dwarf t

[seacowst]

ok i saw that there is dwarf ts and i want to know how they act. any one with experince. im thinking of getting one. yes? no?

 

[Formerphobe]

I am relatively new to dwarf T keeping. I have two Cyriocosmus ritae slings. To date, they have webbed a lot, but been out in the open a great deal, too. A little skittish. Voracious eaters. Aesthetically pleasing. From my reading, I understand adult size is about 2" dls, lifespan about 5 - 7 years. I like the idea that they don't require a lot of space and their colors and patterns are stunning. These are the smallest slings I've ever raised - that was a little scary at first, but they ate pre-killed prey willingly until they were big enough to take down small crickets.

http://tarantulas.tropica.ru/en/evolution/Theraphosinae/Cyriocosmus

I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable who will chime in.

 

[seacowst]

thanks formerphobe. p.s i love your user name

 

[Javanica]

I have a few "dwarf" species that I've had for a short time. I really enjoy them (colors, behavior, etc.) One major difference I've noticed between the dwarfs and larger species is their speed. I'm raising a Holothele incei sling that is the fastest tarantula I've experienced. It can rush out from its webby lair and snag prey almost faster than one would believe possible! Something to keep in mind when one opens their enclosure....My Hapalopus "large" and newly acquired Cyriocosmus ritae are also speedsters.

 

[Apollo Justice]

I have a few dwarf Sp and my favorite so far is the Pseudhapalopus Sp blue it's a little skittish but a stunning T. Out of my cyriocsmus Sp my C. ritae is the calmest, and a close second I my C. Bertae, and my C. Selattus is the devil it's self. Lol


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.189114,-119.169196

 

[BrettG]

My faves are the native dwarfs,A.paloma being my fav of all. Small spider that thinks its a huge,nasty beast.

 

[Amoeba]

I have three H. incei that I've chased around my bathroom numerous times but it's all worth it when they drag cricket corpses around.

 

[1hughjazzspider]

I have a few dwarf Sp and my favorite so far is the Pseudhapalopus Sp blue it's a little skittish but a stunning T.

Yes. These are absolutely gorgeous. I'd get a couple if they didn't take so long to grow. What am I saying, I'll get some eventually.

 

[jayefbe]

I second that Holothele and Cyriocosmus are incredibly fast. I've seen H. incei slings put on bursts of speed that far surpass any other tarantula I've kept, and Cyriocosmus ritae isn't far behind. C. elegans hasn't been too bad so far but they're also only about 1/8 inch. I had a 1/2 inch C. ritae sling escape it's deli cup during feeding and barricade itself in the headphone jack of my iphone. That was a giant pain to get out.

 

[catfishrod69]

As of right now, my dwarfs are

1.1.0 Ornithoctonus sp."Koh Samui" 3" as adults, beautiful coloring like Haplopelma, deep burrowers, but come out very often.
0.1.0 Cyriocosmus ritae 2" as adults, very beautiful, burrower, but also like to stay in the open alot.
0.2.0 Paraphysa scrofa 3" as adults, beautiful, alot like G. rosea coloring, but more vibrant, stay out in the open.
0.0.2 Cyriocosmus elegans 2" as adults, very beautiful, borrower, but also stays out in the open.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I keep many dwarf species and have had a bunch in the past. The great thing about them is that there is a large range of behavior from having fully webbed social/communal tanks (Holothele incei, Heterothele villosella), to arboreal (Heterothele gabonensis), to even a pet hole/trap door (Idiothele mira). They require less room, but this also means you can do more with an average sized tank you'd use for a larger tarantula. They are veracious eaters and many of them readily take prekilled prey. This works well for some species as they can be weary of larger prey items and won't touch them when alive (Heterothele villosella). Though other species like H.incei will take down prey the same size of them, sometimes even larger, when they are spiderlings and juveniles.

As everyone else already noted they can be quite fast and more of a handful since you have to be a bit more careful if one darts and you go to grab it. I've never been bit by a dwarf as they rather choose flight over a fight response.

 

[syndicate]

Dwarf species are great and like mentioned above take up very little room to properly house.Many species can live comfortably in a 32.oz deli cup!
To the original poster you may want to start with a dwarf tarantula that is a little bit larger than a newly hatched spiderling.In a lot of cases certain species of dwarf tarantulas can be very tiny,sometimes even microscopic when newly hatched!Cyriocosmus elegans is a great example of this!
Here's some more uncommon dwarf tarantulas I'm keeping with some photos and short info..

Coremiocnemis jeremyhuffi
Adult female

Mature male

This is a neat little species found in Malaysia that reaches about 2" as adults.Recently described my Mr.Rick West and Steve Nunn!

Coremiocnemis tropix "Dwarf form"
Adult female

This species is found in Australia and reaches about 2.5" as adults.I've recently experimented with keeping them communally and currently have a large group of sub adults living together.
Here's a C.tropix pig pile from when they were a bit younger!

Yamia sp."Koh Samui"
Adult female

This species reaches about 1.5" or so leg span and is found living on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.Above photo doesn't do this species much justice!Quite a pretty species when freshly molted!

Plesiophrictus sp."Canacona"
Adult Female

This is a rather rare dwarf species that comes from India and reaches about 1-1.5" leg span as adults.Unsure if anyone is still captive breeding these but I really would love to try if I could actually find a male!

I hope to see some of the US dwarf tarantulas this summer!
-Chris

 

[Quazgar]

I just got a C. bertae who didn't hesitate to give me threat poses while unpacking. Cute little bundle of attitude

Syndicate - those are some awesome little T's. I particularly like the MM C. jeremyhuffi.

 

[Rob1985]

I had what I thought was a female C. ritae. She unexpectedly died one day for reasons unknown. She ate well and I took care of her.

Then I saw the spurs, but of course me being me I didn't keep her body to show the guy I bought her from. I could have gotten a partial refund toward another T.

Anyways, as adults they're like taking care of a sling, but it's an adult T, if that makes sense.

 

[lunashimmer]

I have a C. ritae and 3 H. incei. They are fun to watch. I feed them small crickets, like the 1/4" size. Sometimes they jump right on 'em, sometimes they're freaked out by me opening their cups. All are beautiful. The C. ritae is a gorgeous shade of peach and jet black. The pattern on its abdomen is very sharp, even for it being only 3/4" dls. I've had it for almost a year now. It's molted 3 times in my care so far, but the exuvia are to too tiny to sex. It's a good webber but I can always see it--it has some web holes to hide in but is rarely in them.

The H. incei are very pretty with tiger striping on their abdomens. I have one that appears to be the gold type; the other 2 have the more olive coloring. They are fast also. I was just looking at all my slings and one of the H. incei molted. That was a fun surprise! All 3 of my slings are about 3/4" dls, maybe just a hair over. I've had them almost a year as well. They are all good webbers and stay out most of the time.

I feed all my slings about once a week. They all have plump little abdomens. I keep them all on damp Eco-Earth with some sphagnum moss to help with hidey-holes and mold control.

I would definitely get a dwarf. Just be prepared to keep a stock of small food like fruit flies (I've personally never fed them) or tiny crickets. And take precautions when housekeeping or feeding!