Species: Brachypelma Albopilosum
Common Names: Honduran Curlyhair, Teddy Bear Spider, Wooley Spider
Hails from: Forests of Honduras and surrounding Central American countries
General Description:
These tarantulas are very cool customers. They are VERY hairy (even for tarantulas) and grow to be a fair size (females typically reach the 6 inch mark for legspan) True to their name, the hair is so long that it appears curly.
This is a species that I would highly recommend as a beginner tarantula for anyone. They are hardy and quite docile and normally arent very expensive or hard to get a hold of. I find specimens under the 3 inch mark to be a little bit flicky with the hair, but adults are quite mellow and calm. A great species to handle if you wish to do so. This spider, while looking drab and dull from afar actually has subtle beauties about them when you look closer. The legs are a chocolate brown and the carapace tends to be a tan or sometimes bronze colour. The hairs in the abdomen are a mixture of tan with light blonde streaks.
They tend to have quirks about them that most spiders dont have... I keep 2 of them and each one is very unique in behavior patterns. One is "mischievious" (not to be mistaken for malicious)the other is quite "easygoing" and doesn't really seem to care about anything in the world (I can hand feed her because she is so gentle... but I DO NOT recommend anyone EVER try that).
Housing:
I keep mine on a peat/soil mixture with some red repti-bark for substance and decor. A hiding spot should always be provided for the spider... any kind of a cave-like device that is stable will work (I use a cut off frozen juice can as a cave for mine). A water dish should be provided at all times for specimens over the 3 inch mark.
Temperature and humidity:
Room temperature is fine and 70% humidity suits them well.
Feeding:
1 or 2 crickets once a week is plenty for these guys.
Personal notes:
-The 2 specimens I keep are part of what I call the "miracle bunch" A large shipment of spiders (50 or so) coming to me in the winter was lost by a shipper who shall remain nameless (rhymes with purolator... oh wait it WAS purolator) The box arrived 2 days late and frozen solid.. hot packs only last so long after all. Every spider was frozen and I presumed them all to be dead, but I warmed them up anyway just in case. Much to my amazement, 3 curly hairs and 2 tiger rumps (C. Fasciata) revived slightly so I placed them all in the "ICU" for a few days. Only one tiger rump recovered at all.
2 curly hairs made a full recovery (one of these is the mischievious one) and the other needed some extra nursing and pre-killed prey held under her mouth so she could eat... this one became the "easygoing" one... my guess is I can still hand feed her because she got used to it... but she is getting more and more rough in her feedig response the way a spider should so I don't think I will be hand feeding for much longer. I call it a full recovery after about 8 months of special care. She has become a spider that is very special to me because I put so much effort into keeping her alive.
-I call the other one mischievious because of its behavior... it seems to like playing pranks on me. Often when I am watching TV I can hear a plink plink plink noise coming from her enclosure. When I go to investigate she is just laying there still and I cant see anyting unusual. A couple of minutes after I would go back to watching TV the noises start again. I decided to sit very quietly and still off to the side of the shelves I keep my spiders in so I could hopefully catch her in the act. Turns out that she was flinging a large piece of bark at her juice can hide... when she sensed any movement she ran across the enclosure to the same spot and became perfectly still. I cant explain this behavior but I sure got a good laugh out of it
Until next week... keep on loving spiders!! As always, feel free to tack on any pics or personal experiences pertaining to this species, I look forward to seeing some.
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