Sericopelma generalum

[Walker253]

So I bought a female Sericopelma generalum. I have found absolutely nothing out about this online. A couple pics yes, but nothing else. I did a search in the forums and saw nothing but a couple of slings listed 2 years ago.
Does anybody know anything about this species? Terrestrial? Max size? Temperament? Tank setup? Big Hair thrower? Anything?

 

[johnny quango]

@Walker253 I was going to purchase a Sericopelma last year but made a change to my order so I'll share what little i know about them as there isn't that much information around (you will probably know it)

Firstly they are terrestrial and quite often dig burrows that can be fairly deep they dig them at the base of trees and around the roots, so maybe placing a piece of cork bark will encourage natural behavior.also i guess deep substrate i don't think they're pet holes but don't quote me on that.

As for max size that's a bit of a grey area aswell some people say that certain Sericopelma get large but others I've spoken to in the past say this species (it was the 1 i was going to order) gets around the size of Aphonopelma seemanni so around 6" although i suspect it may be slightly larger.

Temperament wise I've been told that they are generally pretty calm if not slightly skittish/nervous when small but like M robustum get more confidence as they grow. The only one from this genera that is said to be aggressive and that's Sericopelma melanotarsum.

This species is found in Costa rica so if i couldn't find any information at all i would keep them like M mesomelas slightly cooler and moist substrate the only difference between the 2 would be deeper substrate for the Sericopelma.
I've found a bit of information about 2 known area's where they are found so studying the habitat may help somewhat.
The area's are San isidro and El General-tal in the San Jose province i hope this helps a little as we need more Sericopelma to be kept in the future

 

[Walker253]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions with such detail. I really appreciate it. I bought her off a website, but it being the day after Thanksgiving, I didn't believe the seller to be around.Plus they are a business and I think I'd get better husbandry advice in this forum.

I really decided to buy her, a 4" female as an addition T to an order to make the shipping cost more palatable. The price seemed good and frankly, my only thoughts were, "well that might be cool, I'll figure it out later". The main part of that order was a bigger female P muticus, something I have really wanted and been looking for lately.

I have always said I'm not interested in breeding, but now that I'm going to have a more rare female tarantula in the S generalum, I will have to seriously consider breeding if I come across a MM in the future. It will kind of be my duty to do so. Luckily, I have several friends in my local area that are well practiced in breeding tarantulas.

Thanks again

 

[johnny quango]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions with such detail. I really appreciate it. I bought her off a website, but it being the day after Thanksgiving, I didn't believe the seller to be around.Plus they are a business and I think I'd get better husbandry advice in this forum.

I really decided to buy her, a 4" female as an addition T to an order to make the shipping cost more palatable. The price seemed good and frankly, my only thoughts were, "well that might be cool, I'll figure it out later". The main part of that order was a bigger female P muticus, something I have really wanted and been looking for lately.

I have always said I'm not interested in breeding, but now that I'm going to have a more rare female tarantula in the S generalum, I will have to seriously consider breeding if I come across a MM in the future. It will kind of be my duty to do so. Luckily, I have several friends in my local area that are well practiced in breeding tarantulas.

Thanks again

I'm glad to help. Sometimes i find that the odd little snippets of information about the natural habitat can be extremely helpful if you can't find specific care info although sometimes that isn't always possible either. Great additions btw

 

[darkness975]

The main part of that order was a bigger female P muticus, something I have really wanted and been looking for lately.

@Chris LXXIX would love to help out with information on that one!

 

[Walker253]

@Chris LXXIX would love to help out with information on that one!

The Queen will be my 2nd. I have a small female. I wanted a big one so I can enjoy the experience even more. I'll have the Queen and the Princess
Chris has single-handedly popularized the P muticus. All P muticus sellers owe a commission to him, lol

 

[awiec]

I have had mine for 2 years now and I'll share what I know:

These are obligate burrowers so nice deep sub of at least 6 inches is needed. Being from a cooler tropical climate I keep mine on the floor to keep it cool, my room sits around 78 but the floor usually gets to high 60's. I also wet my sub a lot, not swampy but they do like it damp so I wet at least 1/2 of the sub when it starts to dry.

The world spider catalog has a few papers on them though their name has changed a few times but S.generalum should be the most current name. From what I've read they max out at 7 inches but 5.5-6 inches seems like the norm. Mine is probably about 4.5-5 inches and is not particularly defensive, just a little skittish but is a great eater. Mine grew pretty fast too, as she went from 2.5 inches to her current size in a little over a year. She looks to be in premolt now so I don't know if she will grow any larger.

Though one must look into each species of this genus as they appear to have diverse environments, so some species do prefer a dryer climate.