I'm focusing on trying to find and hopefully breed different Macrothele species, notably M. Gigas. Most vendors that I see sell them only list them as "Macrothele sp.". They are usually unsexed and species is unknown due to their age. How can I best figure this out? Any help would be much appreciated.
How to Differentiate Between the Macrothele Species?
- Thread starter MukadeBoi
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Macrothele gigas have red chelicerae even as slings. Here's mine back in 2018 as a sling. Guessing 2-2.5cm leg span.
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Macrothele sp are defensive spiders. They'll give you a defensive posture as slings if they feel the need. But are phenomenal spiders. I have Macrothele calpeiana and Macrothele gigas.I want to get a Macrothele at some point, stupidly watched an unboxing video of one last week with the wife and it's put her right off... Basin79 love your pics on RFUK, they cause a lot of conversation when I check them out on my lunch break!
Cheers ears. They're on here too just separated due to how this place has individual categories.
Thanks! That's great to know. I wonder why sellers often list them as unknown or "sp." then if the red chelicerae is so prominent. It's only a trait in the Gigas species, right?
Also if you happen to have a care sheet on them, I'd very much appreciate it. I think my current setup for them will work fine, but any firsthand experience would be great.
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Care is easy although they're extremely fast, extremely defensive and will stand their ground if they feel the need. They also have potent venom so a bite certainly wouldn't be something you'd forget.
If you've never had a large, fast defensive spider before I'd definitely think carefully before going ahead. Yes they can't climb smooth surfaces but they web their entire enclosure and can climb that.
They need damp substrate and plenty of anchor points. You don't need to make the enclosure look fancy as they'll web over everything anyway. You can see in the 2 GIFs what I mean about their webbing. The pic is what that enclosure looked like when I first rehoused her.
If you've never had a large, fast defensive spider before I'd definitely think carefully before going ahead. Yes they can't climb smooth surfaces but they web their entire enclosure and can climb that.
They need damp substrate and plenty of anchor points. You don't need to make the enclosure look fancy as they'll web over everything anyway. You can see in the 2 GIFs what I mean about their webbing. The pic is what that enclosure looked like when I first rehoused her.
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Humidity is best ignored for inverts. Chasing numbers has lead to many deaths.
I don't heat my Macrothele sp no. They are in my small animal room though and my tarantulas and other pets are heated with heat mats connected to thermostats so the room itself is around 70f during the day.
I pour water directly onto the sub in the corners once it starts to dry out. I also mist the webbing now and again in case they want to drink. Water dishes are absolutely useless but I do provide 1 when I first rehouse as there's no webbing to mist. Once there's a bit of webbing down, 2 or 3 days I remove the dish.
I don't heat my Macrothele sp no. They are in my small animal room though and my tarantulas and other pets are heated with heat mats connected to thermostats so the room itself is around 70f during the day.
I pour water directly onto the sub in the corners once it starts to dry out. I also mist the webbing now and again in case they want to drink. Water dishes are absolutely useless but I do provide 1 when I first rehouse as there's no webbing to mist. Once there's a bit of webbing down, 2 or 3 days I remove the dish.