
LA
Pedersen's ornamental tarantula. Don't try this at home.
Warm up Act: Joe (our fearless leader) kicked off
the first meeting by passing around several "Bite Reports" describing
the symptoms of tarantula bites. Then he proceeded to do what he
warned everyone else not to do -- pick up an ornamental spider,
specifically a Pedersen's ornamental. As their name indicates,
ornamentals are pretty but they are definitely not considered handleable
by most sane people.
LA
First, Joe ticked her off by forcing her out of her container.
LA
Then the tarantula quickly scuttled away at an impressive speed.
LA
Joe tried to control his scuttling.
Good Exercise: Tarantula wrangling evidently
involves some flexibility requirements. The tarantula ran under
the table (on its underside) which required Joe to take his operation to
a different level.
LA
He recaptured her in a small kritter keeper.
LA
Eventually she settled down, and he coaxed her onto his hand.
LA
And here she sits calmly enjoying the attention.
Second Act -- Centipede Breeding: Joe had some large
centipedes to potentially mate: Vietnamese (quite venomous) and
Texas (not as venomous). Since I cannot tell them apart by
eyeball, I recommend that you do not handle either species. Joe
manipulated but did not really handle the centipedes.
LA
Setting up the bridal chambers. All new containers, etc., to avoid
possible mites.
LA
Fertilized females would go in these plastic jars with small air holes.
LA
Fertilized females would go into these pre-made holes and deposit their
eggs.
LA
Recap them and voila. Just wait for the eggs to hatch.
LA
Evidently a Texas centipede or he would not be handling him.
LA
Sorry, but I cannot sex centipedes by eyeball.
LA
But I can tell these species apart. However, it's not a good idea
to handle any centipedes.
The Marriage Ceremony: Joe had "pre-sexed" his
centipedes so he knew which were mails and which were females.
But, just because they opposite sexes does not mean that they will not
decide to eat each other. You just never know.
LA
Here's a pair trying to fogure out what's happening.
LA
And since most of these guys prefer to live under rocks, they got a few
to choose from.
LA
You can never see too many centipede pictures.
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Last Word: We had many more pictures we could
include, but we may have reached some sort of saturation point already.
LA
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Q&As Jan I 0108
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Q&As Jan III 0108
© 2008
LA Productions
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