A spider thread upon request of Artemis the Jumping spider

[Soubriquet]

I’ve had a few people request so here we go. This is Artemis. Commonly known as Artie since we discovered he was a boy.

He’s getting on in age now. I got him in November and he was hatched around September. Males live to about a year old. When he passes, I am going to get a female as they generally live longer and are slightly bigger

The first picture is when I first got him. He was teeny tiny. The last picture with the blue green fangs is the latest

No. I won’t breed. Too much work for me.

Interesting, thanks again! I may be persuaded to say yes after all 🤣

Presumably you drop his prey in for him to hunt for himself?

I've never seen those enclosures, will have to have a google for the mantis & see what prices are like!

Yes. Literally just put the prey in and let him hunt at his own leisure. Apart from things like crickets which will bite back.

With those, it’s best to either feed in a separate container so the cricket can’t escape, or only leave for a short amount of time and remove if spider shows no interest

He's very cute and fabulous fangs! Loving the Jurassic Park home..

It’s awesome isn’t it? She does lots of different kinds including Mario, Alien and will even do your own custom at request.

It’s not cheap at £65 but it’s worth it for the whimsy

We tend to keep various flies for Pancake so they'd likely be what we fed a spider too. I'm not too keen on the idea of jumping prey as well as pets 🤣

Thanks again for answering my questions...I have one more. Does Artemis need a heat source (lamp or mat?)? We have a small one already but if he does, I'll add it to dd's list of things to research before I give a final answer 🙂

Those enclosures are awesome, I just had to visit the site!!! They're so cool! I hope you get one, just for the sheer enjoyment of saying "Artie lives in Jurassic Park or whichever you choose"

Yes they need heat. They need a constant heat source as they are originally from Florida. They also need a good LED light for 12 hours a day

He's lovely - I think I remember you posting his photo when you first got him. He's grown a lot.

He has. He’s fully grown now and like I sad, an elderly man. Though he seems to still have a lot of life in him.

He’s awkward at the moment because he’s starving himself. I offer food, he refuses it and it takes weeks to get him to eat. It’s because now, as a mature male, all he wants to do, is to find a female and woo her.

No females in this house for him, so he has to buck up and eat. Got him to eat a locust last week, but he’s still hungry. So patiently waiting for my flies to hatch. One of those should keep him going if he chooses to eat.

You can tell if they are hungry by their abdomen. If their abdomen is slim, they are hungry. Round but not too round, they are content. Very round, they are over fed.

If their abdomen is extremely skinny, they are starving and need to eat or will die of hunger.

We have had him on the verge of starving before he finally decided to eat a locust. Now he’s just hungry. Needs to eat, but not in any danger

A photo from today. He’s in the palm of my hand

Aw! He's teeny!

He is very small yes. About the size of a 5p.

Oh he's a sweet thing!

Ohhhh 😍

Thank you. I’m very pleased with him. He’s helped with my arachnophobia so much.

Even dh, who doesn’t like spiders, is quite partial to him.

My dc also like him, though they aren’t quite brave enough to handle him

I know it’s only (nearly) September but I love this Christmas video

link