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| general
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| description |
They are the largest spiders
in the world, generally hairy, come in an incredible variety
of colors and sizes, and have enormous black fangs |
| distribution |
from the south-western
U.S.A. down to Chile in the Western Hemisphere,
and China down to Australia in the Eastern Hemisphere |
| sexing |
Tibal spurs
or hooks appear on the first pair of legs (not the pedipalps
which are on either side of the mouth). These will eventually
be used by the male to help it hold the female up while
it inseminates her using it's modified pedipalps which
get rounded and look sort of like the tarantula is wearing
boxing gloves.
Before a male tarantula matures there's another way to
tell the difference between male and female tarantulas,
and that's by waiting until a tarantula moults, and then
sexing that left over exoskeleton. The idea behind this
is simple. The female tarantula's spermathecae (or sex
organs), a small pouch which the semen is stored in, are
quite easily seen. Even spiderling female tarantulas have
this spermathecae, which could be visible with a nice
microscope, and as the tarantula grows it eventually becomes
easy to see even with the bare eye, or a small hand held
magnifying glass or lens. The male tarantula, on the other
hand, usually has just a crease, or fold in the skin.
|
| housing |
| natural
habitats |
Terrestrial or Arboreal
|
| cage
|
Cage should be wide for
terrestrials but tall for Arboreals. (e.g. Wooden
Terrarium, Glass
Terrarium) Make sure it is escape-proof. |
| substrate |
Soil, moss (e.g. Forest
Bed , Forest Moss),
barks (e.g. Repti Bark,
Coconut Bark),
gravel, sand (e.g. Repti
Sand, Calci-Sand) |
| humidity |
mid to high |
| water
dish |
Essential. A small water
dish (e.g. Rock water
dish) should be available all the time |
| hiding
place |
Essential. a place for
its privacy, security and sleep by day.
Possibllites include caves (e.g. Habbe
Hut, Heat Cave), etc |
| diet |
| wild
diet |
Carnivorous (meat-eating);
They will eat just about any animals it can overpower,
e.g. insects, mice, frogs, snakes, other spiders and even
bats. Some will gorge themselves on as much as they can
and others will stick to an apparent diet. |
| captive
diet |
Insects (e.g. crickets,
roaches, worms), occasionally pinkie mice or rats |
| notes |
Sometimes they fast for
long periods for unknown reasons and they almost always
avoid eating when they're about to molt. |
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