Barychelidae sp.

Ravnos

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I think I have the same kind of spider... how big is that one in the pic? Mine doesn't have any iridescence currently, but that is just awesome. :)

Rav
 

rknralf

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Paul,
That is a beautiful spider! Is that one of the trapdoors you were talking about on the phone the last time we talked?
All I can saw is WOW!
What size are they?
Ralph
 

phoenixxavierre

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Originally posted by Ravnos
I think I have the same kind of spider... how big is that one in the pic? Mine doesn't have any iridescence currently, but that is just awesome. :)

Rav
This one is only about 2 to 2 and a half inches. I've had this girl a while hoping to id her, and didn't even notice until today how she reflects sunlight like that!

Thanks,

Paul
 

phoenixxavierre

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Originally posted by rknralf
Paul,
That is a beautiful spider! Is that one of the trapdoors you were talking about on the phone the last time we talked?
All I can saw is WOW!
What size are they?
Ralph
Hi Ralph,

Thanks! Normally she looks rather drab, but under light she really rainbows out! I hope we get some more of these in, and hopefully this time, there'll be males!

Right now I'm keeping this girl, some other east african tunnelers (glossy trap doors or smokey gray trapdoors) Barychelidae sp.?, and some Gorgyrella species that are black with tan abdomens and red with tan abdomens. I'm not sure which one I talked about with you, but it was one of these! lol!

I was actually quite surprised when I saw the colors on her. I thought it was a trick of the light first, like maybe it was shining through a warp in the plastic or something stupid like that, until I noticed it didn't matter which way I turned the container, as long as she was in the sunlight, she lit up. I suspect she molted somewhere along the line!

The Usambara spiderlings are doing great, fattening themselves up and taking prey twice their size!

Shakespeare is very happy with about four or five girls to play with. The females are young still but have lost all of their chevron markings they have in the juvenile stage, at least half of them have anyway, and are fully black with pink toes, so I'm hoping for the best between them!

By the way, did you ever find the males you were looking for?

Take care,

Paul
 

Ravnos

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Originally posted by phoenixxavierre
I've had this girl a while hoping to id her
When I got mine, all I was told is 'unknown barychelid species from Tanzania' It was marked as a "Smoky Grey Dwarf Tarantula"

Rav
 

phoenixxavierre

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Hi Ravnos,

I don't have the papers for identification yet, but I'll order them soon. I'll see if the grey tunneler (which the one I posted a picture of is a variation) is in the papers somewhere and whether the descriptions match. As soon as I learn something I'll post it (might be a couple weeks or longer as it takes a while sometimes to recieve an interlibrary loan).

The ones I have supposedly came from Tanzania but they could very well come from elsewhere. Aside from kids being the ones out collecting the inverts in foreign countries, some of the adults in charge of the import/export have animals shipped in or even smuggled in from other countries. So just because a general country is provided as a collection area doesn't necessarily mean it came from there. I find this very irritating as accurate locale info is hard to find! If you can't be told a specific city, town or area, it's very hard to rely on the word of the collectors, when they do have things shipped in from surrounding countries. I think in most cases they don't provide collection info, as many countries are closed to export, and I believe that collection takes place in these countries anyway, with the results of the collecting being shipped to countries that are open to export.

Anyway, I'm ranting. :rolleyes: Lol!

I'll open a thread if I learn anything helpful. Oh, I did read something to the effect that these spiders are often found at the base of trees around the roots (in a trapdoor burrow of course) and that they are sometimes found under stones and other debris as well.

Thanks and take care,

Paul

PS Awesome avatar, Ravnos!
 

Ravnos

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Dredging up a very old post, but I wanted to give a little update. I picked a male and two females of these spiders - put the male in with one female for a while and noticed no activity at all (but those of you who keep barychelid species know that is not unusual) so I put him in with the other female. Well... he got munched. I was rather dismayed, but then a few weeks later I found an eggsac in the cage. I waited... and waited... and waited... and thought the sac had died. The day I finally decided to clean up the cage and toss it, there were babies coming out. :)

Momma:


These guys are tiny, so small my 17x macro has trouble focusing on them.


Rav
 
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phoenixxavierre

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Awesome job!

Awesome job, Ravnos!

I take it these are not major biters? I have several, some of the silver/grey variety, and some of the variety in your pics.

If any of these turn out male, please do let me know!! I've been worried that I wouldn't be able to score any males, and my females would die childless.

Once again, fantastic!

Peace,

Paul
 

Ravnos

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I haven't had any real problems with them biting. They're a little skittish, but not really defensive in that way.

I hope I end up with a least a few males out of the group, theres 20 or so babies in a quick count. I haven't fully opened the sac to find out exactly how many yet. In a week or so, once they molt I will seperate them out into their own little vials.

Feeding, is most likely going to be pinhead crickets and fruit flies. Even though these guys are about the same size - I'm sure I'll be carefully squishing the food so they can get to it and eat it easily. :)

Rav
 

phoenixxavierre

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Rav,

Is this the first successful breeding in the US of this species? I haven't heard of any others.

You could contribute a great deal of info about these awesome spiders! Like rate of growth, molt frequency, etc.!

Totally awesome!!

Time to handle mine as well. I'll let you know if I get bit next time one is attempting to crawl out and I allow it to crawl on me. hehe!

Please do keep us updated!

Peace,

Paul
 

metallica

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sorry, no idea! got m from a dealer. they had nice tanzanian ones also!
 

phoenixxavierre

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Originally posted by metallica
sorry, no idea! got m from a dealer. they had nice tanzanian ones also!
Tanzania is where the ones I have were imported from. There are a whole lot more known species in the family of Barychelidae native to Australia than in Tanzania.

Peace,

Paul
 
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