Aphonopelma dwarfs ?

Norsken

Arachnopeon
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Apr 23, 2007
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Hi...

Is anyone of the Aphonopelma dwarf species in the pet trade ? If so, which of them ? In USA or Europe ?

Thanx....
 

skar

Arachnobaron
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I'm unsure where you can find them.
But I have a Paloma and I gave away a hualapi.
So I know they are around.
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
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In the US, outside where they are found natively, it's hard to come across them. I've been searching for A. paloma, sp. 'Hualapi' as well as the other Aphonopelma dwarfs for a while now and haven't come across any. I doubt they would have reached to Europe with such low availability in the states tho. But, that's just my assumption.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
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Dwarf Aphonos are great! I really hope hualapi can become readily available in the hobby someday. I've never bred Ts before but I'd like to breed my hualapi someday. I heard from one breeder that palomas don't thrive in captivity, can someone confirm or disprove this?
 

skar

Arachnobaron
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Dwarf Aphonos are great! I really hope hualapi can become readily available in the hobby someday. I've never bred Ts before but I'd like to breed my hualapi someday. I heard from one breeder that palomas don't thrive in captivity, can someone confirm or disprove this?
What do you mean specifically by don't thrive ?!
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
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Dwarf Aphonos are great! I really hope hualapi can become readily available in the hobby someday. I've never bred Ts before but I'd like to breed my hualapi someday. I heard from one breeder that palomas don't thrive in captivity, can someone confirm or disprove this?
I don't think that's the case. I personally have never kept them, but they're similar to any other species of Aphonopelma, and the habitat where they are from isn't much, if any, different than the other species. So I see no reason why they wouldn't thrive, unless they are kept incorrectly or such.
 

Cavedweller

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This guy just told me they refuse to eat in captivity and slowly starve to death. That's so sad to hear, I hope somebody out there has had better experiences with em.
 

telepatella

Arachnoknight
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Speaking from this side of the Atlantic, I have seen TWO ads for dwarf Aphos in the last few years. They are very rare in the trade, they're just not that sexy. There are also many types within the dwarf bracket. The most often mentioned are the A. sp. Hualapai/Mojave and the Paloma.

The Paloma is indeed tricky to keep in captivity and, to my knowledge, has not been bred outside of a laboratory setting. I go to Arizona and collect them a few times a year where they are quite plentiful but excavating them is backbreaking and time consuming.

The ATS is a bit more focused on this species than AB's. But look at these articles if you haven't seen them already:

http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v20_n3/JoA_v20_p189.pdf

http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v25_n2/joa_v25_p137.pdf

One last thing, there is a guy name Lance H. who is about to publish a big paper that will clear up a lot of the naming issues.
 
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skar

Arachnobaron
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This guy just told me they refuse to eat in captivity and slowly starve to death. That's so sad to hear, I hope somebody out there has had better experiences with em.
I've had a Paloma for over two years that hasn't been my experience. Not to mention two molts.
It may be do to how they are being kept.
They seem to do better with a mix of native soil and peat. ( that's what I was told and that's what I use).
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
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I have some dwarf Aphonopelma, not sure of the species, but they look a lot like Hualapi.
 

CrystalRose

Arachnopeon
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I have an A. paloma. She's a cute little thing. She hasn't been hard to keep but she does love to burrow. Only see her out and about once in awhile. :)

 

Cavedweller

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I'm glad to hear at least a few people are having success with paloma. She's adorable! How long have you had her?

I've had a Paloma for over two years that hasn't been my experience. Not to mention two molts.
It may be do to how they are being kept.
They seem to do better with a mix of native soil and peat. ( that's what I was told and that's what I use).
I'm surprised they do well on peat, doesn't that retain more moisture?
 

skar

Arachnobaron
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I'm glad to hear at least a few people are having success with paloma. She's adorable! How long have you had her?


I'm surprised they do well on peat, doesn't that retain more moisture?
It's not 100% peat, Arizona soil and peat mixed together.
But works great for me and the spider. Also the peat resists mildew and mold well ( if it could grow).
I find a little bit of moisture is beneficial to most of my captives.
 

Smokehound714

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A mixture of sand and clay is best. Mixed, tamped then saturated, then allowed to dry a bit.

A bit of moisture is okay, so long as the ventilation is good. Tarantulas actually prefer to burrow in moist conditions, as it allows them to sculpt the soil.

Some are tiny. A joshua is very small, breeding is difficult to pull off as the slings are VERY small.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
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Are there other difficulties aside from finding small enough prey for the tiny slings? I want to breed my hualapi, but that would be my first time breeding spiders.
 

Fox402

Arachnopeon
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Sorry for the necropost, but didn't want to start a new thread and this seemed like the most relevant place to put this. I saved this little one from my pool a while ago. I live in NW Tucson at about 3400', and my backyard is open desert for miles. Just thought it was another juvenile Chalcodes, but after watching it for a while, the coloring, hairiness, and proportions seem off to me. She/he is about 1.5" DLS and also extremely inquisitive and feisty. My favorite already. Any of you dwarf lovers care to comment or hazard a guess? Thanks for the help! image.jpeg
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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This guy just told me they refuse to eat in captivity and slowly starve to death. That's so sad to hear, I hope somebody out there has had better experiences with em.
Possibly need to find what they eat I. The wild , or what there habitat Is like I’d imagine.
Ran out of money before gettin any dwarf species sadly .
 
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