, all the way across the enclosure in some cases, and snatched up their first roach as if they've been doing it their whole lives...

Id like to sell them all, but I have to admit, I'm pretty ignorant about how to pack and ship them. I've certainly received a bunch of them, but I'm a bit nervous to try it without some supervision and guidance from someone who knows what they are doing. I pack and ship tortoises all the time...

Yes! I practically did NOTHING. Wait... I actually did nothing. The spiders did all the work and that male is still snatching food as if his days are not numbered. Mom is eating good too!