Help a noob! Purple Tiger Tarantula

[MustardTiger]

Greetings everyone!

I was hoping that some who are experienced in the keeping/care of tarantulas, might be able to point me in the right direction, so I can better educate myself on keeping and caring for this particular type of tarantula.. I wanted to provide a little background on how I came into possession of this Tarantula, to hopefully reduce the possible negative response I might receive making a post like this.. Sorry for the long read

I've often joked with my wife that I would like to have one, as I have always found them very interesting, but also as a way to help with my extreme fear of spiders in general. She has always been firm that she would not allow one in our home, as she does not care for them at all..

I had been researching Bearded Dragons for the last few months, and had been working on building a proper Terrarium setup to meet it's needs.. This was going to be a surprise gift for the kids this Christmas.. After familiarizing myself with the basic requirements for this Dragon, and acquiring all the proper equipment, all we needed was the Dragon itself. The plan was to pay for the dragon at a local reptile store, and have them keep it until Christmas eve, so we could sneak it into the house and keep it a surprise for Christmas morning.

What I didn't know, was that when my wife went to the reptile store last week and paid for the dragon, she also saw this Tarantula for sale. On an impulse, she decided to buy it as well (It included everything shown in the photo), and have them surprise me with it when I went in on Christmas eve to pick up the Dragon! While I know her intentions were good, and I was very happy with the gift, I also couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed once I got it home.. Personally I would never just jump into any type of "pet" ownership, without fully familiarizing myself with both the "pet" and the requirements for care

This particular store is not known for selling this sort of thing, and I was given very limited information about it. After looking through some of the basic care guides posted here, I realized that there are many different types of Tarantulas, with varying levels of difficulty with each one

My first question would be, exactly what type of Tarantula is this? The label reads "Haiti Purple Tiger Tarantula".. But with a quick google search, that doesn't seem to be the correct term for any Tarantula species that I can see.. I can only assume that they mean it's a "Purple Earth Tiger Tarantula".. But I really don't want to assume, as it seems that if it is indeed that species, it is certainly not beginner friendly (From what I've read so far) Without a proper name, I feel I might not be properly educating myself on its particular requirements

As I have yet to even see it yet, it was not possible for me to include an actual photo of the Tarantula.. And since I have no idea if it is Molting or not, I wasn't in a big hurry to disturb it

Second, I am looking for opinions/suggestions on the actual setup shown in the photos.. It will be a lot easier for me to find this info, once I am sure of the exact species.. But I would be open to any comments/suggestions.. The only information I was given, was that the water dish needs to stay on an angle (So the spider doesn't drown), feed it twice a week (1 or 2 "half inch crickets" each time), and that it is a very fast moving Tarantula..

Again, apologizes for the long read.. I would appreciate any and all responses!

Thanks

 

[Tarantuland]

Most likely, this is a cyriopagopus sp hati hati. Thank you for coming to arachnoboards, this is the best place to ask these types of questions. This is a reason why we in the community use scientific names. When you are able to get a picture of the spider, someone may be able to give you confirmation of this.

Ok assuming that this is a cyriopagopus sp hati hati, this is an old world tarantula. Which means no kicking hairs, but more potent venom and fast speeds. It is not lethal, but you don't wanna get tagged. You do not want to try and hold this one. The enclosure may be bigger than you need, but without knowing the size of the spider I can not say for sure.

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/cyriopagopus-sp-hati-hati.271248/

Cyriopagopus sp. Hati Hati care?

Hello, I have recently got a cyriopagopus hati hati sling. I'm just finding it difficult to find care information about them. I understand that they are fairly new. He/she came with the name 'purple hati tarantula' I was just hoping to find someone that has successfully kept them before? Should...

arachnoboards.com

Here are some threads talking about these guys. I highly recommend using the search function and finding everything you can about these guys.

I have not kept this species, but I understand they are Asian arboreals. They may burrow a bit when young, but will grow to live on trees. Use 10+inch tongs to drop food in once a week, and remove whatever hasn't been eaten after 24 hours. Crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches, hornworms, anything like that.

This set up is not ideal. There is no cross ventilation, and their feet can get stuck in the screen lid up top. You're going to want a piece of corkbark leaning up against one side and a few decorations like fake plants, plus a water dish.
Don't worry about humidity or heat anywhere from 68-85 degrees is fine at room temperature.

Best of luck.

Ps- the only reliable youtuber is Tom's Big Spiders, take anyone else with a grain of salt.

 

[viper69]

It’s helpful to find the question quickly

 

[Tarantuland]

It’s helpful to find the question quickly

TLDR: Someone else bought this guy *his first* spider for christmas and the only info he has is in the picture he attached.

 

[viper69]

TLDR: Someone else bought this guy *his first* spider for christmas and the only info he has is in the picture he attached.

If not OW, and ignoring Haiti, could be A purpurea or T. v. Either way the setup needs to be for an arboreal IF I’m right.

Tiger is OW ref

Common names don’t help.

 

[HeartBum]

The "Haiti" is throwing me off ngl. But, I imagine it is a HatiHati, which translates to "be careful" or "caution". Got mine in a mystery box, was one of the first I saw eat actually.

Have a look at this thread https://arachnoboards.com/threads/cyriopagopus-sp-hati-hati-tarantula.327863/

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I'm assuming it's what's sold in the hobby as Cyriopagopus sp. "Hat Hati" (it should technically be labelled Ornithoctoninae sp. "Hati Hati" seeing as Cyriopagopus is a fossorial genus and this species is arboreal), the common name on the label appears to be a garbled mish-mash of "Hati Hati Purple" and "Purple Earth Tiger".

The care guides linked above should see you right. Check out Tom Moran on YouTube as well, he'll probably have a care guide or rehousing vid so you can get an idea of what to expect.

The only information I was given, was that the water dish needs to stay on an angle (So the spider doesn't drown)

Na, tarantulas are ridiculously hard to drown, they can survive being fully submerged for much longer than a human can, and they're also pretty good swimmers.

feed it twice a week (1 or 2 "half inch crickets" each time)

Depending on size it only needs to eat once every;

3-5 days - sling (under 2 inches).
7-10 days - juvenile (2-4 inches).
14-21 days subadult/adult (4 inches - max size).

Feed meals that are around the same size as the tarantula's abdomen.

 

[MustardTiger]

Really appreciate all the info/suggestions/links!

Thanks

 

[T Freak]

Most likely, this is a cyriopagopus sp hati hati. Thank you for coming to arachnoboards, this is the best place to ask these types of questions. This is a reason why we in the community use scientific names. When you are able to get a picture of the spider, someone may be able to give you confirmation of this.

Ok assuming that this is a cyriopagopus sp hati hati, this is an old world tarantula. Which means no kicking hairs, but more potent venom and fast speeds. It is not lethal, but you don't wanna get tagged. You do not want to try and hold this one. The enclosure may be bigger than you need, but without knowing the size of the spider I can not say for sure.

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/cyriopagopus-sp-hati-hati.271248/

Cyriopagopus sp. Hati Hati care?

Hello, I have recently got a cyriopagopus hati hati sling. I'm just finding it difficult to find care information about them. I understand that they are fairly new. He/she came with the name 'purple hati tarantula' I was just hoping to find someone that has successfully kept them before? Should...

arachnoboards.com

Here are some threads talking about these guys. I highly recommend using the search function and finding everything you can about these guys.

I have not kept this species, but I understand they are Asian arboreals. They may burrow a bit when young, but will grow to live on trees. Use 10+inch tongs to drop food in once a week, and remove whatever hasn't been eaten after 24 hours. Crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches, hornworms, anything like that.

This set up is not ideal. There is no cross ventilation, and their feet can get stuck in the screen lid up top. You're going to want a piece of corkbark leaning up against one side and a few decorations like fake plants, plus a water dish.
Don't worry about humidity or heat anywhere from 68-85 degrees is fine at room temperature.

Best of luck.

Ps- the only reliable youtuber is Tom's Big Spiders, take anyone else with a grain of salt.

I agree with almost all info although I disagree with toms big spiders being the ONLY reliable resource on yutube. Check out tarantula collective with Richard and also tarantula haven with Alex. Both of those are also great resources. Tom is a very good resource too tho. And another fairly good one is tarantula kat. I would b a bit Leary with about anyone else tho. Just be careful on yutube but not everyone is bad per se.

TLDR: Someone else bought this guy *his first* spider for christmas and the only info he has is in the picture he attached.

TLDR??

 

[arthurliuyz]

Purple Earth Tiger Tarantula

Can you get a pic of the tarantula? That will make it easier to ID.
Edit: Your safety first! Considering this is your first t and it might be an Asian OW.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Can you get a pic of the tarantula?

Doubt they'll respond in any hurry, someone necroed the thread, the OP hasn't logged into the site since the very start of the year

 

[l4nsky]

<------- zombie emotes for zombie thread

 

[mickeydubs]

On the note of reliable youtubers, what do you all think of Dave's Little Beasties? While I agree that Tom Moran is a reliable youtuber, I also find Dave's Little Beasties to be an incredibly useful source of information.

 

[arthurliuyz]

On the note of reliable youtubers, what do you all think of Dave's Little Beasties? While I agree that Tom Moran is a reliable youtuber, I also find Dave's Little Beasties to be an incredibly useful source of information.

Have a look at this thread.

"The Dark Den" Good Influence?

I've seen a lot of threads saying that Exotics Lair is a bad influence. So, just wondering, is petko a good influence for the hobby? Is his husbandry good?

arachnoboards.com

Somewhere in the middle of this thread ppl talked about Dave.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

On the note of reliable youtubers, what do you all think of Dave's Little Beasties?

Tong feeding and keeping arboreals in unmodded Exo Terras are both bad practices that he engages in. He's also pretty fond of reality reversal like describing simple stuff as "faffing around" while unnecessarily complicating things and then trying to pass it off as "not too extravagant".

 

[mickeydubs]

Tong feeding and keeping arboreals in unmodded Exo Terras are both bad practices that he engages in. He's also pretty fond of reality reversal like describing simple stuff as "faffing around" while unnecessarily complicating things and then trying to pass it off as "not too extravagant".

I see. By unmodded exo terras, do you mean not replacing the mesh top? I've heard conflicting stories about tong feeding. I'm guessing that the main concerns are 1. Damage to fangs and 2. The T possibly running up the tongs...especially if it's a faster species.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

By unmodded exo terras, do you mean not replacing the mesh top?

Yep, these enclosures still use woven wire mesh which is unsafe as tarantulas can get their tarsal claws stuck where the wires overlap and either lose legs or kill themselves trying to get free. Most manufacturers have moved away from it in favour of more suitable types of ventilation (expanded metal/perforated sheet metal).

I'm guessing that the main concerns are 1. Damage to fangs and 2. The T possibly running up the tongs...especially if it's a faster species.

Yes to both although the latter is much more common, not something you particularly want happening with Psalmopoeinae or old world species.

 

[Mike Withrow]

Yep, these enclosures still use woven wire mesh which is unsafe as tarantulas can get their tarsal claws stuck where the wires overlap and either lose legs or kill themselves trying to get free. Most manufacturers have moved away from it in favour of more suitable types of ventilation (expanded metal/perforated sheet metal).



Yes to both although the latter is much more common, not something you particularly want happening with Psalmopoeinae or old world species.

You know I have not once seen a video or read a post about a spider being hurt due to tong feeding,much less someone being bit while doing so.
If there is they had to have been shoving it right at the spiders face. That said yeah probably not the best route to go for most while keeping spiders for the human and the spider.

Not really seen any other on mesh lids other than my post and it had nothing to do with the mesh it's self but it was the Gap in the corner of the lid that's what she got her leg hung in when she tried climbing out one night.
Dave has been keeping spiders and breeding for close to 40 years
Seems like he has the proof to back it up as well

 

[The Grym Reaper]

You know I have not once seen a video or read a post about a spider being hurt due to tong feeding,much less someone being bit while doing so.

Yeah, because people generally don't like to admit when they've screwed up because they don't want to hear "I told you so".

Someone has posted on here within the last year about breaking a tarantula's fang either by tong feeding or because the tarantulas attacked the tongs while they were doing maintenance. I've had two instances there I've gone to drop a pre-killed feeder outside a burrow/web tube entrance and the tarantula has come charging out an ran up the tongs, luckily I wasn't tagged on either occasion and neither tarantula was injured as I didn't panic.

Not really seen any other on mesh lids other than my post and it had nothing to do with the mesh it's self but it was the Gap in the corner of the lid that's what she got her leg hung in when she tried climbing out one night.
Dave has been keeping spiders and breeding for close to 40 years
Seems like he has the proof to back it up as well

See above about people generally not not liking to admit when they screw up by ignoring warnings, I've been told by other keepers in FB groups that I'm chatting nonsense because "I've been keeping for over a decade and never had an issue" only for them to then make a post later on showing an autotomised leg hanging from the mesh and/or a dead tarantula with a ruptured abdomen along with an apology to everyone they ignored. There are also multiple videos on YouTube of tarantulas dangling from mesh lids. Unfortunately seems to be an issue with people not giving a toss about something until it happens to them.

 

[Mike Withrow]

I've not took the time to search YouTube for videos of spiders being hung. Actually not ever even been pointed to a video of something like that ever occuring.
I want to be clear that I'm not suggesting at all that what you say has no bearing.
My point is that Dave is heavily on the breeding part of this world and his method works for him and I have no doubt if he ever had a problem he would be honest about it.
As far as a spider attacking tongs doing maintenance or sometime shooting to the top of their burrow if I'm dropping a feeder in because they have legs showing and are ready to eat.
That's a normal 2:30 3:00 am seven day a week for me.
I don't do the FB thing anymore. That's the very last place I'd go to for anything to do with keeping spiders.
Sometimes not all but some,it's hard to Wade through all the stuff on here to find a possible solution or answer I have keeping spiders.