Vitalius Paranaensis Care Sheet

[Kat Graves]

Hi all. I am new to the T world and will be getting my first Ts tomorrow. I literally scoured every site I could, talked to about 15 people, and drove myself crazy looking for care info on the V. Paranaensis.
I thought I would share what I found to hopefully help anyone else that may have the same problem.Present Tarantulas

Vitalius Paranaensis
Brazilian Brown Bird Eater

Indigenous: Brazil
Habitat: Temperatures average 77°F. Rainfall averages 90” a year.
Temp/humidity: 75°-80°. 65%-75%.
Enclosure: Use a 15-gallon, long aquarium that will allow 4" of substrate
Substrate: whichever you would like, but make sure to place a hide because these Ts are opportunistic burrowers.
Food Consumption: Spiderlings: fruit flies.1/2": introduce baby crickets. Adult: give 1 one-inch B. Dubai roach or 6-7 adult crickets weekly.
Water Requirements: Keep a shallow water dish in the tank. Dampen one-half of the substrate by overflowing the water dish than allow it to dry out.
Growth Rate: Unsure
Adult Size: Unsure. Possibly 6”
Temperament: Unsure. Possibly Semi-aggressive.

Hope this helps someone. Please feel free to add anything to this if you have experience with this species.

 

[Marijan2]

vitalius are very similar with care compared to Acanthoscurria and Nhandu. You can keep your Vitalius like you would them and everything should be fine

 

[Kat Graves]

vitalius are very similar with care compared to Acanthoscurria and Nhandu. You can keep your Vitalius like you would them and everything should be fine

Do you own one of these yourself? I would love to have more info on maturity level, adult size, and average temperament.

 

[Marijan2]

Do you own one of these yourself? I would love to have more info on maturity level, adult size, and average temperament.

Sadly, i do not own one myself, but definetly planning on getting one

 

[Kat Graves]

Cool. Well then I will try to keep this updated.

 

[Lizardman905]

6-7 adult crickets weekly.

Seems like way to many crickets a week. I'd say one or two crickets a week for an adult.

 

[Kat Graves]

Seems like way to many crickets a week. I'd say one or two crickets a week for an adult.

Sorry. There was supposed to be a "sub-adult" in front of adult. Like I said, there isn't really any proven info out there, so basically I'm making an educated guess based on genus that are relatively similar. I would love to have some info from someone who has raised one of these from a spiderling so I could give get an actual growth rate.

---------- Post added 04-04-2014 at 07:17 AM ----------

O.K. I have a care sheet template, so if anyone has some proven info, please put it up and I will add it. I would LOVE any help you guys can give. Ask some friends if they have any. Thanks!

 

[Poec54]

Seems like way to many crickets a week. I'd say one or two crickets a week for an adult.

Not for one recently molted. They should eat more for a month or two after shedding until they regain their weight. Then a couple crickets a week is fine.

 

[Philth]

Interesting selection for your first tarantula, I like your style.

I got spiderlings in April of 2006. I started my first breeding project when my first male matured in November of 2009. So it took about 3 1/2 years to get adults. Although growth rates of any spider vary greatly depending on the captive conditions they are kept in. Temps, feeding schedule....

A 15 gallon tank will work for an adult female, but I think its probably over kill. I bred them successfully by keeping the female in a 128oz deli container, that only about 9 inches in diameter. My now 8 year old female is just a little over 4 inches, they're not huge spiders.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Thanks. I just couldn't help it. I was very drawn to it for some reason.
So, would you say they are slow-growing, 4-5" adult size?

Yes.

What about average temperament?

They're not to bad. I wouldn't hold mine, but I don't handle anything. They would way rather run and hide then stand ground. Come to think of if, I don't think I've ever seen a threat posture or hair being kicked from mine. They just run and hide when disturbed.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

So Before I put him in his enclosure I started a burrow to about 1" down. He stayed in there until night time then when I woke up the next morning he had built a burrow on the opposite side, all the way down to the bottom (3" of substrate), I put a live cricket in there and when I woke up this morning, he had burrowed all the way down, and half-way across the bottom, and the cricket had disappeared. Completely. Not even a embolus. I'm thinking he took it into his burrow with him. Is all this normal? I know spiderlings will burrow, but I never thought it would be to this extent, and I never read anything about terrestrial species taking their food down there with him.
What do you think?

I think its just being a normal spider. Everything sounds normal to me.

By the way, I bought my V. from Swift inverts, and he said he got his slings from his buddy Tom, who he had given his 4" male to in order to breed. Is that you or just some crazy coincidence?

It's not a coincidence

later, Tom

 

[Kat Graves]

Aaaaaw. I have one of your babies. :biggrin: That's cool.

 

[Philth]

Hey, I just saw this new T on Net-Bugs, and it had your name on the picture. What about Coremiocnemis tropix? It has a very different look.

Yes those are mine as well, its a small Australian species. BUt its a bit off topic for this thread, PM me if you want to know more about them.

Later, Tom

 

[Kat Graves]

My Paraneansis has been burrowed for 12 days now. Just climbed down in there, closed it off and won't come out. I can see it from the bottom and it looks alright but is still pale, so I'm thinking not pre-molt.

 

[Kat Graves]

Still in there. Hasn't eaten anything yet, and no molt.

 

[awiec]

Still in there. Hasn't eaten anything yet, and no molt.

Its not rare for them to molt in the burrow then take a week to come back out to dispose of the exuvia. Several of my terrestrials will just disappear for 2-3 weeks and then one day I find an molt outside the burrow and the T is all hardened up. If it was a healthy weight when it disappeared it should be fine, just keep a little cap of water full or whatever you use and it should be fine.

 

[Kat Graves]

I can't use a cap since it's only 1", but I have been putting about 5 drops of water in there every 4 days.

 

[awiec]

I can't use a cap since it's only 1", but I have been putting about 5 drops of water in there every 4 days.

There are people who just leave a cap of water to provide humidity to aid with molting and then take it out, I've used bottle caps with my 1 inch T's and never had an issue. Of course I use those eco-friendly caps on water bottles, so they are much more shallow than your average bottle cap.

 

[Kat Graves]

Three weeks now. No change. No eating. No molt.

 

[awiec]

Three weeks now. No change. No eating. No molt.

As long as its plump I wouldn't worry.