What am I getting myself into?

[Kurt Baird]

Well I'm going to be putting a deposit down on a T.blondi.

Not very big, maybe 3-4" legspan, but picking it up for roughly £30. Using my Emp. Scorps as 'part exchange' and I get 20% discount off the place I'm buying off. Good deal I think!

Anything I need to know apart from:

They get very big.
They're bad tempered.
They need high humidity (80-85%?).
They have not very pleasant urticating hairs.
They have big fangs.
They have a massive appetite.

[Colin D Wilson]

Not much really to say about the T blondi apart from they're a very nice spider to have in any collection, fantastic to watch in their day to day habits and overall impressive in their charactor.
As regards your "list" .. i'll add some objective points if i may

They do get a nice size when adult

Not all of them are "bad tempered" .. i would assume most spiders have a bad day and i think in general it's because of the size of the blondi that a "bad temper" could seem like a problem.

Many many people, including me, have an opinion and husbandry techniques based on keeping these spiders in that they do not need high humidity, i would assume that this hypthosis came from those collectors that found the spiders wandering around wet areas, this would be normal if it were looking for food or had been ousted from it's burrow if there was heavy rain. reasonable humidity is quite sufficient as a lot of keepers have posted reference to in this forum.

Urticating hairs - with you on that one - not nice to get a face full at all - top tip would be to have a spray bottle handy to dampen the air and floating hairs making them drop to the floor.

Big fangs .. in proportion to the spider they're about normal, then again the spiders a tad on the large size so the fangs will be too - don't know many people who have been bitten by this species but i would assume it's not nice.

There are a lot of spiders that will eat and eat untill almost bursting, L paharybana is another if given a chance. what i will say is that spiders are oportunist feeders in their natural habitat and we should mimic this in captivity, a nice proportioned abdomen is good for any spider, try not to be drawn into feeding defrost mice as there's sketchy evidence it's beneficial to them in the long run, though a lot of keepers tend to feed mice occasionally.

i think 3-4 inch is a nice size to get one, you can watch it grow up into a nice specimen ... good luck with it

[Eleanor]

My T. blondi is probably my favourite spider. She's also the one that all my guests remember and ask about, whether they see her or not. It's a nice species to have and I do not find it difficult to look after.

I agree that humidity is probably over-rated. I have kept mine totally dry with a water bowl and no spraying in the past, with no shedding problems. I now keep the substrate just very slightly moist by letting the water bowl over-run a bit when I fill it, (mostly just to keep the cleaner woodlice alive) and I still never spray.

My advice is to remember that they do like the opportunity to hide in a nice deep burrow, so I give them a really big bit of cork bark.

Mine just gets fed crickets or roaches, and not too frequently either because she would get too fat. You will see for yourself how much to feed when you see how fat it's getting!

Oh yes, and don't underestimate the itchiness...

Enjoy.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Kurt, I think it's been pretty well covered by Colin & Eleanor, is the T sexed? that's a pretty good price especially if it's female. We love all the Theraposas, and up until just over a year ago they were all in the standard wet, dark hole, but not now, we've changed them all, Blondi & Apophysis, over to being kept on dry substrate, large water bowl, and spraying maybe twice a week, they've all got large semi open hides, but now spend 80% of their time out in the open, and they all eat well and are happy. The most aggressive one we've found is the T. Burgundy, then the Apophysis, fast and edgy, but the Blondi on the whole, are the least aggressive in our opinion.

We've just received 3 T. Apophysis (lst instar) to add to the gang lol, gorgeous little things.

Enjoy yours, and put a pic on when you get it.

[Kurt Baird]

Thanks all for your input!

@ Colin:

Thanks very much for your detailed response. Most of what I posted was info that I gathered from various books that I have, so it is quite possible that some of what I read may be "out of date" or new theories thought up since they were published.

With regards to the humidity, I'm gonna try and keep it, as you said Colin, with a reasonable humidity. I'm gonna be putting it on Eco-Earth (coco foir) so it the substrate will be fairly moist. What I will say is in the shop they are being kept on very wet substrate with an awful lot of moss in the tank, and they aren't climbing the substrate or doing excessive webbing so it must be "OK" for them. No doubt though they should adapt over time to the conditions in my house.

I've always been one to limit the amount of food my T's get. I strictly feed once a week (even my slings) and we don't have any obese T's. I'll just go along with my normal feeding routine.

try not to be drawn into feeding defrost mice as there's sketchy evidence it's beneficial to them in the long run, though a lot of keepers tend to feed mice occasionally.

Yeah, I wasn't even going to go down that route, and if I did it wouldn't be until its fully grown and maybe as a Christmas lunch. :P

@ Eleanor.

Yeah I can imagine. When I tell people that I collect T's they always ask if I have a "Bird Eater" (which I do, but they almost certainly mean goliath). Will be nice to say yes for a change. :P

I'll also be using some tropical woodlice to keep on top of cage maintenance.

My tank is about a ft tall, so there will be a good 8 or 9 inches of substrate so it will definitely be able to burrow if it wants too.

As far as I'm aware the pet shop have been feeding locusts, so thats not a problem for me. I will be varying the diet though!

@ Linda

It isn't sexed. There was two I could pick from, so I had a go at ventrally sexing them, at which I am no expert! One of them I am pretty sure was a male. Lets just say the one I reserved looked "less male" than the other. :P

It looks like it might be in pre-molt though, so I will be able to get a better idea when it molts. I'm not really bothered though. If its male, then when it matures I'll send him out on breeding loan and get another! Maybe I'll buy a female and try my hand at breeding. Apparantly they're devils for destroying the sac though?

[Kurt Baird]

I got a phone call today from the pet shop, saying they thought my T.blondi was dead as it had started molting last night before they shut (around 5pm) and was still in the same position (no molt progress) at 10 am this morning.

I was a bit sad, but I thought I would go down and see. I blew on it slightly, no movement. I was consigned to defeat. I've been hanging around since around 10.30am and it has just started moving and the carapace has seperated (about 3pm)!! Fingers crossed it goes ok!

Hopefully when I get it home on Saturday I can get some nice pics of a freshly molted T.blondi with no bald bum! And I will hopefully be able to sex it!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Kurt, be very careful transporting it, it might be unwise removing it from it's tank to a carry home container so soon.

[Kurt Baird]

Yeah, its kept in a faunarium at the moment (not the best thing but it seems to be molting ok in it). I'll pick it up in its faunarium on saturday, and probably place the faunarium in its enclosure so it has the benefits of the added heat and humidity as my house isn't the warmest or most humid. Will probably then move it properly after a few days if not more. I will see how it goes.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Yes, a wise decision, I'd be thinking of leaving her perhaps 10 days or so, before moving her into her new home, you don't want anything going wrong at this point, and let's hope it's a female.

[Kurt Baird]

Lets hope its a female yes, but I don't think it is.

Went back in today and examined the exuvium. Seems to me like a male, although I'm not entirely sure for some reason. Perhaps its because I really want a female! The exuvium had a legspan of around four and a half inches.

Oh well, if it is a male I'm sure I'll have no shortage of takers for breeding purposes when it matures.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Unlucky then Kurt, at least you know and there's usually lots around that can use the services of a male when he matures.