Our new (Chaco Golden Knee) G. pulchripes sling

[octanejunkie]

Stopped by our LPS today to see if our B. smithii/hamorii came in (unlclear which they are getting until they receive their shipment) and found this little fellow today and took it home.

That pic was taken right after the sling followed a pinhead B. lat around the enclosure and pounced at it hiding in a crag under some substrate near the water dish. I have a video of the hunt/kill but i can't seem to be able to upload an .mp4

I know it's a slow grower but it should be worth the wait. Maybe this one will have its adult coloring by the time my middle schooler graduates high school

 

[octanejunkie]

Taco, what my daughter is calling the Chaco, is a shy little sling. Outside its burrow when the lights are off but within a few minutes of lights on, back to its burrow it goes!

I've seen it basking in the side of it's enclosure as well as inside it's water dish so I know it gets around

Fed it a second pinhead B. lat yesterday. I didn't see it eat but I don't see the roach anymore either.

Building a new enclosure for it in a 2" amac this weekend.

 

[ExMember]

I love G pulchripes! My first large tarantula was a chaco and I have a little sling too. Good eaters and pretty unassuming.

 

[Jess S]

That's a gorgeous sling and love the name your daughter chose! They are supposed to get quite large when fully grown, which will be nice. Love the larger species.

I'll have to get round to getting one. G pulchripes was originally what I was planning on getting as my first t but I ended up going with a different genus. Will have to rectify that soon lol

 

[ExMember]

That's a gorgeous sling and love the name your daughter chose! They are supposed to get quite large when fully grown, which will be nice. Love the larger species.

I'll have to get round to getting one. G pulchripes was originally what I was planning on getting as my first t but I ended up going with a different genus. Will have to rectify that soon lol

That was on my short list for first as well. Wasn't available so I went with a Tliltocatl albopilosum instead. You should get one.

 

[Jess S]

That was on my short list for first as well. Wasn't available so I went with a Tliltocatl albopilosum instead. You should get one.

You mean your short list that became a long list?! Lol yeah, I think I will. I've only got 1 Grammostola and I need to get a few more. I'd love a grossa one day!

 

[octanejunkie]

You mean your short list that became a long list?! Lol

On the big spider tip, Lasiodora parahybana and Nhandu chromatus are both majestic in stature, and have been added to my ever growing list along with Acanthoscurria geniculata - which might sometimes be confused with G. pulchripes or N. chromatus on first glance.

Sadly don't have the space for that many large adult spiders that could potentially live 30 years lol like the B. hamorii I'm waiting for from my LPS. That spider might out live me!

I'm also still very interested in H. pulchripes, and some day P. metallica, and possibly Pseudoclamoris burgessi, as I find myself becoming more interested in arboreals as display animals in low traffic areas of the house. Living in Southern California makes that reasonably possible.

Our Chaco Taco (spoof of the Choco Taco candy bar from my youth) will wear the crown for now as our someday largest T.

 

[octanejunkie]

Moved the Chaco to it's new cube yesterday and it has already upheaved everything lol

I fed it a 4mm B. lat nymph today. It attacked the crap out of it. Couldn't get the phone/video camera up fast enough. First world problems.

 

[octanejunkie]

Fed Chaco another B. lat nymph today. I've not seen either the spider or roach since.

 

[octanejunkie]

Been feeding every 2-3 days and have not seen the T hunt, kill or eat, but also haven't seen any roaches in the enclosure, so I assume things are going the way they are supposed to lol

 

[octanejunkie]

Went to feed our chaco this morning and found chaco had molted - it's twice the size it was before and it POUNCED on the roach nymph. I hope it was ready for that...

Here are a few pics.

If you look carefully to the left of the spider you can see it's exo. I suspect it moulted within the last few days but I've really not seen the spider much till today.

Here's a close up of the spider and exo, you can't see the roach in the T's clutches, but it's there.

 

[menavodi]

Looks good!

 

[octanejunkie]

Fed Chaco Taco a 5mm, stunned, B. lat nymph. Before I could get my camera the T grabbed the roach and retreated into the shadows. At least I know it fed.

 

[timc]

Nice sling! In my (limited) experience they’re not as painfully slow growing as you might expect. I got my girl at 1/2-3/4 inch about 4 years ago and she’s a solid four inches today. I know that’s not super fast but it’s not watching paint dry either. Side note, this girl actually tried to kill me during her last rehouse. Everything in her path got the fangs, paper straw, paper towel, cup, everything. I’ve been told by some people they can be pretty testy before they reach adulthood. Fun stuff.

 

[octanejunkie]

G. pulchripes molted, again, yesterday. It refused it's last feeding so I suspected this.

Exo on the left, spider on the right.

 

[octanejunkie]

Fed G. pulchripes today. It macked down on a 5mm roach so hard it was awesome. First meal since it molted. I'd been watering it every other day and it was attacking the water lol

 

[octanejunkie]

Chaco Taco dug itself out of it's subterranean burrow/den last night so I guessed it was ready to eat

A medium cricket proved right after a short game of cat and mouse

Thinking about rehousing and adding a water dish

 

[menavodi]

She will like that rehousing. Your setup is always nice.

 

[octanejunkie]

She will like that rehousing. Your setup is always nice.

Thanks!

She is back in her subterranean den, so I guess it's a split-level now with twice the square footage lol

 

[Redsycthe]

This is Muffin my G. Pulchripes. Super chill, loves to eat and freaking re-decorate. Doesn't really like his/her water unless it has lots of substrate in it.