Greetings from a college student who likes plants and bugs

[g3m1kk]

My name is Glen, and I’m a student at Colorado State University living in the dorms with several plants and invertebrates. I love learning about ecosystems, so I’m majoring in restoration ecology.

Here are my creatures:

Cricket the jumping spider (Phidippus audax)

Dwarf purple isopods (very hard to photograph multiple of them but trust me there are more than just this one)

Dubia roaches

And here are my plants enjoying the morning sun

Next year when I hopefully live in an apartment and have more space, I plan to get a pink toe tarantula (A. avicularia) and make it a bioactive terrarium like what I have for Cricket.

[auriea]

Cricket is so adorable!! Welcome

[randall_turner_jr]

Welcome to the forum.

[spottedbull]

Welcome to the family.

[dsed]

Welcome Glen! Thats a cool spider you have.

[caron]

Welcome to the family obsessed with reptiles, spiders, bugs, snakes, lizards etc! This place is wonderful! I am not a fan of spiders but I have to say your little guy is well, ADORABLE!

Thank you for the pictures!

[baby_yoda]

@g3m1kk

This picture of Cricket is the cutest thing ever! I really hope to have a jumping spider one day! Welcome!

[g3m1kk]

Thanks!! And jumping spiders are the best, i wish you luck on finding one. I recently got a friend of mine into jumping spiders so I gave him a sling I found at my parents’ house.

[braincheese]

Welcome! I’m fairly new myself but I’m really liking it here so far. I also live in Colorado!
I, too, love plants and bugs. Currently have a ton of plants and a growing collection of snakes, but I really want some blue death-feigning beetles and a giant African millipede eventually!

[crestie-lover]

Love your spider (and of course the isopods and dubia roaches)

[ghsaltie]

Oh my goodness, Cricket is unbelievably cute! He looks so small how do you ever find him?

[g3m1kk]

When I first got him as a sling he was about 4 millimeters long, and it turns out the Zilla micro habitat has holes big enough for something that size to fit through. He escaped one day and i found him by looking for the little threads he leaves behind when he explores. He made his way to one of my plants that was at the top of a shelf.

[baby_yoda]

That must’ve been scary! I’m so glad you were able to find him though

[ghsaltie]

I don’t think my nerves could handle that, itty bitty baby snakes are bad enough. How big do you think he will get and what is the average lifespan? I know zilch about spiders…

[g3m1kk]

His body seems to have stopped growing at about 7.5-8 millimeters, but some females can get as big as 15mm. They live about two years on average

[vsnutz]

That’s perfect for a dorm! I love jumpers also, very cute and very smart(as far as inverts go anyway). The Regals are awesome.

The funny thing is the more I got into herps, the more I became interested in plants.

[caron]

That was a true miracle that you found him! Good thing he left a “trail” of “bread crumbs”! lol!

[phoenix-exotics]

I’m just super happy your dorm allows this hope your studies & your keeping goes well