Jay
jayspeidell.bsky.social
Jay
@jayspeidell.bsky.social
Seattle. Take photos of bugs, mushrooms, birds, stuff like that.
Pinned
I spent two hours shooting crab spiders in this patch of flowers before seeing this. A fly landed on one of the flowers and got ambushed.

Shot with a Nikon P7000.

#nature #spider #bug #insect #macro #entomology #photography
Rehousing my Hysterocrates gigas / Cameroon Red Baboon Tarantula into a paludarium. This tarantula can dive and walk under water with a bubble suit around their body. Part of its diet will be fish added to the water area.

Rehousing was a challenge, it's a fossorial species and very shy.
February 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Showing off some of the enclosures in my animal room. I just laser cut some new signs and redid the lighting.

Alt text for all images: planted vivariums containing a variety of animals from snakes and geckos to spiders and beetles.
February 6, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Just finished an enclosure build for my cape house snake, it's almost move-in ready!

Gorilla glue + pebble, driftwood, and cork walls and heavily planted. 36"x18"x18". 24" UVB, 2x 24" grow lamps, and a CHE. Zebra isopods.

#herpsky #snake #reptile #terrarium #vivarium #bioacive #plants
January 30, 2026 at 9:08 PM
@hankgreen.bsky.social I'm really happy to see Life in Jars mentioned in the newsletter! An absolute gem of a YouTube creator that I've been following for years.
January 24, 2026 at 1:09 AM
This is your sign to add shelf mushrooms to every terrarium build no matter what's living in it.
January 15, 2026 at 10:35 AM
@wilsonforseattle.bsky.social @seattledot.bsky.social @seattlebikeblog.com

I've been having a lot of near misses in traffic circles lately. It's very rare for drivers to go counter-clockwise when making a left turn, creating a hazardous situation in neighborhoods without sidewalks.
January 5, 2026 at 7:26 AM
Finally able to turn on the pump for the waterfall in a new Lychas muchronatus Chinese swimming scorpion paludarium.

#vivarium #invertibrates #paludarium #terrarium
December 24, 2025 at 6:37 PM
A baby mourning gecko hanging out on a leaf.

#reptile #herpsky
December 15, 2025 at 7:58 AM
A thriving ecosystem in my ball python's enclosure. Mushrooms are always growing and the zebra isopods snack on them. Popp is consumed so quickly that I never even see it. There are also springtails and three difference species of darkling beetles.

#bioactive #mushroom #reptile #isopod #bugsky
December 8, 2025 at 8:53 PM
The woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata. It's one of my favorite local spiders because of the bright colors. I found this one out wandering.

#spider #bugsky #inversky #arachnid #bug
December 6, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Pocket snake!
December 1, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I'm obsessed with these mourning geckos!
December 1, 2025 at 6:27 AM
My Kenyan sand boa has emerged from the substrate after months of burrowing and refusing to eat! I found him making this silly pose with his head resting on a wall rock.

A few minutes after this he fell asleep and fell down, scaring the hell out of himself.

#snake #reptile #herp
November 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I had one mourning gecko egg in an old enclosure hatch - something I only discovered when a gecko jumped off the wall onto my hand!

So I adopted five sisters for her from the local exotic animal rescue (always check rescues before buying a reptile!) and made this vivarium for them.
November 30, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Enclosure upgrade for my Avicularia avicularia aka pink toe tarantula!
November 27, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Paludarium work-in-progress.

12x12x18 enclosure. This is a fun project!
November 25, 2025 at 7:32 AM
She's getting bigger! Cape House Snake
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 AM
My mature male orange baboon tarantula on his last wander. He passed in the spot overnight.

I took him in for free as a rescue back in spring, already a mature male, so I knew this was coming. But for a spider he was a great pet. Good vibes, hanging out when I'm doing stuff in the animal room.
November 20, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Amazonius burgess, the Ghost Tree Spider. Freshly molted, about 1/2".

#bugsky #arachnid #spider #tarantula
November 2, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Noodles settling into his new enclosure!

He's a male ball python and this is a 4'x2'x6' enclosure with a zebra isopod and springtail clean up crew.

#addherp #reptile #snake #ballpython #vivarium #terrarium #bioactive
October 31, 2025 at 5:57 AM
I love how good of an eater she is! She LAUNCHED at the mouse so hard that she almost flew out of the enclosure. She's a Cape African House Snake and I always think it's wild how she flings herself at food with what seems like reckless abandon.

#snake #reptile #herps #terrarium
October 29, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Just moved this black widow into a new enclosure.

#bugsky #spider #terrarium
October 29, 2025 at 7:19 AM
@hankgreen.bsky.social I'm just wondering if you've read the comments in your banana video and plan to do the different prep styles that result in different flavor profiles. I'm really curious now because I've told this fact before and before I correct myself I have to know 100%!
October 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Breaking news: the beetles are being silly.

#bugsky #entomology
October 23, 2025 at 2:55 AM
My Mexican Fire Leg Tarantula / Brachypelma boehmei recently molted so I built it a new enclosure.

#spider #tarantula #terrarium #vivarium
October 20, 2025 at 5:56 AM