To Lasidora parahybana owners

[Nikos]

Do you think that the l.parahybana specie is indeed the "display" spider that many pet shops and dealers are talking about?

Aren't they making deep borrows?
doubt that's the case, except of course if they are not given enough substrate to dig....

Any owner is welcome to share his/her experience with this magnificent spider.

 

[schlinkey]

mine used to burrow alot.. but not any longer it's a sweet display bug

edit: and if fed well, and kept at a good temp, they'll grow with an almost insane speed

 

[JacenBeers]

Mine is about 3.5 inches and it is my best display spider aside from my Pinktoes. It is a nice pet with an appetite and fast growth and it is entertaining to show people its appetite. ONe of the best things about it is how it is always out in the open. So yes, great display spider.

 

[Nikos]

to schlinkey

schlinkey do you mean that she/he used to dig and now she/he stoped and simply stays in the open?

 

[schlinkey]

Indeed After having molted into adult coloration (see the other parahybana thread) she started to stay more out in the open. She's fairly active as well, digs a lot (more like bulldozing )

 

[ArachnoJoost]

I have the same experience, when it was little it used to stay in its hide and/or build a burrow. Now (at about 4") he is constantly remodeling his home, but he just digs deep pits in the corners of his home, no real burrows. He also eats pinky mice like they are crisps, and he's huge now (in premolt). Can't wait till it becomes a giant!

 

[JacenBeers]

Originally posted by ArachnoJoost
I have the same experience, when it was little it used to stay in its hide and/or build a burrow. Now (at about 4") he is constantly remodeling his home, but he just digs deep pits in the corners of his home, no real burrows. He also eats pinky mice like they are crisps, and he's huge now (in premolt). Can't wait till it becomes a giant!

HAHA you called potato chips CRISPS, how European. ANyways, mine has recently started doing that too. It will dig little trenches in the corners of its enclosure but not use them for anything. It is fun to watch.

 

[Botar]

Although the behavior of slings is not very indicative of their adult counterparts, I have one on each side of this fence. I have a pair that are from the same eggsack. One is an extensive burrower and the other has never even attempted to make a burrow. I'll be curious to see how this plays out. Also, although they are known for rapid growth, at this stage, I've not seen it. I would assume that occurs after some time when the body mass is of greater size.

Botar

 

[Tangled WWWeb]

I have 4 of them ranging from an 8" female to a couple of 3" subadults ( 1 male 1 female). I have experienced pretty much the same thing as the others. When my smaller ones were spiderlings they burrowed. My larger specimen does everything but burrow. She is usually always in the open and rarely uses her shelter ( a large flowerpot).

 

[phoenixxavierre]

L. parahybana

IME, the larger they get, the less they burrow.

Paul

 

[Immortal_sin]

Paul, that is my experience also.
I have a sub adult male that is probably around 7" now, and he hasn't used his hide since he was about 2.5" or so. He is out in the open 24/7, and that is why he is in the living room, in a 10 gallon glass aquarium. He's an awesome display spider! Last night, I put a mealworm in for him. He usually just grabs it, but this time, it buried itself. I was rather irritated. No worries though, he sat there for about 10 minutes, then all of a sudden, he started digging furiously, and reached down and grabbed that worm right up!
He is super cool!

 

[ArachnoJoost]

Originally posted by JacenBeers
HAHA you called potato chips CRISPS, how European.

Actually we just call it chips, but I thought you guys called it crisps, so I used that word...my bad obviously...

 

[petitegreeneyes]

Hi and take a look at this show girl. They are gorgeous right after a molt. Mine eats anything thrown her way!

 

[Tarantula Lover]

hey

awsome L.parahybana, great pic!

James

 

[phoenixxavierre]

L. parahybana

Originally posted by Immortal_sin
Paul, that is my experience also.
I have a sub adult male that is probably around 7" now, and he hasn't used his hide since he was about 2.5" or so. He is out in the open 24/7, and that is why he is in the living room, in a 10 gallon glass aquarium. He's an awesome display spider! Last night, I put a mealworm in for him. He usually just grabs it, but this time, it buried itself. I was rather irritated. No worries though, he sat there for about 10 minutes, then all of a sudden, he started digging furiously, and reached down and grabbed that worm right up!
He is super cool!

Awesome! I have a male lined up for my female otherwise I'd be sending prospective love letters written by my Sadie (that's my female L. parahybana) out to YOUR male tarantula! ;o) Yeah, this IS an awesome species to keep.
My female is pretty mellow, a little jumpy, but she will tolerate me handling her, and sometimes does NOT want to go back into her 10 gallon and makes it very difficult for me to replace her.
By all rights, at her size (she's around 7 inches, maybe bigger, she needs something more along the lines of a 15 or 20 gallon! She just finished eating a fuzzy rat a day or so ago.
She ate almost the WHOLE thing! (minus some skin, feet, not sure if she ate the tail or not, but the first thing she ate was the head, yuch!)
It IS pretty awesome when they dig around with those huge legs! The other night, I made a serious mistake.
For lids on my tanks, I use those (insert "h" word here, oh, wait, this isn't the arachnid_world list so I guess I can say it) HAMSTER lids that have a plastic screen lid that latch down with some kind of metal mesh and a couple of holes where you are supposed to insert those tubey things, but instead I just use those holes for feeding and watering when I choose not to open the tank up completely. Well, I got stupid and tired and left one of the holes open (leaving the little circular lid off). When I woke up I about had a heart attack when I noticed there was webbing that led out and around the outside of her tank and then back in. She had came out and taken a stroll around the top and sides of her tank.
I'm glad she didn't try to go farther as her tank is set on top of a dresser! I shudder to think what a fall would do to her enormously fat abdomen!!

Paul

 

[minax]

I've got a L.parahybana as well. Very cool spider; my first micro baby I purchased. He was well under a 1/4", very small! But I was very impressed with how aggressive he was toward his food. He is the terminator no matter what you put in there! Growth was somewhat slow at first; now things seem to be picking up. It's now about 2". I think I'll start to kick up his food intake a bit. Very calm though, sometimes he stays in his burrow, sometimes it's out all the time. It seems to have no fear.