Dolichothele diamantinensis (Brazilian Blue Dwarf Beauty) Open Thread

Colorado Ts

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I'm starting an open thread for those of us that keep this amazing little dwarf species, the Dolichothele diamantinensis. Join the thread and share your thoughts, experiences, and images of this very slick, interesting little dwarf species.

Please realize that my following description of my experiences with this species is somewhat tongue in cheek....I have really enjoyed keeping my group of slings and watching them grow and prosper under my care and husbandry. I will advise that the D. diatimantinensis is not a species for someone to select as a first species, but definitely a species that a careful & educated beginner could easily select and enjoy as a 3rd or 4th species to consider.

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At this size of sling, it could hide hide behind a peppercorn. Scary tiny, due to their amazing speed.


My experience with this species began when I brought in a group of 8 tiny D.diamantinensis slings several months ago in mid February, 2020. This little group of slings arrived a bit smaller in size than expected, so I have been raising them in 3.5 oz soufflé cups, instead of the 4X4X4 AMAC Box enclosures that I had prepared for them.

Due to their small size, I began feeding them on the tiniest B.lateralis roaches, twice per week. On this diet and feeding routine the slings have grown steadily, moulting every 3 to 4 weeks with regularity. This growth rate was nice to see, and allowed me to feed roaches of the next sizes over a short period of time. Occasionally, I'd not find a tiny roach in the prey container and I'd have to drop in an oversized roach. The hungry D.diamantinensis sling would usually not falter and wrestle this larger prey item down and finish it off quickly. Very impressive to see firsthand.

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Above sling moulted 2 days after this image was taken.

The feeding response of this species is...well quirky or rather hit & miss, in my opinion. Some days they are ravenous and active feeders capable of taking down surprisingly large prey items and other days they are uninterested, shrinking away from the prey item. It’s almost random and not predictable feeding behavior. I guess that one could also call it typical spider behavior.

Safely feeding the slings, without loss, can be an experience unto itself. I did not enjoy feeding the slings while they were in the 3.5 oz enclosures. The speed of these tiny spiders is simply impressive, they can be very bolty bolty. It could be that I just had too much substrate in the enclosures, coupled with their very prolific webbing, often filling the soufflé cup from substrate to lid. So taking off the lid, to feed the sling, had to be approached very carefully, so as not to send the sling into a high speed flight. Most times, my initial feeding attempts resulted in at least one escape, followed by a lot of time spent looking for a sling that would then rocket to another hiding place, once located. I never lost any of my 8 slings...and over time, experience taught me how to carefully open the enclosure, and to use a bamboo skewer, slipped under the lid, to carefully peal the webbing from the lid...while at the same time containing a sling that was poised to ignite the afterburners and bolt. The use of the skewer to carefully peal away the webbing, when opening the enclosure would greatly reduce bolting and looking for escaped slings....but not always. I also learned how to very carefully coax an unwilling 8-legged-rocket back into its enclosure, doesn't sound like much, but for this species that’s a huge skill to develop.

Premoult is very easy to spot (top 2 images are of slings in heavy premoult) as the slings quickly progress from their normal coloration to a very shiny glassy dark purple color just before moulting. Once a sling has reached the glassy purple color, they will refuse food, almost acting afraid of prey items and retreating quickly if the prey item advances and gets to close.

Personally, I've found the species to be clearly a level above any species that I've kept thus far, simply due to their unpredictable speed. While maneuvering in their webbing, movement is sort of jerky, as they creep along. Outside of their webbing, and free in the enclosure, they know only one speed, and it ain’t slow. If I'm lucky the sling would blast through 10 or 12 quick laps around the inside of the soufflé cup...followed by a sudden pause as the sling decided if it was safe or needed to put more distance between itself and the threat. If the “spider gods” frowned, it was 10 or 12 minutes trying to find a sling that, when I first got them, could hide behind a loose peppercorn on the table. (For those concerned about my housekeeping, my grandsons live with us. Finding a loose peppercorn on the dinner table is the least of my worries.)

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Last night, I was checking over all my small tiny slings, and this group looked large enough now to be moved into 4X4X4 AMAC Box enclosures.

Now that they are in larger housing, I'm hoping that things will slow down...if you get my drift. :bag:

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Jess S

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I enjoyed reading your observations. One good thing is although they are still pretty zippy when older, they do calm down considerably. Or at least my one is (!) calm and generally doesn't budge when I'm working in the enclosure.

IMG-20191010-WA0000~3.jpg
 

Colorado Ts

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I enjoyed reading your observations. One good thing is although they are still pretty zippy when older, they do calm down considerably. Or at least my one is (!) calm and generally doesn't budge when I'm working in the enclosure.

View attachment 342941
Oh...thank GAWD!!!!

Emphasis mine. :cool:

What size enclosure do you keep your adult spider in?
 
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Jess S

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Haha yes they really do get much calmer.

They are stunning, particularly when seen under the right lighting, and have no problems taking down larger prey items. I'm fond of my suspect male.

I actually put him in a larger than necessary enclosure, but have measured the area he actually uses(the rest is just empty space going to waste), and this gives the following dimensions in cms, which I think is a good size for an adult.

20L x 20W x 14d cms

He seems happy enough there for now, but I have been eyeing up the enclosure for something else lol. If I don't downsize him soon, I definitely will when he matures (if he is a boy!)
 

Colorado Ts

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Haha yes they really do get much calmer.

They are stunning, particularly when seen under the right lighting, and have no problems taking down larger prey items. I'm fond of my suspect male.

I actually put him in a larger than necessary enclosure, but have measured the area he actually uses(the rest is just empty space going to waste), and this gives the following dimensions in cms, which I think is a good size for an adult.

20L x 20W x 14d cms

He seems happy enough there for now, but I have been eyeing up the enclosure for something else lol. If I don't downsize him soon, I definitely will when he matures (if he is a boy!)
So do you think an 8"X4"X4" container would work?

In centimeters that would be approximately 20cm X 10cm X 10cm...I was thinking about ordering in a set of those enclosures, if they would work.

8x4x4amac.jpg
 

Jess S

Arachnobaron
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I think that would be fine. As you will have no doubt seen with your own, they don't only use the ground space but everything above it too.
Everything gets webbed. Mine did the last few moults on top of his favourite heavily webbed leaf. I particularly love his little web tunnels, he has one running to his waterdish that I get a kick out of seeing him pop out from!
 

fried rice

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You all know why im here.

I enjoyed reading your observations. One good thing is although they are still pretty zippy when older, they do calm down considerably. Or at least my one is (!) calm and generally doesn't budge when I'm working in the enclosure.

View attachment 342941
My sling is very calm too, when I open the enclosure she runs down into her burrow. Feeding her is very easy.
 
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Colorado Ts

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So my slings have been in their new homes and have now had a couple days to explore and begin webbing. So I took about 45 minutes or so this morning to make observations and gather some images.

A961580F-94BD-4AAD-BDC8-BF5D7F5D97AC.jpeg

For taking images, I generally use my cell phone...it’s always on me and readily available. Were I taking images for a publication, then I would use my Canon...which takes much better images.

E6D8EDA2-6BAC-4D95-B145-7970C3542331.jpeg

This little one here looks to be approaching another premoult. These slings are so slender and frail in their structure, they appear to be almost dainty.

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All the slings have settled in nicely, each of them is webbing nicely. Overtime, I’m expecting the enclosures to turn white with webbing.

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Some have started burrowing, getting ready to establish web tunnels.

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Other slings have chosen to begin building their web tunnels on the sides of the enclosures.

I love that they are now in a larger enclosure. Much calmer in their behavior, no bolting, no stress, very nice day today. Next feeding will be Friday evening, I'm looking forward to a nice calm experience.

I think that would be fine. As you will have no doubt seen with your own, they don't only use the ground space but everything above it too.
Everything gets webbed. Mine did the last few moults on top of his favourite heavily webbed leaf. I particularly love his little web tunnels, he has one running to his waterdish that I get a kick out of seeing him pop out from!
Post images...I would enjoy seeing it.
 
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mack1855

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I have also found they get less bolty as they get bigger.Lid off the enclosure,and calm and steady.I have 4 that I have raised from slings. DSCN1402.JPG
 

Arachnid Addicted

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I made this link a while ago, its not about husbandry, but I think its interesting.

 

Colorado Ts

Arachnoangel
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I made this link a while ago, its not about husbandry, but I think its interesting.

That link is seriously very cool. I did not know that there were 3 different color variations within the species...Now you've given me a another project, COLLECT ALL 3. :bag:

Great Link. :cool:

Which color variation is your favorite?
 

Arachnid Addicted

Arachnoprince
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That link is seriously very cool. I did not know that there were 3 different color variations within the species...Now you've given me a another project, COLLECT ALL 3. :bag:

Great Link. :cool:

Which color variation is your favorite?
My fav is the blue one.

Here's another link with a purpleish variation too.

 

fried rice

Arachnoknight
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My dolichothele diamantinensis did the cutest think I have ever seen in my life yesterday. She dropped the cricket she was eating, came out of her burrow, and she did the “happy dance”! It was so adorable. She was walking around in circles and waving her abdomen and spinnerets around.
 

Colorado Ts

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Just Under a Week...in their new digs.

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These little fellows web up an enclosure on a whole different level than a GBB sling.

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Both the GBB and the D.diamantinensis web a little bit each day, the Brazilian Beauty just webs more often.

7B49E3CC-C40A-4FC4-82B5-7148E62A05F5.jpeg

I’m actually looking forward to seeing what the enclosures are going to look like...say at the end of May.

I’m also enjoying feeding them when they are in something bigger than a soufflé cup. Much more enjoyable keeping these slings under these conditions.

Next Feeding is Friday.
 

Colorado Ts

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Friday Feeding

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The slings’ feeding response in the 4x4x4 AMAC containers is so different than when they were being kept in the soufflé cups. This sling was so excited to grab the prey item, it flipped over onto its back. The emerald green carapace is just beginning to be evident, with this last moult. These are a pretty cool dwarf species.

0868B8A3-F395-4B9B-91FE-768791DEF0CE.jpeg

Since moving into the 4x4x4 AMAC enclosures, they really hit the prey items hard. Their feeding response is definitely stronger, and they seem to be much calmer then they were when they resided in the soufflé cups. When I open the enclosures, I’m no longer moving all their webbing and tearing everything apart.

I also get to look at them and enjoy them much more in this larger enclosure. I’m beginning to see hints on certain slings of the metallic coloration that they will develop with each future moult. They are a very beautiful species.
 
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Colorado Ts

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At what size did you move your slings to the 4x4x4 enclosure? Mine is 3/4'' ish, I'm wondering if it might be a little to soon.
When I bought the slings, they were sold as 1/2” slings. Of the 8 slings that arrived, I think that maybe 1 or 2 were right at or just under 1/2”. The remaining 6 slings were just TINY...right under 1/4 inch. They were so tiny that they were specs, they would have been lost in the 4x4x4 AMAC boxes that I had prepared for them.

FCD1B4D2-5D5F-4C87-9AF9-788831F4A4FE.jpeg

So I quick assembled some soufflé cups, and I’ve been raising them in 3.5oz soufflé cups for the past few months. Even in the soufflé cups, they were hard to see and find at times.

They’re now a solid 3/4”+...and they are the perfect size for the AMAC boxes, so nice to have these in a larger enclosure.
 
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