Dolichothele diamantinensis Questions

[merlin1066]

Good Morning!,
Let me start by saying I do NOT and have never had a tarantula. I've been doing quite a bit of research on Dolichothele Diamantinensis. I want a smaller/dwarf species. I LOVE the colors. I understand they can be VERY fast and skiddish at times especially when they are slings. The actual care and husbandry seems to be pretty straight forward, ( I could be completely off base on that). What I'm looking for is the " the GOOD the BAD AND THE UGLY" for this species. Is there ANYTHING I need to keep in mind when/if I actually purchase one?

Any and ALL information would be much APPRECIATED! Thank You in advance for any replies!!!

Mark in NJ

 

[lorienita]

I don’t know if I am particularly qualified to answer this question, as I also am a first time tarantula owner and purchased D.diamantinensis. I do have a unique perspective I suppose. I am not a first-time spider owner. I have several sub-adult jumping spiders. I don’t know that I would have felt comfortable getting the tarantula if I had not already handled and gotten comfortable handling the jumpers. (I don’t plan on handling the T.) I shrieked and jerked the first few times they jumped while I was handling them.
It definitely took me a little before I could control my reaction.

The lack of jumper content on YouTube led me to tarantula collective and tarantula kat and tarantulas became my latest obsession. I did a ton of research on New World species narrowing down to what I wanted. Because I have cats and live in a studio apartment, it was important to me to not have an aggressive species or one that regularly kicks hairs. I also wanted a pretty baby and one that would stay fairly small but not teensy.

So far, and I have only had the D.d. sling for a month, I have a few observations. However small you think the sling will be, it is smaller than you could have imagined. That scares me more than the speed. But the speeeeed. So far it has lived only in the cholla branch I have in the enclosure. I have a very expensive pet branch. And will until it grows out of it. It had its legs poking out of the top and at first I thought it was a shed, I nudged it with a tweezer and that lil nugget moved so fast I shrieked and jumped. That’s the danger, is doing that and hurting it. Otherwise, opening its enclosure inside of a large lidded tub with a catch cup handy in case of escape is a good way to buy yourself reaction time. So far I don’t regret getting it, but I wish I would have gotten a much larger closer to 1” sling. Mine is closer to 1/2”. They are spindly and so tiny. I’m terrified of crushing it. Other than that it’s an excellent pet log.

 

[Konstantin]

Hi all
I have raised few of those.
Care is pretty straightforward like every terrestrial sling.Moist but not wet substrate to begin with untill they show their adult coloursThen you can let it dry out and overflow the dish to create a moist corner once in a while.
Although they come tyni they are good eaters and grow relatively fast.They are fast and skittish species and care need to be taken when feeding and doing maintenance (rehousings) but once they put some webs down they tend to stick to them rather than bolting out of the enclosure.They require terrestrial setup with multiple anchor points to create their web tunnels.Mine never taken on a hide or burrowed but made homes under cork barks leaned to the sides as part of their web systems instead.
A little more height in enclosure will be beneficial as otherwise they may web up the lid.Once they put some size they most of times will be bold and stand their ground with some threat posing and fangs out.Do not push them too much as they don't have urticating hairs and will be more likely to bite if provoked although mine have never gone for me but a lot of slapping and posing was observed. Enclosure sizes can be as little as 4 oz deli pot for small slings with not too deep substrate.
Feeding is twice a week for small slings ,once a week for juveniles and once every two weeks as (sub) adults.If abdomen goes too large space the feedings more apart.Water dish with fresh water always to be provided.Tattoo ink pots and small bottle caps make great dishes for slings.
Hope that helps.If you have any specific questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Regards Konstantin

 

[lorienita]

Hi all
I have raised few of those.
Care is pretty straightforward like every terrestrial sling.Moist but not wet substrate to begin with untill they show their adult coloursThen you can let it dry out and overflow the dish to create a moist corner once in a while.
Although they come tyni they are good eaters and grow relatively fast.They are fast and skittish species and care need to be taken when feeding and doing maintenance (rehousings) but once they put some webs down they tend to stick to them rather than bolting out of the enclosure.They require terrestrial setup with multiple anchor points to create their web tunnels.Mine never taken on a hide or burrowed but made homes under cork barks leaned to the sides as part of their web systems instead.
A little more height in enclosure will be beneficial as otherwise they may web up the lid.Once they put some size they most of times will be bold and stand their ground with some threat posing and fangs out.Do not push them too much as they don't have urticating hairs and will be more likely to bite if provoked although mine have never gone for me but a lot of slapping and posing was observed. Enclosure sizes can be as little as 4 oz deli pot for small slings with not too deep substrate.
Feeding is twice a week for small slings ,once a week for juveniles and once every two weeks as (sub) adults.If abdomen goes too large space the feedings more apart.Water dish with fresh water always to be provided.Tattoo ink pots and small bottle caps make great dishes for slings.
Hope that helps.If you have any specific questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Regards Konstantin

Thanks so much Konstantin. I appreciate the detailed info. May I ask if you find them to be more nocturnal or diurnal?

 

[Konstantin]

Haven't really noticed much difference in the behaviour between day and night tbh.
They just hang in and around their web tubes
Regards Konstantin

 

[lorienita]

Had to share. This is my first time properly seeing my D.d sling since I bought it. The expensive log awakens! Such sass. (I wet the substrate near the log just prior.) Cholla wood is 3/4” thick to give perspective on how tiny this sling is.

 

[Blackdog]

Dolichothele diamantinensis Care — The Tarantula Collective

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