Red African Trapdoor.

[Dr Pies]

Anyone know what species this is? I was thinking Gorgyrella sp ?
This is the first time in 6 months I've seen it..
Got an amazingly bad attitude too.. Gave me a few frights last night

 

[nightbreed]

I have no idea what species it is. but I do know it's bloody hideous.....I love it
Great now I have to get a trapdoor to go with my T's lol

 

[siucfi]

I agree that it is Gorgyrella but I am not sure of Sp. Botar was selling these at the last show I went to in St. Louis and I passed, now every time I see a picture I wish more and more that I had bought one. Congrats thats an awsome spider. He gave me a demonstration of their attitude and I could deffinitally see a few scares involved in owning one!

 

[Anthony]

Very nice, very unusual. How large is it ?

 

[taorchard1987]

That is either Gorygella Sp or Idiopaede Sp, they both look exactly the same so i do not know the difference. These usually grow to 3-4" i recently aquired one myself at 1" and even ayt that size it scares the s**t outa me. Good look when removing it from its tank when you have to clean it. Also careful you dont get bitten by it, these have strong medically significant venom and will give a VERY painful bite. I have been told there venom maybe a little bit stronger than Pokie tarantulas.
Gorgeous spider though :worship:

 

[Dr Pies]

Thanks for the replies
I reckon it to be about 2" in legspan maybe 2.5.
I'm not really looking forward to cleaning the tank out I must admit.. It's easily the meanest beast I've got in my collection. I was surprised last night by it jumping up at me, and biting the tweezers.. Definitely an attitude not be taken lightly.
Great spiders though..

 

[death1]

I was surprised last night by it jumping up at me, and biting the tweezers.. Definitely an attitude not be taken lightly.

Holy crap! :clap:

 

[king7]

theyve got one in the reptile room near me.labeled as 'red trapdoor spider'.i was thinking of getting it but i chose an OBT might have to go back cos it was still there today

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

That is either Gorygella Sp or Idiopaede Sp, they both look exactly the same so i do not know the difference.

Gorgyrella is a genus in the family Idiopidae, sometimes called "front-eyed-trapdoorspiders", because of their eye arrangement!

greets
Bernhard

 

[taorchard1987]

theyve got one in the reptile room near me.labeled as 'red trapdoor spider'.i was thinking of getting it but i chose an OBT might have to go back cos it was still there today

did u by ne chance see it in selly oak in birmingham? jsyt a stab in the dark, lol.

 

[smokejuan]

I have three. 2 red and one spotted. I had a pucker factor of 9.5 trying to move them from there shipping container to the final homes. I lost some of the tension when I pulled the paper towel out of the pill bottle container for the last one. It was the biggest (naturally). After I pulled it out and tried to jiggle it off onto the substrate on its new home it dug in all eight and started tugging with its teeth and would not let go. It would brace itself and jerk backwards on the paper towel. This went on for a good 5 minutes. I did not want to lift him/her up off the substrate for fear it would run up it and on to me. It became quite humorus as the tug of war raged. Reminded me of a terrier dog I had. I was finally able to get it to let go. They (the reds) will quickly give a threat display but don't appear to chase far if at all. I would be more frightened of my hand in an OBT cage. The spotted showed its ability to climb glass right away. It took about a week for them to make burrows and disappear. Pics below.

 

[smokejuan]

how does others house theirs? just curious.

 

[Joe1968]

I housed mine in a 10'' substrate but she onle uses maybe 4'', shes in hiding all the time.

 

[EDED]

my Gorgyrella eats very rarely,,,,is it normal?

ive seen it twice pouncing on a prey, most of the time, it doesnt come out at all, but it does sh*t alot though, projectile style.

 

[smokejuan]

maybe one of the three have eaten since I got them over a month ago.

 

[Goanna]

I had one of the reds for about 2 years. I think I saw it maybe 3 times in that period, lol. I was also afraid of how I would get it into its final cage from the little pill bottle it came in, but it made a burrow with trap door in the pill bottle, so I just used a pair of hemostats to close the door, lifted the whole thing out of the bottle, and put it into the cage, lol.

I had about 8" of substrate on one end, sloping down to just about 3" on the other. The thing always choose the 3" side to build its burrow.

It was definitly the most aggressive arachnid I have ever owned. I had a long twist tie I would use to tap in front of the trap door, see if it was alive and all, and it would just clamp onto that thing and not let it go, lol. As aggressive as it was, it was a pretty interesting animal. I may very well get one again if I can find them at the next hamburg show.

(Mine definitly could not climb glass though, is that a trait of just the spotted one?)

 

[smokejuan]

(Mine definitly could not climb glass though, is that a trait of just the spotted one?)

I wondered that myself. The reds never even tried but the spotted did not have much trouble at all. Also I cannot see a trapdoor for the spotted.... I have not poked around yet. I geuss he is still in there. I put a silkworm in each one this morning and the ones in the 2 reds chambers disappeared. the one in with the spotted is climbing around the water dish.

 

[Brian S]

Here is the one and only foto of mine. I took this before it buried itself. I'll probably never see it again.....lol

 

[EDED]

one thing i noticed was that mine eats well at late night around 1am or so

also i wouldnt leave a prey item overnight,,,its probably more stressful for trapdoor spiders than tarantulas, and i keep mine in a mayo jar so the area is much smaller better chance for it to find a prey.