against the flow

so i got it yesterday and it's so awesome. i've always been fascinated by arthropods since i was a kid. from crustaceans to insects to arachnids.. i love them all! it's just that now that someone actually offered a tarantula to me (no one really offered to sell those things to me, ever) and i had the means to buy it. i think i've found a new hobby.

so, before i bought it, i've been making preparations for it already. i cleaned out the old fish tank we have, i bought some substrate (coconut husk), i used an old flower pot for its lair, made a screen lid with the help of my do it yourself dad, and TRIED to buy live food for it. once i had all these, i was ready to take my spider in.

i placed it inside and it went straight to the water dish. i guess it was thirsty coz it immediately submerged the lower part of its head, where the fangs would be, in the water. it stood there for a few minutes before walking around a bit and finding shelter in the flower pot which was on its side. it moved around a bit inside for another few minutes. i left it alone and watched some TV. after a while, i checked on it again and saw that it was kind of dancing. it was making side to side movements with its abdomen and the little appendages on the and of its butt were fluttering a bit. it was making a web! unlike the "real" spiders, tarantulas make sheets of web on the ground. this is used as a surface to walk on or to make a enclosure for itself. IT IS SOOOO COOL. like National Geographic in my living room! haha. at first i couldnt see the silk web it was spinning, but now during the next day, the web is more visible. it's so cool, you wouldn't understand. haha.

anyway, i gotta prep. i'm driving my mom to the bank.

first day. no sign of activity. it just stayed inside the clay pot the whole day. it barely moved.

when darkness came to be, i snuck in to the dark living room with my cellphone illuminating the place subtly. then i saw that it was outside and perched on the branch that i placed there! COOL! movement! hahaha

i will try feeding it later. i might see something national geographic-y! 

i introduced the cricket into its enclosure last night since i knew that tarantulas are nocturnal hunters. there was no activity. lol.

upon waking up just now, i notice that it was outside of its comfort zone (the clay pot that's on its side. it's my man made "lair" so i took a closer inspection. it had a small ball of black stuff hanging onto its fangs and spun a thin layer of silk webbing around the area. it was feeding! too bad i wasn't  able to see him in action.

*insert national geographic theme music here* 

just now, it's webbing up another spot. it's beside the lair. it should be done by dawn. i wonder what that new spot is for?

my family plans to go to mindanao this month of april. we'll prolly leave for mindanao on the 14th. we plan to go to my lolo's birthday celebration in Bayugan, Agusan del sur and see the farm that my father recently acquired. 900,000 pesos on 6 acres of land and a house is NOT BAD. after which, we plan to go to siargao, bohol, and camiguin islands. beaches!

as a result, i've been lifting dumbells, doing push-ups, and crunches to get my body in tip-top shape for the beach.

i just want to be on the beach! 

it still hasn't fed since four days ago. i hope it won't starve itself. she's such a beautiful creature!

last night, well last morning actually, at around 1-2am, i checked on George/Georgia to see how it was doing. it's nocturnal, you know, so it's active when the lights are out. i saw it crawling about and it was a pretty sight. then an idea struck me. why not try to feed it now since it was awake? i've been trying to feed it by waking it up from sleep. baaaad.

i got to work, i took off the screen lid of the tank and threw in a superworm in front of it. as it was halfway into the substrate, George/Georgia got hold of the struggling worm but its struggles paid off. the worm got free! it dug into the substrate so fast. it was quite amazing yet frustrating on my part, seeing my spider was about to feed! i got another worm and crushed the head to reduce mobility and speed. also so it wouldn't burrow. this time, my spider didn't take notice of it so i nudged the worm a bit with a chopstick then BAM. it sank its fangs into the worm. IT WAS SO COOL.

because of these events i can therefore conclude that:

1. my tarantula is not yet scheduled for a molt

2. buying worms instead of crickets wasn't such a bat idea (crickets are better still, IMO)

3. arthropods rule. yeah, you heard me you pathetic vertebrate, you.

lol 

i got all my stuff from the UST condo. ALL of it. it was tiring to load it all in the car and it was twice as tiring unloading and unpacking. bleah.

i got crickets for Georgia too! i don't wanna feed her worms forever. it's like eating noodles for life. 

this just in! i actually saw Georgia catching her own prey without my help! i'm never getting superworms again. lol

it was pretty cool, i was "playing" with her a bit. though i think she may have thought otherwise. she was in the threat position (front legs and pedipalphs raised, fangs partly exposed) meaning it was very scared or very angry. i was leading it outside of its hide by gently tapping on its hind legs with a chopstick when she turned around and did the threat position. i tried to tap her pedipalphs gently but she quickly moved back and i felt a sharp tap on my chopstick. a strike! i didn't even see it happen! amazing. then i thought of giving her a cricket snack. i got a cricket, threw it near where Georgia was and watched as nature unfolded. the cricket was in the corner of the tank, hiding in the crevice made by the nearby clay pot. Georgia began approaching the cricket slowly, stalking it, sizing it up, and moving in. it was pretty much game over from the start as the cricket clearly had no way to escape the jaws of death. with fangs deeply impaling the cricket, all it could do was flutter its legs and antennae as it was being digested alive. one behavior i could notice is that she would lay sheets of web where she catches prey. i don't know what that is for. maybe a placemat perhaps? lol

we fly for mindanao tomorrow morning so i bought provisions for my spidey this afternoon. bought more substrate, food, and tofu for mom at tiendesitas. upon arriving home, i did some changes in my spider's enclosure. i added an inch more of substrate and moistened it a bit so that Georgia and the crickets won't dessicate. also, with the new supply of crickets, she won't ever get hungry while we're away for almost two weeks. since my siblings are queasy about handling her food, live crickets, i'll just chuck them all right in and have her help herself to a buffet while i'm gone. but i did tell them to change her water every few days.

i hope she'll be alright. 

i'll update when i'm not feeling lazy.

 

look forward to:

mindanao

bohol

and crappy photos!

 

 

 

oh yeah, it's my birthday too. 

i still feel lazy to update on my 10-day vacation trip. i feel more like sharing words of wisdom from a fellow Tulisan.

"eh yun naman pala eh, eh di sunggabin mo na."