Usambar Baboon

[Justin]

How big do these get? EDIT: sorry i mean Usambara baboon.

 

[Tarantula]

These can be anywhere from 5.5 to 6 inches or maybe a tiny bit bigger. A beauty but a fiesty one.

 

[Bob the thief]

6? Judgeing from the adults I've seen I dont think they get as big as 6 inches..

 

[Brian and Terri]

Usambara

The adult female we had was from 5" to 6". A truly beautiful beast!
:::=

 

[krystal]

i always thought they were on the smaller side--say, 5 - 5.5"

 

[Justin]

can any one give me some care on these? Also i read they can eat vertibrates. is this true? if so what size? im guessing pinkies.

 

[Devildoll]

well, i keep mine in an aboreal setup, but he likes to burrow here and there too..... i keep it dry... just a water bowl....
temps are around 80F....

mine is about 4" but doesn't eat too much... seems to have slowed his metabolism... probably aproaching adulthood....

mine has no interest in vertebrete... but any large tarantula can eat pinkies.... some just wont though. it doesn't seem to be dependant on the species w/ mine... each has a preferance...

 

[Bob the thief]

Originally posted by Justin
can any one give me some care on these? Also i read they can eat vertibrates. is this true? if so what size? im guessing pinkies.

Usambaras are not to be taken lightly...

NOT FOR BEGINNERS YOU MAY END UP IN THE HOSPITAL AFTER A BITE FROM ONE THESE ANIMALS ARE VERY FAST AND DEFENSIVE AND HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO POUNCE AT HANDS THAT GET NEAR THERE BURROW WITHOUT WARNING.
(One person recorded numbness in the face for over a year...)

But some people cant be stoped from keeping one

first of all I dont think a usambara would have any trouble with a pinky....

Secondly they need a tall enclosure with a good lid that is not large and doesnt take much time to close. Although they mostly stay in there burrows better safe than sorry. Its also a good idea to apply fluon or sewing machine oil to the inner top sides of the aquaria.
If you must move it cool it down.
also make sure the enclosure has about 4 inches of soil as they like to make huge web tunnels in it

other tarantula basic rules apply to them..

 

[Justin]

thanks.

 

[Hamadryad]

Usumbara care ......

I have three Usumabaras and I have found that they are about the most easy to care for of my various species in my collection.They like it bone dry and will thrive on a few crickets a month.I just provide a water bowl and very rarely I will mist them lightly.They practically take care of themselves and they are very hardy and tolerant of mistakes.

They are indeed very defensive and nasty but I have never really had a problem in dealing with them.They prefer to remain in their retreat about 90 per cent of the time and will usually come out and stalk around their enclosure in the wee hours of the morning..I have woken up around 2 oclock in the morning and noticed that they were out and about looking for prey.

These are actually one of my favorite species of tarantula and I do recommend them to a responsible owner that is aware that they are highly defensive and have a nasty bite.

The Evil Spider Hunter

 

[galeogirl]

These are one of my favorite species of t. I have a breeding pair right now and I've found the male to be highly nervous and flighty but not that aggressive. The female, on the other hand, while easygoing for an Usambara, is not for the fainthearted! She almost nailed me about a week ago while I was doing some cage maintenance.

Incredibly easy to care for, just how Spider Hunter said. Mine show a deep appreciation for roaches and waxworms as feeders; never tried pinkies, but I'm sure the female would take one.

 

[Jesse607]

They are the easiest to care for in my opinion. I keep mine bone dry, and squeeze droplets of water on its web every few weeks. My P. murinus is a 4.5" female that is almost 3 years old, I had her since she was 3/4". Now that she is mature(e.g.) she rarely is seen, and seems to prefer large roaches like adult periplaneta and adult blaberus, ignoring anything smaller except the occasional cricket.

 

[Chris]

This is by far the species that has done the most webbing in my care. My girl's cage is FULL of webbing... she has made a giant hammock almost and sits on it waiting for food to drop from the sky (amazing how that always seems to happen in captivity eh? lol)

 

[Nemesis]

Here, Usumbars are as common in the shops as Rosea. I never considered getting one as I like NW species, and have been VERY unsuccessful with Asians. I broke down whe I was really in the mood to buy,& had no other options. I have to say I am in LOVE with my girl. She is beautiful and fiesty. ultimately cool.

Advise: just be careful and never underestimate them. They are pretty unpredictable.

I saw a HUGE female at the shop the other day. It must have been 6.5" if it were a centimeter!!!! GIGANTIC!!!! Sold for 50 bucks. It was CB and gravid. This was before I thought I wanted one. I am powerfeeding mine, now.

Kelly O

 

[Henry Kane]

Originally posted by Bob the thief
Its also a good idea to apply fluon or sewing machine oil to the inner top sides of the aquaria.

:? Why would you do that? I'm just guessing but the two most obvious risks that strike me are 1) wouldn't that be toxic to the T? and 2) could that possibly cause the T to fall and injure itself...especially for those who choose to give their Pterinochilus a semi-arboreal enclosure?
Actually, it seems that there could be a possibility of this stuff getting to the book lungs as well which for obvious reasons would be bad.
This isn't an attack. You may very well know something about these guys that I don't. I've just never heard of using such a thing before. If the purpose is to prevent escape, it seems that it would be much safer to the T to just make sure the lid is always secure. Again, you may know something about them I don't so...

Atrax

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by Justin
can any one give me some care on these? Also i read they can eat vertibrates. is this true? if so what size? im guessing pinkies.

http://exopets.com/caresheets.html

Try this link for some awesome info on most forms of P. murinus. When you get to the page just click on the Pterinochilus murinus link.

Cheers,

Paul

 

[chaset]

My Usumbara is currently about 4.5'

My Usumbara Baboon is currently about 4.5' and sits on top of its web all the time, I have never seen it hide, it always builds a strong web and sits in the middle on top. to be honest i have never seen much hostility from my Usumbara. The spider never webs over her water dish, and always ignores me when i remove it for changeing.

It seems to love the bone dry conditions that Calgary has to offer
I have to run a humidifier 24/7 if it does not run its usually an ugly 27% humditity.

I tried feeding it a pinkie once, and the spider bit it in the head
and left it near its water dish for a day, and came back.

 

[Lopez]

I currently have 2 juvenile Pterinochilus murinus.

One is the standard Mombasa Golden Starburst colouring (a dusty gold) and the other is an "Usambara" orange (although red is a better description.)

Both are a few months old. The Golden is 6cm across, the Orange is more like 4 or 5, but stockier.

Like most people here, I keep them both in bone dry peat/vermiculite mix, and mist them or pour in a few drops of water once or twice a week.
When they initially arrived, my peat was saturated and humidity nearly 100% - but they didn't seem to mind that either.

The Golden is a definite burrower - it's currently living under a propped up piece of bog wood, around which it has built a ramshackle burrow. Contrary to most adults of the species, it has hardly webbed at all.

The Orange on the other hand, which was initially a deep burrower, recently "transformed" into an arboreal spider when I decided to prop up a piece of wood in the enclosure.

Both are defensive when provoked, but the Golden will run away after lashing out - the Orange stands it's ground a lot longer.
I can easily do tank maintenace, even when both spiders are out and about - though I prefer to do it while they are in their burrows. They pay little interest to my hand.
They are, however, fast. Very VERY fast, so whatever you do do not underestimate just how quick they will be up your forceps/pen/chopstick and up your arm.

[EDIT]

And this is my first post - hi!

 

[phoenixxavierre]

A great first post, Lopez, and a really cool picture too! I've found the same in Usambaras, some will burrow, while others take advantage of building a retreat on high! Pretty cool!

Take care,

Paul