New A seemani questions

ChrisTy

Arachnoaddict
Joined
Sep 1, 2016
Messages
47
I have recently acquired a new A seemani. It is about 3 1/2-4 in. I've been doing a lot of research into this species even before I bought it but I am coming across a lot of old info and conflicting info. I've seen people say they keep theirs dry, keep them moist, keep terrestrial with only a hide, keep with plenty of substrate for burrowing, etc... So my question is to all of the current owners out there: What have you found works well for your A seemani. Cage set ups, moisture levels, hides, and other things.

(Right now I have mine on 4 in of coco fiber sub, half enclosure is moist other half is dry, hide, leaf debris and fake plants. So far mine seems to just hide under the fake plants and not care about much else. It is still settling in, but if I can improve the living conditions to make it feel more comfortable I'm all for it.)
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
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Apr 8, 2016
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3,013
Set up for terrestrial with more sub than usual. I keep mostly dry but I overflow the water dish a little, once it dries I overflow again. Coco fibre/eco earth is fine for this species.

When they are young they will burrow and hide for the majority of time, but as they grow to adult the are out in the open more.

This is just my experience with this sp.
 

ChrisTy

Arachnoaddict
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Sep 1, 2016
Messages
47
Thank you for the help. I haven't seen mine try and burrow at all yet, but it is probably still just trying to get used to things. If I see it wanting to burrow I am thinking of adding more substrate. Maybe about 6 in or so.
 

Rittdk01

Arachnoknight
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Oct 4, 2016
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258
I keep mine in a 5.5 gal tank, deep substrate, a hide and two water dishes on either end. He moved all the dirt from one end and literally sits at the bottom of the tank sometimes. He was also hanging out by the water Dish a lot, so I bumped of the humidity. Made this change by only leaving a few inches of the lid open, the rest has plastic on it. He doesn't hang by the water dish anymore and just had a successful molt.
 

Cassiusstein

Arachnosquire
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Dec 9, 2016
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My girl is about the same size as that, she dug just a little bit to finish a burrow that I started, she hasn't dug any more than enough to fit her body. I keep the room about 70-75F regularly, she wouldn't eat for a bit (could've just been acclimating) but when I soaked half of her enclosure she decided to eat the same day.
 

gobey

Arachnoknight
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Jun 20, 2014
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290
0129171843a.jpg Let me just hang around this thread a bit

I just set up an enclosure for a new 4 inch girl that I got last Tuesday.

She has 3-4 inches of substrate

I moistened most of one half of the enclosure but I'm going to let it dry a bit and just keep the area by the dish more humid

She has a hide with a deep hope under it

She picks whether she stays in the hide for 24 hours or sits with her leg on the wall for 24 hours and then moves.

Nothing phases her either. She doesn't even flinch when you pop the top.

However her previous owner reports she can in an instant decide to bolt with an impressive speed.
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
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Apr 8, 2016
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View attachment 230293
However her previous owner reports she can in an instant decide to bolt with an impressive speed.
I have experienced this with only 2 Aphonopelma sp. and seemanni is one of them. All Ts can be fast when they want to, I suppose. Though seemanni was certainly impressive for NW terrestrial.
 

gobey

Arachnoknight
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Jun 20, 2014
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290
I have experienced this with only 2 Aphonopelma sp. and seemanni is one of them. All Ts can be fast when they want to, I suppose. Though seemanni was certainly impressive for NW terrestrial.
Yeah I'm always ready for unexpected speed bursts. But she's apparently more notorious for random escape attempts lol
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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508
I keep my female seemani in an old cheeseballs container with maybe 7" of substrate and without a hide. She made a near vertical burrow down to the bottom. On the other hand, My male is housed in a more traditional setup, ~4 inches of sub with a hide. Both have tunneled around a bit. I keep the moisture like Kezy said, mostly dry but some occasional flooding does them no harm. In the case of burrowing, the lower portions of the sub may stay wetter for longer meaning you might have to overflow the water dish as often.
One of my favorite things about this spp. is there ability to adapt depending on how you want to house them.
*additional note: in my experience they are a bit more on the skittish side, always running and hiding when I open the container.
Good luck friend and welcome to our addictive little hobby. In the words of @EulersK "Welcome to the hobby, you'll want to buy some shelves"
 

Vanessa

Grammostola Groupie
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Mar 12, 2016
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Are they more skittish/faster than C.cyaneopubescens?
I have wanted this species forever, but I'm always turned off by those who have to be kept more on the moist side. But I can handle it if all they need is to have their dish overflowed a bit - that is how I keep my B.albopilosum and I have never had issues.
 

REEFSPIDER

Arachnobaron
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May 6, 2016
Messages
412
Are they more skittish/faster than C.cyaneopubescens?
I have wanted this species forever, but I'm always turned off by those who have to be kept more on the moist side. But I can handle it if all they need is to have their dish overflowed a bit - that is how I keep my B.albopilosum and I have never had issues.
It really depends because individuals vary among both species. My C cyanopubescense is quite calm so to compare them is irrelevant. Some people have very edgy GBBs that are much quicker than my own. Its safe to say that they are both very comparable in their ability to be both skittish and fast.
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Are they more skittish/faster than C.cyaneopubescens?
I have wanted this species forever, but I'm always turned off by those who have to be kept more on the moist side. But I can handle it if all they need is to have their dish overflowed a bit - that is how I keep my B.albopilosum and I have never had issues.
I just keep my beast on dry sub with overflow once a week. And her name isn't "Demon Spawn" for nothing lol. She's fast, but prefers to stay in her tunnels. She threat posed me once, but she's still small so it was adorable.
 

TomKemp

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
160
Useless fact. In Home Alone when Kevin put the tarantula on Marv's face and he made the best scream ever, it was an A. Seemani, lol.
 

Attachments

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Useless fact. In Home Alone when Kevin put the tarantula on Marv's face and he made the best scream ever, it was an A. Seemani, lol.
Oooh man. I forgot about that scene. It took lots of guts (or pharmaceuticals) to do that.

Don't do this at home kiddies.
 

TomKemp

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
160
On a more serious note. A. Seemani are a wonderful T to keep and one of the more beautiful Aphonopelma's out there in my opinion. I keep three females at the moment and I have them with around 6-8 inches of substrate to burrow in. They always go all the way to the bottom so I figure the more the better if you can. Everyone's enclosures are different but for mine I really soak the end opposite to the hide once or twice a month to keep the humidity up a bit. I also feel that they are more interesting to watch chasing crickets more so than worms or roaches.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
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Feb 22, 2013
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Are they more skittish/faster than C.cyaneopubescens?
I have wanted this species forever, but I'm always turned off by those who have to be kept more on the moist side. But I can handle it if all they need is to have their dish overflowed a bit - that is how I keep my B.albopilosum and I have never had issues.
If you love your A. chalcodes, then go for it. They're a bit more skittish than their cousins, but nothing near what a GBB is. They're still sweethearts in my opinion. Just keep in mind that they're a burrowing species, so anything going down that hole is a threat or food to them. I think that's where people get the idea of a defensive A. seemanni.

As for moisture, they tolerate droughts just fine. I soak down the substrate about once every other week. The deeper substrate never dries out, but the stuff on the surface is allowed to dry completely before I water again. It's nothing near a T. stirmi if that's what you're thinking.
 
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gobey

Arachnoknight
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Jun 20, 2014
Messages
290
Granted I've only had mine a week. But she doesn't even flinch if you open the enclosure.
 

ChrisTy

Arachnoaddict
Joined
Sep 1, 2016
Messages
47
Thank you all for your input here! Sorry I just disappeared from this thread for a couple days got caught up in the real world. Your advice and experience has been very helpful here. My little seemani seems to be relaxing a lot more since I've made a couple adjustments, and I am adoring this species as well. Feeding day was yesterday and out of the 5 species that I own, so far I have to say the feeding happy dance from the seemani has got to be the most entertaining!
 

ChrisTy

Arachnoaddict
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Sep 1, 2016
Messages
47
Wanted to post an update. I had read on one of the threads that someone had added leaf debris into their A seemani enclosure so I decided to try this out with some fake leaves. Well my seemani loves them and is constantly moving them around. Eating like a beast. Happier with more moisture provided from wetting half of the substrate. A great addition to any collection IMO. 20170204_185105.jpg 20170204_185114.jpg
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Wanted to post an update. I had read on one of the threads that someone had added leaf debris into their A seemani enclosure so I decided to try this out with some fake leaves. Well my seemani loves them and is constantly moving them around. Eating like a beast. Happier with more moisture provided from wetting half of the substrate. A great addition to any collection IMO. View attachment 230808 View attachment 230809
Cool.
 
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