OMG I kind of "rescued" a tarantula-- help!

[anji1971]

It's possible that you're the devil reincarnated, too, you nasty girl!!!
But I must admit, it sure sounds like fun working where you do, so long as one doesn't make the mistake of telling you what they're fears are........

[Lori P]

I noticed this morning that the tarantula has a pretty bronze color to her now that she's shed. It's on her back. Does this mean she might be a he, you think?? (I was thinking the boys seem to be more brightly colored)





Anyway, she/he is actually quite pretty with this new fashion look. :-) Her toes are almost blue-ish.

[drache]

she is pretty
I can see that bluish greenish tint on her toes too

[Lori P]

OMG!!!! CHECK IT OUT!! I'm feeding the snakes and I said to myself, "Self, I wonder if Tatiana will eat a frozen/thawed pinky??" And myself said back, "Well, Lori, try it..." And I did...

And she IS!!!!



I held it on loooong tongs ('cause I'm not reaching in there quite yet) and jiggled it... she walked over and kind of "felt it" with her front leg things... and then I accidentally dropped it and she grabbed it right in. TOO COOL!!!! This is just-- to cool!! LOL

[drache]

wow!!!
how big is she?
now I'm wanting to try it with Marieke
she's not all that interested in the lobster roaches, but I haven't tried the turks on her yet - Ronnie the frog really likes those

[GarterGuy]

Hey, Tatiana is looking really nice after her molt....oh and I do mean her. From the last pic you had with her and the pink, you can tell it's a female. There are no papal bulbs and no tibial hooks on the front pair of legs...tell tale signs of a male. That's great that she took the pink too. A lot of the time, T's will eat almost anything after a molt. My girl Pink is usually kind of picky, but after she molts, she'll eat anything that moves. Good to see she's doing so well for you.

[Lori P]

Thanks Roy!! She was busy munching away when I left home. I hope I wasn't under-feeding her after her molt-- I only gave her 4 crickets last week. I hope she wasn't sitting there hungry!!!! But, I guess today is a good feast for her!!

When should I offer her feed again, do you think? I guess we'll see how much of the pinky she finishes...

Rhea, um, I don't know how big she is... she could fit in the palm of my hand with her legs pulled up, but if they were stretched out she would go a little beyond the palm, I think...

[GarterGuy]

After they molt, T's are usually famished. They also usually need a period of time to "harden up" after a molt too....and won't feed for the first couple of days to a week after. As long as she doesn't get too cool, feed her pretty much as much as she'll eat. The pinky will be quite a meal for her, so she'd be good for the week, but I'd try again this weekend with some crickets again. If you look at the size of her abdomen towards her cephalothorax (the front part with the legs), her abdomen should be about twice as large as the cephalothorax for a female. This isn't going to happen over night, but it's pretty much an end point to shoot for. At that point she'll be well fed and can settle down into a routine feeding schedule. After this weekend, I'd probably try offerning her food every three days or so. T's are usually pretty good about not overeating in my experiance.

[Lori P]

Thanks Roy!! Can you tell in the pics if she looks ok or looks thin?? I need to go over to the arachnoboards, I think, and see if I can see pics of a thin one to compare.

Jamie still doesn't know she's there-- LOL!!!! And she's right on my bedroom dresser, next to Esme's tank. We're taking bets at the office as to how long before he finally notices!!!

[Lori P]

She ate it ALL!!!!! LOL She was still working on a tiny bit when I got home... and I can actually see that her abdomen is more rounded. :-)