Evening everyone, and welcome to a special one-off spider diaries update...

Following a wrong turn onto the A3 today, I found my mission to acquire another months worth of crickety shaped treats for my girls in unexpected danger. But not to worry, I thought - there's another little shop in Cowplain that also sells crickets, so off I went, didn't turn round, and ended up at Southcoast Exotics, from whence I bought my first ever spider, Ginnevra a couple of years back... well - that was a fatal mistake going back in there, finding myself, as I did, surrounded by beautiful, and gorgeous little beasties, most of which looked at me in a 'can I come and live with you' kind of way...

I wouldn't normally buy a T from a shop, knowing what I do about how they can be treated, and indeed, the shop in question have some questionable practices, but I'm ashamed to say I was temporarily ignoring this, and viewing the situation as something of a rescue opportunity more than anything else.

The force was strong in me for a while, and I managed to get past the amazing adult Haplopelma Lividum (Cobalt Blue, appallingly housed I might add, with no room to burrow), a lovely little Goliath Birdeater (who did look happy-ish), and some rather fetching Martinique Pink-toe sub-adults.

But alas, resolution failed in the end, and I left the shop with 2 boxes of crickets... .... ... and a little new baby spider...

I have enormous pleasure in introducing you all to 'Fluffy', who is a baby Peruvian Orange Stripe T...

 

 

And what can I tell you about Lasiodorides Striatus ? They are beautiful spiders, distantly related to Binky (Lasiodora Parahybana), but kind of look like giant versions of Ginny, with similarly stripey legs, but orange stripes instead of white !

They have a very large carapace, grow to 7" body size, like to bask out in the open, and don't like being told what to do. Unlike Binky, however, who is the fastest growing spider species in the world, Fluffy will grow very slowly, perhaps taking 5 years to reach the same size Binky will attain in a year. So - a velvety black, short haired spider with orange stripes, and a purple tinge round the eyes awaits us...how exciting...

Venom is not too bad, but the fangs are huge, and the chelicerae very powerful, so this is not a spider to take your eye off when she's a bit bigger... they are superb climbers, don't flick hair much, but can if they want to, and are generally quite lazy eaters (from the 'wait for it to walk right up to us' school of thought)...

Needless to say, I think she's wonderful, and had to show her off to you all. She is currently living in a 'Lloyd Grossmans Green Thai Curry sauce bottle, and seems to appreciate it, and has already settled down, and eaten 2 crickets her own size. Clever girl. It remains to be seen whether the air holes I drilled earlier are small enough to keep her in, but I think she'll stay where its warm anyway...

More as it happens. A quick recap on the other girls would reveal that Zebs is eating like pig (locusts, crickets et al), Ginny is terraforming her tank (again), and Binky sits there looking unconcerned. And why would she be ?

From me and the girls, a very happy Easter to you all...

Z, B, G, J, and...F...