Beiträge von dispar

There might be a problem with toxins from Prunus laurocerasus in low ventilation. I have often used it as a foodplant with mixed results. In large netting cages I have Gonimbrasia krucki larvae feeding happily on a mix of both the Prunus laurocerasus and Eucalyptus gunii, yet I lost a brood earlier when in a warmer, less well ventilated cage,on the same foodplants, co-incidence perhaps ? A few years ago I was rearing Actias selene on Prunus laurocerasus, they were doing well, but I ran short of foodplant and shifted them to Rhododendron, they fed on it but were all dead with a ghastly prolapse and liquid frass within days !! The question is , was this a mixture of food toxins or a coincidental disease outbreak ? Regarding Samia ricini I have only reared on Privet, though Samia cynthia did well on Sweet Bay !

Hi Elfin it's me again, I forgot to tell you it is very important to give these spiders constant access to fresh water. I put in a small flattish container of fresh water and change it about once a week, beware evaporation in heat ! I think the reason you will never see their eggs for sale is that they are laid in a large egg-sac and shrouded in silk, when the female often protects and nurtures them until hatching, if removed from this egg-sac they will surely die. Therefor they are sold as small hatch-lings, sometimes for as little as £1 to £5 each ! I find these spiders very easy to rear from small babies and have successfully reared 5 different species to adults so far without loss, unfortunately I have as yet, never attempted to pair them. I use them occasionally for display purposes and as they are very long lived and easily obtained here as small spiderlings , I have had no reason to breed them. I have one Lasiodora parahybana female who must be nearly 15 years old now !

I don't recognise the species, but if it is Indonesian that is hardly surprising ( as I'm in UK) it looks to me as if it is a modern spider species and therefore not a "tarantula" or a large primitive type, which you are presumably hoping for. However a lot of large spider species do look different when juvenile, so it might be worth trying to feed it up to see if it is ?!? Do you have access to books on your local species or is there a web site for them ? I find that searching Google or through Mozilla Firefox using Latin names gets the best results when searching for species or information !

I think the best species to begin with is the Chile Rose AKA Rose Haired Tarantula -Grammostola cala. This species is moderate in size, very docile ( unlikely or willing to bite you !) and mine have never flicked hairs either ! I have never heard of anyone selling "tarantulas" as eggs. You need to try to obtain them as young spiderlings, they are then cheap to buy, easy to get used to and feed and grow steadily. There are a number of dealers in the UK, but i have no idea if you could buy from them to send to Indonesia ? i keep mine in plastic tanks with a compost substrate and feed them Flies, Crickets, Locusts and Cockroaches, do not feed prey too large and they will only feed when hungry, they can live for long periods without food and will not eat for many days to even weeks when they wish to change their skins, to grow ! There are many other specieas of large spider, but I find that most flick hairs and some bite !