Molting Cave spider....or evil FACEHUGGER??? AAAAAAAAAHHHH!

[Will0W783]

I have a "cave spider"...also called tail-less whip scorpion, or amblypidgid that I have owned for about two years now. He first molted over a year and a half ago, and I came in to think there were two spiders for a minute as his molt was sitting there looking like a complete critter.

Well, last night he gave me an even greater startle. I went into bed, was reading a book, and rolled over to turn out the lights...and was greeted by this:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/db45f264.jpg

Aaahhhhh.....it's a Facehugger!
He was molting, and I'd never seen a creature with an exoskeleton actually in the process of molting before...he was white and clearish, rubbery and limp-looking, and I thought he was dead until he started slowly pulling his legs and antennae free....
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/74b5c6f6.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/bea0f121.jpg

This morning he was sucking down water from his dish- probably thoroughly exhausted from all that effort. He's back to his usual brown mottled coloration, and when I get home I am going to compare his new size to his molt, which is still hanging off the screen lid of his cage.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/82305339.jpg

[stephanbakir]

Love these guys, was a treat to talk to you about the molting pictures last night Kim :)
Feeding video!

[Will0W783]

I'll have to see if I can catch him actually eating...he's really shy and lazy about it. I give him 6 crickets a week, and I've only ever seen him actually eating once.

Thanks for talking to me last night...it was definitely cool for me to actually catch him molting...I'd never seen anything like that before. Kreacher is definitely a bizarrely awesome little critter....I'm excited to see if he's grown a lot again. Last time he was sooo much bigger after his molt.

[Gungirl]

Those pictures are great Kim! I am a little "bugged" out that this is what is next to your bed but at the same time I love it.. lol

[SnakeyJay]

Awesome "cave spider".. ive seen them on tv but never actually thought they were kept as pets..... absolutely amazing pics btw :D

[stephanbakir]

Any idea on the cost of such an animal? I'd love one.

[Will0W783]

Kreacher's been a great pet really..he's harmless. He looks like something out of an alcohol-induced nightmare, but he can't pinch or sting or anything. They like small, dark places so he lives in a tall, narrow glass cage with a mesh hammock for him to climb. They are comfortable at room temperatures and I just keep his cypress mulch bedding moist and give him water and 6 crickets a week and he does his thing.

[Will0W783]

Stephan, he was $8 at the Hamburg, PA show two years ago. I can't imagine they'd have gone up in price since.

[jaleely]

Hey! Cool pics! Here are my horrible pics *lol* my girl (no name) molted a few weeks ago and her molt was stuck to the top of the cage too! She was irridecent when i found her, and then went kind of rainbow colored for the next day and a half, and then went back to browns. I've seen her eat once...she kind of reached her "arms" out like...Gotcha! and then SHOVED the cricket into her mouth with both claws. It was really cool. She sort of jumped at it a bit too. I have a video on youtube somewhere where she and I are hanging out with my basset hound and he's sniffing her. They are SO sweet to be so creepy looking : )
I can't remember if this one is the floridian one, or the tanzanian species. I had a baby one once, and it went through two molts, then died randomly :( So i went and got this one, and she's been doing great for months now. They are awesome!

[ZARADOZIA]

I enjoy looking at a distance, spidery things simply creep me out. I considered buying a cobalt for my son but then I learned they are aggressive and decided against it.

[alessia55]

ah.. these pics give me the creeps! so gross :p

[Will0W783]

Jaleely, yours is beautiful...that's awesome that you have one too!! They really are amazingly gentle for how creepy they look. That's also great that you know the gender of yours...I am honestly not sure what sex Kreacher is. I call it a "him" but I have no idea.

Here is Kreacher's molted skin:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/95e10257.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/06e59c0f.jpg


And Kreacher fresh from the molt! He was coal black with bluish bands on him last night, which will fade out into the brown and tan in a few days. I wish he stayed black with blue banding- he looks soo good this way!
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/107c7791.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/da5b4f9e.jpg

[alessia55]

LOL remember Kim when my mom came to your house and saw the molted skin of one of your other spiders and thought it was real and she totally freaked out!? :p Just remembered that moment. It's crazy how real the molted skin looks

[Will0W783]

ROFLMAO...yeah I remember that. It was pretty great. You should give her a spider molt for Christmas- I have a nice B. smithi molt if you want. :-P

[alessia55]

hahahaahah she would kill us both

[jaleely]

well i'm not 100% sure she's a she, but the guy i got her from said that the males have larger elbows/claws, and when i picked her out there was a distinction between her and the ones he called males.

I took her molt and put it above our sink, and finally had to move it because i'd wash my hands or something and look up and be like AH What's THAT MONSTER!! and then realize it was her molt *lol*

[jaleely]

ahha! took me forever to remember where i put it. Here's a pick of the only time i've actually gotten to see a spider or anything molt. And they ARE like facehuggers...all of them when they look like this! lol

[citysnakes]

So gross Kim....:no: