Tarantula Cribs

Getting schooled by tarantula kat in real time

She came in for ear pain.

Differential diagnosis was broad.

Turns out it was a Vietnamese yellow leg millipede, Alienostreptus bicoloripes. It was eating the detritus in there I think.

Fun fact, millipedes have two pairs of legs on most body segments and rely heavily on chemical defenses rather than biting.

Pretty standard Saturday.

One year ago today we opened these doors with a room full of animals and no real idea if anyone would walk in.

You walked in.

We’re celebrating with Spooky Sweet Spoods in the shop today. They breed jumping spiders and design their own 3D printed hides and ledges, so you can pick out a spood and the setup it actually wants to live in. Take five dollars off any enclosure when you grab a jumping spider with it.

Come hang out with us. Thank you for the first year.

This is a Theraphosa stirmi, the Burgundy Goliath Birdeater. Like many New World tarantulas, they can kick urticating hairs from their abdomen as a defense instead of relying on a bite. Those tiny hairs can get into your skin and cause some pretty intense irritation.

She also looks like she may be getting ready to molt. Tarantulas will sometimes rub hairs off around the area where they plan to molt, helping protect themselves while they’re vulnerable.

If you guys like this kind of stuff, let me know. I know we’re mainly a tarantula enclosure page, but between the animals, The Reptile Room, and me being a doctor, there’s a lot of cool biology to talk about.

Dope tarantulas in dope enclosures THIS SUNDAY at West Virginia Reptile Expo in Huntington, WV! I will have a booth set up there selling spiders, inverts, macrophotography, spider books, enclosures and merch.

Unfortunately the shirts I ordered 6 weeks ago that were supposed to be delivered on Sept 12th still have not shipped. So I won't have any shirts available for sale again. But I will have patches, stickers and temporary tattoos.