Dwarf sp care?

[mantisfan101]

I may or may not be getting either a pumpkin patch or cyriocosmus sp. soon, and I want to know what everyone else's experience is like with these. What I've gathered so far is to keep the slings on damp soil so they don't die of dehydration and that they are all extremely fast and skittish. I can somewhat tolerate their speed since I've dealt with escapee lycosids and fishing spiders but I'm still a tad bit nervous since I've never dealt with a spider that can climb smooth surfaces. Am I missing anything else? What's growth speed of these guys? Do they burrow?

 

[TriMac33]

I may or may not be getting either a pumpkin patch or cyriocosmus sp. soon, and I want to know what everyone else's experience is like with these. What I've gathered so far is to keep the slings on damp soil so they don't die of dehydration and that they are all extremely fast and skittish. I can somewhat tolerate their speed since I've dealt with escapee lycosids and fishing spiders but I'm still a tad bit nervous since I've never dealt with a spider that can climb smooth surfaces. Am I missing anything else? What's growth speed of these guys? Do they burrow?

I'll try my hand at this. So typically dwarf species are known as fossorials, which means they are deep burrowers (although I'm not entirely sure if sp.Colombia are deep burrowers). Also generally known as the "pet holes" of the hobby. They tend to all max out at no more than 3" of size. They're all quite skittish in nature, a bit bolty, and aggressive eaters. I house a juvenile Kochiana Brunnipes (dwarf pink leg). I absolutely love it. I house it in a cylindrical container about 4" tall and 2" diameter, coconut substrate packed down, a little damp with leaf litter and a small piece of bark for added stability of it's intricate tunnels. I'd imagine most dwarf species are all kept relatively the same. Don't attempt to handle (as with any T species), most are not bite prone, but very quick. Don't worry about cleaning up boli (leftovers) with fossorials, as it would require destroying their home to do so. For water you can either supply a little cap with fresh water (depending on the size of the T), or pipette some drops of water around the container for it to drink. Hope this helps!

 

[mantisfan101]

Thanks for the info! Also, in general, how fast do they tend to grow? I heard that they don't live as long(females 7 years or so) and that they mature extremely quickly, averaging a year, give or take a few months.

 

[TriMac33]

Thanks for the info! Also, in general, how fast do they tend to grow? I heard that they don't live as long(females 7 years or so) and that they mature extremely quickly, averaging a year, give or take a few months.

That I'm not too sure about. I believe they're known as a fast growing species. Life span is probably shorter due to this, but females have longer lifespans than their male counterparts.

 

[Vanessa]

I have kept numerous dwarf species. Mostly Cyriocosmus, but also Neischnocolus (formerly Ami), Kochiana, and Hapalopus.
All of them are pretty much fossorial and extremely reclusive. They are all fast and skittish, but I've never seen any defensive behaviour. Most of them I never see. I keep the surface dry, while watering the substrate underneath. They all have a hide. They have incredible appetites and never fast unless about to moult.
They are fast growing, mature in under a year if male, and have fairly short life spans... well under a decade if female and under three if male.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Everything Vanessa said. They’re great because they don’t require much room but my pumpkin patch and my first C elegans were extremely fast and bolted more than once during a rehouse, so never forget your catch cup. Their shorter lifespan and fossorial nature can either be a positive or negative depending on your point of view, but I find keeping them rewarding because they’re gorgeous sp when you do see them.

Edit: I want to add that I consider these both a nice species transition to from wolf spiders. A little more tarantula-like, but a lot about their behavior will feel familiar, I think.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Cyriocosmus are pet holes, can't really say for Hapalopus as I've never kept one.

I've had my C. leetzi for 10 months and she's gone from 0.5cm to around 3cm

View media item 55880

0.1 Cyriocosmus leetzi

• The Grym Reaper
• Oct 29, 2019
• colombian dwarf tarantula colombian dwarf tiger cyriocosmus cyriocosmus leetzi female leetzi subadult subadult female

Sin rocking her new suit.

 

[Suidakkra]

I recently just aquired my first dwarves, 4 Cyriocosmus elegans slings. Set them up for fossorial in 15 dram acrylic vials, and haven't seen them since. I leave a cricket drumstick in the enclosures overnight and by morning I can see that they moved the legs around the enclosure so I know they are still existing lol.

 

[sasker]

One could consider Homoeomma chilensis a dwarf species. Unlike other species mentioned in this thread, they are not skittish and less reclusive, more inquisitive. They may get bigger than these species as well, but grow suuupppeerrrr slowly. So you will have a small spider for a long time, if that's what you are after

From personal experience, H. sp colombia gross is skittish and not great fun to rehouse. I haven't seen mine for a year, but i am sure it is still alive. Not my favourite species. Nice colouration with the racing stripes and all, but I had hoped to see it more often (I see my P. muticus more frequently).

 

[viper69]

I may or may not be getting either a pumpkin patch or cyriocosmus sp. soon, and I want to know what everyone else's experience is like with these. What I've gathered so far is to keep the slings on damp soil so they don't die of dehydration and that they are all extremely fast and skittish. I can somewhat tolerate their speed since I've dealt with escapee lycosids and fishing spiders but I'm still a tad bit nervous since I've never dealt with a spider that can climb smooth surfaces. Am I missing anything else? What's growth speed of these guys? Do they burrow?

Raised a lot of pumpkins, both small and large forms. They are raised the same though.

Very fast/nervous species- INCREDIBLE eating response, they plump up easily- which is helpful.

Never owned a T that couldn't climb smooth surfaces.

They have a very fast growth rate, and they do burrow. I give them cork flat leaned against tank wall, let them use that.

They do drink fairly frequently compared to other species I've owned.