Her first enclosure was from Tarantula Cribs and it’s awesome! Her second was made from a clamshell container left over from some breakfast pastry thingies, and considerably more of a pain in the butt. Her third (the cube) came from Big Fat Phids, and I love that as well! It took a little tinkering to figure out the best way for me to maneuver it open and closed, but I like the way I position it now.
Aww that is so precious! Bengal is a bit wary of me but clearly very curious!
No- I was too worried that prey might bury themselves, or that I’d not be able to tell if she was eating or not. I was planning to build a bioactive jumping spider habitat in a 12”x12”x12” exo-terra, but Bengal seems either to be somewhat less capable than other jumpers, or I just need some more experience with them in general. So I’m putting those terrarium plans on hold for now and sticking with a simplified setup, though she does get low-stress enrichment and has a variety of prey species to turn up her nose at.
my jumping spider stopped eating because of a temperature change- jumping spiders are VERY sensitive- give her some time to adjust to the new temperature and then she’ll eat! if it’s cold in your house, I recommend turning on the heat
It’s been awhile, and Bengal is thriving now. Her issue was more or less that she was only interested in fruit flies, which are normally considered far too small for a jumper of her size. I still offer her several other species of feeders, but thus far she’s a D. hydei connoisseur. I now have 2 other jumpers and a velvet spider as well.
Bengal and Freya looking at each other (initially thought they were stressed, but Freya actually spun a web hammock right there, where she is close to Bengal)
My little arachnid corner thus far
Bengal surveying her territory from her walnut
Freya peering up at me (she is also a P. regius)
Toulouse, my P. adumbratus (California Red-Backed jumper)
You are certainly branching out! Your enclosures look great! I have 5 jumpers, 1 mantis and 1 green lynx spider. Some eat crickets some eat mealworms some eat wax worms and some eat fruit flies, which are a royal pain in the rear! I also have a tarantula. Unfortunately I am headed to an expo Sunday so………
How do you like keeping one of those? It’s a species I’ve considered keeping because I love them and think they’re gorgeous. I see them in the garden at work sometimes, and last year I got to watch a big beautiful female make and hatch out two big egg sacs before she passed away, which was a really cool experience (I like to think that some of the individuals I’ve seen more recently are some of her babies). They just seem so different from the spiders I’ve kept so far, which is what’s given me a little pause.
This question is definitely worth having it’s own thread- info others might want to seek out that doesn’t have much to do with my jumping spider not eating.
