Selenocosmia Crassipes/Barking tarantula advice

[LunettaMoon]

Good day to everyone!

On Sunday I received a Selenocosmia Crassipes as a freebie along with my other order of T's. Iv'e tried to do some research on them but there isn't a whole lot of info about them. I would really appreciate some tips and trick with this species!

Have a great day, and thanks for the help!

 

[EnigmaNyx]

Hello! There are several threads on here I’ve seen pertaining to S Crassipes, you just have to search for them.

I don’t have any experience with them, but I’ve heard their venom is up there with the worst. Don’t get tagged lol.

 

[Poonjab]

@RezonantVoid This ones for you.

 

[LunettaMoon]

Hello! There are several threads on here I’ve seen pertaining to S Crassipes, you just have to search for them.

I don’t have any experience with them, but I’ve heard their venom is up there with the worst. Don’t get tagged lol.

I heard the same thing, so definitely not planning on getting bit by this cutie!

 

[RezonantVoid]

Hello! While yes, these guys have pretty nasty venom and can kill dogs in less than an hour, they are not as scary as they sound. Thousands of new Australian keepers begin their hobby experiences with these every year, so rest assured we have a few tips and tricks up our sleeves!

These guys have pretty standard Asian fossorials/terrestrial care. As adults, I'd give them 5"-6" of cool, slightly damp substrate and a large driftwood hide (neither I or crassipes seem particularly taken with the curved wooden half pipes). This is a reasonably heavy webbing species so choose a really nice looking piece of wood with lots of web anchor points. They are somewhat random with some choosing to live fossorially and others just content to chill in a short scrape up a hide. Similar care with slings, just downsized alot.

To save you the hassle of regular rehousing, I would keep it in one enclosure up until it reaches around 4" DLS and then move it to it's permanent setup after that. A 12"x12"x12" glass cubic would be perfect, maybe slightly smaller. They grow not far off 200mm total legspan so reasonably large, and they grow pretty quickly when well fed and kept on the slightly warmer side of temperature ranges.

 

[LunettaMoon]

Hello! While yes, these guys have pretty nasty venom and can kill dogs in less than an hour, they are not as scary as they sound. Thousands of new Australian keepers begin their hobby experiences with these every year, so rest assured we have a few tips and tricks up our sleeves!

These guys have pretty standard Asian fossorials/terrestrial care. As adults, I'd give them 5"-6" of cool, slightly damp substrate and a large driftwood hide (neither I or crassipes seem particularly taken with the curved wooden half pipes). This is a reasonably heavy webbing species so choose a really nice looking piece of wood with lots of web anchor points. They are somewhat random with some choosing to live fossorially and others just content to chill in a short scrape up a hide. Similar care with slings, just downsized alot.

To save you the hassle of regular rehousing, I would keep it in one enclosure up until it reaches around 4" DLS and then move it to it's permanent setup after that. A 12"x12"x12" glass cubic would be perfect, maybe slightly smaller. They grow not far off 200mm total legspan so reasonably large, and they grow pretty quickly when well fed and kept on the slightly warmer side of temperature ranges.

Thanks so much for the great advice!! I really appreciate it. I feel a lot better about the matter now ; )

 

[Ungoliant]

They are somewhat random with some choosing to live fossorially and others just content to chill in a short scrape up a hide. Similar care with slings, just downsized alot.

I got a sling last fall; I have not seen it since it burrowed, but it's evidently eating and molting, because food disappears, and a molt appeared outside the burrow.

 

[LunettaMoon]

I got a sling last fall; I have not seen it since it burrowed, but it's evidently eating and molting, because food disappears, and a molt appeared outside the burrow.

A proper pet hole in this case!

 

[RezonantVoid]

I got a sling last fall; I have not seen it since it burrowed, but it's evidently eating and molting, because food disappears, and a molt appeared outside the burrow.

They are more reclusive at the smaller sizes, but as they grow they become much more bold. I now see my Hampden form female out most nights and she doesn't even flinch if I slide the lid off!

Here is my girl, just over half grown at 5"

 

[LunettaMoon]

They are more reclusive at the smaller sizes, but as they grow they become much more bold. I now see my Hampden form female out most nights and she doesn't even flinch if I slide the lid off!

Here is my girl, just over half grown at 5"
View attachment 372856 View attachment 372857 View attachment 372858 View attachment 372859 View attachment 372860

Those are some amazing pictures! <3

 

[Georges Simp Pierre]

slings are VERY bolty

 

[LunettaMoon]

slings are VERY bolty

I definitely experienced that when I rehoused mine! Catch cup is a must

 

[RezonantVoid]

I definitely experienced that when I rehoused mine! Catch cup is a must

The one complaint I have with this species is they bolt rather than bite. I'd take a threat pose any day over these guys speed. That's why I give them a far larger than usual setup as a sling, it saves me rehousing every 2 molts and I'm not stressing about it all the time. If it grows as fast as what they do in Australia, it can easily reach 4" in the first 12 months of it's life.

My Phlogius (the genus Selenocosmia are being moved) slings are always kept in 2.35L (roughly 0.6 US gallon) containers until they hit the 4" mark. When rehousing to their permanent setup, make sure you put both enclosures in a large plastic tub. 1 tip I do is drill 5mm holes in the lid at each corner and a few along the sides, because if they bolt out and you need to put the lid of the tub on they may climb the sides and you'll be able to gently poke them back down through these holes. Make sure to drill these holes from the underside of the lid so that no sharp plastic edges get pushed down which can injure the spider in this scenario.