My new Aphonopelma seemani

sdsnybny

Arachnogeek
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
1,330
Nice choice I have 4 and they are all mischievous little rascal"s that will bury numerous water dishes and make lots of tunnels given enough substrate.
 

Matttoadman

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
216
This species was in my top 5, so when I saw it I couldn't pass it up. It's about 2 inches or so.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
Great choice! You won't be disappointed with it. Remember, they like deep substrate! And keep it mildly humid, that's when it will be the most active.

These little guys are some of the most active spiders I've ever kept. Always doing something. My girl has claimed many water dishes - not sure when she keeps putting them, but they keep disappearing.

Concerning color: they go from a purple hue, then to a blue-gray hue, and then finally to a washed out black as adults. They never lose those knee stripes, though.
 

Matttoadman

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
216
I'm loving it. Since I put it in its new home, 2.5 gallon fish tank with 3.5 inches of substrate and a nice bark hide, it has pulled up one of the three fake plants and threw it to the other side of the enclosure. Am I correct in my research that I shouldn't try to feed it for about a week? Finding exact info in these 1000's of posts can be confusing. Especially since you can find incorrect advice too. So I am wondering how often you should feed a 2-3 inch juvenile?
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
Great choice! You won't be disappointed with it. Remember, they like deep substrate! And keep it mildly humid, that's when it will be the most active.

These little guys are some of the most active spiders I've ever kept. Always doing something. My girl has claimed many water dishes - not sure when she keeps putting them, but they keep disappearing.

Concerning color: they go from a purple hue, then to a blue-gray hue, and then finally to a washed out black as adults. They never lose those knee stripes, though.
The species is a mess, I have a wild caught adult female "blue form" who is blue all year round, even when in premolt but you have others that change color as they go through the molt cycle. I don't plan on breeding mine as the variability of what is considered the species makes me uncomfortable unless I get a wc male from the same area she was collected from. Mine even "hibernates" and seals up her burrow for 6 months every year I've had her, she is rather strange.

To OP
As for feeding you can feed juveniles more often than adults as they are still growing. I feed mine once a week but I give my juveniles a couple prey items per feeding, I usually watch to see if they catch the first one then add another. But of you are worried about stray crickets than you can do a few feedings per week. Adult stage is when you reduce feeding to keep them more slim to avoid injury.
 

Teal

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
4,096
Congratulations... what a beautiful spider! Aphonopelma is a really under-appreciated genus, I think... seemanni are great! Our female carried her water cap all over the place... which made it difficult to keep full LOL
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
4,745
The species is a mess, I have a wild caught adult female "blue form" who is blue all year round, even when in premolt but you have others that change color as they go through the molt cycle. I don't plan on breeding mine as the variability of what is considered the species makes me uncomfortable unless I get a wc male from the same area she was collected from.

I'm aware of at least 3 color forms of seemani: blue from lower Central America, coffee brown from Honduras/Nicaragua, and battleship grey from Guatemala. The grey Guatemalan was the most common seemani form in the pet trade in the 1970's, also the smallest, but I haven't seen it since.

All of these color forms have the same leg striping and salmon pink underside and spinnerets. They could be subspecies or separate species.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
I'm aware of at least 3 color forms of seemani: blue from lower Central America, coffee brown from Honduras/Nicaragua, and battleship grey from Guatemala. The grey Guatemalan was the most common seemani form in the pet trade in the 1970's, also the smallest, but I haven't seen it since.

All of these color forms have the same leg striping and salmon pink underside and spinnerets. They could be subspecies or separate species.
Hence why there is a lot of confusion and my own reservations about breeding mine. Many people buy them and expect a blue spider, when in reality they can get a variety of colors. Labeling them as different forms is useful to a point but what's stopping someone from selling slings as a different form, they grow slow enough to where it would take years to notice.
 

Matttoadman

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
216
It's very interesting that tarantulas have all these "species" that very only by color and produce fertile offspring. Sounds to me like variants myself. But it is what it is. There appear to be species in this hobby that are nearing domesticated. Varieties in hobby that don't exist in the wild. No matter how much we try to keep strains pure they eventually will be different
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
4,745
Hence why there is a lot of confusion and my own reservations about breeding mine. Many people buy them and expect a blue spider, when in reality they can get a variety of colors. Labeling them as different forms is useful to a point but what's stopping someone from selling slings as a different form, they grow slow enough to where it would take years to notice.

I think these seemani color forms are isolated geographically, and could well be different species. You're not going to get multiple colors from one sac. BTW, males tend to be scarce with seemani.
 

Matttoadman

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
216
Males are scarce? I would assume that means the collectors have learned how to find a females hole? Perhaps males inhabit other places not frequented by collectors?
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
I think these seemani color forms are isolated geographically, and could well be different species. You're not going to get multiple colors from one sac. BTW, males tend to be scarce with seemani.
When I said variety of colors I mean that someone who buys an A.seemani may be expecting a blue adult but may be getting one of the other forms as some people don't label their forms when they sell them. I've seen one male before but I was not sure where he came from so I passed on him.
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
4,745
Males are scarce? I would assume that means the collectors have learned how to find a females hole? Perhaps males inhabit other places not frequented by collectors?

No, males in captivity are scarce. The species seems to have a high rate of females, as do some Pamphos. Other tarantula species seem to be heavy on males. Sex ratios depend on how far adult males have to travel, the amount of natural cover, predation, and how close females are to each other. These have been finely tuned to specific habitats over thousands of years. There's no reason to ever assume sex ratios are 50/50.
 
Top