Baboon Tarantulas: .....still don't have time to actually dig up the correct info and type away. So, to prevent fail due to my faulty memory, I'm posting a pic of one of my favorite's of the African baboon T's. Info to come later...really, I'll get to it.

Heteroscondra maculata, "Ornamental baboon"-Pic above: Grayish white with dark markings. Arboreal (live mostly in trees), very fast and usually have a bad attitude.

I was planning on writing about some old world baboon tarantula's and posting pics of some of my hairy beasties, but I have just been to busy with life. I fed about half my T's last night and will feed the other twenty or so tomorrow night. With any luck, I'll find time to settle in and post up some info between now and the weekend.
Hopefully it won't put anyone to sleep that dares to actually glance over my blog.

New Aphonopelma Flagstaff!

O.K., when I put my last entry on Jan 15th about my Aphonoplema Flagstaff Orange arriving D.O.A. I should have gone back to say that I did get a replacement. Sam in Arizona quickly sent another bigger female flagstaff orange along with a free female Aphonopelma paysoni blonde.

The flagstaff is almost 5" and the paysoni is about 3.75". Sam had these packed really well and they have been doing great since Jan. 30th. These both come directly from the Arizona area where Sam lives so I assume he has no problem finding a few of these, depending on the weather and time of year.

After placing these girls in their new enclosures, the flagstaff almost immediately found the water dish and stuck her face down in it for a long drink. I took three or four pics of that along with some pics of them posing for me. As is my luck however, when I went to upload them on my pc the memory card showed error and I lost all my pics on that card. Luckily most of them were already on my pc.

These two girls are calm and slow moving as is with most Aphonopelma's.The first day though the flagstaff was walking slightly sideways I guess is how i'd describe it. She was almost dragging one leg but I could not find any injuries and she's been o.k. since then.

Here's some pics of my newest Arizona T's:

Aphonopelma sp. flagstaff orange

The one on the solid black fake leather is the Aphonopelma sp. paysoni blonde.

New Haplopelma species!

I was on Arachnoboards and saw a gorgeous Haplopelma minax for sale. These are jet black with faint tiger stripes on the abd. They come from the Malaysia rain forest and spend their days deep in a burrow until nightfall. They are fairly aggressive/defensive and have a habit of sitting motionless if they are prodded are even sprayed with water, then will explode in a burst of speed biting whatever it feels threatened by. After a little haggling, I made a deal for this black beauty and received her by USPS just Thursday.

So far she has behaved herself and has not tried take a chunk of my flesh yet. She is about 6" maybe a tad more and the last two nights has been exploring her new enclosure. I had an old 10 gal tank and added about 6" of peat moss, some fake plants, small bamboo and a small stone pagoda . She's tried to dig down in the back corner but I buried two large, rectangular tupperware type containers across the back of the tank. They are side by side and about 4" tall leaving an area across the front length of the tank about 4" wide for her to burrow.

Above are a few pics of her in her new home I took the other night. Just need a name for her...yes, I really name all my tarantulas.

Nuttin' Honey

I was going to post earlier and got busy and just completely forgot. Now I need to hit the sack so I can get a couple hours sleep before work in the morning{{{{{groan}}}}}.
I will take time tomorrow to continue on Aphonopelma...maybe.

Aphonopelma Flagstaff Orange D.O.A.

Yesterday my wife called me at work to tell me my package had arrived. I was excited like a kid on Christmas morning. I had ordered a new tarantula from dealer in Arizona I'd done business with before. I figured there should be no problems and the 4.5" female was at a really good price. After I came home about four, I grabbed the box cutter and carefully sliced through the tape. Pulled back off layer of styrofoam, peeled back the newspaper and there it was! A 160z plastic tub that you might find at the supermarket full of potato salad, all taped up and nestled in a deep bed of crumpled newspaper. I pulled it out out and pulled off the lid ,removing the cushion of moist paper towels and found.....a tarantula in the classic "death curl", legs all folded and pulled up underneath her. I tried everything but she was a goner. I sent a message to my friend in Phoenix and he is sending me a replacement on Monday for her. He also sent a free P. murinus. These fiesty little burrowing, old world tarantulas are from Africa and Angola and come in several colors, this one a bright orange commonly called OBT, for "orange bitey thing". They can be extremely agressive and defensive and over time will fill their enclosure with clouds of silk. It is only 1 inch in diameter but I dropped him a cricket slightly larger than himself, and he did'nt hesitate to tackle it.

I really hate that the flagstaff did'nt make the trip alive, but sometimes that just happens no matter how cautious you prepare. The murinus will make a great addition and should grow pretty fast. I have a female already that is over 4 inches after last molt. Gorgeous little beasts.

I guess I can wait until next week for my Aphonopelma, I have no choice anyway and just hope the weather warms as its forecast. I am posting up a couple of pics. The one in my hand is the deceased flagstaff and the other is the tiny murinus sling (spiderling). Good thing I just bought more crickets. I housed the little OBT in a small Beta tank with a couple of inches of peat moss and he's already dug in started webbing it up. That puts me at 35 with another 2 coming next week. I also have a velvet black demon from Thailand coming in next week. Haplopelma species, these are even more aggressive that the P. murinus and fast as greased lightning. That should get my heart rate up, transfering it from the shipping box into its new home! I may be blogging about my tarantula attack next week, lol. Back later.

Aphonopelma pics

Here's few more of my Aphonopelma tarantulas. Most are from Arizona and a few locally here from Texas and also Oklahoma. I have previously stated these are mostly docile and not prone to bite but, any of these have the ability to bite and all are venomous. A bite can sometimes be "dry" in which no venom is injected, but even if envenomated the reaction is usually no more severe than a bee sting. However, anyone that has an allergy to bees or wasp can also have a serious reaction to tarantula venom.

Many tarantulas also have urticating hairs. These cover the abdomen of most T's and are used as a defense against predators. These fine hairs are kicked by the back legs and come off in a cloud that can get in the nose, eyes, or mouth of a potential enemy causing burning and inflammation. Exposure of these hairs to human skin can cause extreme itching that last for days and can be uncomfortable.