I bought a new pet - jumping spider

TomTomTom

TomTomTom

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I bought a new jumping spider over the weekend - a phiddipus regius - and he's so cute I just had to take a couple of pictures as I was putting him into his new tank. Let me know what you think :)


. by TomBroadbent, on Flickr
 
Nice colours. :)
Since you have a 5DII, will you be able to get video of him jumping on his dinner when you feed him?
 
Great looking Spider. May i ask where you got him from and how much?

What does it take to look after one of these guys?
 
You bought it? I thought they are everywhere :)
 
Cheers guys :) I bought him from the British Tarantula Society convention in Birmingham which I attended with a friend (and then got tempted to buy another after my first was so great). The UK is home to a lot of jumping spiders, but they're incredibly small and not as exotic as this little guy, he's a North American breed. £15; eats little roaches, crickets, flies... Most things really. Put him in a tank he can't get out of, spray it once or twice every day and feed it around once a week (or less), they're pretty hardy really!
Brilliant pets, so much more interesting than fish, and yes I'll hopefully get a feeding video.
 
TomTomTom said:
Cheers guys :) I bought him from the British Tarantula Society convention in Birmingham which I attended with a friend (and then got tempted to buy another after my first was so great). The UK is home to a lot of jumping spiders, but they're incredibly small and not as exotic as this little guy, he's a North American breed. £15; eats little roaches, crickets, flies... Most things really. Put him in a tank he can't get out of, spray it once or twice every day and feed it around once a week (or less), they're pretty hardy really!
Brilliant pets, so much more interesting than fish, and yes I'll hopefully get a feeding video.
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Spray it with what?
 
Keebsuk said:
"cute" didn't immediately spring to mind if I'm completely honest!
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I agree with this! but a great shot, and not as scary looking as some spiders! I think the green on it's (mandibles?) is really pretty (for a spider!)
 
ziggy©;4680786 said:
Spray it with what?
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Water :p

The green on the chelicerae is adorable. Mandibles are the mouthparts, beneath the chelicerae. He's currently wandering around sticking his front two legs in the air as a mating signal and watching me at my computer. Definitely a good pet to have!
 
TomTomTom said:
Water :p

The green on the chelicerae is adorable. Mandibles are the mouthparts, beneath the chelicerae. He's currently wandering around sticking his front two legs in the air as a mating signal and watching me at my computer. Definitely a good pet to have!
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Apologies for the stupid questions but why does it need to be sprayed with water ? :thinking::D

Do you mean that it can go for days without any food but needs water at least once or twice a day?
 
ziggy©;4682930 said:
Apologies for the stupid questions but why does it need to be sprayed with water ? :thinking::D

Do you mean that it can go for days without any food but needs water at least once or twice a day?
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Spiders in general can go for a while without food, these you can feed every day if you want but it's better to leave a couple of days (up to a week) in order for them not to grow too quickly. I caught a cranefly last night and put that into the tank, didn't expect him to get it but he did.
Some tarantulas such as the G. rosea often fast and don't eat for months.
Water is essential though, a few light sprays on the opposite side of the tank when it's warm like this to keep humidity up and you're just about set. You don't see them drink often but they occasionally pick up droplets from the leaves and stuff.
Okay, essay over :p
 
Great shot and informative post (y)
I had a search on google for other images of the species, wow. They are quite something.... The only shots I had trouble with, are the one where the spiders are on people's hands :(, I have to admit (sadly) they made me decidedly queasy! What a whimp I am!!

Tara
 
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turbotoes said:
Great shot and informative post (y)
I had a search on google for other images of the species, wow. They are quite something.... The only shots I had trouble with, are the one where the spiders are on people's hands :(, I have to admit (sadly) they made me decidedly queasy! What a whimp I am!!

Tara
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They're brilliant creatures. I absolutely hate spiders it must be said, if I see a house spider I tend to freak out to some degree (I'm not as bad these days) but jumping spiders just seem different to me somehow. Even if I find wild ones I'm not intimidated by them at all :shrug:

I hope this video will show - I recorded him trying to catch a fly (though typically when I went away he caught it, but he had a damn good try on film!):

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10151053069565498

The Facebook embed code doesn't seem to work here on TP so I'll just leave that link here and hope that it's accessible. If you can watch it, enjoy :D
 
slicemydrive said:
looks a good set up.
were there other varieties for sale?
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It was a tarantula meet really so there wasn't much variety at all, there was only one person selling jumping spiders and he only had male P. regius there, I was initially after a female as they live longer but I'm very happy with this little guy.
 
hows the p.reg doing? also what substrate are you using, Im very tempted by the idea of a little pet spider asked my local pet shop about them today, theyre finding out what species are available from their suppliers :)
 
He's doing very well, chased down another fly the other day and I sat mesmerised again - very happy little fella. I've got a mixture of fine dirt (not sure where from actually, I've a bag of it that I think I bought) and sphagnum moss, the moss has died and dried out but I've decided to leave it in there. Much better when it's alive however as it helps to keep the humidity up. Aside from that just a couple of bits of driftwood and a mini water bowl. I'm not sure on the bowl as it's a bit of a danger, but it helps again with humidity slightly.
They'll probably have Hyllus giganteous/giganteum and maybe H. diardi too, they're the more common breeds as far as I'm aware.
They're cool pets to have, definitely, they take no looking after and they're so much more interesting than fish.
 
I wouldn't be too concerned about the bowl. I've never yet seen a terrestrial spider that doesn't float. :)
 
Alas, no. :( Facebook is blocked on this computer.
Concerning jumping spiders and water, have you seen this?
 
I have always hated spiders. That was until I discovered these little beauties! I would love to get a female as they are so cute and fluffy! It's the eyes that give them character and from the front they don't 'scream' spider at you. My mum has a serious fear of spiders and even she thinks these are cute!
 
I'm not a massive fan of spiders but I really do find the jumping variety cute. How big is this one? I've only ever seen the teeny tiny ones we have here wild.
 
I've wanted to get one for a while now, but my praying mantises take up enough time as it is :)
 
So, after seeing many photos of the females, I got myself one on Thursday! I've named her Ethel Webster! Not a good photo at all as I'm not brave enough to get her out yet, but she's got the cutest l'il face!



 
TomTomTom said:
He's doing very well, chased down another fly the other day and I sat mesmerised again - very happy little fella. I've got a mixture of fine dirt (not sure where from actually, I've a bag of it that I think I bought) and sphagnum moss, the moss has died and dried out but I've decided to leave it in there. Much better when it's alive however as it helps to keep the humidity up. Aside from that just a couple of bits of driftwood and a mini water bowl. I'm not sure on the bowl as it's a bit of a danger, but it helps again with humidity slightly.
They'll probably have Hyllus giganteous/giganteum and maybe H. diardi too, they're the more common breeds as far as I'm aware.
They're cool pets to have, definitely, they take no looking after and they're so much more interesting than fish.
Click to expand...
Female H. Diardi are really cute too!
 
Do the big ones chase laser pointers as enthusiastically as the little British ones?
 
Didn't know that spiders behaved like cats! Will have to have a play next time I find one.
 
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