Selenecosmia

[paul fleming]

Hi all,
When was Selenecosmia sp. widely availabe for keepers to buy in the UK.....especially S.dichromata ?
Thanks,
Paul

[Elaine Ross]

S. dichromata I think has only been recently available. Lee had a few adults for sale a few months ago and still has juvenile's in stick.

I dont really remember seeing any available before that but maybe I just wasnt aware of them at the time.

They are a stunning species if a bit feisty lol.

[paul fleming]

Thank you Elaine,
You are always helpful and I appreciate it
What about this Elaine,

Whyle, W. M. (1993) Mating Selenocosmia arndsti. Journal of the British Tarantula Society, 8 (4), pp. 10–11.

I would have thought they were still not available to keepers in the hobby until a lot,lot later later even considering the above info.

[Elaine Ross]

Its possible that some Selenocosmia sp. have been around for a while. There was S. crassipes available some years back as far as I know so its possible that S. arndsti were around at the same time.

They are not a Genus I've come across very often in the last couple of years or so mate.

[Phil Rea]

Thank you Elaine,
You are always helpful and I appreciate it
What about this Elaine,

Whyle, W. M. (1993) Mating Selenocosmia arndsti. Journal of the British Tarantula Society, 8 (4), pp. 10–11.

I would have thought they were still not available to keepers in the hobby until a lot,lot later later even considering the above info.

As I said on Arachnoboards yesterday, supplying the above reference, Selenocosmia spp. would have been around in the UK hobby since the early '90s, or possibly even earlier

Schmidt & von Wirth described S. arndsti from New Guinea in 1991, and apparently Eckhard wrote an article on S. crassipes for the BTS Journal in 1990, so spiders from the genus could well have been available here or on on the European mainland even before that.

Not sure why you're asking about them being available for keepers to buy. As far as I'm aware, Bill (the author of the above referenced BTS article) is a keeper, albeit a longstanding and extremely knowledgeable one.

[paul fleming]

The reason I am asking is because it seems that someone bred them or kept them in the 90's but they were not commercially available until much later,maybe the last few years,as I said in that post you were talking about.I may be wrong and that is why I am asking....again.
It is a bit different different doing a scientific paper /study on them in the mid 90's than the spp. becoming commercially available to all in the hobby.
I did not ask when they were discovered,who bred them first or studied them first......I asked,when were they available to all in the hobby like baboons,pokies and Haplo's for instance.
I thought it was a pretty straight forward question.

[Phil Rea]

The reason I am asking is because it seems that someone bred them or kept them in the 90's but they were not commercially available until much later,maybe the last few years,as I said in that post you were talking about.I may be wrong and that is why I am asking....again.
It is a bit different different doing a scientific paper /study on them in the mid 90's than the spp. becoming commercially available to all in the hobby.
I did not ask when they were discovered,who bred them first or studied them first......I asked,when were they available to all in the hobby like baboons,pokies and Haplo's for instance.
I thought it was a pretty straight forward question.

I thought it was a fairly straightforward answer

Ok, for a hobbyist to mate them and write an article in 1993, then they must have been commercially available to the hobbyist at that time. I thought that was fairly self explanatory, and that it was a pretty straightforward illustration.

They were actually discovered much earlier than the 1990's, much much earlier, but there's obviously very little point me elaborating.

[Stephen jordan]

There are some Selenecosmia crassipes about at the moment, grown on slings. I own the mother. They have been re named though or are in the process of being renamed. This one is quite docile though, very nice spiders.

[paul fleming]

I thought it was a fairly straightforward answer

Ok, for a hobbyist to mate them and write an article in 1993, then they must have been commercially available to the hobbyist at that time. I thought that was fairly self explanatory, and that it was a pretty straightforward illustration.

They were actually discovered much earlier than the 1990's, much much earlier, but there's obviously very little point me elaborating.

So that means that anyone could have got hold of S.dichromata for instance over 15 years or so ago.
I did not realise they had been around for so long for anybody to buy.
Seems strange that they have been kept by hobbyists for so long yet we still have to buy WC......thought there would have been lots and lots of CB by now.....after almost 20 years of being kept in the hobby....by anyone who wanted one
Thank you for not elaborating as well Phil , appreciated

[Phil Rea]

There are many species that have been in the hobby for longer or as long as that but are not currently available, some have since been re-introduced from the wild, others not.

Species like Poecilotheria smithi, Ceratogyrus sanderi, some 'new ones' such as Augacephalus sp. 'Mozambique' which have turned out to be other already described species, and some such as Hysterocrates gigas which have probably never been in the hobby or have been sold as other species.

It's not quite as simple as someone getting hold of species 'x', 'y' years ago, but I'll leave you to do your own research

I don't recall mentioning S. dichromata

[paul fleming]

Would Selenocosmia have been widely available to me over 15 years ago (Whyle, W. M. (1993) Mating Selenocosmia arndsti. Journal of the British Tarantula Society, 8 (4), pp. 10–11. )
Or....how long ago would it have been when it would have been easy for me to get a Selenocosmia in the same way I can get an S.calceatum today for instance ?
A straight answer would be nice,if anybody has one ?
.

[Phil Rea]

You asked, and I answered to the best of my ability, although I probably shouldn't have bothered.

If you want a straight answer, then maybe try asking a straight question. There's very little point in getting belligerent simply because you are not hearing what you want to hear.

[paul fleming]

Hi all,
When was Selenecosmia sp. widely availabe for keepers to buy in the UK.....especially S.dichromata ?
Thanks,
Paul

I can't think of any way to put a question any straighter than in my original post Phil
BTW,I am not waging war or showing any hostility......I was just after a straight answer to a very straight question which has never been a problem for me before on the BTS.
Maybe the belligerance lies elsewhere ?

[Phil Rea]

Maybe the belligerance lies elsewhere ?

I don't think so, but in any case we'll call it a draw at this point, and good luck finding your answer.

[Phil Rea]

I suggest that it would be a good idea if everyone ensures that this discussion continues constructively.

If I have reason to remove any further posts then the thread will be closed.