need help with an id (picture)

[neveragain]

my dad brought this home today, he said someoen he knows gave it to him.

so can someone please help me out by telling me what the name of this is? and also give me some info on it, like substrate, hides, temperature, humidty, etc. (i have never owned a tarantula before)
thanks for all of your help in advance

also, why is there a bald spot on the back of it? is it ok?

 

[Lopez]

The bald spot is fine, lots of South American tarantulas kick urticating (itching) hairs when annoyed, which leaves a bald spot.
The bald spot will go black when the tarantula approaches it's next moult, and after it has moulted the bald spot will be gone

As for what is it, I'm going to guess at a Brachypelma, probably a Brachypelma boehmei but I'm not certain.

 

[Slide]

I'm new to this game, but I'm going to open my mouth anyway..

I'm going to say it's a Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican Fireleg).

Same general care as any Brachypelma spp. as far as I know; terrestrial desert species, kept on the drier side (I keep my brachy's in the 50% - 70% range), with a temp in the mid-70s to mid-80s...

Vermiculite makes a decent substrate; probably mix it with peat or soil (make sure you have /pure/ soil, no fertilizers or anything). Pure vermiculite works too (both of my Brachypelmas are doing just fine on pure vermiculite.. )

 

[neveragain]

thanks guys. my dad said that the guy told him it was called a "mexican beauty" but i just wanted to make sure.

 

[conipto]

What you have there is a Brachypelma boehmei, from all looks.

There is a caresheet with it's basic requirements on this website, here.

http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tcaresheets/bboehmeic.htm

The bald patch is a new world tarantula defense mechanism, they actually kick those hairs off when threatened. You should find it fairly easy to care for, though yours (and many other people's) appears to be quite the hair kicker. These hairs can itch your hands pretty badly, and do even worse things if they get in the eyes. I would strongly reccomend first reading through the sections on tarantulas in general on this website, accesible through the top menus. Then, get a good book. The one most reccomended by myself, and most others is 'The tarantula keepers guide' by Stan and Marguerite Schultz. It should answer most basic questions, and then some.

Welcome to the hobby

Bill

 

[neveragain]

i have some vermiculite lying around. do i have to wet it at all before it put it in the enclosure?

 

[Slide]

I dunno. Vermiculite /really/ retains moisture. If you get it too wet, it takes forever to dry out it seems..

What I've done is just put a bunch of dry vermiculite in the enclosure (nearly to the top, as the vermiculite settles, it loses a lot of volume), and then I misted it a bit just to get it a bit damp, and help it settle a bit...

 

[That Guy]

yea.. I think its a b.boehmei.... And I thought the 'common' name was a mexican blood leg?

 

[Slide]

I dunno my common names too well...I took "Fireleg" from Swifty's sale page..

<points at Swifty> It's all his fault! ;P

Cheers!

 

[RugbyDave]

It's DEF. a B.bohemei. DEFINATELY

enjoy, good luck.
Noted for horribly itchy urticating hairs, the ones on mine arent that itchy, but they do a nasty bit to your fingertips.

peace
and good luck!
welcome to the wonderful and crazily obsessive world of T-collecting

dave

 

[nemesis6sic6]

umm

I have one of these its A. bicoloratum mine looks exactly like it
well any ways look for care sheets of BLOOD LEG Tarantula fairly easy to keep too expensive though at least my mature female was . What's a B. bohemi ?

 

[Henry Kane]

B. boehmi has a dark-ish triangle around the eye field (not as dark as B. emilia though), where B. bicoloratum's carapace is a uniform tan color.

Atrax

 

[ahkiu]

yep that's a boehmei, in the uk they are also commonly know as a mexican beauty

 

[D-Man]

Nice spider!

You have a nice hardy spider. Get some peat moss and make a 50/50 mix with your vermiculite. Put the vermiculite in a separate bucket, bowl or even a strainer so you can wet it and drain it well. Then add in the peat moss and mix by hand, then put it in your cage. You don't want your substrate wet, juts moist. Also, read, read, read. Good luck.

Peace

 

[Phillip]

from here it's lookin like boehmei..

A bicoloratum is more of a golden orange color where boehmei is more reddish. Also the contrast on boehmei stands out a bit more. The common name for boehmei is fire leg where bicoloratum is bloodleg. Granted common names are pretty screwed up so you may hear them called more than one thing. Also I just looked closely at my boehmei and cant see any dark triangle at all like emilia has so I'm wondering where that came from? Was going to post both species pics for comparison but it seems yahoo is having some problems and my site is acting up at the moment.

Phil

 

[Phillip]

pics of the 2 species...

Here are the 2 species in question for comparison.

A bicoloratum

B boehmei

As you can see boehmei is more of a red where bicoloratum is more golden orange. They are quite similar though. Hope that helps.

Phil

 

[Henry Kane]

Well, on some boehmi, the darker shaded part on the carapace is there but it's very faint. You can kinda see what I mean in the first pic in this thread compared to Phil's pic of his bicoloratum.

Atrax

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Click me to see a picture of B. boehmei as documented on Rick West's website.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

There is, however, another brachy that does go by the common name of Mexican Orangebeauty. The scientific name is Brachypelma baumgarteni.

Here are a couple of links to pics of this species. I also looks similar to the species in question, with the exception being the dark color of the carapace.

baumgarteni 1

baumgarteni 2

Jon

 

[vulpina]

I'll have to get a pic of my boehmi, it has the dark triangle like my emelia has, it is not real faint either, I was sold this spider as a boehmi, unless I was duped. I stays out in the open all the time, does not even use the hide provided, and a very aggressive feeder, I have never had it turn down a meal!

Andy