Something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time now but have had to slowly convince my arachnophobic husband to agree to
A Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, aka Green Bottle Blue (GBB) Tarantula. This little one is just a tiny juvenile, I’m so excited to see what this little one grows into!
I tried to get the best photo I could, but they’re so timid and I don’t want to disturb them further after their trip home. The color presentation of this T is already insane, the oranges are bright and the iridescent blue is already very vibrant. The carapace has a really crazy pattern too.
I cannot wait to see mine make such extravagant web structures like that! Mine has been in their temporary setup for a week so they only have a little bit going right now.
I have a fancy acrylic enclosure coming in a few weeks for them to grow into but for now they’re in a small critter keeper.
As of right now they’re getting a sm/med dubia roach every 10 days, they’re mostly timid but a lot more bold in some aspects than I had expected from a T.
Mine is in an Exo Terra, front opening and screen top. I made the mistake of putting a cork round in it and that is where she spends most of her time, except to come out for pics!
I only deconstructed and deep cleaned her enclosure once and she immediately started webbing again. So now her enclosure looks like the pic above, which btw is a terrible picture!
Did you ever get stuck with any urticating hairs? I’ve heard they do casually shed them into their webs and substrate…
I’ve got protective eyewear, a mask and gloves for cleaning or other activities that require direct interaction with the T, I cannot imagine how horrific it’d feel to get that in my eyes or airways
The only time I ever dealt with urticating hairs/setae was when doing clean outs of old enclosures where they were scattered in old webbing and substrate (they do indeed tend to kick them off/spread them, especially just prior to molting) or dealing with the big T. stirmi I had - just opening that enclosure to feed her made me itch like crazy! Their hairs are an entirely different beast from the ones on your GBB, though.
If you don’t plan to do much handling, you should be just fine. I’d definitely suggest using the gloves at minimum for deep cleans, though you don’t need to do those very often at all thankfully. Some people can be more sensitive to urticating setae as well, so if you don’t wanna chance it I wouldn’t blame you.
Congrats on your first T! They’re such cool critters, and GBBs are wonderful. The color change from sling to adult is so cool, and they’re pretty hardy for such a flashy tarantula. I hope you enjoy your new addition!
Be warned though - tarantulas are so very much like potato chips; it’s really hard to have only one!
No I never even thought about it actually! . But no I didn’t have any trouble taking her out and putting her back in. She was very calm actually. No glasses or gloves or even long sleeves……
I’m still indecisive with a name, my husband wants to name them “Bunny” because he finds the irony funny in naming something he’s terrified of as something cute. Who knows maybe he will grow into being used to T’s after a while
I cannot wait to get them into a proper cube enclosure
It’s a bit hard to tell whats going on, but I’ve got a substrate mix of peat moss, coconut fiber, sphagnum moss, sand and excavator clay, 3 pieces of cork bark (semi buried to add a place for hiding and further burrowing) and some soft plastic plants as anchor points for webbing. And then a tiny 3D printed water bowl.
I couldn’t find any larger sized pieces of cork bark to add some climbing space last time but its definitely on my list the next time I stop by my local exotics pet shop, so that will be added in the near future.
Their hairs are an entirely different beast from the ones on your GBB, though.
. But no I didn’t have any trouble taking her out and putting her back in. She was very calm actually. No glasses or gloves or even long sleeves……
