www.PlanetBoris.co.uk - home of Boris(ette)!

The Diaries of Borisette and Horace

Note to self: I lost the last entry just before Christmas - hopefully its on another PC in the cache! :(

10th December 2004

Some new pics - Horace without the tank in the way, and Boris messing about with her eggsac. The pictures a little fuzzy because I didn't take it very well, and couldn't see on the display - oh well. You can see Horace is balding a bit, this is generally an indication he may moult soon. Hope I get to see it!

30th November 2004

I'd like you to meet Horace, my 2nd Tarantula who I picked up today. Horace is a Mexican Red Knee. As you can see the markings are very clear and bright despite his size. Once again I have no idea whether Horace is male or female but he is tiny! And really cute! It took him over an hour to leave his travel box and enter into his new home. Horace has his own tank. Its the same style as Borisettes but I've got it partitioned to make it easier for him to find food and water in there. To try and judge the size the thing he is sitting in is a toilet roll tube I fashioned into a little house for him. Theres a little reflection there as it was taken through the wall of the tank. Theres a bigger picture of him here!

(Just for anyone wondering, Horace does NOT go skiing - the rental for 4 pairs of skis is too much!)

2nd November 2004

Stop press! Boris is now known as Borisette!

First new picture in ages, and some news. The white thing you can see in this pic is an eggsac. I know what you are thinking, why would Boris lay eggs? It is because Boris is short for Borisette - thats right folks - shes a lady! The sack is made from silk and is pretty strong, I was able to touch it when I removed it temporarily from the burrow. I didn't leave it there though - Borisette has decided that next to the heater is a much warmer place to leave it, rather than in the burrow. Hopefully you will see my first attempt to make a movie with my new camera (still camera so movie quality is lacking) if you click here

Whether the eggsac is actually holding any baby spiders (spiderlings) will remain to be seen - there has been no mating since I aquired her, so she would have had to have mated before then. I guess we'll see!

25th July 2004

You may think Boris looks a little different today. In fact its a little buddy who I found waiting outside ready to jump in under the door when I went to put the rubbish out. Awwww. Hes back outside now. Hopefully he can find himself a nice place in the garden.

19th July 2004

My first picture of Boris taken with my new camera - a Nikon CoolPix 3200. This one has a macro mode (for taking close-ups of small objects) so should allow much more detailed pics. For a bigger version of this picture click here

13th July 2004

Just one new picture today. After Boris decided he wasn't a fan of vermiculite I went back to the woodchips. He seems much happier like this but I still want to try something the crickets can't hide in too easily - I've had one live for at least a week by hiding in there, so I'm going to try a peat moss base next time - possibly tomorrow if I can find some. Anyway, heres Boris hiding in his flowerpot. He had built up a little wall in front and I hadn't seen any sign of him so I had a peek. I coaxed a small cricket in to say hello, but Boris wasn't feeling too talkative so he ate him instead. Its been about a week since hes eaten so I might try and give him another in half an hour or so.

4th July 2004

Some new pictures - I rearranged his tank again yesterday - swapping the birdbox for a half flowerpot, as seems to be the recommended burrow. I've got some vermiculite on order, hopefully to pick up on Tuesday. The layout will most likely remain like this, but without the woodchips. That should make it much harder for the sneaky crickets to hide under, while letting Boris burrow a bit more if he likes.

The last one is tiny cos if I make it small you can't see how out of focus it is :)

28th June 2004

I'm calling this cricket Matrix, from the film Commando. This picture shows him creeping around Boris (who wasn't hungry luckily for the little fella). Anyway, our hero proceeded to almost rub his legs against Boris, and then climb up the side of the bird box. Boris gave him a pat on the back and left him to it. After a few minutes Matrix was rescued and he'll live to eat carrot for another day. Meanwhile his feats are preserved on the WWW here, and once google caches him, for eternity!

This is possibly the best picture of Boris so far too :) Unfortunately its really low res as I cropped a much larger picture. It really shows his colours off well, all the others make him look brown or black

27th June 2004

I decided to remove alot of his substrate in anticipation of getting a second heat mat to warm him up a little. I've also moved the box forward to try and let more air be heated by the current mat - I think it was going straight up before. To do this I also needed to clear the front of his house so I have a great view of him at the moment. The second picture shows a cricket in there with him. The brave fellow walked in of his own accord and started to climb the wall. Unfortunately Boris is better at climbing than him. He apppears to have taken a nasty blow and wasn't moving. Boris must be full at the moment. I'm not sure if the cricket is alive or dead.

Picture quality is a bit poor since they were taken through the wall of the tank.

20th June 2004

This weekend I got the stuff I was missing and have set the tank up properly now. This is what it looks like (without the lid) The wooden box is where he likes to sleep - in fact hes spent the whole day in there so far! You can see hes set up some webbing around the entrance - I'm not sure what that is for yet.

15th June 2004

This is Boris on the day I got him (her). I don't know whether (s)he is male or female but for now I will think of him as a he. The shiny object is a penny for a size reference.

Boris is a Chile Rose Tarantula

10th December 2004
	Some new pics - Horace without the tank in the way, and Boris messing about with her eggsac. The pictures a little fuzzy because I didn't take it very well, and couldn't see on the display - oh well. You can see Horace is balding a bit, this is generally an indication he may moult soon. Hope I get to see it!
30th November 2004
	I'd like you to meet Horace, my 2nd Tarantula who I picked up today. Horace is a Mexican Red Knee. As you can see the markings are very clear and bright despite his size. Once again I have no idea whether Horace is male or female but he is tiny! And really cute! It took him over an hour to leave his travel box and enter into his new home. Horace has his own tank. Its the same style as Borisettes but I've got it partitioned to make it easier for him to find food and water in there. To try and judge the size the thing he is sitting in is a toilet roll tube I fashioned into a little house for him. Theres a little reflection there as it was taken through the wall of the tank. Theres a bigger picture of him here! (Just for anyone wondering, Horace does NOT go skiing - the rental for 4 pairs of skis is too much!)
2nd November 2004
	Stop press! Boris is now known as Borisette! First new picture in ages, and some news. The white thing you can see in this pic is an eggsac. I know what you are thinking, why would Boris lay eggs? It is because Boris is short for Borisette - thats right folks - shes a lady! The sack is made from silk and is pretty strong, I was able to touch it when I removed it temporarily from the burrow. I didn't leave it there though - Borisette has decided that next to the heater is a much warmer place to leave it, rather than in the burrow. Hopefully you will see my first attempt to make a movie with my new camera (still camera so movie quality is lacking) if you click here Whether the eggsac is actually holding any baby spiders (spiderlings) will remain to be seen - there has been no mating since I aquired her, so she would have had to have mated before then. I guess we'll see!
25th July 2004
	You may think Boris looks a little different today. In fact its a little buddy who I found waiting outside ready to jump in under the door when I went to put the rubbish out. Awwww. Hes back outside now. Hopefully he can find himself a nice place in the garden.
19th July 2004
	My first picture of Boris taken with my new camera - a Nikon CoolPix 3200. This one has a macro mode (for taking close-ups of small objects) so should allow much more detailed pics. For a bigger version of this picture click here
13th July 2004
	Just one new picture today. After Boris decided he wasn't a fan of vermiculite I went back to the woodchips. He seems much happier like this but I still want to try something the crickets can't hide in too easily - I've had one live for at least a week by hiding in there, so I'm going to try a peat moss base next time - possibly tomorrow if I can find some. Anyway, heres Boris hiding in his flowerpot. He had built up a little wall in front and I hadn't seen any sign of him so I had a peek. I coaxed a small cricket in to say hello, but Boris wasn't feeling too talkative so he ate him instead. Its been about a week since hes eaten so I might try and give him another in half an hour or so.
4th July 2004
	Some new pictures - I rearranged his tank again yesterday - swapping the birdbox for a half flowerpot, as seems to be the recommended burrow. I've got some vermiculite on order, hopefully to pick up on Tuesday. The layout will most likely remain like this, but without the woodchips. That should make it much harder for the sneaky crickets to hide under, while letting Boris burrow a bit more if he likes. The last one is tiny cos if I make it small you can't see how out of focus it is :)
28th June 2004
	I'm calling this cricket Matrix, from the film Commando. This picture shows him creeping around Boris (who wasn't hungry luckily for the little fella). Anyway, our hero proceeded to almost rub his legs against Boris, and then climb up the side of the bird box. Boris gave him a pat on the back and left him to it. After a few minutes Matrix was rescued and he'll live to eat carrot for another day. Meanwhile his feats are preserved on the WWW here, and once google caches him, for eternity! This is possibly the best picture of Boris so far too :) Unfortunately its really low res as I cropped a much larger picture. It really shows his colours off well, all the others make him look brown or black
27th June 2004
	I decided to remove alot of his substrate in anticipation of getting a second heat mat to warm him up a little. I've also moved the box forward to try and let more air be heated by the current mat - I think it was going straight up before. To do this I also needed to clear the front of his house so I have a great view of him at the moment. The second picture shows a cricket in there with him. The brave fellow walked in of his own accord and started to climb the wall. Unfortunately Boris is better at climbing than him. He apppears to have taken a nasty blow and wasn't moving. Boris must be full at the moment. I'm not sure if the cricket is alive or dead. Picture quality is a bit poor since they were taken through the wall of the tank.
20th June 2004
	This weekend I got the stuff I was missing and have set the tank up properly now. This is what it looks like (without the lid) The wooden box is where he likes to sleep - in fact hes spent the whole day in there so far! You can see hes set up some webbing around the entrance - I'm not sure what that is for yet.
15th June 2004
	This is Boris on the day I got him (her). I don't know whether (s)he is male or female but for now I will think of him as a he. The shiny object is a penny for a size reference. Boris is a Chile Rose Tarantula