Pretty sure that guy at the reptile show misinformed me about my new P. Machala

[Thorhees]

Hello! I am a second-time tarantula owner here. Today I brought home a P. Machala from a reptile show after just learning about the species.
I asked s lot of questions to make sure I knew what I was getting into before I committed to buying it.
The person I spoke to informed me that this was an arboreal species and even sold me a verticle sling enclosure along with the spider. This would have been my first arboreal tarantula.
Upon further research, it seems this is actually a terrestrial species, but truth be told, there isn't a lot of information out there.
Was I misinformed? And does anyone have any good care sheets for this species? I want to make sure I can make this T as comfortable and happy as possible.
Photo attached.

 

[Greasylake]

Pamphobeteus are definitely not arboreal, they are terrestrial. Keep it on moist substrate and expect to try to eat literally everything that ends up in its enclosure. They grow fast and eat well, a fun species to keep. Also, machala is not an accepted name, so you should label it as Pamphobeteus sp. "Machala"

 

[Thorhees]

Super helpful, thank you so much! The label on his display says "Purple Bloom" and under it says "Pamphobeteus Machala"
Does sp. Stand for anything?
Thank you again, I am definitely familiar with terrestrial keeping so this should be a lot of fun. I'm so excited for my next tarantula adventure.

 

[cold blood]

And does anyone have any good care sheets for this species?

No such thing...care sheets are garbage...do not read them.


Greasy hit all the main points...primarily damp sub, water dish and lots of food. Pamps are one of the all time big eating large terrestrials...you will be impressed each time it molts with just how much bigger it will be.

Great genus, one of the crown jewels of the hobby IMO.

 

[dangerforceidle]

The 'sp.' is just short form for singular 'species.' Pamphobeteus species 'Machala.' Machala is the area of Ecuador they are found.

 

[Ungoliant]

Does sp. Stand for anything?

The 'sp.' is just short form for singular 'species.' Pamphobeteus species 'Machala.' Machala is the area of Ecuador they are found.

In this case it means the scientific name is not yet known, so people are using an unofficial name.

 

[Vanessa]

Hopefully the guy got the species right. At that size, it can be a number of different Pamphobeteus species.

 

[Liquifin]

If the seller is that misinformed to consider a pampho "arboreal", then surely he must've had some labels wrong. Which means it's basically a major discount.

 

[Teal]

Well...

It at least IS a Pampho. So he got one thing right...

In the future, never trust pet stores or reptile dealers to know tarantula husbandry from tap dancing. Their goal is to sell stuff - as much stuff as possible, and usually highly incorrect (and possibly harmful) stuff.

 

[sasker]

You could do much worse as a second tarantula. They are an impressive genus and great fun to keep. Just one tip: don't worry about overfeeding it

 

[Thorhees]

Well, the good news is that I'm pretty sure the guy I talked to was not the person in charge nor the person who made the labels. The reptile show was packed, so I can't imagine all the people helping we're experts. Still would have been nice to buy the right sling habitat, but that's an easy fix.
Thank you all for the help and feedback. Having trouble operating this site on mobile otherwise I would have quoted and responded directly to y'all.
I'm totally psyched for my new little (soon to be big) tarantula and excited to be back in the hobby.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

I have a sling. I keep finding people looking for them... so I would say it is a little on the rare side, or at least it is in high demand. Absolutely not arboreal. The people who sold it to you were either incorrect or they were lying to you to get you to buy more stuff. What ever the case may be you have the T now and you have a good one. They are eating machines as well! So that's pretty cool. Adult males get the wild purple colors, females are dark brown or almost black with a slight purplish hue to them from what I hear.