Thrixopelma ockerti trying something different.

ok so a while back i acquired a 5 inch female. well i sent her up like a terrestrial. well she hadnt webbed or anything, and was acting like an unhappy T.

so just a while ago i put her in a 20 quart sterilite container. its more tall than anything.

well i set it up to were she could go arboreal or terrestrial. i know people say this sp. is semi arboreal, but im will see. i know this has been a pretty interesting species to keep so far. it has got to be hands down the most skittish sp. i have ever personally delt with. i mean to the point were when i tried pairing her with a male...i was pulling my hair out in frustration.

either way, i just wanted to share, and possibly get some feedback from you all.

i know it isnt a very "popular" species but how have you found made them most comfortable? setup wise anyway.

Thrixoplema Ockerti

Personally I dont mind the species being skittish its the fact that they whip out the hairs before you can even breathe... I am currently breeding that one out and have a sac. I have to admit I was unaware of it being an issue of whether its arboreal or terrestrial. All of mine are arboreal. I have about 15 or so. I would venture to say that the species is arboreal based on my experience with them. Now, moving on to humidity. I have noticed that they prefer a little more humdidity than most, not quite as much as a Theraphosa but a little more than a Grammostola lol. Aside from that just put a log up on its side and it should be happy.

hmm..interesting.

so you keep all of yours exclusively arboreal? well, i hope my girl is happier in her new setup then.

also if you dont mind, cant you tell me how you paired yours. and have you eve had any successful sacs. i left the male in with my girl untill she finally ate him about 6 days later. i just hope it took, because there arent very many of these as slings, and they are gorgeous as slings.

From personal experience, I would consider this sp. to be semi-arboreal with much higher arboreal tendencies. My 4" female prefers to rest in a webbed-up upper corner of her enclosure attached to some pothos leaves. With the creation of this elevated den, I had written her off to be an arboreal. That is, until I caught her molting on the ground behind a thick curtain of silk ~5 months after I had received her. Other than this incident, she has rarely been spotted on the substrate for almost a year, and patrols the walls of her enclosure in vertical vigilance.

Ditto on the skittishness. Like a track & fielder with no nerves. Voracious eaters, though.

Cody, no offense, but seriously? After all of the information that you sought when first attempting to pair these guys, you still question whether or not they are arboreal?

This is the info I gave you from your own thread (it came directly from the people originally collecting this species):
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=177568&highlight=ockerti

You say you never actually read the paper, but in the thread from '08, Soren specifically said that none of them ever found a single specimen on the ground.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?p=1249926#post1249926

Also, in that same thread, it's mentioned several times that even the captive specimens preferred to reside in the higher areas of their enclosures.

Personally, if I planned to breed these guys and my goal was to have the enclosure mimicking semi-natural conditions, then I would set them up as arboreal...no questions about it.

I realize that you are not discussing pairing/breeding plans in this particular thread, but if you are attempting to 'make her happy', then I would think you would be trying to recreate the conditions of her natural environment to the best of your abilities.

and with no offence to you MS.X i did read that. but also i was told the particular specimen i had was always kept terrestrial along with a few friends who keep them as well.

i did have her in a terrestral enclosure but that is how she was always kept by her previous owner, and he said she did fine(obviously because she is rather healthy). today i stuck her in basically a full blown arboreal enclosure with more ground space.

either way, i will see how she fairs in this new setup.

codykrr said:

i was told the particular specimen i had was always kept terrestrial along with a few friends who keep them as well.

i did have her in a terrestral enclosure but that is how she was always kept by her previous owner, and he said she did fine(obviously because she is rather healthy).

Click to expand...

Ok, I see where you're coming from...but, just because she's been kept that way and has a healthy appearance, does not mean that she is thriving/happy. It could be that how she was previously kept meets her most basic requirements, but not enough for her to obtain a comfort level conducive to being paired etc.

If you haven't already done so, you should take the time and read the updates to the thread on ATS regarding breeding these guys (that I linked in your breeding inquiry thread):
http://www.atshq.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24661&page=3

Mike now has sacs from his girls, and the male remained a cohabitant in the female's enclosure without being consumed, even after sac production. This was after he switched them to arboreal setups upon completion of his research. I just thought that you might find that interesting.

thanks for the link MS.X!