Giant Trapdoor Spider?

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You bet! I spent about an hour today trying to positively identify him and I’ve learned that yes, he’s a Trap-Door spider. When my husband laid eyes on him, his first instinct was funnel web spider but, being the spider expert in the family, he was able to identify it more quickly and with more confidence that it was a trapdoor spider. Some research says they have painful poison that isn’t deadly to humans and, as it turns out, even if it was a deadly funnel spider, my husband would want to keep it. XD

Anyway, pictures!

1017554_10152060669533747_1643186437_n(1)

For a little while, I had him in a tupperware. I wasn’t sure what kind of spider he was at the time but his laid-back, super docile attitude told me that he was anything but a funnel web spider. Feeling brave, I took the lid off of his tupperware and caught him in a pickle jar so that I could get a better look at him.

1077237_10152060700838747_1822331378_oFrom front to back (including his legs) he’s roughly 3 inches long. He has four brown spots on the bottom of his abdomen, long palpus with fat ends with hooks on them, spurs on his front four legs, and short spinnerets. It’s downright cute how shy this guy is!

1074950_10152060700698747_1766985220_oHere, you can get a better view of his palpus and the hooks at the end of them. His mouth is closer to the red spot on his underside.

1073165_10152060700973747_1977143003_oLastly, here’s a picture from behind. When I first saw him, he was completely curled up. He didn’t start to stretch out until I caught him. Relax, spider lovers. We got him a new house already.

1012367_10152060797078747_383070499_nAnd here it is! It’s an old 5 gallon fish tank that I used for my first fresh water tank. We threw some pill bugs, a dead bee and some sticks in there. In the back left corner is a little kennel cup with a little water and in the back right is a black plastic tube for him to hide in. Friday, we’ll be getting some sand, buying some crickets or meal worms and a screen to replace the warped cutting board we have on the top. You can see him in the top back right corner of the tank. Yes, he has oxygen. The roof is actually a little warped.

If you have any spider care tips, feel free to clue me in! While my husband’s kept giant spiders before, I haven’t and I would love the knowledge.

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Bringing Albia into Focus

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Things have slowed down quite a bit since Valerie and Tanner have (practically) finished having babies. I had a couple choices where I wanted to go next with this game and one of them was to introduce the two babies I wanted to use for the next round. Well. I might as well.

First, let’s look at our little boy.

bandicam 2013-07-17 12-55-03-835Male 1

He’s actually our only male. He was cloned when the world nearly crashed but here he is. Since the other is identical, we’ve really only got the once choice here.

***** LOBES *****
121   6   0 Emb   B MutDup       Lobe #= 7 State Rule: thres PLUS type0 PLUS type1 <end> <end> <end>, WTA= 1
Was state.

First things first, this gene controls when the Attention Lobe fires. Normally, the if the neuron hasn’t been fired, it stays in the resting state. Here, it only fires once its value is higher than the threshold. The threshold here is 0, though.

***** RECEPTORS *****
46   3   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Creature, Drive Levels Hunger, chem=Hunger, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=254, features=Analogue
Was 255.

The change in gain slightly reduces the amount of hunger that is required to create hunger drive. I think. It could also mean that he feels less hunger than an unmutated creature.

50   7   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 6=’languish’, chem=Sleepiness, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue
Was Drive Levels Sleepiness.

This is a tragic mutation. Instead of feeling sleepy because of his sleepiness level, he will instead feel weak all the time. He’ll simply lay down and whimper. Poor guy. :C

***** HALF-LIVES *****
1   1   0 Emb   B MutDup       WakeUpPill 251 <142> 253
Were 255.

Here, WakeUpPill and 142 are metabolized a little more quickly than normal except that it would still take 52 years for them to deteriorate on their own anyway.

That ‘languish when sleepy’ gene is downright tragic. I’m hoping he not only mates but also manages to have children that doesn’t have that mutation.

bandicam 2013-07-17 12-57-43-539Female 3

***** RECEPTORS *****
46 Different in File 2   3   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Creature, Drive Levels Hunger, chem=Hunger, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=254, features=Analogue
Was 255.

The change in gain here slightly reduces the amount of hunger that is required to create hunger drive.

***** REACTIONS *****
67   10   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   1*Fear++ + 1*<NONE> => 0*Fear + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.
Was 1 Fear.

Normally, fear increase would cause her to feel not just fear, but also punishment. Now, she will only feel punishment when she has fear increase in her system.

***** HALF-LIVES *****
1   1   0 Emb   B MutDup       WakeUpPill 251 <142> 253
Were 255.

Here, WakeUpPill and 142 are metabolized a little more quickly than normal except that it would still take 52 years for them to deteriorate on their own anyway.

***** INSTINCTS *****
131 Different in File 2   1   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Verb i/ps Push + (Lobe/Cell=0/2) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 255*Reward
Was Lobe/Cell=0/0.

This changes which cells are activated. When I open the gene in Genetics Kit, though, it doesn’t look any different in the editor. Go figure?

302 Different in File 2  16   0 Chi   B MutDupCut   Verb i/ps Left + (Lobe/Cell=0/16) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Left => 255*Reward
Was Lobe/Cell=0/0.

This changes which cells are activated. When I open the gene in Genetics Kit, though, it doesn’t look any different in the editor. Go figure?

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