favorite series of tweets

Danny Phantom phans on November 1st.

Perennial October mood.

There she is!

NOW it’s really Halloween

me when i gaslight myself into thinking i've finally pulled myself out of a writing slump just bc i had the energy to think about my project for the first time in three months:

If I post this, will I be immediately thrown out of the Six of Crows fandom I just got into?

Just as a little heads up, PetSmart is (and presumably other pet stores are) starting to carry Regal Jumping Spiders as pet stock.

The ones being sold are WILD CAUGHT. They're being found MISLABELED for sex (females labeled as males etc), and no consideration is being given to the fact that wild caught jumping spider females are pretty much ALWAYS GRAVID. They mate once and will lay around 5 clutches of 25+ eggs each clutch. Since they're only native to a few states, releasing spiderlings means potentially introducing invasive animals, meaning the choice comes down to raising a hundred or more babies or euthanizing a hundred or more babies.

If you've been thinking about getting a jumping spider pet, please do not shop from a major pet store. There are plenty of breeders now, selection for cool traits and more friendly dispositions is being done. You can get a young spider you know is young AND know won't make more of itself despite you never putting another spider in with her. Or get an actually confirmed male if you prefer. And it'll cost you about the same amount as a pet store disaster.

For a little more info, your average, normal, nothing-special-about-it regal from a regular breeder should run you around $50, give or take depending on the breeder and the sex (the ones near me average around that much, with males usually being slightly cheaper than females). For more expensive mutations, like the white colored females people are gaga over lately, it could be twice that. Shipping is expensive, and could add $40-60 depending on where it's starting and where it's from and which service they use. All of this is worth it. A young spider (below full maturity, above an i5 or i6) should live for around 2, even 3 years.

The spiders have been spotted at petsmarts going for $40-90, depending on the location of the shop, and they are mature adults, meaning you have no idea how old they are. You have no idea if they have parasites. You have no idea of their temperaments; and yes, they DO have temperaments. You have no idea if they're gravid. You know nothing about them! You'd be paying basically the same price for a spider that could turn out to be complete disaster for you. And you're paying it with zero support from the store you got it from, whereas most breeders are willing to answer questions and give advice to new owners, in order to assure their babies get good care in their new homes.

What good keepers are also finding is that MANY wild caught jumpers are not comfortable with captivity, and die off quickly through no fault of the care if they continue to be kept in conditions that stress them. They don't built hammocks, they don't eat, they don't drink, they just stress and look for a way out until they eventually starve to death. While many folks DO keep wild-caught spiders (temporarily or permanently), the general rule is to invite them to stay, and let them leave if they decline. If they don't build a hammock within the first 24-48 hours, you let them go again. If they set up camp, they're comfy. You don't have this luxury with wild caught spiders that have been uprooted from their home states. Captive bred spoods, especially ones being sold by responsible breeders, are used to captivity, and generally only being sold if they'll make suitable pets.

You're also not depleting the native populations, to support captive breeding. There's no info on where Petsmart is sourcing their spiders, where the adults are being captured, how far they've traveled already to be there. They are being found in some places in sealed shipping containers, which eliminates the staff's ability to give them proper care (they need misting, they need to be fed). There is literally not a single good thing about this situation for the spiders. Or for new owners.

Lizard keepers know this story, and know that it does not have a happy ending. Sourcing green anoles for big box pet stores is part* of why they're struggling in their native range. Like the spiders, many struggle to adapt to captivity and are riddled with parasites. Like the spiders, they often respond poorly to offered food and drink and die even in the best conditions. Please don't buy these spiders. There are better ways to get an eight-legged friend!

*there's also lots of competition from invasive species but that's less relevant for the spiders... which may become invasive species thanks to this practice! Who knows!!

she made me feel human again.

amen! ("shhh" yourself...not even on key.)

Some photographer humor