Tale of Tiny.

Not many spider posts recently. Well here is Tiny - he's the Giant Salmon Pink Birdeater - not quite a giant yet but growing nicely. Here's an interesting titbit for you. The temperament of a juvenile tarantula is different (quite often) to the adult. While we don't, as a matter of course, handle our spiders, they are wild animals and therefore deserve to be treated as such. Tiny as an adult is a type of spider that would not take at all kindly to handling. He can be aggressive now - how does that bode for an adult 10" span Tiny?
The thing is that he is the most active and nosey of the spiders. He spends virtually all day everyday at the front (by the opening) of his tank. Loud noises, bangs and crashes do not bug this guy. Humbug, for example, legs it at the slightest movement of his tank, Tiny just sits there. In fact it can make spider care difficult because we need to fill his water dish and he ain't going nowhere. You can tap the glass, rattle the door of his tank - nothing moves this guy (calling him guy as don't know what he is yet). The only thing he thinks of is his next meal and any vibration could mean it's cricket time! The only thing that works (and it doesn't always) is if you lift the hatch a small amount and gently blow on him. The first blow and he attacks the glass hatch, the 2nd, 3rd blows he just sits there looking disgruntled as only a big fat spider can - "What no cricket?!" 4th blow he starts to move away, 5th blow it's kind of like " Alright, already, I'm moving but I ain't hurrying!" People say these creatures have no awareness of us - other than if we appear as a threat - but with this dude - I ain't buying it. He has character - scary character - but character none the less.
Here is a fairly recent piccie of Boris - still called Boris as it suits - but we're pretty sure he is a she and therefore more of a Doris.
This is a spider that goes through phases of hiding away in his tubular web for days at a time. He seals himself in, doesn't eat or drink. Then suddenly - POP! There he is - laying like a big splat in his water dish - for up to 20 mins - I swear he takes a bath and has a snooze. Then he takes a massive splatter-dump right across his nice clean glass fronted tank - maybe sucks on a cricket if there is one about and then - poof - he's gone again. The funniest thing is this spider is like the opening titles of that old TV series 'Dr Kildare' - if thinks you're watching he freeze frames - when you look away he moves - you look back and he's still again. He's funny spider - very cute but very quick. Sometimes I look away and he's gone - in a blink.

Lots of people have asked why we keep them. They are not cute (matter of opinion), they are not cuddly, they don't do much - Ha! They are fascinating, it's like sharing your space with a culture so alien you have to watch it. I don't love them like I do Conkers and Loobles - but I am attached to them because they intrigue me so.