FELIX FANPAGE

Hello!!!! This is a page dedicated to my FIRST jumping spider - Felix (/pheonix depending on how I am feeling), I got him and his enclosure from the lovely people at Jumping Spiders Web, he is an adult Phidippus regius Everglades male. Or so I believe?

A small black spider with white spots on his abdomen on a piece of white tissue paper. He is in his enclosure which has some visible, planted ivy. The background is a cork wall, and the sides are clear acrylic.

_{Here he is right after I got him! He came with a bit of tissue paper where he had already made a hammock :)}

This is my Nerd Section abt enclosure + husbandry + CIC + feeders

A rectangular clear acrylic enclosure which is twice as tall as it is long. On the front, there is a hydrometer attached at the upper-left corner, it reads: 25.8 degrees Celsius, 69 percent humidity. At the very bottom of the enclosure is substrate (soil), leaflitter, a red, partially buried toy truck. A planted, live green english ivy is growing upwards extending from the left upwards, to the back of the enclosure, and a branch to the right. The back is covered in a cork bark wall, there are three, flat, tear-shaped waterdroplets made from blue plastic hanging from a string from the spout of a large miniature sage green watering can. There is a beige spherical hide attached near the watering can at the top-middle of the back wall. There are fake green leaves with yellow tips that form a canopy for the spider to climb on, a handmade twine bridge that is partially obscured by the leaves, and some pieces of cork forming ledges on the sides of the enclosure. There are circular vents on the left and right sides, around halfway down the length. The top of the enclosure also has a vent, with a bright LED light bracket sitting propped up.

The Height + Width + Depth is 30cm x 15cm x 15cm. He's an adult and I want to give him as much space to roam as possible! Height is the most important thing for these little guys.

Cross-ventilation is essential for jumping spiders + good for keeping mould at bay!

There is a layer of drainage (leca clay balls + mesh on top to prevent substrate from migrating), and deeper substrate so that I can have the the vivarium planted with the ivy. Having a plant vivarium boosts humidity as the plant + thicker substrate + watering schedule helps with that. Also I enjoy the maintenance + process of it. I did quarantine the plant for ~2wks to make sure it did not have any pests, and wash all of it before I put it in. As it will be humid + likely have fly carcasses that I will not be able to find easily, I also have some custodians so they'll appreciate the deeper substrate... I will speak ab1out them later!

I choose the english Ivy because it is very hard to kill, leggy, and will grow upwards rapidly.

I like the aesthetic of the cork bark, but it also provides a different, more naturalistic surface for the spider to crawl on. Any enrichment you can provide will be really good!

The spider doesn't care about the red toy truck, that's for my personal enjoyment - if you are going to put something like this in the enclosure, make sure it does not have sharp edges, will not leak/seep chemicals, or move easily. I attached a ton of toothpicks to the bottom of the truck so I could secure it, and prevented the movement of the wheels with hot glue.

The watering can that you can barely see through the canopy was an aesthetic choice, but also a potential hide. The sphercal beige thing beside it is intended as a hide but he does not care for it.

The fake leaves + vine canopy is because he spends literally all his time chilling at the top! I didn't initially anticipate just how much he climbs the clear acrylic top, so I put in the canopy so he wouldn't just have plastic seethrough surface to roam on at the very top.

I adore macrame, and apparently he does too, because he's quite fond of the braided twine bridge that I made (secured with magnets + hot glue), and I can tell because he made a hammock on it.

There's some enrichment on the sides (cork platforms)

You may notice the use of a heat mat - I live in the UK, and while I try to have an ambient heat of acceptableness for my isopod + springtail enclosures + plants, I also do NOT have the finances to blast it high enough for the spider to survive off. NONE OF THIS IS EXPERT ADVICE - I have the Hydrometer very close to the wall of the heat mat + near the top where the spider is to have a better idea of the actual temperature + humidity within the enclosue. My heat mat is NOT stuck to the side of the enclosure to decrease the chance of burns, and is controlled by a thermostat. YOU MUST USE A THERMOSTAT if you use a heat mat/wire. The heat mat itself will not control the temperature it outputs. Ideally, put your thermostat probe inside the vivarium. If you have no other way to monitor the temperature inside, then you must put the probe in the vivarium.

I will say, I use hot glue RELIGIOUSLY in building these. Keep in mind that it's not the best for holding up everything... Sometimes super glue/magnets are your friend too! When using adhesives etc, make sure you air out the enclosure even after its cured as our arthropod friends are a lot more sensitive to these things and may die.

"Everett, What did you mean by Custodians?"

An ivy in the background, and next to a red toy truck, there are two isopods in the spaghnum moss and leaf litter. They are white with black speckles.

Custodians, Clean Up Crew, whatever they're called - it refers to isopods (and springtails) that you "seed" your substrate with. Isopods are detritivores, meaning they consumed decaying organic matter - rotting wood, leaf litter, mostly eaten flies that the spider discards... They are very important to keeping your substrate and enclosure clean :) Likewise, springtails feed on mould! Nobody wants mould to overtake their vivarium.

I have a personal interest in keeping isopods, and have started a springtail culture as I need them for many terrariums/vivariums to come. I am also keenly interested in insect husbandry, and it is very important to me that I can give these creatures a good quality of life - even the flies I use to feed my spider. Aside from the fact that a happy fly that has had its fill of food will be more nutritious and potentially enriching to the spider, I try to be kind to something that I am essentially sending to its death.

I am going to refrain from my "hierachy of sentience does not mean no sentience/experience, and we should aim to practice good husbandry regardless of something's final destination/apparent worth to us, because at the very least - we have chosen to be responsible for this life, and you should take good care of the things you are responsible for" ramble.

I have kept dairy cows as CUC successfully before, but can recommend with full confidence that dwarf white isopods are much less risky to your spider and just as useful :) Although, you may have to remove feeder carcasses.

- - - - cross-posted to the dairy cows' page - - -

There are lots of different pieces of information about dairy cows. Some people report them to be incredibly aggressive, and they are known to be aggressive towards other isopods - so should not be kept in a mixed colony. Other people describe them eating parts of a live lizard while it sheds, eating the skin off their fingers, eatings entire tarantulas alive. Others consider them completely harmless to most active predatory species of inverts. Other people consider them to be completely safe custodians but recommend keeping an eye on them with inverts. Other people say it depends on the size of the reptile, or that they cannot eat parts of reptiles at all.

I bought them quite early on, not fully understanding that while they are considered very effective and safe clean-up crew, that does not mean for all pets.

What do I know about them definitively? Dairy Cows are very active when established and confident, and the juveniles are particularly protein hungry. They are incredibly efficient and will devour anything I put down for them. Ensuring they have a regular source of protein and supplementary feeding in addition to burying feeder carcasses has worked without problem for me so far. But, I'd rather there was no risk at all to Felix even if he spends his time far above them, especially as he ages. And, I can still remove the fly carcasses and put them into the separate colony to be recycled. We know that some inverts like millipedes cannot be housed with procellio at all, for example. So, I am in the process of removing them as custodians and replacing them with another alternative which have a completely harmless nature to the spider. These characteristics though, make them absolutely perfect to keep in their own colony!

- - - - end of crosspost - - -

LET THE REAL FANPAGE SECTION BEGIN

05/17or18/26 : I fed Felix a fly that had been living it up for a couple of weeks in an enclosure I call 'Fly Heaven'. And because of a certain someone, all the flies in Fly Heaven are called Fly Heaven. Fly Heaven is named because its supposed to be the best the fly life is going to get! Warmth, comfortable damp sphagnum moss, fresh food and water, space to perch and fly and maybe even play.
I fed him a little bit earlier than usual, and he had a lot of time chasing after it, practicing the jumps and calculating distances - he's not very good at it yet! But, I hope the experience was enriching for him and that he's able to hone his skills further. I really enjoyed watching him and cheering him on. I'm sorry Felix that I picked you up when you weren't wanting me to! I was trying to help, and I thought that because you had gotten onto my hand, it meant you would be totally cool with me lifting you up to where you'd fallen from. Evidently, I was wrong...
But, you have been staring at me a lot while I work on my arts and crafts in front of your enclosure, and looking at me when I talk to you while showing you interesting things (how to thread a needle). So maybe you've forgiven me?

_{Grooming ON MY FINGER!!! FINGER!!!! He loves me :O 05.14.26} Felix cleaning on of his legs, and then bringing down his fangs from out of his mouth to clean them with his pedipalps, as well as his mandibles. He is perched on my finger.

Felix cleaning on of his legs, and then bringing down his fangs from out of his mouth to clean them with his pedipalps, as well as his mandibles. He is perched on my finger.

_{Eating a fly surrounded by the warmth of my hand... he had to come with me while I brushed my teeth, made toast, ate breakfast, etc.}

_{I was really surprised when he initially went onto my finger to eat. I tried everything to encourage him to move to a leaf or otherwise. But eventually he just stopped... caring about my finger wagging in his direction and hunkered down. This was also his fastest hunt! As soon as I put the fly in there he tackled it to the ground. I was trying to help him onto a higher ledge as I haven't removed all the dairy cows yet... so I was really happy about this happening on accident.} A bird's eye view of Felix holding onto a fly with his fangs on my finger.

A bird's eye view of Felix holding onto a fly with his fangs on my finger.

_{Out and about >:)} A black jumping spider with green pedipalps, white leg hair and coloration at the bottom half of his legs is perched on a artificial mandarin leaf double the size of its body surrounded by other similar leaves at the top of his enclosure.

A black jumping spider with green pedipalps, white leg hair and coloration at the bottom half of his legs is perched on a artificial mandarin leaf double the size of its body surrounded by other similar leaves at the top of his enclosure.

_{First time outside! Since then he sometimes approaches me and crawls onto me to be put outside on another plant.} Felix is on the leaf of an ivy plant (variegrated dark green and light green), outside the enclosure with the enclosure pictured in the background.

Felix is on the leaf of an ivy plant (variegrated dark green and light green), outside the enclosure with the enclosure pictured in the background.

_{I really enjoy watching him eat.} A close-up shot of Felix eating a blue bottle fly in the comfort of his own hammock, iridescent pedipalps spread open.

A close-up shot of Felix eating a blue bottle fly in the comfort of his own hammock, iridescent pedipalps spread open.

_{He is very comfortable with my presence now :)} Felix perched on a fake pandarin leaf from a 'bird's eye' view, next to my index and middle finger pressed up on the inside of his enclosure. He is the width of my finger.

Felix perched on a fake pandarin leaf from a 'bird's eye' view, next to my index and middle finger pressed up on the inside of his enclosure. He is the width of my finger.

_{His first meal with me!} A jumping spider that is black with white leg hairs who is holding and eating a large blue-bottle fly which obscures most of his body. He is on top of an english ivy leaf.

A jumping spider that is black with white leg hairs who is holding and eating a large blue-bottle fly which obscures most of his body. He is on top of an english ivy leaf.