Megaphobema genus

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:04 PM

Hi all, I decided to post pictures of one of my all time favourite terrestrial genus.

I will start by the best known one, Megaphobema robustum.

Since those originate from Columbia (this country does not normally export it's fauna) they are a rare species in the hobby. Their beautiful appearence also adds to the demand.

This genus also has the reputation for being hard to breed, that also explains the normally high price tag that will accompany those animals...

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:06 PM

And here is another picture of the same female...

Captive bred are normally very hardy but hard to find...

Sometimes wild caughts are available (smuggled?), like last year for exemple, but they usually do poor in captivity, sometimes being heavily parasited... should you chose to get a WC specimen, make sure it is well settled for at least a year and has succesfully molted a few times...

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:10 PM

Here is a small female Megaphobema mesomelas...

This species is even rarer then the previous... it originates from Costa Rica (also does not export)...

This species is notorious for being extremely hard to successfully breed as the matings often results in infertile eggsacs...

To add to this problem, spiderlings have the reputation to be extremely fragile for the first instars and difficult to get started...

I find this to be untrue as I never had any problems on my side... many factors... first it depends from whom you get them... and you have to make sure you keep them in the right conditions...

This species comes from higher altitudes and require lower temparature (18 to 22 Celcius)... also a very high degree of humidity (95 to 100 percent!)...

This specimen being still small, does not fully exhibit the beautiful orange coloration on the legs...

Tim and Julie B · 10-17-03, 02:11 PM

Damn that's a nice looking T! So are you just torturing us by saying isn't this nice but you can't have one?

Just kidding I love seeing new kinds of T's. So are there any related species that are similar but easier to find?

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:13 PM

And a third species... again even rarer...

Megaphobema peterklaasi... an overall very dark animal... not very stunning on pictures, I guess one needs to see a real specimen to appreciate it's immense beauty...

This species also originates from Costa Rica...

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:20 PM

Sorry Tim, the reason why I post some rarer animals is to try to promote the hobby a little and show the never ending possibilities... the more common ones, most of the people has them and I try to let others have the fun also (that is why I did not post any H. lividum pictures on the Asian thread, I hope someone will have the fun of posting a nice pic of his/her specimen).

Unfortunatly, the Megaphobema genus only has four species and M. robustum is by far the prettiest of the four... I currently have M. mesomelas and M. peterklaasi for sale, you can PM if interested... I also had an extra M. robustum, but she is promised to someone... I will get more in a month or so...

The good news is that M. robustum is normally the "more common" one, but still a very expensive animal...

The other good news is that I am working on breeding them but they are hard to achieve... I have females of different bloodlines, two unrelated males and two unsexed small juveniles that I am raising to get more males... I believe that Rob also have a couple if I am not mistaken...

Martin

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 02:22 PM

The big question is: does someone has a REAL M. velvetosoma specimen in Canada (or the US, well yes some have them in the US, but for trade?, please PM me)...

I have been working hard to get some of those, but cannot find them...

When this species was first exported out of Ecuador, no one cared for them, since they are not very stunning, mainly a brown T... now you cannot find them anywhere... sigh...

Anyway, if anyone has one and is willing to trade or sell, contact me... and please post a pic...

Thanks

Martin

Dani33 · 10-17-03, 02:57 PM

Beautiful as always Martin, thanx for sharing!

Vanan · 10-17-03, 03:02 PM

Hey Martin! Dya know the guy who's supposed to be a good friend of Rick West? Was his best man at Rick's wedding. Can't remember his name but he's the one usually responsible for bringing in the cool species. I can also check with a friend back in BC who does the rarer T's too. About the M. velvetosoma that is.

Tarcan · 10-17-03, 03:18 PM

Thanks for looking Vanan...

I know who you are referring to concerning Rick's friend... he is no longer in Canada...

Let me know what your friend in west says... I am very interested, but I have to see pics... I already travelled to pick one up that turned out to not be this species...

Take care

Martin

Vanan · 10-17-03, 04:21 PM

Will do.

Tim and Julie B · 10-18-03, 03:37 AM

Oh no please by all means show the rare stuff. I love seeing T's that I have never seen before. I was just jokin' (as usual). I want more experiance before I get into more expensive T's.

TheRedDragon · 10-18-03, 01:43 PM

Wow! Very nice t's Tarcan! I really like the Megaphobema Peterklaasi the best. I'm a sucker for really dark t's.