Brachypelma baumgarteni: Part II

[Smotzer]

A freshly mature male baumgarteni. Soon very soon I’ll be attempting to mate this boy with my females. View attachment 356409 View attachment 356410

This guy is gorgeous!!! I’d love to have one one day!! Is this one, one of the light/dark forms? If so which one?

 

[The Spider House]

View attachment 322869 View attachment 322870 View attachment 322871 View attachment 322872 View attachment 322873 View attachment 322874 View attachment 322875 View attachment 322876 Gotta get new photos of this species on this thread. Welcome a four month old mature male B. baumgarteni.

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking, is there any truth to the 'dark' and 'light' form. Most I have seen including my own 5.5 inch female have a predominantly black carapace (dark form) but I was watching a documentary by Andrew Smith who discovered and named them and they seem to have a much lighter carapace in the wild examples. Similar to the pic of your mature male in fact.

Would appreciate your thoughts on whether there is any truth to the dark and light form or whether just unique to locale etc.

here is my female at her last moult just over 12 months ago. (with and without flash for colour comoarison) and moult confirming female

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

This guy is gorgeous!!! I’d love to have one one day!! Is this one, one of the light/dark forms? If so which one?

He is one of the dark color forms and the same male who is on post #2, #3, #7 and #14.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking, is there any truth to the 'dark' and 'light' form. Most I have seen including my own 5.5 inch female have a predominantly black carapace (dark form) but I was watching a documentary by Alan Smith who discovered and named them and they seem to have a much lighter carapace in the wild examples. Similar to the pic of your mature male in fact.

Would appreciate your thoughts on whether there is any truth to the dark and light form or whether just unique to locale etc.

here is my female at her last moult just over 12 months ago. (with and without flash for colour comoarison) and moult confirming female View attachment 356525

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking, is there any truth to the 'dark' and 'light' form. Most I have seen including my own 5.5 inch female have a predominantly black carapace (dark form) but I was watching a documentary by Alan Smith who discovered and named them and they seem to have a much lighter carapace in the wild examples. Similar to the pic of your mature male in fact.

Would appreciate your thoughts on whether there is any truth to the dark and light form or whether just unique to locale etc.

here is my female at her last moult just over 12 months ago. (with and without flash for colour comoarison) and moult confirming female View attachment 356525

Hi! You mean Andrew Smith? Yes there is truth to it. However, those who knows of the different color forms mentions only of two different ones. All the color forms who are sac mates are on post #15 and #16. The specimens on post #15 and #16 are not of the same specimens. They are all different individuals. With my experience and observation of these species there are up to four different forms within sac mates. Therefore in their natural habitat should be the same. I find different light forms to be lighter than another light form. Same as a dark form to be darker than another different dark forms. For example these four specimens with different lighter, light, dark and darker carapace. Some have dark chelicerae and some have light chelicerae. One thing all baumgerteni that have in common is that all have a beige color on the dorsal trochanter ring area vs boehmei does not. Brachypelma boehmei trochanter ring area is a solid black all the way around.

 

[The Spider House]

Hi! You mean Andrew Smith? Yes there is truth to it. However, those who knows of the different color forms mentions only of two different ones. All the color forms who are sac mates are on post #15 and #16. The specimens on post #15 and #16 are not of the same specimens. They are all different individuals. With my experience and observation of these species there are up to four different forms within sac mates. Therefore in their natural habitat should be the same. I find different light forms to be lighter than another light form. Same as a dark form to be darker than another different dark forms. For example these four specimens with different lighter, light, dark and darker carapace. Some have dark chelicerae and some have light chelicerae. One thing all baumgerteni that have in common is that all have a beige color on the dorsal trochanter ring area vs boehmei does not. Brachypelma boehmei trochanter ring area is a solid black all the way around. View attachment 356565 View attachment 356566 View attachment 356567 View attachment 356568

Thank you for the reply interesting observations,. You must have one of the biggest baumgarteni collections I know of...BTW, yes I did mean Andrew (edited now).

 

[viper69]

Various phenotypes within the same sacs, very cool, not surprised, but very cool.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

Thank you for the reply interesting observations,. You must have one of the biggest baumgarteni collections I know of...BTW, yes I did mean Andrew (edited now).

I do and you’re welcome. Always be careful when purchasing this species cause hybrids are in the hobby as well, and these hybrids are very similar alike true baumgarteni.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

Various phenotypes within the same sacs, very cool, not surprised, but very cool.

Yeah there are different color forms in the same locality. Kind of crazy. The males get huge. Though this last male that molted was not as big as the male that was loan out late last year.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

The last time this 6“+ inch girl molted was in the last two weeks of April of this year. She molted two weeks ago. Amazingly a 5 month molt cycle for a red leg. Must be those juicy nightcrawlers that can hurt tarantulas lol

 

[Smotzer]

Must be those juicy nightcrawlers that can hurt tarantulas lol

I would love to know one day what the true nutritional value was between all the different feeders we use and or have available! I wonder what we would or wouldn’t grab!?

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

I would love to know one day what the true nutritional value was between all the different feeders we use and or have available! I wonder what we would or wouldn’t grab!?

Yeah I think it be cool to know. For some reason feeding baumgarteni nightcrawlers has had a huge impact on their growth. It definitely has been a neat experience since I haven’t really experienced the same results with other genus/species.

 

[viper69]

The last time this 6“+ inch girl molted was in the last two weeks of April of this year. She molted two weeks ago. Amazingly a 5 month molt cycle for a red leg. Must be those juicy nightcrawlers that can hurt tarantulas lol View attachment 361301

The natural sunlight consistently beats out everyone else.

If you ever get versicolor, please take a shot in natural sunlight. I'd love to see it.

 

[Smotzer]

Yeah I think it be cool to know. For some reason feeding baumgarteni nightcrawlers has had a huge impact on their growth. It definitely has been a neat experience since I haven’t really experienced the same results with other genus/species.

It would be beneficial to know!!

Have you done it, with slings through adults?

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

The natural sunlight consistently beats out everyone else.

If you ever get versicolor, please take a shot in natural sunlight. I'd love to see it.

The only versicolor I have is this one

https://exoskeletoninverts.net/gallery/action.php?id=291&part=e&download

eventually I’ll take a photo of versicolor on a substrate/dirt background.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

It would be beneficial to know!!

Have you done it, with slings through adults?

I started to feed nightcrawlers to my baumgarteni at 3.5” inches. The only other species that I started to feed nightcrawlers to is Acanthoscurria simoensi. She was 4” inches at that time and now she’s 7”++ inches. I do feed other genus/species nightcrawlers as well. Some of them are adults, juveniles and sub adults. They’re kind of picky. My Aphonopelma seemanni loves to eat nightcrawlers. She definitely will eat them often.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

Hi folks! These are macro shots of a mature male Brachypelma baumgarteni “Dark Form II”.

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

Is that time of year that I’m gonna have to stop photographing tarantulas outside. But today was perfect day to get a few last shots of this girl that molted two weeks ago. She’s my second smallest female.

 

[Frogdaddy]

I started to feed nightcrawlers to my baumgarteni at 3.5” inches. The only other species that I started to feed nightcrawlers to is Acanthoscurria simoensi. She was 4” inches at that time and now she’s 7”++ inches. I do feed other genus/species nightcrawlers as well. Some of them are adults, juveniles and sub adults. They’re kind of picky. My Aphonopelma seemanni loves to eat nightcrawlers. She definitely will eat them often.

Are you talking big 'ol fat Canadian Nightcrawlers? Or bait store nightcrawlers?
Red wigglers for smaller specimens?
What's a good source for clean earthworms?

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

The nightcrawlers I purchase are the ones from a Fish and camping store. So it’s bait a store I suppose.