Ball Python Tail Wagging and Scenting

WHEN IS YOUR FEMALE BALL PYTHON,

 READY FOR BREEDING?

Have you ever seen a ball python wagging its tail, scenting the enclosure and how actual courtship is done? 

Here's a video taken when I just introduced a male ball python into a receptive female ball python. Look what happens after introducing the male.

It is not fast forwarded, what you see is the actual speed. When you see your female ball python do this, then you are in the right track. This is the best time to breed your ball pythons so that you can have a successful clutch of eggs in the near future. Go and check it out for your future ball python hatchlings.

Wait for the last part, it's where the action begins!

Enjoy!

The Brazilian Giant Whiteknee Tarantula - Acanthoscurria geniculata

Hello everybody! I have a newly acquired Acanthoscurria geniculata or popularly known as the Brazilian Giant Whiteknee Tarantula. I bought it at a cheaper price from a quitting tarantula owner. It has a 4 inches legspan but it is still a juvenile tarantula. It is native to Brazil and it is called the Brazilian Giant Whiteknee because it has a color white banded pattern in the mid portion of its each leg. This specie can reach a maximum leg span of  8-9 inches when fully mature. It's also a female and that's why I am very happy that I bought it way too cheaper than its standard value.

Brachypelma Albopilosum Female - Update! may 2013

It's been almost 2mos. since my female Brachypelma Albopilosum Female molted, and guess what ? She just recently shed its exoskeleton again, last May 12 2013. I think it was my fault because I assumed she was mated and fed her too many adult male blaptica dubias. I was thinking and assuming she might need plenty of food for her to develop fertile eggs and lay a good egg sac. Unfortunately, the bad news just broke out, which is shedding her old skin just too soon. But it's ok atleast I learned my lesson , to never overfeed her and to expect the unexpected. hahaha!


The matured male Brachypelma Albopilosum is still alive and still making his spermweb. After a week or two maybe I will mate them again and I will try to feed my female Brachypelma Albopilosum with just enough food for her not to molt too soon. The exoskeleton I got from her is around 5.5 inches diagonal legspan , so I'm hoping she will be around 6 inches after eating few male dubias.


I learned a lot from my first and previous breeding attempt, and I will not make those mistakes again, hopefully. So this first tarantula mating attempt of mine is unsuccessful one. But I will provide you with clear and full video in my second tarantula mating attempt. I will update you every now and then . Thank you and God bless!

How to Successfully Sexed a Tarantula-Using its Exovium

Most of us who are new to the hobby, which is keeping inverts as pets, would hope that our newly bought tarantulas are female. For the fact that they are bigger in size and the most important thing is that they lived way too longer than the males.I am not good at ventral sexing and there's a much more accurate method of sexing a tarantula that would not give us false hopes and huge expectations in the end. So , I've decided to make a video regarding on how to successfully sexed a tarantula using its exovium or its molt. I think this would help anyone in the hobby especially before deciding to buy a tarantula as some of the sellers would say it's a female or it does look like one.So, I would best recommend to ask for its exovium as well,  in buying a "female" tarantula as a proof that it's really a female. I think everybody in the hobby should know how to sexed a tarantula for future references. Nobody will do it for you , so probably it would be helpful for you to try it now and save all your tarantulas' molt. But what ever the outcome would be ,whether it's a male or a female, I would love them more because I already know what name best fits them. lol. So here's the link on how to successfully sexed a tarantula. "How to Successfully Sexed a Tarantula-Using its Exovium". It's my first tutorial video and I hope you'll still appreciate it. Thank you and happy "tarantula" keeping!  :)


Here it is. Enjoy watching. :)

Breeding Project- Brachypelma Albopilosum-gravid or not?

I have a newly acquired adult pair of brachypelma albopilosum or the honduran curly hair. The matured male had its ultimate molt last 1st week of February and built its sperm web 3 weeks after he molted. While my female b. albo recently molted last March 15, the same year with the male.My male b.albo has an approx. diagonal leg span of 6 inches while the female has a post-molt size of 5.5 inches.

The first mating attempt was done last March 25, which was 10 days after the female had successfully molted. She ate few dubia roaches before the said attempt. I put the male into the female's tank, after that the male did not show any signs of courting such as drumming or shaking as what I've seen in those tarantula's mating videos . He knew that there was an adult female in the tank. The female was caught unprepared and unguarded as she just finished her meal. The male was able to get hold of the female's fangs but I am not sure if there was really an insertion happened . As it was my first time, I was shocked and very nervous and was just staring on those two big fangs of the female. hahaha! But I was able to see the male busy rubbing his palps into the female and did it many times while he was able to hook the female's fangs with its front legs, using its hooks of course. He manages to go home safely and back to his tank.  A week after the first mating attempt, I tried to pair them again but the female is in a threat pose position every time the male is in her tank, and the male simply understands what those pose means so he simply went back to his tank. I tried to mate them again and again,more or less around 5 times, with 3-5 days interval or every after the male has built a sperm web. But the female is not interested to make love with him anymore. So I decided to stop because it was too stressful for the both of them and too tiring on my part too.

The female's rump is now getting bigger, but I cannot tell if she's just fat or already gravid. The only way to confirm that is when I will be able to see some egg sac or heavy webbing on her tank. The only thing I can do now is to wait and be patient. If it was not successful then maybe I have to try it again. I am not sure if it was a successful one, but I believe and confident enough that my male b. albo did his very best. Good luck and more years to come for my bravest male albo (hoping) hahaha! . =)

I've got a MM Brachypelma Albopilosum

I just got a Matured Male Brachypelma Albopilosum. I bought it from a friend because I'm afraid I might injured his male during the breeding process.But I promised him some slings in return if it will be a successful one.  I have a sub-adult female Brachypelma Albopilosum , but it is still in premolt, and her abdomen is getting dark. Hopefully she'll have a successful molt soon, so that she'll be able to meet my MM B. albo. hahaha!

According to its previous owner, my newly acquired MM B. albo molted last month,  first week of february.  I hope my MM b. albo will be able to live longer, and waits for his partner before he pass. This male I have is bigger than the female, which has an approx. diagonal legspan of 5.5 inches. He is very busy making his spermweb and I'm lucky enough to see it in person. After making  his spermweb , he quickly destroys it and then starts to roam around its enclosure again.

I was able to talk to a friend who already has experience in breeding this arachnids. And according to him a mated matured male usually lasts up to 4 to 6 months while those that weren't bred at all usually lives for more than a year and still very eager to find a mating partner. All is well. Good luck to me ! I'll give you an update . . .

it's been a while

Good day everyone! Its been a while since I updated this blog. Anyway , I recently bought 2 sub-adult tarantulas, the Grammostola pulchripes and the Brachypelma Albopilosum. But before that, I also bought 1 sub-adult Brachypelma Boehmei,but it wasn't eating since I got it from the previous owner. It has a bald spot on its abdomen and I think it's in a premolt stage right now as its bald spot is getting darker. So going back to my newly bought tarantulas, which I got at a cheaper price. The previous owner suspected both tarantulas as female. The grammostola pulchripes recently molted and I was able to take a look of its exovium and unfortunately,  it's a male. Well, it is not that bad after all for I got them at a least expensive price. But I'm still hoping for the best that the brachypelma albopilosum is a female. (crossed fingers) And also preparing myself for some shocking revelation again if it's a male. sigh. Despite the fact it's a male, I still like my newly bought tarantulas, they are beautiful and wonderful creation or should I say the best creatures I have. I will be posting some pictures of them as soon as I can get good shots of it. Good luck to me. :D

The Asian forest scorpions

Here are some of my Heterometrus longimanus or the Asian forest scorpions. I use a critter keeper as their container with 2 inches of cocopeat,as substrate. I put them in a communal tank set.up, provided it with water dish and a piece of broken pot, as a hiding place. As I observed, they do great when kept in a communal set.up. They seemed  happy when kept together. They grow fast, and I can still see some of its exoviums (exoskeleton) once in a while.


 Here are their recent photos. :D

5pcs of H. longimanus 4th instar 

Blaptica Dubia Cockroach

          Most of us doesn't like to see a cockroach, for some of us consider them as filthy and gross creatures. For some, they are pests and should be eradicated as soon as possible. You have probably seen one in your house and tried to kill it, but have just started screaming and running away while they crawl and fly towards you. You've been thinking of so many ways on how to kill and get rid of them. But did you know that there are also people who tried to breed and keep them? They are those amphibian and inverts' owners who breed and keep these dubia roaches.

         Dubia roaches are one of the best and easiest feeder roaches to keep. They are slow moving roaches and doesn't fly at all. I said feeder because most people who keep and breed them are  reptiles and or arachnids' owners. Dubia roaches are easy to feed and keep. I keep them in a storage box and provided them with food dish and egg trays as their hiding place. They are cockroaches and are still scavengers by nature, which means they will still eat almost anything. Usually , I give them cat food and oatmeal. Then, supply them with citrus fruits such as orange and vegetables like cucumber. They are also easy to digest and very nutritious, which make them as the all time favorite of  my scorpions. They are also prolific breeders which means unlimited food supply for my pets.

         Dubia roaches are sexually dimorphic , meaning male and female are easily distinguished by just looking at its physical appearance. As you can see in the picture above, males do have longer wings while the female have shorter ones. But these roaches doesn't fly at all even with the presence of these wings. The term nymph refers to those small or juvenile dubia roaches. During this stage, male and female cannot be  easily distinguished yet for they are almost similar in appearance. These nymphs do run very fast and would love to hide under those egg trays. These nymphs are excellent food item to those  small tarantulas and scorpions.

Another way of looking if its a dubia is a male or a female. The picture below is a male and a female dubia. See the difference?

P.S  You should provide these roaches with a secure and safe cover lids to avoid infestations in your place... They are roaches and still can easily propagate given the right temperature. Some countries do ban this creatures for they are also considered as "invasive species". Well, better safe than sorry. :)

my first 1 year old hamster

Mrs. Betty and Mr. Socks

Hi everyone. I'm going to share about my Campbell's dwarf hamster. Campbell's dwarf hamsters are often mistakenly called as teddy bear hamsters. Teddy bear hamsters are far more different than the Campbell's dwarf hamster because they are bigger in size and can be further classified into two. The long-haired teddy bear hamster or often called as the Syrian hamster, and the short-haired or known as the Golden hamster. I never had the chance to own these teddy bear hamsters for I'm not really amazed by them because of their solitary nature. So I'm just going to focus on Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters. 

Mr.Socks and Mrs. Betty's First Litter

I currently own eighteen Campbell's Dwarf hamsters. I bought three of them from a friend who owns and breeds different kinds of rodents. Then six of them were bought from a pet shop while the rest of it were from my prolific pair of breeders. I got all of them from different sources, so that I'm rest assured that my soon to be breeders are unrelated and to further avoid inbreeding.  I always separate all male from female to avoid unexpected pups. Before I breed them, I usually wait when they are already 3 to 4 months old or until they are sexually mature especially for female hamsters.

Mr. Socks

Dwarf hamsters have a life span of 1 to 3 years in captivity. Luckily , one of my male breeder just turned 1 year old this month and his name is Mr. Socks. I know his name doesn't sound nice,  but I chose that name because his color is black and his four feet are all covered with white, which really looks like his wearing white socks. hahaha. But as he goes older, his color black back turned lighter . Maybe it's one of the visible signs you'd notice when a hamster gets older. Even if he is old now, he's still one of my favorites because of its cuddly physical appearance. And aside from being a prolific breeder  , he's very good in taking good care of his pups especially when Mrs. Betty,his long-time partner is taking a rest. I should say that Mr. Socks is one in a million. I would like you to meet my favorite hamster, Mr.Socks, celebrating his 1 year in existence with love and happiness. :D

Mr. Socks eating his favorite treat, puppy food