Calling All King Baboon Owners

[Gail]

OK, so I had been considering one of these and now, thanks to Kelly's mind reading ability, I have one
Does anyone have any tidbits of care information specific to this species? Just want to make sure I give it all the best.

Gail

 

[invertepet]

Three things I've found are really critical to crawshayi longevity:

1). NO DAMP SUBSTRATE - their legs rot easily.
2). WATER DISH - they're big drinkers.
3). BURROW - they need to be able to burrow - they get stressed when they can't hide.

I don't recommend a really grainy, loose subtrate like pure vermiculite or peat. Try a sand/soil/peat mix. I've actually used red clay from a volcanic area and they seem to prefer that, when mixed with sand and soil. In other words, something firm enough for them to walk on but burrowable (or, use dense packed soil with a pre-made burrow).

b

 

[Alonso99]

He covered it pretty much. My king baboon is very fond of vertebrate prey.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Originally posted by Gail
OK, so I had been considering one of these and now, thanks to Kelly's mind reading ability, I have one
Does anyone have any tidbits of care information specific to this species? Just want to make sure I give it all the best.

Gail

Was it the "Freebie"? If so, what other t's did you get?

I too would like more info on this T. I normally don't go after brown tarantulas, but this one does have a regal look to it. I guess that is why it is called King Baboon.

Big Dragonfly

 

[Gail]

Re: Re: Calling All King Baboon Owners

Originally posted by Big Dragonfly
Was it the "Freebie"? If so, what other t's did you get?
Big Dragonfly

Yes, it was my freebie - a very generous one I thought I also got 3 B.emilia, 1 B.smithi, 2 usumbaras, and 2 H.gigas. I wanted the usumbaras because they are definately a different blood line and a different size than the ones I have already and I want to breed them. Ditto for the H.gigas.

Gail

 

[Theraphosa]

Re: Re: Re: Calling All King Baboon Owners

Originally posted by Gail
Yes, it was my freebie - a very generous one I thought I also got 3 B.emilia, 1 B.smithi, 2 usumbaras, and 2 H.gigas. I wanted the usumbaras because they are definately a different blood line and a different size than the ones I have already and I want to breed them. Ditto for the H.gigas.

Gail

I"m you're very happy that your freebie was a Baboon. Today I got my 3 spiderlings from him.... usambar baboon, pink zebra beauty and brazilian salmon.. and my freebie was a curly hair and a lot of small crickets

 

[LaRiz]

THE man to contact is Chris Barton of MI. Your King Babs 'sling probably came from one of his females. And hey, maybe my male (had that thing for 6 years before he matured-hated to see him go). I'd have to look around for his email address, but I'll pass it on to you if you like. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, they guy loves to talk crawshayi.
john

 

[Gail]

Originally posted by LaRiz
THE man to contact is Chris Barton of MI. Your King Babs 'sling probably came from one of his females. And hey, maybe my male (had that thing for 6 years before he matured-hated to see him go). I'd have to look around for his email address, but I'll pass it on to you if you like. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, they guy loves to talk crawshayi.
john

Actually, according to Kelly's site, the sling IS from Chris I would definately be interested in getting info from him as I am finding a lot of conflicting information on the web. People here tell me to keep them dry and most of the care sheets tell me to keep them humid with damp substrate. Since Chris is the expert I'd really like to get his opinion. Thanks John.

Gail

 

[cweg]

My 2 cents

I've had one for about 5 years. Very slow growers. Give it a nice deep substrate. I have never seen mine drink but always have fresh water. I keep the sub pretty dry, occasional misting. Temp about 75-80. Mine tends to burry the water dish alot. If you get lucky it may build the burrow against the side of the enclosure. I have mine in a 5.5 g aquarium with about 8 inches of bed-a-beast/vermiculite/jungle mix-mixture. Mine never had much of an appetite until I raised the temp.

 

[Ultimate Instar]

I think that they sometimes like it damp, sometimes dry. I've had my crawshayi for about one year. I keep her in a 20 gallon aquarium with a heat pad against the back. The left side of the tank is kept somewhat moist while the right is left quite dry. My idea was to create two gradients with the heat varying front to back and the moisture left to right. That way, she could (theoretically) choose her own level of humidity and heat. For most of the last year, she stayed on the dry side. Approximately one month ago, she switched over the damp side. I guess that she's just fickle.

Karen N.