Skin Crawling

Hey ya'll 

The sight of large, hairy, eight legged creatures often makes most people's skin crawl! But for some of us, there is nothing more fascinating and riveting than watching one of our Arachnid friends crawl out of their skins! Especially when said arachnid is a tarantula! A tarantula molting is a sign that its about to get a bit bigger, and I'm sure all tarantula enthusiasts will agree with me when I say that it is always an exciting moment to know that your little baby is on its way to becoming a majestic and iconic creature!!! Anyway, as I am well aware, not many people share that passion and some who are somewhat interested, may not be ready to actually come face to face with the real thing and so, as always, I feel a need to make this blog a "safe" place where some of the more daring entomophobes/arachnophobes can come by and slowly explore these rather beautiful aspects of their fears. I mean a tarantula, when one thinks about it, is often a ferocious and rather angry looking creature. But when it is molting, it seemingly transforms into a creature quite different from its usual self. Soft, and pink, and vulnerable. Kind of like a baby!

I would also like to give my dearest sister credit for overcoming her fears and witnessing the event live when it happened! You go girl! I suppose prolonged exposure (however indirect) to me and my lifestyle gradually removes all fear of invertebrates from most people ^^

Cheers,
Cyren.

Hibernation in Tarantulas

Hey ya'll

I've been noticing some weird behavior with our spiders lately and that is a sudden increase in lethargic behavior. Normally this wouldn't be so alarming with tarantulas but it has gone on for several months now. They appear to exhibit all signs of pre-molting behavior (not eating, curling up in the corner etc.) but nothing, not even a quick misting of the cage seems to prompt any molt whatsoever. What's even more alarming is that this behavior seems to be afflicting only two out of my three spiders, the Honduran Curly Hair and the Mexican Red-Knee. My first spider, Keric (Grammastolosa rosea) appears to be in extremely good condition, is eating on a regular basis and has molted once in the same time it has been since the other two exhibited such behavior. Indeed, though it started off as one of the smaller in size, it has quickly grown to surpass even the Honduran Curly Hair (which is often touted by enthusiasts as a "fast-growing" species). Needless to say, this has gotten my quite worried although, a "talk" with some online friends of mine allayed my fears somewhat by offering the possibility that they may

1. Be going through a period of fasting, a behavior that is typical to most tarantula species
2. In a state of torpor (temporary hibernation) due to the low temperature of my room. 

I have since moved the spiders out and into a warmer location so I suppose only time will tell how they are really doing. In the meantime, a more recent measurement of Keric's body length has revealed her/him to be almost an inch long! Although, quite regrettably, she/he seems to be loosing much of that brilliant red coloration she/she had as a baby. This, however, I'm taking as a sign that Keric is in fact a female. (females tend to be duller in color compared to males). 

In the meantime, I'm still looking for possibly explanations regarding my other two babies' strange behavior. Just some information on each, the Mexican Red-Knee is about 1cm in length, while the Honduran Curly Hair is just a little above half an inch. Once again, I put my faith in the intellectual capabilities of the online community. Hope to hear from you soon!

Cheers,
Cyren