Togo Starburst Baboon Heteroscodra maculata

[Mark Shingleton]

hi guys, just been over the road to pet city and saw a t i never heard of, so bought it. Togo Starburst Baboon
Heteroscodra maculata sling
just been looking round the net an found out its aboreal, and aggresive an pretty fast, cool. just wanderin if any one has/had any of these sp. before an maybe share a bit of knowladge that might help me keep her happy an cozy in her new home.
thanx.
p.s got a chaco golden knee and an avic avic too, gold knee ready to moult gunna be skint all the time now i just moved in across the road from a good pet shop

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Mark, I have one here, a female raised from sling. Despite only being black/white/bit of brown they are trully stunning spiders. Be warned though, they are very fast and will fight first, ask questions later.

[Mark Harrison]

I agree with Nicola, theyre quick and accurate, but generally very shy. I am amazed at how fast mine can detect and then grab a cricket from the opposite corner of its terrarium. I have found that they are heavy webbers and like all tarantula's are not to keen on being disturbed. Keep it warm and fed and it will grow at a steady rate. I'd class mine as one of my "jewels" of my collection.

[Nicola Dolby]

This is what they look like when they get bigger Mark,

[James Box]

one of my favourite African spiders!

[Mark Shingleton]

thanx guys, nice pic cant wait to see her growing

[Marco Amerino]

This is an awesome T. I see you bought it pretty irresponsibly, treat it with extreme respect. This species can teleport, has an extremely potent venom among theraphosids and is generally very defensive. It's really shy as well.
When sling/juvie they love to burrow and will be pretty reclusive, some adults tend to stay this way, some will become less reclusive. Give it a pretty big layer of substrate and a tubular piece of bark, it'll love it and most likely build a burrow inside it; with multiple exits and webbed entrances. Females have an amazing brown pattern on white/cream, males are fuzzier and with a dull brownish/sand coloration, the pattern is less striking.

pic of my female

[James Box]

while i can understand some caution being advised... alarmism doesn't help.

if you give it lots of respect and don't poke it or disturb it (lifting the enclosure's lid slowly and the minimum amount, for example), you shouldn't ever have to worry about the venom.
"extremely potent" for Theraphosids is still not lethal (unless you are badly allergic, of course, and even then).

i never had any trouble with my spiders, even the ones that could be argued by some to be "irresponsible" buys.

common sense = not getting bitten
these are not dangerous animals compared to some that are more commonly kept (dogs, horses, etc)

one good go deserves another

[Marco Amerino]

I hope I wasn't misunderstood, no alarmism at all in my words. That's why I advised to treat it with lots of respect, that's a milestone in my book. I also added "among theraphosids" after talking about the venom to specifically mean that it's one of the most potent among tarantulas (so not lethal or really bad on a general scale), just to avoid a misperception of my words

[James Box]

fair enough, sorry if i misunderstood