The Malaysia Tiger, Cyriopagopus thorelli, a rare and beautiful gem from the tropical rain forest of Malaysia, like all its cousin, is an extremely aggressive yet magnificent tarantula. It has not been bred in captivity in large enough numbers for an average hobbyist to gain easy access to it.
C thorellis are found in Carmerron Highlands in Malaysia where humidity can often reach 80% to 90% with temperature ranging from 14 to 30 degrees celsius.
C thorellis are aggressive and will not hesitate to take on anything bigger then itself including its keepers, so, advice is to stay well clear from the fangs and any housekeeping is best done using a long and slim pair of thongs as they will also not hestitate to "fly" up the tongs and onto the keeper at a blink of an eye.
Given enough substrate, these will construct a burrow of exceptional architecture, moving earth to build their little fortress adding more reinforcements as times goes by. My thorellis were kept in less then 1 inch of coco peat with a cork bark leaning 45 degrees against the side of the tank, in 2 days time, the thorelli has push the substrate up to form a barriade covering the whole side of the cork bark leaving only 2 exit points.
There has been some argument as to whether or not the thorelli is a aboreal or terrestrial species, another catergory should be added, they are opportunistic tarantula, given a tank that has deep substrate, they will burrow their liitle maze and be fully comfortable in the ground and if given a log or something similiar, they will easily and quickly constuct a hammock where they will be able to lie comfortably adopting the life of an aboreal.
Sex is very easy to determine since males of the thorelli are olive green in color and has extremely long legs, a far cry from the beauty of the females, but, still stunning in their own way. Many breeding attempts by aspiring hobbyist has failed as they do not breed easily in captivity. One of my sources mentioned that he has a females that has eaten up 3 of his mature males and is herself eaten by another mature male. On the other hand, thorellis has been reported to be seen living communally with several peices living in the same tree.
I am fortunate enough to have access, through a dealer, to a large number of these wonderful tarantulas and as I type this, I am looking at a single mature male and 5 large females wondering when I will plan to stay up all night to watch for any mating behavior. Till I can lay my hands on a digital camera, the reader will only has to be satisfied by reading what I have typed, but pictures will soon come, I promise, stay tuned.
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