Might fuck around and go to a herp show this weekend to take a peek at their invert selection
That and I'm also going to poke some holes in the sides of a pair of old 2.5gal acrylic Betta tanks that my partner gave me, to attempt to turn them into isopod terraria. Planning on making one extra heavy on the holes for compatibility with a low-humidity species like Porcellio ornatus, and then probably tailoring the other tank to a high-humidity species like Cubaris murina
'pods are also decent money, and great gifts for any reptile keepers you know.
Looks like tomorrow is gonna be a full on spode day. I've got 6 in the ship to rehome in larger enclosures, plus 6 of my own, as well as collecting molts.
It's gonna be a long while before my colony of the powder blues are ready for any kind of harvesting, but at least they seem to have been in pretty good health. Absolutely shredded some calcium supplement drops I popped in the tank last week, too
All three of those drops used to be the size of the white drop! Just, whatever nutritional additive Smug-bug dot com used in her "flavor" drops made them softer than the pure white drop and they absolutely shredded the brown "flavor" (moringa or kelp powder, I think?) in the span of the weekend
So I finally got some time to sit down and snap a few of my collection
This one I got from Petsmart while the wife was shopping for stuff. I couldn't confidently identify them in the store, so I just had to take them home. After a molt, the banding on the legs is much more pronounced, and with what internet sleuthing I could do, I'm thinking either a Brachypelma smithi or a Brachypelma hamorii. The banding looks wrong for a B. auratum, plus the coloration seems far lighter, though that could admittedly just be an age or time from molt thing. So less I have narrowed what they could be, and more I have expanded what they couldn't be.
Hapolopus sp. Colombia. A favorite of keepers, and for good reason. They look great as slings, and only improve with age. Once those hairs get longer, the orange almost seems to multiply, helping to contrast with the black striping. This lil guy just got rehomed and stayed out long enough for this picture. When I checked this morning, they'd immediately made a burrow and walled themselves in.
A "freshly" molted Davus pentaloris. I say 'freshly', as they molted about four days ago. However, I don't mess with them until they've comfortably moved away from the molt (The few times I've pulled the molt out with spodes sitting nearby, they've passed within two days. A lesson learned hard), which is why you can see it in the background. The legs take on a velvety look and the carapace is a deep orange, which looks surreal.
Ya'll, I have waited months. MONTHS. For this elusive spode to stay out long enough for a picture. The Psalmopoeus irminia is content to spend their time tucked away from the world, making photographing them in an reasonably clear way difficult. I was hoping I could get one closer to molt, as the red is incredibly rich at that point, like a blazing sunset. However, they've waited long enough that it has started to fade to the more typical orange peel color. Nevertheless, they still look snazzy.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
It was too hot to work outside yesterday so I finally did some rehoming I've been procrastinating on. One I wasn't worried about (A. genic (Brazilian, terrestrial, not too flighty)) and 2 I kind of was (O. sp "Rufus" (Indonesian, arboreal, fast) and C. lividus (Thai, fossorial, fast, infamously bad tempered)). In the end they all behaved themselves and it was really easy. Genic I just poked with a paintbrush until it walked out of its old pot into its new one. Rufus I managed to lift its whole web tube out with tweezers and put it into its new pot, and it only did a few bolty laps when I took the webbing out before hiding.
Lividus was trickier because as soon as I do anything it hides at the far end of its burrow, so I had to dig it out. But the substrate was compact enough that once I'd dug the edges loose I could lift the whole thing out in one block and put it upside-down in the new enclosure, whereupon I could see the T scrunched up in the tightest little "leave me alone" ball at the end of its tunnel. I gave it one little nudge and it bolted so fast into the new starter burrow I'd made that I didn't even see it move.
The enclosure it's in now is way bigger than it needs but that means I should only have to re-home it once more ever again. And it has loads of substrate relative to its body size right now so it can dig a nice deep burrow. Its old one went down to the bottom of the pot and all the way along to the opposite corner. I'm thinking of trying to get a custom made enclosure for its adult home, something like a metre deep, so it can dig to its heart's content.
Well. This little cute one explains why parts of my moms vegetable garden has been doing so poorly for the last two years.
It's a Summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitiale aka European june beetle). It's larvae spend their two years as voracious vegetable root munching machines, and they love eating on the roots of potatos and pulses in particular.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Ya'll, I have waited months. MONTHS. For this elusive spode to stay out long enough for a picture. The Psalmopoeus irminia is content to spend their time tucked away from the world, making photographing them in an reasonably clear way difficult. I was hoping I could get one closer to molt, as the red is incredibly rich at that point, like a blazing sunset. However, they've waited long enough that it has started to fade to the more typical orange peel color. Nevertheless, they still look snazzy.
One of the reasons I got a P. cambridgei instead of a P. irminia is because I've heard irminia tends to be really shy and cambridgei are maybe a bit less so. But my cambridgei has been having a bit of an identity crisis, and its most recent molt kind of removed all doubt that I had in fact been sent an irminia.
Oh well. Guess now I just have to order another cambridgei.
Yeah, this irminia was basically impossible to ever see until I moved them to the closet. Now they're out, but immediately hide if I move the enclosure.
If you want a showboat, my pulcher is constantly visible and very floof
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited July 2022
Strangely enough this cambridgeiirminia is out a lot, I see it pretty often. Hopefully it will maintain that habit as it gets bigger. My P. reduncus is the shy one.
This was found in the field next to my house. I wonder how many amazing fossils I've skillfully dug around when gardening.
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Leave 'em there, they provide vital fossilized nitrogen.
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
This was found in the field next to my house. I wonder how many amazing fossils I've skillfully dug around when gardening.
Any idea what fossilized fish it is?
A Pachycormus, a type of fish during the Jurassic era that looked like tuna, but with an armored head and serrated fins.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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valhalla13013 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered Userregular
I was just coming to post pachycormus, because I just was recommended an article by FB
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Well. This little cute one explains why parts of my moms vegetable garden has been doing so poorly for the last two years.
It's a Summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitiale aka European june beetle). It's larvae spend their two years as voracious vegetable root munching machines, and they love eating on the roots of potatos and pulses in particular.
while i'm sorry for your legumy losses, those are really cool beetles. Strong as little oxes! As a kid I used to fly them on ultrathin fishing string. They didn't really seem to mind as long as you let them land and catch a rest when they wanted to. Oh and of course they got released after minute or 10.
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valhalla13013 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered Userregular
A month a half of "we are catching up on back order!" form emails and then radio silence. Shoot an email out on Monday. No response. Dig through to find the name of who they merged with. No website. But they have a physical store so I call. Not accepting calls. Have to shoot a fb message and waiting for a response.
four new species of isopods came in yesterday, photos to come along soon:
- Armadillidium vulgare, "St. Lucia" locale (common roly-poly sourced from an island in the Caribbean, variety of colors, often with a rich metallic undertone)
- Armadillidium c.f. espanyoli, "Marbelized" (pattern that looks either like marble stone or s'more depending on how hungry I am, also easily the smallest Armadillidium species I've ever seen)
- Cubaris murina, "Papaya" morph (a kind of guava-salmon toned albino, probably the easiest Cubaris to keep and breed)
- Porcellio ornatus, "Southern yellow-dot" locale (one of the hardiest and most active of the Spanish giants, and also the cheapest to buy)
one weird incident with a cup of rare orange springtails I ordered alongside, but I'm trying to resolve that with the seller so I'm not gonna grumble about specifics yet
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I got some (bog standard) springtails to act as clean up crew in some of my T enclosures and they are surprisingly entertaining in their own right. I spend quite a bit of time watching them run around their tub eating mouldy bits of leftovers from my cricket tank. And it's always delightful when I take out one of my T's water dishes to refill it and there's a bunch of springtails hanging out underneath. Weird cute little white specks.
Maybe when my Ts get big enough to need large tanks I'll pick up some isopods as well.
full on terrarium ecosystems are awesome
probably not suitable for keeping big spiders but ecosystem in a bottle type arrangements where you can seal it off and it self-regulates for a very long time with just the resources and moisture in the enclosure and energy that can get through the glass are fascinating
Posts
That and I'm also going to poke some holes in the sides of a pair of old 2.5gal acrylic Betta tanks that my partner gave me, to attempt to turn them into isopod terraria. Planning on making one extra heavy on the holes for compatibility with a low-humidity species like Porcellio ornatus, and then probably tailoring the other tank to a high-humidity species like Cubaris murina
Looks like tomorrow is gonna be a full on spode day. I've got 6 in the ship to rehome in larger enclosures, plus 6 of my own, as well as collecting molts.
All three of those drops used to be the size of the white drop! Just, whatever nutritional additive Smug-bug dot com used in her "flavor" drops made them softer than the pure white drop and they absolutely shredded the brown "flavor" (moringa or kelp powder, I think?) in the span of the weekend
This one I got from Petsmart while the wife was shopping for stuff. I couldn't confidently identify them in the store, so I just had to take them home. After a molt, the banding on the legs is much more pronounced, and with what internet sleuthing I could do, I'm thinking either a Brachypelma smithi or a Brachypelma hamorii. The banding looks wrong for a B. auratum, plus the coloration seems far lighter, though that could admittedly just be an age or time from molt thing. So less I have narrowed what they could be, and more I have expanded what they couldn't be.
Hapolopus sp. Colombia. A favorite of keepers, and for good reason. They look great as slings, and only improve with age. Once those hairs get longer, the orange almost seems to multiply, helping to contrast with the black striping. This lil guy just got rehomed and stayed out long enough for this picture. When I checked this morning, they'd immediately made a burrow and walled themselves in.
A "freshly" molted Davus pentaloris. I say 'freshly', as they molted about four days ago. However, I don't mess with them until they've comfortably moved away from the molt (The few times I've pulled the molt out with spodes sitting nearby, they've passed within two days. A lesson learned hard), which is why you can see it in the background. The legs take on a velvety look and the carapace is a deep orange, which looks surreal.
Ya'll, I have waited months. MONTHS. For this elusive spode to stay out long enough for a picture. The Psalmopoeus irminia is content to spend their time tucked away from the world, making photographing them in an reasonably clear way difficult. I was hoping I could get one closer to molt, as the red is incredibly rich at that point, like a blazing sunset. However, they've waited long enough that it has started to fade to the more typical orange peel color. Nevertheless, they still look snazzy.
Lividus was trickier because as soon as I do anything it hides at the far end of its burrow, so I had to dig it out. But the substrate was compact enough that once I'd dug the edges loose I could lift the whole thing out in one block and put it upside-down in the new enclosure, whereupon I could see the T scrunched up in the tightest little "leave me alone" ball at the end of its tunnel. I gave it one little nudge and it bolted so fast into the new starter burrow I'd made that I didn't even see it move.
The enclosure it's in now is way bigger than it needs but that means I should only have to re-home it once more ever again. And it has loads of substrate relative to its body size right now so it can dig a nice deep burrow. Its old one went down to the bottom of the pot and all the way along to the opposite corner. I'm thinking of trying to get a custom made enclosure for its adult home, something like a metre deep, so it can dig to its heart's content.
It's a Summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitiale aka European june beetle). It's larvae spend their two years as voracious vegetable root munching machines, and they love eating on the roots of potatos and pulses in particular.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
One of the reasons I got a P. cambridgei instead of a P. irminia is because I've heard irminia tends to be really shy and cambridgei are maybe a bit less so. But my cambridgei has been having a bit of an identity crisis, and its most recent molt kind of removed all doubt that I had in fact been sent an irminia.
Oh well. Guess now I just have to order another cambridgei.
If you want a showboat, my pulcher is constantly visible and very floof
Imagine how bad that cave smells.
That's the smell of money once you start selling guano based fertilizer.
Horrible horrible money.
batsaren'tbugs.jpg
https://giphy.com/gifs/baseball-bat-bugs-bunny-xUA7be0s1t2nTT56rS
This was found in the field next to my house. I wonder how many amazing fossils I've skillfully dug around when gardening.
Any idea what fossilized fish it is?
Fossilized Billy Bass?
The armored plates make me think "coelacanth".
But then, pretty much every fish fossil makes me the coelacanth, because coelacanth's are cool.
A Pachycormus, a type of fish during the Jurassic era that looked like tuna, but with an armored head and serrated fins.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
while i'm sorry for your legumy losses, those are really cool beetles. Strong as little oxes! As a kid I used to fly them on ultrathin fishing string. They didn't really seem to mind as long as you let them land and catch a rest when they wanted to. Oh and of course they got released after minute or 10.
Somehow my eyes completely skimmed over that. Sorry
I just want my spodes.
Thank you for that presentation, Dr Calvin
I don't know why, but that somehow lowers my confidence.
- Armadillidium vulgare, "St. Lucia" locale (common roly-poly sourced from an island in the Caribbean, variety of colors, often with a rich metallic undertone)
- Armadillidium c.f. espanyoli, "Marbelized" (pattern that looks either like marble stone or s'more depending on how hungry I am, also easily the smallest Armadillidium species I've ever seen)
- Cubaris murina, "Papaya" morph (a kind of guava-salmon toned albino, probably the easiest Cubaris to keep and breed)
- Porcellio ornatus, "Southern yellow-dot" locale (one of the hardiest and most active of the Spanish giants, and also the cheapest to buy)
one weird incident with a cup of rare orange springtails I ordered alongside, but I'm trying to resolve that with the seller so I'm not gonna grumble about specifics yet
Maybe when my Ts get big enough to need large tanks I'll pick up some isopods as well.
probably not suitable for keeping big spiders but ecosystem in a bottle type arrangements where you can seal it off and it self-regulates for a very long time with just the resources and moisture in the enclosure and energy that can get through the glass are fascinating
There is 23 there, as they were out of some and I ended up substituting for less total spodes, but still. That's 8 for the store and 15 for me.