K.hibernalis

[buthus]

Back in sept 06 I received a female K.hibernalis with slings as a freebe with a spider purchase. I stuck them in a small jar (3" high, 2.5"diameter) ...cotton they were shipped with and all. I intended on giving them a big community enclosure to start a colony, but never got around to it ...like most of my intentions. :rolleyes:
I did make an enclosure for the adult female and she eventually webbed it up nice, creating that classic "black-hole spider" web.

Here are some shots of the adult feeding within her enclosure...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_feed-crx_01.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_feed-crx_02.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_feed-crx_03.jpg

This is from inside her den looking out...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_feed-crx_05.jpg

The slings remained in their little jar. I'm not sure how many I started out with ...guessing around 35 or maybe 40 (?) or so. I dipped into the population for trades ...probably took out 20.
They grew slowly ..fed them whatever was around from other feedings going on. Just opened the jar and threw food in. Maybe every couple weeks or so. They started out tiny, but now the biggest of the bunch has a leg-span of over a half inch.
Here they are ...last night...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_01.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_02.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_03.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_04.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_05.jpg

I want to give them a big enclosure to see if they will grow as a community, but decided I had to do something with them for the time being...
Took a big jar (8" high, 4.75" diameter) and siliconed a nice cactus root to the "bottom". This should allow each some space and enough nooks and crannies for all.
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_06.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_07.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_08.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_09.jpg

Carefully started pulling out all the carcasses, molts and whatnot ...and the spiders of course...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_10.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_11.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_12.jpg

Looked thru the refuse very carefully so not to miss any of the spiders ...and to look for signs of deaths/"siblingcide"... found only ONE obvious carcass. These are so faithful to the "clan" that even though they will eat some dead and almost rotting cricket, they didnt touch their dead sibling. Rare deal in the world of spiders indeed...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_13.jpg

The clan while in the collection cup...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_14.jpg

Couldnt count them in real time ...but with the photo, looks like I have sixteen...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_15.jpg

Shots of 2 of them exploring their new home...
http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_16.jpg

http://moflash.net/stuff/img/spiders/hibernalis_slings-trnsfr_17.jpg
fun stuff :Rockon:

[Gigas]

So they are absolutely non cannibalistic?

[buthus]

So they are absolutely non cannibalistic?
From what I understand, they do not eat each other unless severely starved.

[Gigas]

Very nice looking spiders, like they're made out of velvet