Australian Tarantulas - One Australians Journey

[Dave Jay]

It has always amazed me just how Ts of the same species differ in the way they choose to build their homes and their different personalities..

I thought so too. It makes it hard to generalise about the habits of a certain species.

 

[Enn49]

I thought so too. It makes it hard to generalise about the habits of a certain species.

I used to wonder if it was a sex thing as with my 3 B. albos the 2 that were more confident turned out to be males and with my 3 N. chromatus the skittish one is male but my 3 female Phlogiellus sp. Khao sok are different too, one will come out of hiding when disturbed but the other 2 I never see.

 

[Dave Jay]

I used to wonder if it was a sex thing as with my 3 B. albos the 2 that were more confident turned out to be males and with my 3 N. chromatus the skittish one is male but my 3 female Phlogiellus sp. Khao sok are different too, one will come out of hiding when disturbed but the other 2 I never see.

I'm yet to find out if that is the case, but I do have a feeling that the more "outgoing" spiders may turn out to be male, time will tell I guess.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Also, I've been researching Ant Keeping and experimenting with making my own Formicariums.
This has lead to one good idea, they use power packs as heating! Those black boxes you plug in to power your appliances all provide constant mild heat, most of them anyway, phone chargers excepted I would think, they get hot. The ones that keep a fairly constant heat can be plugged into powerboards and placed where heat is needed, plug more here or less there and get the right temp for free!
To me it's a duh moment, I didn't realise that it was the powerboard providing the ambient heat in my corner!
I do worry about magnetic fields though.

My new B hamorii cage is right under my new upgraded FiOS wireless router. That thing is giving 80% full wireless power clear across my condo. The other one I had was only doing 15% that far away.

She just loves it, sits right on the hide right side up directly under it. Best of all, the cage is heated to 76 degrees even though the rest of my room is 68 degrees.

She recently ate her first cricket under my care.

 

[Dave Jay]

Who's that in the pipe?

It's Young Geoffrey in his new skin! Twice the size, lookin' good and struttin' his stuff!

 

[Dave Jay]

And a flashback to before moulting. His leg span has easily doubled.

 

[Whitelightning777]

The growth rate is phenomenal.

 

[Dave Jay]

Yes, the first moult since getting him/her but it was a good one!

 

[Whitelightning777]

I'm just wondering. How big do those huntsmen spiders in your house actually get?

It's a shame that you can't get in touch with an exporter. Many T owners that like arboreals will branch out into true spiders like those.

 

[Dave Jay]

I received the crassipes on the 28th of March and that was the first moult in my care, keep in mind though that most of that was winter and the tarantulas were mostly dormant, although this little one ate more often than the rest of them, that is a long time between moults!

 

[Dave Jay]

I'm just wondering. How big do those huntsmen spiders in your house actually get?

It's a shame that you can't get in touch with an exporter. Many T owners that like arboreals will branch out into true spiders like those.

I'd say a 4" legspan would be about average adult size for the species of huntsman in my house although I've seen bigger

 

[Dave Jay]

Phlogius sp. "pq113" "Blue Legs" number 3 ( I really got to name these spiders! ) made an brief appearance the other night, keep trying to get a pic but she bolts every time I even look in her direction, I'll get good pics sooner or later but for now...

 

[Dave Jay]

Phlogius sp. "pq113" "Blue Legs" number 2 moulted on the 5th Jan 2019
I haven't seen her yet, just her legs in the burrow.

 

[Dave Jay]

Belindas' Phlogius goliath was out roaming the other night and while I didn't get great pics at least I got some!
I was asked for ventral pics months ago but this was the first opportunity since then, the warm weather has brought the tarantulas out of their winter dormancy finally so I'm seeing them out and about for the first time in months.

 

[Dave Jay]

Now the ventral shots.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I'd say a 4" legspan would be about average adult size for the species of huntsman in my house although I've seen bigger

That's a perfect size for some people. They would easily go into a small arboreal enclosure such as an ExoTerra nano or maybe even something a bit smaller.

Chances are that if they're in plain sight in your home, they'd also be a good display species.

Orange and gold spiders are highly desirable in the hobby, the best example world-wide being the OBT or H pulchripes.

There's gotta be exporters. I've heard that in Germany, Australian species are popular. Regular captures of these might easily get you some extra income as well.

Typically when a new species enters the hobby, they're wild caught and gradually over time, people breed them in captivity. If they're just in your home, I doubt that they're endangered.

Maybe reaching out to tarantula breeders and sellers world wide about these might be worth it. Even if they aren't importers, they'll know who is.

At that point, I can get one!!

 

[Dave Jay]

That's a perfect size for some people. They would easily go into a small arboreal enclosure such as an ExoTerra nano or maybe even something a bit smaller.

Chances are that if they're in plain sight in your home, they'd also be a good display species.

Orange and gold spiders are highly desirable in the hobby, the best example world-wide being the OBT or H pulchripes.

There's gotta be exporters. I've heard that in Germany, Australian species are popular. Regular captures of these might easily get you some extra income as well.

Typically when a new species enters the hobby, they're wild caught and gradually over time, people breed them in captivity. If they're just in your home, I doubt that they're endangered.

Maybe reaching out to tarantula breeders and sellers world wide about these might be worth it. Even if they aren't importers, they'll know who is.

At that point, I can get one!!

Looking at one recently 4" would be in the usual resting position with legs bent, legs stretched some would easily top 6". These are not the largest species, there are tropical species that are larger. Interestingly these can be green as slings, I grew up thinking the tiny green ones were just a small green species. Lately we've been getting another large species in the house, much the same but slate grey with a few black marks. The bright orange ones are badge huntsmans, they are a relatively small species, between 1and 2 inches but they are stunning.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I'd totally would reach out to importers. There's a fellow in America called Ken the big guy is memory serves. He literally goes out in his backyard and catches wild ones and sells them.