SP2 is an arid species, different from phlogius, get quite big as well. The Kuttabuls get big, I have seen photos of them breaching the 8 inch mark but it takes a long time (8-10 years) the biggest SP2 I saw was a little over 6 inches but I have heard from extremely reliable sources that when they first found the colonies they were pulling out some 7 inchers, most of the places have been plundered now so most of the really large ones are gone. Here is a large SP2 my neighbour once owned.
Are any of the Australians fast growers? My Phlogius aren't. With some of the tropicals outside Australia males mature in a year (or less) and females in 2 1/2 - 3 years.
Could be good to know, my phlogius and selenocosmia grew so slow that i thought a g rosea was a fast growing T......
The absolute fastest species I have ever kept was Phlogius strenuus (hanns river locale), I had females mature in 11-13 months (4.5 ish) and males (well over the 5 inch mark) mature in 9 months, they're imo our third maybe second biggest species in terms of legspan so it was impressive growth rate, my phlogius Sarinas have taken a year to hit 6cm mark making them the slowest phlogius species I have raised yet and as you saw my Goliath matured in maybe 15ish months?? not the fastest to mature but what she does have on the other species is solid growth each and every molt, it's been 2.6-2.7 years since I bought her as a sling and she is slightly over the 5.5 inch mark and so much more heavier than all the other species.. C.tropix are bloody fast as well but they're a much smaller species so I'll leave them out of the race. The SP2 grow fast btw, REALLY fast which is quite amazing for an arid, you could definitely have them matured in under two with power feeding (all my above assessments on the species I collected were all powerfed)
We have several selenocosmia available here in Europe, but phlogius are pretty rare, unfortunatly. I think many people wont breed them because the slings are so small that fruit flies are for dinner, and many people dont want to have to many of these home already. I can be wrong, but not many breed them i am sure of...
I can only agree, aussie tree living T´s would be a dream for me too, can only hope the are available in the future.... I do remember a trade with a german guy, he sent med 4 selenocosmia obscura slings as a freebie. I have never worked with so small slings before and had no food for them. They were raised in the first months in our kitchen because we had fruit flies there, the wife is Thai so we have alot of fruit and veggies home. 3 ended up as adults. But i fear for my life if i have to put more T´s into the kitchen again, she was not particularly happy about that deal....