These are amongst the largest tarantulas of the world, especially for Hysterocrates species. Mature males were imported in 3/98 and had 8" legspans. Females have been reported at 9" and may get a little larger. They are robust, stocky, deep-burrowing and highly aggressive tarantulas. They have been referred to as "Jurassic Giant Tarantulas" as they were first discovered on the island of Sao Tome off West Africa in 1900, but have never been available to hobbyists until March 1998 when about 45 were imported. Hardly anything is known of them, so keepers of this species should record all observations of their care in captivity. They are of a olive-brown over-all body color. They are very dark after a molt. They are different from H. apostolicus with their legs being of the same proportions and their huge, long and wide carapaces that often exceed 34mm in length and they are very closely built like H. hercules.
Other common names (not official): Giant St. Thomas Baboon and Lesser St. Thomas Olive-Brown.
Described by: Pocock in 1900
Distribution: Near the airport and the locality of Trash Cementerio on the African island of Sao Tome.
Size: Spiderlings emerge as 1/3" 1st instar. Adults may reach 9+" in leg span and weigh 2.5 ounces or more. Growth rate: Males take 2-3 years to mature. Females take 4-6 years. They will molt (shed their exoskeleton) 4-6 times the first year, and then molt once a year after that.
Temperature: Keep 80-95F. They can take drops to 70F for short periods of time as long as they have a deep burrow. Keep your tarantulašs enclosure away from windows, sunlight, heateršs and air conditioning.
Humidity: 80%. Keep substrate slightly moist. Provide a shallow water dish. Spray spiderling pill bottles once a week lightly. The substrate should NOT be "swampy" nor should it be so dry that if you were to blow on it particles would go up in the air.
Habitat type/enclosure/substrate needed: This is a deep-burrowing species found in forest areas . Keep adults in 10 -20 gallon tanks with 6-8" peat moss/vermiculite mix with cork bark shelter to hide under. Spiderlings will need to be keep in pill bottles with peat moss/vermiculite mix for 1st four months, then moved to 8 and 16 ounce deli cups as they get bigger. Make sure your adults can not "climb" up the sides of the glass tank as a drop will kill or injury them. Make sure your lid on top is secure. A good tank for adult tarantulas are ŗCritter Cages˛ with sliding and locking lids.
Food: Feed prey that is smaller than the length of the tarantulas body. Spiderlings less than 1" leg span will need to be fed mini-meal worms (obtained from companies like Naturešs Way and Grubco for cheap) and termites. You can use "pin-head" crickets, but these must be 1 week old crickets and very small as they will eat your spiderling when it tries to molt. Adults can be fed large crickets, super worms, anole lizards,and pinkie & fuzzy mice. Make sure all insects come from non-pesticide areas. Feed spiderlings twice a week a couple of prey items. Feed adults once a week with a couple of large prey. Adults can go off-fed for 3 months or more.
Cleaning: To keep your tarantulašs tank clean and keep your animal healthy, get in the routine of feeding your tarantula one day, and then coming behind the next day and taking long tweezers and picking out any left-over prey remains. Keep the water dish (it must be shallow and wide) clean at all times. If you follow this advice, you will need to only change out your substrate (vermiculite, peat moss, sand mixture) once every six months or so.
Longevity: Hystercrates species are in the mid-range of longevity amongst tarantulas. Males will probably only live to be 3-5 years old while females will live over 12 years old.
Handling/Disposition/Venom: These are very fast and aggressive tarantulas. Best advice: Donšt handle! Tarantulas are not "pets", but "display animals" much like keeping fish. They donšt understand nor have a need to be handled. They are venomous like many spiders, but their venom is not dangerous unless your allergic to their venom. Donšt find out! Transfer your tarantula using the cup-to-tank" method. NOTE: These large tarantulas have huge fangs and nothing is known about their venom. We can only assume from other species of Hysterocrates (i.e. H. gigas ) that their bite is painful and you would experience local effects of the bite.
Captive breeding: Medium ease of breeding. It helps to have healthy adults of recent molts to work with. A large tank is required and it is best to let the female accilimate to it for a few weeks before introducing the male.
Record keeping: Keep good notes such as the stock #, if any , that it was sold as, when born, molt dates, etc.
To find out more about this animal and the Tarantula Keeping hobby, I recommend the following:
Read these books: "Tarantulas and Other Arachnids" by Sam Marshall, "Keeping and Breeding
Tarantulas in Captivity" by Ronald Baxter, Andreas Tinteršs "Tarantulas Today" and Stanley and
Marguerite Schultzšs "The Tarantula Keeperšs Guide".
Subscribe to: WEBBINGS Invertebrate Magazine (contact Todd Gearheart at: (941) 275-9757, or
email Todd)
Join the Southwest Florida Tarantula Society (SWFTS) (contact Todd Gearheart at: (941) 275-9757, or
email Todd); and the British Tarantula Society (BTS) to obtain the bimonthly
newsletter, The Journal.
Join the Arachnid Mailing List on the internet.
Copyright Š 1998 by Todd Gearheart