Care sheet !

[martin hudson]

Been looking for a care sheet for a Megaphobema,velvetosoma,cant seem to find anything!any help would be appreciated cheers guys

[stuart longhorn]

Actually, keep them like Theraphosa sp, for which you should easily find some care sheets - the benefit from higher humidity than many other tarantulas. They will also tolerate it cooler than Theraphosa and others though.

[martin hudson]

Thanks Stuart,
I would still like any info on this 'sp' if any one knows a site with any mention of M, velvetosoma, then i would very much like to see it. Thanks,

[stuart longhorn]

Hi Martin,

I dont know specific sites with caresheets, hopefully some other member can advise..

But, I dont use caresheets as theyre often wrong, or just made general for several species, and not actually well adapted for
the particular species being talked about.

So, what i do, is try and find information on where the species was first collected (the type locality), and then anything else after that, either from various peoples field expeditions (or my own), and try to understand the possible range, taking into account changes in landscape (topology, like mountains, rivers etc), habitat (like major plant types) and geology.

It takes a lot to do such evaluation properly, which is probably why i find most care sheets are wrong - they didnt bother!

Ok, so to get you get started, M.velvetosoma were first described from Tena, Ecuador. This is more mountainous upper amazonas, hence i said will tolerate cooler conditions than others like Theraphosa (from central/lower amazonas an guyanas). Also, M.velvetosoma has been found around the Iquitos area of northern Peru, according to experts like Rick West,
which i consider a trustworthy recording. Those sites are about 500 km apart, but give two firm points to do some searches of annual climatic data (like temperatures and rainfall), habitat types, soil, etc. Just be aware though, the microclimate in
deep burrows for species like these are often quite different to the outside temperature and humidty that you will get reported back from such searches. For example, burrows are often much cooler than highest outside temperature because the deep dark recesses dont heat up with the sun. Also they cool down much slower as earth retains heat.. basically the burrows often stabilise temperature extreemes... a nice stable 'middle' temperature.

For example, climate charts of Iquitos. Im sure you can find others?

http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/p/PR84377.php

Many pettrade exports for M.velvetosoma seem to have come recently from Ecuador, so conditions around Tena will likely
be the most informative.

[Peter Roach]

I dont use caresheets as theyre often wrong, . . . . .

I find that most care sheets are just copied from other caresheets which are usually wrong in the first place. I have a Megaphobema mesomelas which i noticed spent a lot of time just huddled in a ball when kept on a high shelf in my spider shed (temps 26-28C) when i moved it to the lowest shelf (temps 23-24C) it was more active and fed much more aggressively.

EDIT . . . I have a folder in which i store websites that I read when i have time and found THIS showing Megaphobema natural habitat. (halfway down page)

[stuart longhorn]

Thanks Peter, nice contribution.

Yes, that's another valid point that the spiders own behaviour can be very informative, for example with a new species i try to give the spider options of various parts of the container being wetter or drier, so its movements are informative. I see others using waterbowls in dryish container, if the spider stays hunched over the waterbowl, hopefully they work out it suggests the spider appreciates the higher humidity.
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Just to add though, i'd keep costarican M.mesomelas much cooler than ecuador/peruvian M.velvetosoma. Just because they are placed in the same genus doesnt mean they like exactly the same climatic conditions. The excellent link you give for M.mesomelas names monteverde as a site he found them at. I know, i've been to Monteverde before him and found several myself, plus other locations in Costarica. But - rather than cool, i'd say Monteverde is actually cold ..(though this is subjective - see below mean 17-20C), i went to sleep there each night wrapped in all my clothes and was still shivering.!!.

http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/facts.htm

You can keep S.hoffmanni cold like this too, they occur in the same regions. While i'd suggest the south american M.velvetosoma prefers 'cool' to 'coolish' temps.