Finally, I caught it…my P. crassipes feeding!

I have spent the last several weeks trying to get a feeding video of my juvenile Phlogius crassipes. Although this smokey-gray beauty has become a bit more brazen as it has gained some size, it usually retreats to one of its many burrow entrances at the slightest disturbance. My first attempt in catching it hunting didn’t end in a kill, but served as a wonderful example of just how fast this species can be.

Well, last night, I was shocked to find this little guy just standing on the surface as I took the top off of its enclosure to feed it. After snapping a few pics of it just calmly hanging out in the open, I then dropped a cricket in. My T first bolted to its den. However, as I broke out the phone to catch it on video, it immediately went into hunt mode…yes!

My juvenile P. crassipes just chilling out on the surface.

Although I’ve seen this guy make much more extreme kills (it once bolted four inches from the burrow opening, grabbed a cricket, then literally tumbled back into another entrance in the blink of an eye) I was still glad to catch it. This species is voracious eater and a fast grower, and I love the sleek and powerful build of it. I will definitely be adding more of this genus to my collection very soon…