Juvenile curlyhair tarantula inside its sale container. Note the well constructed coconut mulch wall, held in place by a fine, spider-constructed silk net. Double-click image to expand.
This afternoon I stopped by Sailfin Petshop to pick up crickets for the classroom spiderlings and juvenile tarantulas. It’s always interesting to see Sailfin’s monthly arrival of spiderlings and juveniles of various arthropod species.
One of the new arrivals was a captive-bred, 2 ½” juvenile curly hair tarantula. This tractable, new world tarantula species grows relatively large and is typically even more docile than the Mexican red knee tarantulas (Brachypelma smithi) obtained earlier this year.
The much smaller curlyhair spiderling obtained last month (which is pinkish again, indicating a recent molt) continues to vary between obsessive burrowing and regular presence on the surface of the coconut fiber substrate. The five red knees are behaviorally very consistent. Now I had the opportunity to obtain a second, captive-bred juvenile individual of the same species. It was quite inexpensive, as well as a stunning and easily handled individual. And so it goes… Another day, another tarantula.
Looking forward to seeing how it develops over the next several years. My classroom has another arthropod ambassador. The kids like it already.
Name? Will this one have a name?? From this distance — total cuteness.
I’ll let the kids take care of the naming. Sometimes they can be awfully clever, while coming up with something that actually really works well.
Love to hear the names. I’m also glad we have another tarantula to follow from a great distance.
[...] biology lab. Four of the eight tarantulas have molted in the past 1½ weeks. First to molt was the juvenile curly hair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum), followed by the curly hair tarantula spiderling, who was followed by one [...]