Considering 2 More T's need some info / advice please

[Aragorn Davies]

Right i am in the process of researching for the husbandry of a Stromatopelma calceata and a Heteroscodra maculata....

i want to order one of each, but before i commit to buying i would like to arm my self with as much info as possible about them as i understand they are both quite potent and fast with the possibility of a bad atitude....i think they are a wonderful looking T's and want them to increase my baboon collection and also my arboreal experience....i realise that they are not necessarily for the beginner, so before i make the commitment i would like to hear of any thoughts on these T's ....what kind of enclosures, Temps, Humidity and any recommendations that you have found worked well for you or your personal experience with them good or bad....many thanks

[Paul Hadgett]

There is plenty of care sheets on the net you can find about both species you mention and there are no hard and fast rules regarding temps and humidity. They are both arboreal so height matters with these and if your buying slings please use some substrate as slings do burrow as they feel safer at ground level when young. They are both very very quick spiders and care should be taken when doing any cleaning etc in their enclosures. As for beginners spiders, anyone who uses common sense will be fine regardless of being a beginner or not.

[Jamie Cooper]

I am currently keeping 4 Stromatopelma calceatum. I bought them as tiny spiderlings and they are now about 5 - 6cm in leg span.

I have to say that these are the only spiders I have ever bought and felt a bit out of my depth. To say they are fast is an understatement! They are lightening fast. Unpacking them was a nightmare. For about a week I questioned whether or not I felt comfortable keeping them. I soon got used to them and they are now among my favourites. The coloration is stunning!

As spiderlings I housed them in 500ml rearing jars from The Spider Shop. I offered a nice deep substrate and an arboreal cork bark hide. I drilled holes into the top of each piece or vertical cork which 2 of the 4 set up home in. The other 2 burrowed. They are now in in larger enclosures with a similar setup. 1 has burrowed and the other 3 have adopted the cork hides I have set up.

Just be careful. Many bite reports suggest this is one you do not want to get bitten by.

Jamie

[Aragorn Davies]

I am currently keeping 4 Stromatopelma calceatum. I bought them as tiny spiderlings and they are now about 5 - 6cm in leg span.

I have to say that these are the only spiders I have ever bought and felt a bit out of my depth. To say they are fast is an understatement! They are lightening fast. Unpacking them was a nightmare. For about a week I questioned whether or not I felt comfortable keeping them. I soon got used to them and they are now among my favourites. The colouration is stunning!

As spiderlings I housed them in 500ml rearing jars from The Spider Shop. I offered a nice deep substrate and an arboreal cork bark hide. I drilled holes into the top of each piece or vertical cork which 2 of the 4 set up home in. The other 2 burrowed. They are now in in larger enclosures with a similar setup. 1 has burrowed and the other 3 have adopted the cork hides I have set up.

Just be careful. Many bite reports suggest this is one you do not want to get bitten by.

Jamie

Nice one cheers for sharing that Jamie,,,,i have actually gone and ordered the Stromatopelma calceatum which will be coming next week, i will use a similar system as you describe and see how i get on....from doing some reading, both species are closely related and require the same sort of set up which is good, also as with the P Murinus they seem to be quite hardy, any ideas on the life span and growth rates for males and females?

[Aragorn Davies]

Well during my trawling of the net, there are some interesting info about these spiders, i found this link on arachnoboards http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/show...opelma-Bites&s=.......

[Jamie Cooper]

from doing some reading, both species are closely related and require the same sort of set up which is good

I'm not speaking from experience, but yes I believe you are correct.

Check this out - http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/...omatopelma.pdf

Jamie

[Aragorn Davies]

I'm not speaking from experience, but yes I believe you are correct.

Check this out - http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/...omatopelma.pdf

Jamie

dude for some reason the link isn't working...

[Peter Roach]

I've got 4 S. calceatum slings and I havent found them to any better or worse than any other arboreal slings that I have (avic's, irminia, tapi's, pokie) at the moment. I moved all 4 yesterday into larger tubs without any problems . . . didnt expect any really. I have also got an adult female H mac who is so laid back she's almost in a coma LOL (doesnt mean that I trust her though ! )

what kind of enclosures, Temps, Humidity

Aragorn . With a few exceptions 99% of slings can all be kept the same temps and humidity, which is a warm room temperature and a dry side of damp substrate enclosure. Thats it. Nothing fancy. No special or magic recipe.
I have about 300 T's (slings/juv's/adults) at the moment and all but 3 are kept at warm room temp with almost dry substrate even the smallest slings.

[Jamie Cooper]

dude for some reason the link isn't working...

Whoops. Sorry I'm no good at this computer stuff.

Try this - http://www.exoticfauna.com/tarantula...phy/index.html then select Stromatopelma from the list. Download the article by RAFN.S 2002 - very interesting reading.

Jamie

[martin hudson]

dude for some reason the link isn't working...

Works for me,

[Aragorn Davies]

awesome thanks for ya help guys, the stromatoplema calceatum arrived on the 17th and has been transfered safely into its new home, for the next couple of years i guess!. the Enclosure is 230mm hight by 185mm wide with air holes drilled at approx 72mm intervals around the circumference and 25mm intervals from top to bottom, the lid also has air holes drilled..hopefully this should be ok for a while...haven't seen it since i put it in there lol...what do ya think??

[martin hudson]

Very nice, looks great, congrats on the new 'Ts'

[Aragorn Davies]

Very nice, looks great, congrats on the new 'Ts'

Thanks ....just goto wait for it to grow a bit now, so i can at least see it lol

[Jamie Cooper]

Nice setup you have there Aragorn. How big is the spider? Personally I would have added a bit more substrate to allow it to burrow if it wishes. Other than that it looks fine

Here's a couple of pics of one of mine. Not the best photo's, I just thought I would show you the cork bark hide I made from a birds eye view. I drilled down from the top diagonally so the hole goes all the way through and comes out near the bottom. The spider located it straight away and setup home there. It has continued the tunnel with a tube web which runs along the ground and round the back of the cork bark, which cannot be seen from the photo. Feeding is easy as I just drop the food item on the top of the cork bark.

[Aragorn Davies]

Yep like it Jamie, those acrylic terrariums are awesome but i just cant bring my self to buy one at the price of um,...and i know its not to difficult to make them, seen a few videos of them being made, so as soon as i am sorted...that will be the next project....making some lovely acrylic homes for me T's......like what ya did with the cork..nice and natural..i do like the look of cork....personaly i like a bit of green....lmao hang on i will rephrase that...i like to see some natural/imitation fauna in the tank...just for colour, hehehe ......i like to see some colour i find that when i have been looking at my T's without something to break up the substrate they look awfully sterile....well the new arrival is about 3/4" so the tank is massive for it at the mo....plenty of growing room.....yep nice setup dude thanks for sharing