Itsy Bitsy's Spiders

07/22/2024

🕷️ A Cautionary Tale: The Loss of Chimichanga 🕷️

Today, I faced a heartbreaking and cautionary moment with my Hyllus diardi jumping spider, Chimichanga. She was found caught in her nest of eggs, tangled and suspended by her abdomen. For those who don’t know, this is akin to being hung, as the heart of a spider is in its abdomen. It was a gut-wrenching sight.

This tragedy highlights the delicate balance in caring for these fascinating creatures. I hesitated to check on Chimichanga sooner because Hyllus diardi can sometimes eat their eggs, and I didn't want to disturb her. This hesitation has left me with deep guilt. The thick webbing around her nest made it hard to see inside, and I grew worried when I noticed no movement while misting her enclosure.

To all spider enthusiasts and pet owners, let this be a cautionary tale. While it’s important to respect the natural behaviors of our pets, it’s equally crucial to ensure their safety. Regular, gentle checks can prevent tragedies like this. Chimichanga was more than just a spider to me; she was a cherished companion.

Her loss is a painful reminder of the responsibility we hold. Rest in peace, Chimichanga. You will always be remembered. 🕷️❤️

07/20/2024

Chimichanga 😭🕷️ A Cautionary Tale: The Loss of Chimichanga 🕷️

Today, I faced a heartbreaking and cautionary moment with my Hyllus diardi jumping spider, Chimichanga. She was found caught in her nest of eggs, tangled and suspended by her abdomen. For those who don’t know, this is akin to being hung, as the heart of a spider is in its abdomen. It was a gut-wrenching sight.

This tragedy highlights the delicate balance in caring for these fascinating creatures. I hesitated to check on Chimichanga sooner because Hyllus diardi can sometimes eat their eggs, and I didn't want to disturb her. This hesitation has left me with deep guilt. The thick webbing around her nest made it hard to see inside, and I grew worried when I noticed no movement while misting her enclosure.

To all spider enthusiasts and pet owners, let this be a cautionary tale. While it’s important to respect the natural behaviors of our pets, it’s equally crucial to ensure their safety. Regular, gentle checks can prevent tragedies like this. Chimichanga was more than just a spider to me; she was a cherished companion.

Her loss is a painful reminder of the responsibility we hold. Rest in peace, Chimichanga. You will always be remembered. 🕷️❤️

07/20/2024

A Heartbreaking Loss: Remembering Chimichanga
Today was a deeply sorrowful day as I discovered my Hyllus diardi jumping spider, Chimichanga, in a tragic state. She was caught in her nest of eggs, tangled and suspended by her abdomen. This is akin to being hung, considering that the heart of a spider is located in its abdomen. The sight was gut-wrenching.

This situation is especially heart-wrenching because I had been afraid to disturb her. Hyllus diardi can sometimes eat their eggs, which made me hesitant to check on her. Now, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of guilt for not checking sooner. The thick wall of webbing made it nearly impossible to see inside the nest, and today, I grew worried when I noticed a lack of movement while misting her enclosure.

It’s incredibly difficult to cope with this loss, knowing that my hesitation may have played a role. Chimichanga was not just a spider; she was a cherished part of my life. Her memory will remain with me, a poignant reminder of the delicate balance we strive to maintain in caring for our pets.

Rest in peace, Chimichanga.

05/25/2024

Memorial Day sale! Use coupon MEMORIAL10 at checkout

Itsy Bitsy's Spiders/Jumpers is a hobbyist on a mission to share the wonder of jumpers with the world. As a specialist in the Hyllus species, this passionate breeder has dedicated years to perfecting the care and breeding of these mesmerizing arachnids.

04/04/2024

01/26/2024

I suppose I should have let everyone know.... several months ago my spiders started mysteriously dying. Especially the little ones after months of scratching my head I finally figured it out. Residual flea and tick medication for the former residents pets. I moved out in October and have slowly been rebuilding my population. Sadly this tragedy took most of my Indonesian collection. This has been a blow to my efforts to establish captive bred Hyllus diardi, giganteus and walckenaeri. I have only a handful of surviving walckenaeri. The walckenaeri seemed to fair much better than the Diardi's or giganteus. This has been extremely devastating to my poor spiders, my business and ego. I post a picture of one of my walckenaeri. She just turned a year old in December. She's getting ready to lay more eggs. Sadly she's not skilled at sealing her sacks. I love her anyway

05/30/2023

2nd generation Hyllus walckenaeri are finally moving around in their nest. Had a few bumps in the road with males actually making it to adulthood alive and with intact palps. Probably because it's a challenge to keep the necessary humidity in Colorado.

03/03/2023

Hyllus walckenaeri are finally sub-adult phase. Finally able to determine gender! I am rehoming a handful of them.

02/23/2023

Hyllus walckenaeri are now sub-adult. I am rehoming a couple now. To homes with appropriate enclosures. Care is similar to Hyllus diardi. They do appear to be easier to care for than Diardi's. They are a bit faster than Diardi's though

01/02/2023

Hyllus walckenaeri momma out for a meal while intently watching another escaped cricket. She's been fattening up for clutch #4 sadly she ate number 3. I suspect it is because she was nervous about her next door neighbor, one of my Hyllus giganteus building her nest within eye shot of hers

01/02/2023

Hyllus walckenaeri babies!

12/25/2022

A word of caution when using silk cocoons or walnut hides!!
To understand how this happens, you first have to know how jumping spiders create their hammock in the first place. They create them by spinning a tube like structure. With an entrance and exit. The type and thickness depend on what function they're spinning it for. They typically spin thicker webs for moulting. If they're an adult female, they will spin an even thicker dense sheet of sorts. They will then lay eggs on that and then spin another sheet to seal the eggs in. She does this probably to prevent them from drying out. (Maybe also to contain them in one place to keep her eyes on them, lol) she will then create an additional outer hammock on top of or around the eggs. This will also usually have an elliptical shape with an entrance and an exit.
More often than not, using hides like those previously mentioned will be fine. The problem is that sometimes spiders will build their hammock incorrectly. For instance if they accidentally make the entrance or exit in the wrong place. I have not noticed any issues with them using them when moulting YET!
However, on 3 occasions, I have had some issues with spiders creating a wall of silk and basically sealing themselves in with no way to escape. 2 were hyllus giganteus and one hyllus diardi. They essentially made their nests backward and created the thick wall that they lay eggs on in the front of the opening. Leaving absolutely no way to escape. I didn't realize that they couldn't escape the first time and sadly by the time I intervened she was very thin and had eaten all her eggs. The other 2 times I had to pull out the thick sheet with it the precious eggs. I have since stopped using these types of hides. I have since switched to using more open types of hides. Especially for my Hyllus species. The less intervention during times of moult or egg laying the better.

09/23/2022

I apologize for any inconvenience, I have been dealing unreliable transportation for a few months and my vehicle recently broke down again. As a result I have been busy trying to buy a newer used car in addition to working 60+ hours a week at usps. I finally secured a loan and I will have reliable transportation again once it's delivered. In the meantime. I will be shipping out on the 27th. If your order was placed prior to Sunday I will be shipping out a freebie

09/08/2022

Hyllus walckenaeri babies appear to be fertile! For the past 5 years, I have tried desperately to get walckenaeri to the United States. I came across a hobbyist at an expo that had some egg bound adults. I was able to get her to lay her eggs and so far so good. Unfortunately, I had to evict her because she started eating them.

09/05/2022

Labor day sale now till the 10th use coupon code LABORDAY at checkout

08/18/2022

I am having issues with PayPal and I am not able to access or accept it at the moment. They can not seem to figure out how to fix a glitch. I have been forced to find an alternative. I am now able to process credit/ debit cards on my website. Yay!

07/15/2022

Due to unforeseen events. I have been unable to ship orders this week. The post office I work and others in area were disconnected from the internet and therefore unable to have retail portion opened for over 2 and a half days. We had service restored early this morning but as a result we have a ton of outgoing mail. I was intending on shipping today but I didn't make it on time. So, if you placed an order before the 10th, I will include a freebie in your order

07/05/2022

After 4th sale!
Use coupon code AFTER4TH to save 10%

07/01/2022

Not all white p. Regius are Bahamas. Nor are all Bahamas white. Bahamas means that they come from the Bahamas. They do tend to have more grey/white than normal Florida Regius however, this is still uncommon to get white.

06/08/2022

Shipping resumes today!

05/27/2022

I am not shipping anything until the 2nd Tuesday after memorial day. I am sorry for the delay. I just know that shipping volume is unseasonably high due to a lack of help and the 2nd round of covid 19 test kits being shipped out. Add this to the high volume after a holiday and it's a recipe for delayed shipments. Sorry for any inconvenience.

04/22/2022

04/14/2022

Time to clean up the their house!

04/08/2022

One of our new logos

03/10/2022

Why don't you count instars?
I believe this is not practical in the jumper hobby. Definitely in the Tarantula hobby! Not this one. Here's why.
¹ they emerge from the sack at different rates between 3i-4i. Most people don't realize they have an eggs with legs stage, which would be considered 2i th they are still white at this stage. They will molt, giving them the black color. Most of the time, they will molt once more. This is difficult to see on such a small spider. It was easier to spot with my giganteus babies I had to repair a nest, which wasn't perfect. They soon broke out and began wandering around. This explains why it may be more practical to use this method in the T hobby.
² Once they emerge at 3i-4i, unless you're raising one Spiderling, they will be communal at this point.
they will molt and grow at VASTLY different rates. There's no good way to track who molted who didn't, etc. Even if you separated them at this point, which isn't recommended, you will have some serious time-consuming data keeping to keep track of. Especially since a female phidippus regius can molt 13-15x! Just imagine 100+ little deli-cups that you will now have to chart. They molt and grow very quickly, sometimes molting every 3-4 days when they are slings. This occurs at various rates based on individual appetites.
³ There's no way to judge age based on markings showing up. Because this too happens at different rates.
This is why I don't believe in using instars to judge age. If a seller tells you this, ask for the individual data sheet from the day the mother laid eggs. It's best to purchase jumpers at Juvenile or sub-adult stage.

02/07/2022