Spider #2

So, about 6 to 8 months after getting Maude, I decided to get myself a second tarantula. Things had been going so well with Maude; I figured that another would be all that much easier.

I learned how they can be escape artists and how to not let that happen again. I had been through a molting (skin shed) as well.

I had been studying tarantulas for a bit now. I was learning of the different species that I would see from time to time in the pet stores. I took note of the scale of aggression from one species to another, their size as an adult, coloring, etc.

I decided to get myself a Mexican Pink Toe Tarantula. I had learned that these are quite docile small spiders. They looked rather cool being jet black with hot pink toes. I learned that this is probably the only tarantula species where you might be able to have more than one in a terrarium... most other species will kill each other on sight and the winner will probably have the loser for dinner.

I got a small tank, set it up all nice for my new pet, which I hadn't gotten yet; and then I was off on the hunt for a Mexican Pink Toe. I managed to locate one out in the Markham, Ontario area and purchased it later that day.

I remember getting her home and marveling at the beauty of this little spider. I didn't have a name for her just yet and figured something would happen in time and she'd get a name. Sure enough, the next morning I woke up and checked in on her and to my surprise it looked as though there were two tarantulas in the tank! She molted. For whatever reason, the name "Daisy" came to mind. She flowered is what I believe my reason was for the name.

All seemed fine with her, she ate good, and was far more active than Maude. Pink Toes will build a web in the corner of the glass tank, above the ground and spend a lot of time in there. When it comes time to feed and a cricket happens to walk under that web... the Pink Toe will pretty much drop down on top of it's prey and then take it back up in that web to eat. They don't spend much time on the ground, so in a tank, they will walk the glass... and scraping tarantula poop is quite difficult once it hardens. It comes out like a clear liquid but dries hard and white.

Unfortunately, about 6 months later she just died on me. I found her sitting in the tank with her legs curled up beneath her body... sure sign of a dead spider. I have no idea why she died. I never knew her age, which is a down fall on buying tarantulas from pet stores. I often wondered if her molting so fast after getting into her new home may have had something to do with it? Normally they make a web bed of some sort, so is my experience with Tarantulas... and I wonder if she just didn't have the time to make that protective ground covering? I had no warning signs of the molt, never really do, or back in my novice days I didn't know what to look for. With Maude, she goes from a shiny dark brown to something much more pale, the hairs on her abdomen start to shed as well. I don't recall anything like that with Daisy. If I saw her in the pet store with a balding abdomen, I might have not picked her.

She was a cool little spider, if only on looks alone. I highly recommend one of these as a beginner tarantula because of their much more gentle behavior... they are less apt to attack you unless you really provoke them.