Can't Find Accurate Care Info for Aphonopelma hentzi / Texas Brown

[Phoenix G]

First: I have NO way of taking any kind of photograph right now. Yes really.
I'm a first time tarantula owner to a field collected Aphonopelma hentzi / Texas Brown / Oklahoma Brown T collected in the Ozarks of Arkansas.

I want to be the best tarantula caretaker I can be, but there is little to no information on this species. "Ask people who are selling them." The people selling them are also field collecting them and there is a lot of misinformation. Everything from how long the males live (some say 1 to 2 years which would be weird given apparently they take 10 years to mature), and that males only live one year past maturity, to being super humid or super arrid. No consistency.

Tarantula: Appears to be 3 inches from toe tip to toe tip of the 3rd leg(s.) Gender unknown, owned two days, no molting, no signs of eating. Lots of activity. Never seems to hide, grooms all day, never tries to burrow, constantly climbs and pushes on the lid at night. Very light colors suggest a molt has been recent, is not moving sluggishly. Has created sheets of silk that appear when misted.

Food: Wild collected brown and huge black crickets, the crane flies were a no go and a deformed butterfly caused it to rear up like REEEE so I imagine it was terrified of that. Pillbugs have hidden but otherwise ignored. Again, not eating.

My set up: 10 gallon tank with closed-type lid with low ventilation aiming for high humidity. Substrate of black potting soil (as was likely poorly recommended as that doesn't even exist in Arkansas or Oklahoma...) and moisture retaining forest moss. Live plants, a few stones, sticks, leaves, bark. Constant 72 degrees day and night. Water dish that is barely full in fear of drowning, no sponge.

My thoughts: This state rain just about daily around this time of year, but experiences higher temps and drought, temperature goes all over the place day to day, very very windy. The soil is clay and rocky with no black dirt and it's hard to garden here even with imported soil- which is what I'm using for the T.

Possible solution is swapping lid for higher ventilation and digging up soil from outside to dump on top of the dirt, not misting daily? Anyone keep these or know what they really need?

 

[cold blood]

Ignore humidity....keep it dry with a water dish....pics would be helpful when you get a chance....in case its a mature male.

Lifespans vary greatly, which is why size is more important than age.

Females should live in excess of 20 years...males could mature in 3 to 10 years depending on several variables....after maturing a male could live another 1-3yrs.

But you couldnt possibly begin to guess the ts current age.

 

[FrDoc]

You may be searching too precisely by focusing on a particular species (hentzi). There is plenty of information regarding care for the genus Aphonopelma, and in the case of this genus the care is the same. However, do be aware this is not the case for all genera, as some others can require species by species care variables.

I would also like to add a commendation for your desire to be the best keeper you can be. Keep doing what your doing, research, and asking questions, especially here on AB.

 

[Phoenix G]

Thank you both. cold blood:
I finally found a news-short explaining the lifespan and behavior of males. Here. Basically males reach maturity around 10 years, migrate to find a female, and die. (Either by being eaten by the female or for some reason, dying in the cold.) So if I can determine its sex by August I'll immediately release it if its a male so it can better fulfill its life goal.

FrDoc: That's a great idea! Thanks, I wasn't sure.

I did find a great article that suggests what their most comfortable enclosure should be here. [Documenting in case anyone else comes to this thread via google with the same question.] It says Arkansas used to be like Texas, then trees and rain came, but the spiders stayed. They must like dry aridish substrate rather than my potting soil and moist moss.

The Arkansas variety (informally the Arkansas Chocolate) are much more brown than the Texas variety, seeming to lack the black legs. I'll post pictures as soon as I can borrow a phone or camera from a family member. Another problem I have is not enough substrate, too tall of tank, so I'll fix that too. Just afraid of changing the tank so soon when it seems stressed, but it might calm him/her down.

 

[lostbrane]

Dry sub is the standard for hentzi, chalcodes, and the like.

With the Aphonopelma revision, a lot of the separate species became synonyms, bringing many under the hentzi name, etc. although we could see yet another change in the years to come if some other evidence comes to light. Which reminds me, I need to read that paper.

If it comes between the spider being stressed for a bit, and it's overall safety, stress it a bit. If it's too tall, contains improper sub and/or improper moisture levels, then that could prove to be much more detrimental than a bit of stress, so I would get it into a better set up sooner rather than later.

It climbing around definitely seems like it is in the "I'm not ready to call this my home" stage. It took my female hentzi months to stop climbing the walls and finally settle/start burrowing.

Here is a thread that has a lot of great info to peruse, should you have the desire/time: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

Lastly, welcome to the boards!

 

[Phoenix G]

Dry sub is the standard for hentzi, chalcodes, and the like.

With the Aphonopelma revision, a lot of the separate species became synonyms, bringing many under the hentzi name, etc. although we could see yet another change in the years to come if some other evidence comes to light. Which reminds me, I need to read that paper.

If it comes between the spider being stressed for a bit, and it's overall safety, stress it a bit. If it's too tall, contains improper sub and/or improper moisture levels, then that could prove to be much more detrimental than a bit of stress, so I would get it into a better set up sooner rather than later.

It climbing around definitely seems like it is in the "I'm not ready to call this my home" stage. It took my female hentzi months to stop climbing the walls and finally settle/start burrowing.

Here is a thread that has a lot of great info to peruse, should you have the desire/time: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

Lastly, welcome to the boards!

Thank you for the warm welcome and the well thought out info! I hope the fellow enthusiasts and pros here are pleased to know I made significant enclosure changes and got a good set of responses. I started by removing everything but the dirt, then went outside and dug down into the Arkansas pale grey soil. Pulled out the rocks- and I know, I know most people want sterile prepacked substrate of a specific firmness and blend. But the spider came from the same area and it's unhappy and needed a solution NOW so I filled the tank with natural soil 6 inches deep with the roots and earthworms, planted some grass and clover, made several hides out of buried bark with holes dug underneath, didn't wet the soil. And the tarantula upon returning went into a hide, explored inside of it, found a comfy spot, and set about grooming. I found remains of a brown cricket (a wing?) while cleaning so perhaps it did eat. (Not using tongs, just added one black and one brown so it had the opportunity to eat if it found them.)

It used to only stay on the glass and avoid the substrate, making webbing over it. It kept pushing on the lid constantly, going all around the top and falling a not so great distance. So now it's much closer to the lid so falls are safe, but has no desire to touch it. Looks content!

Thank you for the link to some really helpful resources. I've been researching and researching but still have so much to learn. I can say that my hentzi is indeed very docile and handleable. Used a net to remove, which it climbed up on gladly, put my hand under it for support while transfering, it never even tried to flick hairs at me the whole time. It was very slowly moving along. Even while reaching in to pull things out, it just froze rather than getting defensive. They seem to freeze when scared. I hope now I don't have to bother him/her for a long while and it can settle in.

 

[cold blood]

know most people want sterile prepacked substrate of a specific firmness and blend.

Not at all, you did fine.

The worst thing one can to to any substrate is to sterilize it. It promotes mold and other infestations as now the first things to colonize, and it will be as soon as its exposed to the air, will have it all to themselves and you have an instant takeover.

There are a myriad of acceptable substrates, all of which are fine for any species, sub is really more of the keepers personal preference.

Most subs need to be tamped down tightly...dirt on the other hand, due to its density, doesnt need this....in fact tamp it and it can practically harden to concrete.

. I can say that my hentzi is indeed very docile and handleable

So are my fish, and like fish, they are best observed, not handled. Handling has no positives for the t, and a host of potential negatives....best not to make a habit out of handling.

Welcome to the hobby, and welcome to AB, i hope you enjoy the your time here and keeping ts.

 

[Tommydragon10]

I keep my full grown Hentzi in a 10 gallon tank about half full of substrate ( about 4 inches) I have a large hide which he no longer uses. I keep the substrate pretty dry, occasionally mist it. and have a water dish on the low end of the tank. I keep around the water dish wet with some moss i found in the area i collected him at. His cage is kept at room temperature and hes been doing really well.

If your T is wild caught, it'll probably eat like a madman for a while then it will calm down and eat regularly. Mine grew/ate really big really fast for the first month or so then calmed down with eating.

 

[Jesse607]

A. hentzi has a large distribution and is a very adaptable species living in areas of moist/subtropical climates and semi-arid/arid. Yours was not collected in a desert so moist substrate should be just as fine as dry...I personally keep mine on the moist side as Texas and other areas of its range can get good summer rains. Once again, they are very adaptable, so they may tolerate and thrive whatever/however you end up caring for them.

 

[Seekeroftruth]

First: I have NO way of taking any kind of photograph right now. Yes really.
I'm a first time tarantula owner to a field collected Aphonopelma hentzi / Texas Brown / Oklahoma Brown T collected in the Ozarks of Arkansas.

I want to be the best tarantula caretaker I can be, but there is little to no information on this species. "Ask people who are selling them." The people selling them are also field collecting them and there is a lot of misinformation. Everything from how long the males live (some say 1 to 2 years which would be weird given apparently they take 10 years to mature), and that males only live one year past maturity, to being super humid or super arrid. No consistency.

Tarantula: Appears to be 3 inches from toe tip to toe tip of the 3rd leg(s.) Gender unknown, owned two days, no molting, no signs of eating. Lots of activity. Never seems to hide, grooms all day, never tries to burrow, constantly climbs and pushes on the lid at night. Very light colors suggest a molt has been recent, is not moving sluggishly. Has created sheets of silk that appear when misted.

Food: Wild collected brown and huge black crickets, the crane flies were a no go and a deformed butterfly caused it to rear up like REEEE so I imagine it was terrified of that. Pillbugs have hidden but otherwise ignored. Again, not eating.

My set up: 10 gallon tank with closed-type lid with low ventilation aiming for high humidity. Substrate of black potting soil (as was likely poorly recommended as that doesn't even exist in Arkansas or Oklahoma...) and moisture retaining forest moss. Live plants, a few stones, sticks, leaves, bark. Constant 72 degrees day and night. Water dish that is barely full in fear of drowning, no sponge.

My thoughts: This state rain just about daily around this time of year, but experiences higher temps and drought, temperature goes all over the place day to day, very very windy. The soil is clay and rocky with no black dirt and it's hard to garden here even with imported soil- which is what I'm using for the T.

Possible solution is swapping lid for higher ventilation and digging up soil from outside to dump on top of the dirt, not misting daily? Anyone keep these or know what they really need?

The soil varies in the Ozarks. I used to live there and our yard had rocky loose soil... No clay. It was not dark and nutrient rich but instead a lighter brown color that needed manure added. Top soil is more natural than plain peat moss. There's quite a few substrates that you could use which would be suitable.