Theraphosinae sp. Honduras - any info?

LythSalicaria · Apr 27, 2015

Hey all, I'm planning on making an order soon and someone I buy from regularly has Theraphosinae sp. Honduras available - I'm eager and willing to buy myself a few of them, but apparently they're a species new to the hobby. I was wondering if anyone here has worked with them yet and if so, would you be willing to share some care info? Based on the name I'm assuming their care is similar to B. albopilosum, but I'd rather get confirmation from someone who has worked with them.

awiec · Apr 27, 2015

I personally would look up general genus care and go from there. You can edit it as you go when you find better info, if you're that excited to get them that is.

LythSalicaria · Apr 27, 2015

The name suggests that they have yet to be identified by genus, so by the looks of things those who are keeping them at this point are guessing on how to look after them. Similar species reach sizes comparable to Lasiodora and Acanthoscuria species and are kept the same way most NW terrestrials are - provide a hide and slightly moist substrate deep enough for them to burrow if they're so inclined. Apparently they have a good feeding response and are skittish but not overly defensive. I'm thinking I'm going to e-mail the seller and ask them how they've been keeping them. When I get a response I'll post any info provided here.

awiec · Apr 27, 2015

LythSalicaria said:
The name suggests that they have yet to be identified by genus, so by the looks of things those who are keeping them at this point are guessing on how to look after them. Similar species reach sizes comparable to Lasiodora and Acanthoscuria species and are kept the same way most NW terrestrials are - provide a hide and slightly moist substrate deep enough for them to burrow if they're so inclined. Apparently they have a good feeding response and are skittish but not overly defensive. I'm thinking I'm going to e-mail the seller and ask them how they've been keeping them. When I get a response I'll post any info provided here.

Yeah I was originally going to say it doesn't even have a genus yet but I was being lazy but it does seem to be similar to some of the bigger NW species. I would just do the standard slightly moist spot, hide and a water dish and see what it does. You can change it to the spider's preference as you observe it.

johnny quango · Apr 27, 2015

I vaguely remember reading an article on a German or Dutch website they seemed to think that maybe this is a Phormictopus sp and should be kept a similar way. But that said the page was translated by Google so it may be missing something sorry it's not much help

LythSalicaria · Apr 28, 2015

I e-mailed the seller for more info; will update when I get a response.

LythSalicaria · Apr 29, 2015

Update with care info...

It's official! Arrangements have been made; on Saturday I'll be getting four of these beauties, and the seller was kind enough to give me care info. I'm just going to copy/paste what they said directly from the e-mail:

Theraphosinae sp. Honduras are very easy to raise. A care sheet for Phormictopus will be fine. Just moderate humidity and temperatures, a little substrate... their needs are simple* winking But here are a few answers to your questions:

What's their temperament like? A little skittish but not too bad. reminds me a little of Lasiodora sp.

How fast are they?- they are not built for speed, again, similar to Lasiodora in that respect

Do they prefer a humid or arid environment? - Just moderate humidity, not to wet, not too dry.

What is their average adult size? - I think females grow to around 5" or so

Lastly, would you consider them slow, moderate or fast growers?- Moderate growth

Both the males and the females are strikingly beautiful. My intention is to attempt to breed them once I've raised up this first batch, assuming the planets align. Just the faint possibility of making such a contribution to the hobby is incredibly exciting.

awiec · Apr 29, 2015

LythSalicaria said:
It's official! Arrangements have been made; on Saturday I'll be getting four of these beauties, and the seller was kind enough to give me care info. I'm just going to copy/paste what they said directly from the e-mail:

Both the males and the females are strikingly beautiful. My intention is to attempt to breed them once I've raised up this first batch, assuming the planets align. Just the faint possibility of making such a contribution to the hobby is incredibly exciting.

Well if it's a phormic then sign me up for your future offspring

Philth · May 3, 2015

If its the brown spider that has the purple males they are also being sol as Theraphosinae sp. "Roatan" being from the Roatan island in Honduras. I strongly don't suspect they are Phormictopus though. I'm keeping mine like I keep most of my spiderling. 40 drams with some moist peat moss to burrow in, they seem to be doing well.

Later, Tom

LythSalicaria · May 3, 2015

Philth said:
If its the brown spider that has the purple males they are also being sol as Theraphosinae sp. "Roatan" being from the Roatan island in Honduras. I strongly don't suspect they are Phormictopus though. I'm keeping mine like I keep most of my spiderling. 40 drams with some moist peat moss to burrow in, they seem to be doing well.

Later, Tom

I ended up getting four of them yesterday - they're the smallest slings I've worked with yet. Listed on the seller's site as 1/4" but I'm thinking they're a few millimeters under that. They're great eaters though - I gave them each a pinhead 20 minutes ago and three out of the four are eating as we speak.

And yeah, I don't think the seller was saying that they're Phormictopus, just that the care requirements are similar. Right now they're all in small vials on an inch or two of moist coco fiber. Once they get big enough to be moved to deli cups I'll be switching them to topsoil though. The reconstituting process is just too tedious with how often I'm having to do re-housings now.

The males of the species are purple, the females are brown and black based on the pics. I'd love to post pics or links to them but the only ones I can find are on the seller's website. I'll get permission from the seller and check with a mod to make sure I won't be breaking any rules, then will update if I'm able.

I'm also working on getting pics of the slings - total amateur when it comes to photography though so they're not exactly gonna be detailed macros.

LythSalicaria · May 9, 2015

Hey all, got some decent pics of the slings and will try to get them uploaded this evening, but in the mean time, here are links to pics of adult specimens:

Female

Mature Male

Sana · May 9, 2015

Oh so pretty! Now I'm adding to my wishlist again. Honey is gonna strangle me!

cold blood · May 9, 2015

Look up Theraphosinae sp. panama and sp. cuzco

Now these are truly incredible looking. Honduras doesn't do much for me personally.

LythSalicaria · May 9, 2015

cold blood said:
Look up Theraphosinae sp. panama and sp. cuzco

Now these are truly incredible looking. Honduras doesn't do much for me personally.

WOW! You aren't kidding. Gonna have to keep my eyes peeled for both of them, sp. cuzco in particular. Still, I love me some purple spiders so these sp. Honduras slings are a good match for me.

Angel Minkov · May 9, 2015

cold blood said:
Look up Theraphosinae sp. panama and sp. cuzco

Now these are truly incredible looking. Honduras doesn't do much for me personally.

Sp. panama are gorgeous... Are Ami. sp panama and T. sp. panama the same?

cold blood · May 9, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Sp. panama are gorgeous... Are Ami. sp panama and T. sp. panama the same?

I do not know.:?

LythSalicaria · May 9, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Sp. panama are gorgeous... Are Ami. sp panama and T. sp. panama the same?

I checked out the gallery on a seller's site and they've got pics of both species. The female Ami sp. Panama looks quite different from female T. sp. Panama, so I would say they are different species. Normally I wouldn't trust pics, but the differences are distinct enough for me to be reasonably confident.

Protectyaaaneck · May 10, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Sp. panama are gorgeous... Are Ami. sp panama and T. sp. panama the same?

No, completely different species.

Angel Minkov · May 10, 2015

Ah, okay. Thanks for the info.

LythSalicaria · May 12, 2015

Here are the sling pics I promised.

Here they are - sorry for the quality, photography is not one of my talents.

All of these were taken the day after I got the slings. As you can see, everyone but the last is happily munching on their first meal in my care. #4 had a little surprise for me instead.

I love these little dudes already - yesterday I fed the ones that didn't look like they were in heavy premolt and one of them caught a pinhead out of mid air. I would say their feeding response is comparable to GBBs and A. geniculata if they're already eating this enthusiastically. Methinks they're going to be great fun to raise.

EDIT: I just realized that the room looks awfully bright in a couple of those pics - believe me when I say that it's not half that bright in real life. I suffer from pretty severe light sensitivity so there's a heavy wool blanket over the window. You can actually see it in one of the pics there - Luke's face and Leia's hair.

The only reason it looks as bright as it does is because I had to mess around with the exposure settings on my camera to get some pics that were at least usable.

Theraphosinae sp. Honduras - any info?

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