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The Last Time

I sold another of my pets today, this time Rorschach my male spider-morph ball python. He's been mine for almost 5 years now. I had another big cry this afternoon, like I did selling my tarantula. The emotional tole this is taking on me is almost more than I can bare with everything else going on in my life right now.

My van suddenly decided to stall and then refused to start back up today. So now it's sitting in my parents' driveway and I have to get it towed to a garage to find out what's wrong. Fingers crossed it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg...

I really don't have the energy to deal with car troubles right now, on top of my student loan problems and classes starting next week, and moving and trying to find a home for the rest of my pets... When it rains it pours... Cheers...

Those Legs

It's rather ironic that yesterday was the first day I went out with bare legs, because this morning I woke up to 2cm of snow outside. Mother Nature, what are you doing?! Bring back the Spring!

I got a nice clear shot of my tarantula Nyx, a mature male Nhandu coloratovillosus next to my hand through its tank glass. You can really see how big and gorgeous he is. With legs like that, what's not to like? ;)


Now I've got the tanks of my three mature male tarantulas in the living room, so I can keep an eye on them. My one old man below, Pumpkin the Pamphobeteus sp. platyomma, is a year past his ultimate molt stage and hasn't got long to go so I want to make certain I know when he finally passes.

It may seem silly to so fixate on something like tarantulas but I've been raising these guys from tiny spiderlings. They've been in my care for five years. You invest that time and energy and care into something and you can't help but become attached to them. They're truly fascinating and I feel privileged to have such amazing creatures in my home. Cheers!

Growing

One of my Grammostola rosea tarantulas molted yesterday and I was lucky enough to witness it. The last few times my tarantulas molted, I had to leave for class or work and missed the most interesting aspect of it. This time around I got some great photos.



Tarantulas and all other invertebrates who molt to grow don't gain their regular colouration until after their new exoskeleton expands and hardens. That's why this spider appears to be so different in colour from the exoskeleton from which it pulls itself.


Even its fangs are soft and white, and it's extremely vulnerable at this stage until its exoskeleton does harden again. In the last photo, its completely free from the exuvia, and stretching its legs. Ah the wonders of nature! Cheers!

Nyx

I found one of my tarantulas flipped over on its back this morning, as I was on my way to school. From experience I knew this meant it was going to molt, and grow.



By the time I got home it had molted and mostly regained its colouration (many invertebrates are pale and milky in colour after a molt, much like an albino, until their exoskeletons finish expanding and hardening).



As you can see, Nyx has reached somewhere around 4 1/2" to 5" in legspan, depending on how far he stretches out his legs. I say 'he' tentatively, but I am mostly certain I am now in possession of another mature male.



This tarantula is 4 years and 10 months old. I raised it up from an itty witty little thing. It's amazing that this palm-sized creature used to be the size of my pinky finger nail. Nature's magic! Cheers!

Death's Display

I've been really occupied with school and family life lately and blogging has just slipped my mind. Today I'm sharing a slightly morbid photo, a shot of one of my deceased tarantulas. The reason I share this is because I am planning on displaying him in a shadow box, so I can continue to enjoy his beauty. To point out that even death can be beautiful, in its own way.



I found him just in time, so that I could pose him attractively. If you'll notice, one of his legs is missing. When I made my big move from Ottawa back to my hometown, his little foot became pinched and when he molted (the process by which spiders grow) he dropped the damaged leg and carried on perfectly. Spiders are amazingly hardy and adaptable. I had this little fellow - a male named Legs - for over 4 years. For a male of his species, that's quite a long life. It also explains why he looks a little haggard, he was an old man! It makes me sad that he died, but I'm also glad I can continue to admire him this way. Cheers!

Sunday Sunshine Dog Walk

I went to my parents' for Sunday brunch, and it was such a gorgeous day that my mother and I went for an extended dog walk with Scamp. Lake Nipissing has been frozen long enough that we can walk out on it no problem, and Scampy likes following the snowmobile trails.

Spoiled pooch got carried back to shore when he decided his little paws were momentarily cold. I think he just pretends so he can be carried, because he was perfectly fine with continuing our walk once my mother put him down again.

We finally made our way back to their little cabin home, and played an epic game of Scrabble. We both used all our tiles and finished with hearty scores! Definitely a nice Sunday. Cheers!

A kitty, a vintage dress and a tarantula, oh my!

I woke naturally early and rested this morning, which was really great. The first few hours of my morning were spent drinking coffee and reading blogs, which was nice. Then I got a solid chunk of homework done before going to supper at my parents'. I've been doing really well this semester, keeping well ahead of due dates and handing in assignments weeks before they need to be done. It's really liberating and lets me relax much more easily.



My cat Caramel seems to think he is helping me by laying on my book. His handsome catness notwithstanding, I did manage to finish an assignment I'd really wanted to complete this weekend so I'm very happy about that.



I have a strange fixation with my cat's nose close up. It's just so gosh darned adorable, and I love it when he sniffs at my eyes and I get a close up view of his sniffer. The new camera I just purchased myself is great, but I really need to learn all its details so I can take full advantage of it - and not just take weird closeups of my cat's nose!

This is far from being a great photo of myself or my outfit but I haven't worn this dress in over a year, since the zipper broke. My mother replaced the zip for me, but I discovered upon wearing it that the hem was coming undone - hence the weird hemline - and then I jabbed a hole through the fabric with my thumb. Oops! Both those things will be easy to mend at least.


This is Pumpkin, my mature male Pamphobeteus sp. platyomma. He's almost 5 years old now, but he hasn't much longer to go. Eight months ago he achieved his ultimate molt and reached sexual maturity. Male spiders very rarely survive past this molt since they grow large bulbs at the ends of their pedipals that impeed any further possible molts.



Now he's completely stopped eating, which is why his abdomen is so small. That compounded with his excessive silk production to create his elaborate sperm web, and he's exhausted most of his energy. I don't expect he'll survive more than another month. I've watched him grow from a wee thing, barely an inch in size and now he's this big seven inch fella. I'll be sad to see him go... Goodnight <3

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