Haplopelma minax
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This is a specific care sheet for Thailand Blacks (Haplopelma minax), for more in this genus see Category:Haplopelma.
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Tarantula Information (for a more detailed Tarantula care review see Tarantula Care Sheets | |
| Regions Found: | Burma, Malaysia, Tenasserim/Kowkareet, Myanmar , Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. |
| Class: | Terrestrial |
| Longevity: | |
| Adult Size: | 10-13cm |
| Temperament: | Very defensive and shows signs of aggression |
| Urticating Hairs: | No |
| Venom Potency: | Unknown |
| Haplopelma minax Housing Requirements | |
| Tarantula Housing: | Floor space is more important than height, a deep substrate should be provided for burrowing. A good retreat is required. |
| Temperature: | 26-32°C |
| Humidity: | 80-90% |
| Special Requirements: | No special requirements. |
| Breeding Haplopelma minax Tarantulas | |
| Breeding Difficulty: | Unknown |
| Egg sac size: | Unknown |
| Danger to Male: | Probable sexual cannibalism |
| Haplopelma minax Diet | |
| Livefood insects such as crickets, locust, butter worms, meal worms, superworms, houseflies and cockroaches. | |
| Recommended Pet Supplies for Haplopelma minax | |
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Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Thailand Black Tarantula is a fast and very aggressive tarantula species. Thailand Black Tarantulas have an unfortunate reputation for being nasty, ferocious, and even evil by many experienced hobbyists. These tarantulas aren't very colourful or rare, but there reputations make them an appealing addition tarantula collections. Thailand Black Tarantulas can and will make deep burrows. Many Thailand Black Tarantulas that are imported from southeast Asia have parasites which has led to death in many spiders. That is one reason why you should buy a captive-bred tarantula over a wild-caught specimen. Thailand Black Tarantulas are one of the less expensive Asian tarantulas. If you are a hobbyist, and think you can handle an 'evil' tarantula, the Thailand Black Tarantula could be the species for you.
H. minax is typically found throughout the tropical rainforests of Burma, northern Thailand and Malaysia. Other names include the Lesser Thailand black bird-eating tarantula and the Black Earth Tiger.
[edit] Description
It is a medium-sized, velvety-black burrowing species with black chevron markings on a grayish-black abdomen. It has a whiteish-tan trim around the carapace. Spiderlings emerge as 1/2" 1st instar. Adults may reach 15 cm (6 inches) in leg span and reach weights of 42g (1.5 ounces) or more.
Male specimens take 1-2 years to mature. Females take 2-4 years. They will molt 4-6 times the first year, and then usually molt once a year after that. Older adults can sometimes go for two years before molting.
[edit] Habitat
[edit] Enclosure
This is a burrowing, rainforest species found in deep burrows. Keep adults in 5-10 gallon tanks with 4-6" of peat moss/vermiculite mix with cork bark shelter to hide under.
[edit] Substrate
You should cover the bottom of the enclosure with atleast 4-6 inches of peat moss, potting soil or vermiculite. To help maintain the desired humidity conditions the substrate should be kept moist but not saturated.
[edit] Temperature
This species is ideal as it is very comfortable living within normal room temperature ranges of between 26-32°C (80-90°F). However, to ensure the temperatures are being provided you should monitor them by using accurate thermometers in a few locations within the enclosure.
Keep the tarantula enclosure away from windows, heaters, air conditioning and any sources of direct sunlight.
[edit] Humidity
This species needs to be kept in a high-humidity terrarium of between 80-90%. This can be achieved by providing a shallow water dish and misting the enclosure regularly. To successfully maintain the desired humidity conditions for your tarantula you are going to need a hygrometer. A hygrometer is a device used to measure relative humidity within the enclosure.
[edit] Feeding
Spiderlings less than 1" leg span will need to be fed mini-meal worms and termites. You can use pin-head crickets, but these must be 1 week old crickets and very small as they will attempt to eat your spiderling when it begins to molt. Adults can be fed large crickets, super worms and wax worms. Make sure all insects come from non-pesticide areas. Feed spiderlings twice a week a couple of prey items.
Adults should be fed once a week with a couple of insects and occasionally a pinkie mouse. They rarely go off-feed for longer than one month.
[edit] Handling
The Thailand Black tarantula is a particularly aggressive species, and therefore it should not be handled by anyone.
[edit] Breeding
Somewhat difficult as females are usually pretty aggressive with the males and the egg sac needs a specific humidity range. Too humid and fungus develops, too little and it dries out. Captive born spiderlings are rarely available on the market. Egg sac offspring usually numbers 40-200.