Homoeomma sp Blue housing?

I just ordered a couple 3/4" H. sp blues for my birthday. I'm goin through the archives to polish up on their care. I've seen a lot of people saying they're arboreal when young and molt in the upper corner, but others have reported theirs molting on the sub. What sort of enclosure should I use when I don't know their individual preferences yet? Should I use a tall cube filled up only partway with sub and lots of ceiling room, or maybe an upside down cube like an avic?

I've also heard mixed stuff about their temperament, I guess they have a lot of individual variation. The fiercest thing I've got is a Nhandu sling, so hopefully none of these guys will be too feisty.

I was just looking at these the other night. This species is definitely on my list to get. I hope this helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU7VP2X1IhA

Oh yeah, I forgot about this vid, thanks!

I usually give my Ts tons of burrow space (not all of them use it though). Looks like I better prioritize height instead for these guys.

Cavedweller said:

I just ordered a couple 3/4" H. sp blues for my birthday. I'm goin through the archives to polish up on their care. I've seen a lot of people saying they're arboreal when young and molt in the upper corner, but others have reported theirs molting on the sub. What sort of enclosure should I use when I don't know their individual preferences yet? Should I use a tall cube filled up only partway with sub and lots of ceiling room, or maybe an upside down cube like an avic?

I've also heard mixed stuff about their temperament, I guess they have a lot of individual variation. The fiercest thing I've got is a Nhandu sling, so hopefully none of these guys will be too feisty.

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They are not arboreal. I have had Brachypelma smith is or boehmei hang on top side of their enclosure too but that does not make them arboreal. I use to have twenty 1" inch slings Homoeomma sp. Blue I like them, they are beautiful. I have an adult female that is just stunning.



Jose

jose said:

They are not arboreal. I have had Brachypelma smith is or boehmei hang on top side of their enclosure too but that does not make them arboreal. I use to have twenty 1" inch slings Homoeomma sp. Blue I like them, they are beautiful. I have an adult female that is just stunning.

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How did you house yours? I read some posts sayin these guys freak out if they don't have room to climb when they're young. I'm pretty sure I saw a photo of your female while I was goin through the archives. I know they won't get their full adult colors for a while can't wait to see these guys in person.

Cavedweller said:

How did you house yours? I read some posts sayin these guys freak out if they don't have room to climb when they're young. I'm pretty sure I saw a photo of your female while I was goin through the archives. I know they won't get their full adult colors for a while can't wait to see these guys in person.

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At 1" inch I just had them in a deli cup, and kept them like any other terrestrial species. With your specimen since they will be smaller you can keep them in a little vial. They do like to climb the walls of their enclosure but just because they do this it does not mean you have to keep this species as an arboreal. This species are great eaters, as they are growing up they look kind of plain but once this species shows its colors they are extremely beautiful. Their color is like a navy blue.


Jose

Ok, thanks! How fast did yours grow? From what I read these guys put on a ton of size each molt.

Cavedweller said:

Ok, thanks! How fast did yours grow? From what I read these guys put on a ton of size each molt.

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To me I consider them on the medium growth rate and I did not see them get quite large each time one of them molt.


Jose

Here's one of the slings! They're a pretty metallic, brassy color right now but it doesn't photograph well.

This little guy is so brave, it started crawling out of the shipping vial the second I opened it. It stays right out in the open instead of hiding. I sure hope it keeps that temperament as it grows!

They aren't that bad. Just somewhat skittish, my female has a low threshold overall and quickly retorts to threating and biting. I keep mine dry, roomtemp, waterdish - just like I said in the vid. Joyce has a somewhat arboreal setup for her female if I remember correctly and made some good experiences with that. After my rehousing my girl last month in a bigger cage, she actually constructed a borrow under a corkbark slab. She still throws dirt into the waterdish all the time though

Nice species, great looks, easy to keep. Pretty good eaters, too!

I overread this question, my bad:

Cavedweller said:

Ok, thanks! How fast did yours grow? From what I read these guys put on a ton of size each molt.

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jose said:

To me I consider them on the medium growth rate and I did not see them get quite large each time one of them molt. Jose

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I agree with Jose, medium but more on the slower end of it. They certainly -do- put on considerable size per molt in my experience though. As for max size, there are two versions out there: One grows up to ~4" (Peru I), the other ~6" (Peru II). Obviously, I have the latter with my female at 5.5" and my MM at ~6" currently. Female will probably molt some time this year again I suspect and hopefully will push those 6" then, too.

Thanks! I guess I'll have to wait a decade to figure out which kind mine are hahaha. I assume the species is too new to the hobby for them to have been crossbred into oblivion?

Not really that new. But there's tons of confusion about them and before I open that can of worms I suggest you go and read here => CLICKY

And here CLICKY

Thanks! So from what I can gather classification is a mess, but the "Euathlus" and "Homoeomma" DO have some visual distinction, aside from one being Chilean and the other Peruvian?

Mine are from Net-Bug, and apparently the first generation of US-bred slings, I was kinda hoping that would make it easier to know which they are.

I acquired two ~1.0 inch slings from Anastasia at Netbug 3/29/2012, reportedly from the first US breeding by Robert Bainter(?), as Homoeomma sp blue Peru (Peruvian Zebra).
There has been some discussion on another site as to if H. sp blue Peru is actually Thrixopelma lagunas. Although there are many similarities, the telling tale is reportedly in the spermathacae. As previously mentioned, the Euathlus, Thrixopelma and Homoeomma genuses are a shambles. It’s been suggested that this species rightfully belongs in the Thrixopelma genus. Until further taxonomic details are identified and published, I’ll continue to refer to mine as Homoeomma sp blue Peru to differentiate from some of the other partially described Thrixo species.

Mine were quite colorful as slings. Not vivid coloration, but dilute hues of blues, greens, golds and some pink. Very shimmery and the colors altered at different angles and in different lights. Each molt seemed to produce new coloration.
(I lost all my picture files in a computer crash earlier this year, but I think there are some not so good photos of them on my photo thread on this site.)

I initially housed them in 4" cubes with about 1.5" of substrate (peat and coconut coir), a slanted piece of corkbark, corkbark hide and fake foliage that went nearly to the top of the container. Both immediately set up housekeeping with webbed 'highways' in the leaves in the uppermost part of their containers.

They were slightly skittish as spiderlings, but not excessively. Never a threat pose, no hair kicking and more prone to freeze than flight. Neither ever attempted to burrow and were only observed coming down from their lofty perches to drink or to grab prey. Both repeatedly made molting hammocks high up in the leaves.

They were both female and followed comparable molting cycles. The molt dates, sizes of exuvia and rehouse data for the female I still have are:
5/1/2012 ~1.5" (all measurements = approximate diagonal leg span of shed exuvium.)
6/16/2012 ~2.0"
8/3/2012 ~2.5"
9/21/2012 rehoused both to terrestrial enclosures (5.5" H x 13" L x 8" W) with ~1.5" substrate (peat and coconut coir). I always transfer as much old webbing as possible to new enclosures as it seems to decrease adjustment time for many individuals.
Both spiders became super flighty after rehouse, to the point that me entering the room would send them into frantic laps of their enclosures, literally bouncing off their walls. I had to be extremely careful opening their containers for feeding/maintenance as they were definite flight risks. They webbed up the walls and tops of their hides and spent most of their time on the walls. I never saw either of them on the lids, though there was some connective webbing along the edges from their wall webbing. Both tried to build molting hammocks in upper corners of their enclosures which was sort of a fail the first time. I moved their hides closer to corners which provided additional suspension points for their next molts which worked better for them.
10/16/2012 ~3.0”
3/31/2013 ~3.75”
5/9/2013 traded one and rehoused the other into an arboreal enclosure (7 x 7 x 14 H). After 8 months in the terrestrial set ups, it seems they would have acclimated to their surroundings, if they were going to. The one I rehoused settled right in to webbing up her walls, elevated corkbark round and the foliage above that. I noted on 5/20/13 how much calmer she already was – no longer bouncing off the walls at every slight or imagined disturbance.
9/17/2013 molt 4.25” molted inside cork round, nearly full adult color, spermathacae starting to sclerotize.
7/9/2014 4.75” molted inside cork round, full adult colors, spermathacae definitely sclerotized. (I failed to write it down, but earlier this spring she was stretched out on one wall and I got a rough dls measurement of 5.25”)

My female has been in her arboreal abode for almost two years now. She is minimally skittish, choosing to mosey away from the door versus pinballing about the enclosure when I feed or do maintenance. I rarely have opportunity to get good pictures of her since she remains secretive. She hides under leaves, and basks on top of the leaves or walls or on her elevated cork round. I rarely see her actually enter the cork round except to molt. When startled, she prefers to hide between leaves and cork bark. She does come down for feeding and has been seen digging in the substrate after errant superworms or roaches. She’ll usually eat on the substrate, which she has covered with a fine tracking webbing, but sometimes will carry her prey up higher. There is heavier webbing on the walls, cork and leaves. Her webbing is somewhere between Psalmopoeus and Poecilotheria webbing, but she does not incorporate dirt into it. Other than digging for prey, I’ve never found any evidence of her trying to burrow. Never had a threat pose from her, nor has there been any hair kicking or even posturing as though to do so.

While I’ve had a rare few terrestrial individuals do wall-walking when initially housed or rehoused, all true terrestrials have settled in in short order (except for MMs on the prowl) and behaved like terrestrials. Having never seen this species in its native environment, and going solely on the appearance and behavior of two captive specimens, I’d have to call this species semi-arboreal.


Through the top showing the webbed canopy. There is no webbing on the ceiling, or very, very minimal.

Through the open door. She just calmly eased herself over to the other side of the cork round.

Thank you so much for making such an informative post!

Whoa I had no idea these guys might be Thrixopelmas. I'm gonna have to be extra careful with em, then (I mean, I was planning to anyway, since this species has unknown venom effects). The only Thrixopelma bite report sounds pretty scary for a NW.

Sounds like mine are set up alright for slings, I might need to pick up some fake plants though. Yours put on an inch of size in just 3 months? Did you power feed em/keep em above room temp or anything like that?

Edit: You got me excited to see my slings molt. They've got a very pretty gold going on right now, but the color changes sound really neat.

My H blues have been more prone to flight than fight, similar to Thrixopelma I've had.
If there was only one bite report on Thrixopelma, wait for more before writing it in stone.
I feed slings one prey item per week, then taper off as they get bigger. They rarely turn down food.
Household thermostat is set on 70. My room gets warmer on sunny days. I never monitor temps.
I'd call them moderately fast growers.