Grammostola actaeon info

[NTom]

Hello.
Does anyone have any info or experience with Grammostola actaeon that they can share?
I can't seem to find any definitive info on care as well as overall adult size.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Mike H.]

I would keep it the same as a rose hair, dry substrate and a hide and a water dish...I am not sure on the adult size...5 to 6 inches...( a guess )

Regards, Mike

 

[Jmadson13]

I'd imagine adult size is average 6-7'' but some sites are listing them around
8-9'' could be a very interesting species.

 

[Gesticulator]

I have a sub-adult female G acteon, and she is ~3.75-4 inches. Not a fast growing species, and not a massive T, but beautiful and sweet. IME, she is as mellow as my G aureostriata and not as flaky as a G rosea. Care is the same for other gramms...bone dry substrate a water dish and a hide. She is one of my better eaters, and will eat most anything I have tried...crix, super worms and B dubia roaches.

 

[NTom]

Thanks for the G. actaeon info

Thanks to all that supplied their expertise.
This really is a great "board" with helpful members.
Thx
Nigel & Ethan

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi NTom,

the distribution range of Grammostola actaeon lies in Southern Brazil, in the state Paraná. As the elevation of most of Paraná is about 600-800m the climate is quite mild, with average temperature in the more tropical North, West and coastal region of around 22°C and the subtropical and temperate zone in the Central and South between 22 and 10°C.
This means I would keep the spider at room temperature and give them a kind of hibernation for one or two month during winter.

Hope that helps,
Boris

P.S.: For more information on the general climate of Brazil see here:
Brazilian climates

 

[Lorgakor]

Hi NTom,

This means I would keep the spider at room temperature and give them a kind of hibernation for one or two month during winter.

Can you explain how one would go about doing this? I've never heard of giving a tarantula a hibernation before and would like to know more about it.

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi Lorgakor,

actually this is meanwhile quite common over here in Europe to do a kind of hibernation or maybe better diapause, as the spider will not really sleep during this time.
What several quite successive breeders do is to cool the spiders down for a month or two. This means technically you put them in your cellar or just stop heating and air the room more often, so that temperatures stay around 20 °C. Normally you do the hibernation during winter times, as this is much easier to do and it saves you some money (for new spiders) from the reduced/stopped heating.

BTW Grammostola rosea is another good canditate cool down for some months. But as the Chilean region, where Grammostola roseais coming from has a Mediterrenean climate, they need a humid winter and a dry summer.
Whereas Grammostola aureostriata from Paraguay need a hot rainy summer and a cool dry winter.

Hope this helps,
Boris

P.S.: Much more information on keeping Grammostola is found in this book:

STRIFFLER, B. F. 2004. Die Rote Chile Vogelspinne (Grammostola rosea) + andere Grammostola-Arten. Natur und Tier - Verlag, Münster. 64 pp.​

.
It can be ordered here:
Art für Art - Grammostola

Right now it is only published in German, but will be soon available in Spanish as well.

 

[Socrates]

Wow, thanks so much for that link, Boris, now I know what I want for Christmas from my sister in Germany.

(Hoffentlich ist das Buch bis dahin nicht schon ausverkauft.)

---
Wendy
---

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi Wendy,

if you ask your sister to send the stuff do not forget these:

Art für Art - Brachypelma smithi


Art für Art - Avicularia versicolor


Art für Art - Grammostola rosea


DRACO 16 - Vogelspinnen



Viele Grüße,
Boris

P.S.: The Brachypelma smithi book was meanwhile sold out in May, but is now available again.

 

[Lorgakor]

Wow, very cool! Do they come in English at all?

 

[Socrates]

Hi Wendy,

if you ask your sister to send the stuff do not forget these:

Viele Grüße,
Boris

P.S.: The Brachypelma smithi book was meanwhile sold out in May, but is now available again.

Oh wow - thanks, Boris! I am beyond excited now, and I hope they're all available. This is awesome. Finally some species-oriented books. :clap: Since I won't ask my sister to get them ALL for me for X-mas, I'll just tell her to forget about the subscription I did for her for some magazine from the US that she wanted, and instead repay me by getting me your books.

Vielen, vielen herzlichen Dank. Gott-sei-Dank kann ich noch genug deutsch um die Buecher alle zu lesen und hoffentlich auch zu verstehen.

---
Wendy
---

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi Lorgakor,

they definitely will, the only thing holding it back is, that there's no publishing house yet doing the English edition. The German publisher will not do the English edition themselves, they will only sell the license for the English edition.

Cheers,
Boris

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi Wendy,

nice to see that you like the covers of my books
There are some more to come by beginning of the year:

Die Riesenvogelspinnen - Theraphosa blondi & Theraphosa apophysis, Die Ornamentvogelspinne - Poecilotheria regalis and finally the first scorpion in the series Der Dickschwanzskorpion - Androctonus australis.

All the best,
Boris

BTW the books are not soo expensive, about $ 11,50 each.

 

[Nike]

Those would really get a big audience if they were available in english.

Does it help breeding when you alter the temperatures and stuff? I am just a beginner with T`s,but am already thinking about starting breeding Thrixopelma Pruriens`, as it seems to be quite a rare species. Do you happen to have any info on the habitats of this species,BTW?

Thanks. Can`t wait for the translations.

 

[Boris Striffler]

Hi Nike,

nice to see that you would be interested in my books and I hope that you don't have to wait too long.

To alter temperature (and mostly humidity) is in my opinion one of the keys to get a successful breeding record. A friend of mine, who is breeding a lot of Brachypelma, is giving them a 2 months hibernation during which temperature can drop down to 10 °C in the spider room. This is done after they are mated and well fed in late autumn. So beginning of the year temperature is set to normal again and started to be fed a lot. Soon after temperatures are set to normal most females start building their egg sacs.

Of course it is worth breeding any species of theraphosid. The problem with T. puriens, as with many of the species described by Schmidt, is that it was described from pet trade material without any information on exact collection sites, i.e. mostly "Chile" or "Peru". So I cannot tell you anything on the habitat.

Cheers,
Boris

 

[Gesticulator]

Hi Lorgakor,

they definitely will, the only thing holding it back is, that there's no publishing house yet doing the English edition. The German publisher will not do the English edition themselves, they will only sell the license for the English edition.

Cheers,
Boris

gives us something to look forward to! I never understood why my parents didn't speak German to me as a baby. Both were fluent, as were my grandparents...