Critters and beasties
May. 27th, 2011 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelMy menagerie has some new arrivals.
You may remember back in October, Kyn and I rescued three feral kittens and the neutered male cat who was taking care of them. The lady who had been caring for them reclaimed the cat, but despite a great deal of effort to place them, two of the three kittens are still with us. Kitten season is upon us again, and the lovely Cyril is no longer at the "tiny and cute" stage. The sad truth is that the supply of black and white moggies is far in excess of demand. He came to join my household a couple of weeks ago.
This pretty face was the one that filled me with delight in the seconds before I realized that he was a feral and was less delighted. Kyn and her household (including Rooster) did a fabulous job of socializing him; he's growing up to be just gorgeous, and incredibly friendly. He loves dogs, and is courteous with my other cats. As he has gotten though his audition period with me, is great company and causes little trouble, I am permitting him to stay, but I have absolutely, positively NO room for any more cats. Do you hear that, universe? Please don't send me any more; it makes me sad to have to cast them into an uncertain universe and I'm at my limit.
Isn't he a cute little guy, though?
I am not as good at shooting the cats as I am dogs, although the cats are often in motion or sleeping somewhere comfy but uninteresting. Here, Cyril is demonstrating how much he likes dogs.
Hangin' with the pack.
Rooster has a merle pillow.
Mellow dogs.
Mr. Greybird hanging out on his atom, showing off his lovely plumage.
Spiders! This is my beautiful mature female Chilean rose tarantula, the Lady Josephine. She is cleaning her face and fangs in this shot.
I now have two spiderlings of the same species, locally captive bred. I did not succeed in my last attempt to raise a tarantula spiderling; I have since learned that the pinktoes are notoriously difficult to raise, and that species was a poor choice for my first try. I know a bit more in general now, and have a species that is purportedly hardier, albeit slow growing. Regardless, baby spiders are fragile, and many don't survive even in ideal conditions. I am trying not to get attached to these tiny little things, looking at the whole project as more of a science experiment than pets (Of course, I'm failing). Regardless, I really hope I succeed in rearing at least one of them to adulthood. Once they're old enough to be opaque, they should be pretty safe, but that probably won't be for 7 months or so. The problem is humidity---too much and (often invisible) mold can kill them, not enough and they dessicate. They will also be molting a lot as they grow, which is vulnerable, as molt problems will kill them.
They are really small. The larger of the two would fit on my thumbnail; the smaller on one of my other fingernails. If I succeed in raising these to adulthood, I would like to attempt to breed Josephine; not enough of the demand for pet rosies is being met by captive bred animals. These are beautiful spiders and great pets, currently very cheap only because they are being imported in unsustainable numbers from a vulnerable and depleting wild population. Captive breeding would be a nice way to give back to a species that has given me a couple of beloved but wild-caught pets (I had a rosie in high school who I loved dearly). That is a very long way off, though, and successfully bringing up spiderlings is a necessary first step.
You may remember back in October, Kyn and I rescued three feral kittens and the neutered male cat who was taking care of them. The lady who had been caring for them reclaimed the cat, but despite a great deal of effort to place them, two of the three kittens are still with us. Kitten season is upon us again, and the lovely Cyril is no longer at the "tiny and cute" stage. The sad truth is that the supply of black and white moggies is far in excess of demand. He came to join my household a couple of weeks ago.
This pretty face was the one that filled me with delight in the seconds before I realized that he was a feral and was less delighted. Kyn and her household (including Rooster) did a fabulous job of socializing him; he's growing up to be just gorgeous, and incredibly friendly. He loves dogs, and is courteous with my other cats. As he has gotten though his audition period with me, is great company and causes little trouble, I am permitting him to stay, but I have absolutely, positively NO room for any more cats. Do you hear that, universe? Please don't send me any more; it makes me sad to have to cast them into an uncertain universe and I'm at my limit.
Isn't he a cute little guy, though?
I am not as good at shooting the cats as I am dogs, although the cats are often in motion or sleeping somewhere comfy but uninteresting. Here, Cyril is demonstrating how much he likes dogs.
Hangin' with the pack.
Rooster has a merle pillow.
Mellow dogs.
Mr. Greybird hanging out on his atom, showing off his lovely plumage.
Spiders! This is my beautiful mature female Chilean rose tarantula, the Lady Josephine. She is cleaning her face and fangs in this shot.
I now have two spiderlings of the same species, locally captive bred. I did not succeed in my last attempt to raise a tarantula spiderling; I have since learned that the pinktoes are notoriously difficult to raise, and that species was a poor choice for my first try. I know a bit more in general now, and have a species that is purportedly hardier, albeit slow growing. Regardless, baby spiders are fragile, and many don't survive even in ideal conditions. I am trying not to get attached to these tiny little things, looking at the whole project as more of a science experiment than pets (Of course, I'm failing). Regardless, I really hope I succeed in rearing at least one of them to adulthood. Once they're old enough to be opaque, they should be pretty safe, but that probably won't be for 7 months or so. The problem is humidity---too much and (often invisible) mold can kill them, not enough and they dessicate. They will also be molting a lot as they grow, which is vulnerable, as molt problems will kill them.
They are really small. The larger of the two would fit on my thumbnail; the smaller on one of my other fingernails. If I succeed in raising these to adulthood, I would like to attempt to breed Josephine; not enough of the demand for pet rosies is being met by captive bred animals. These are beautiful spiders and great pets, currently very cheap only because they are being imported in unsustainable numbers from a vulnerable and depleting wild population. Captive breeding would be a nice way to give back to a species that has given me a couple of beloved but wild-caught pets (I had a rosie in high school who I loved dearly). That is a very long way off, though, and successfully bringing up spiderlings is a necessary first step.
