# Cleaning out etc



## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Hi
I'm seriously considering getting a tarantula of somekind. Apart from changing the size of it's housing is there actually any need for me to go in it's enclosure? Do they really not need to be cleaned out? I'm just wondering what you guys with OBTe etc do? Do you stick em in another tub while you clean the entire thing out or what? I'd really quite like to get an H Lividum as a display. But would be nervous about cleaning it out. But if there is no need to clean it out then I don't have to worry!


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## Mutley.100 (Nov 3, 2008)

Just get yourself a pair of 12'' tongs and spot clean .


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## Becky (Mar 26, 2007)

Mine never come out of their houses even during cleaning. 12" tongs are the way forward. Only remove moults, uneaten crickets and the bolus left over when the spider eats. Job done! 

Substrate is only changed when i rehouse them and/or they get mites/mould. Anything i've bought as adult has had the same substrate for the past 3 years lol

H. lividum is a crap display spider. They are deep burrowers. Give it 12" of soil and it's long gone and you never see it, food just disappears. Not fair to keep it without the option to burrow either imo


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

As Beckys says above.

I'd suggest for your first you find something that isnt going to permanently hide. Why not try a A. geniculata - they grow large, they are aggressive eaters, they make great display Ts and look great too. Alternatively try a N. chromatus.


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

L.KLUGI :whistling2:

Mine are only spot cleaned also, though when they are moved up to larger containers etc they get brand new substrate, decor etc.


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## PSYCHOSIS (Sep 23, 2008)

Cant go wrong with a Lasiodora parahybana adult female , all of my Lasiodora parahybana are always out or digging .

Well with my more agressive species I put in other tubs depending in what mood there in , I some times handle them ,


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

PSYCHOSIS said:


> Cant go wrong with a Lasiodora parahybana adult female , all of my Lasiodora parahybana are always out or digging .


KLUGI!

Parabanananananana are crap :razz:


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## PSYCHOSIS (Sep 23, 2008)

Young_Gun said:


> KLUGI!
> 
> Parabanananananana are crap :razz:


Look you giant monk fish turd with orange tits , il disect a Small monolog into the end of a xbox 360 with-out telling my local doctors , For gods sake my d#ck is so tiny , Im also turned on by oven gloves . 

Are and I just raped a designer coat With seven boiled eggs .


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

PSYCHOSIS said:


> Look you giant monk fish turd with orange tits , il disect a Small monolog into the end of a xbox 360 with-out telling my local doctors , For gods sake my d#ck is so tiny , Im also turned on by oven gloves .
> 
> Are and I just raped a designer coat With seven boiled eggs .


You get out of that white coat with the shiny buckles again mate? :lol2:


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## PSYCHOSIS (Sep 23, 2008)

Young_Gun said:


> You get out of that white coat with the shiny buckles again mate? :lol2:


lol I love this forum . 

God bless every one .


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Looking on the spidershop website there seems to be two kinds of t - terrestrial and arboreal. It doesnt say burrowing. Am i to presume that all of the terrestrial spiders are also capable of burrowing?

I dont particularly want one that burrows but an H Lividum is still on the list purely coz of the colour!
I dont think Im ever going to hold one but so far my bite record with snakes is zero so If Im careful i dont think i''l ever end up with one on my hand!

From my criteria set out above - I would like only one or two of the following, which would be okay to have as a first timer?! (I want terrestrial
ts so please point out if i have chosen a burrowing one or arboreal one (apart from H lividum!)
So:- Brachypelma Bohemi
Euathlus 'Blue'
_Euathlus truculentus_
_Euathlus 'Red'_
_Psalmopoeus irminia - i really like this one but i don't think i could deal with arboreal spiders!_

_Thats about it really, thanks for any tips or advice you can give, Ben_


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

Out of those I'd say go for the P.Irminia, they are easy to care for, virtually bombproof, amazing looking species and quite common at the moment.

Our P.Irminia slings are in a variety of containers, one of the best and easiest to get is a glass curry jar, remove the lid and replace with mesh, you want a small amount of substrate (coir and sphagnum moss is what we use) and something for them to sit on/web around, either small plastic plants or small peices of cork bark 

Every spider sp is capable of burrowing, just most arboreals don't, you get a lot of terrestial species that won't burrow either, they will sit out in the open or adopt hides etc.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Young_Gun said:


> Out of those I'd say go for the P.Irminia, they are easy to care for, virtually bombproof, amazing looking species and quite common at the moment.
> 
> Our P.Irminia slings are in a variety of containers, one of the best and easiest to get is a glass curry jar, remove the lid and replace with mesh, you want a small amount of substrate (coir and sphagnum moss is what we use) and something for them to sit on/web around, either small plastic plants or small peices of cork bark
> 
> Every spider sp is capable of burrowing, just most arboreals don't, you get a lot of terrestial species that won't burrow either, they will sit out in the open or adopt hides etc.


When its time for little spidey to move house how do you persuade it to move up the property ladder? I would have thought terrestrials were easier to persuade!


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

Mujician said:


> When its time for little spidey to move house how do you persuade it to move up the property ladder? I would have thought terrestrials were easier to persuade!


Easiest way to do it, especially if your not confident with them is to take the lid/top off what they are in and place the entire container in the new one, they will mooch about and once they are out, you can take the old container out and hey presto, el spidero movedo houseyo


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Young_Gun said:


> Easiest way to do it, especially if your not confident with them is to take the lid/top off what they are in and place the entire container in the new one, they will mooch about and once they are out, you can take the old container out and hey presto, el spidero movedo houseyo


Okay cool thanks! - this spider has a spidershop rating of 2 stars. Just to compare - how many stars does lee give to H Lividum? (am i being good using scientific names?!:lol2 If they are quite easy to look after then, i would quite fancy an avicularia spider not sure which one i like most. Lastly, how much is a P Metallica s'ling? Thanks, Ben


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

Mujician said:


> Okay cool thanks! - this spider has a spidershop rating of 2 stars. Just to compare - how many stars does lee give to H Lividum? (am i being good using scientific names?!:lol2 If they are quite easy to look after then, i would quite fancy an avicularia spider not sure which one i like most. Lastly, how much is a P Metallica s'ling? Thanks, Ben


Not sure how many stars he gives them, for a 'pet' sp I'd give them -5 stars :lol2:

Pet holes, extremely aggressive but they do look mint.

I'd advise a P.Irminia over an Avic sp for a first time arboreal as they are a lot easier to care for.

P.Metallica slings are around £40 - £70, but the main thing is finding them, a few people are breeding them at the moment so will be some available soon I'd imagine, but wouldn't advise them for a novice, pokie sp aren't the best to start with and you will be worrying about everything about it as they are quite expensive


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Lividum are beautiful spiders, but most of the time you will be looking at a tub of soil. I think Lee gives them 3 or 4 stars. They are not hard to care for but you will rarely if ever see it if you house it correctly. The only time you face any risk from it is during rehousing as they do not appreciate being dug out of their burrow. 

As for a P. metallica sling, they are like gold dust.

B. boehmei are stunning-looking T's and will mostly be out in the open once they get to juve size. They tend to be a bit skittish and flick hairs readily.


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

Look at my list of Ts they are all beginners spiders :blush:

My psalmnopoeus cambridgei is very fast so I expect the P. irminia will be too. Only the psalmnopoeus and the chilobrachys are rarely seen. The rest are out most of the time.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

I had another look at P Irminia on the spidershops site and in the cold light of day it looks bloody scarey! Has anyone got pics of their own P Irminia, Euathlus Truculentus (any ideas what 'truculentus' means?), and B Bohemi
Many thanks, Ben

Reason being i want to see which is least scarey looking!


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

Mujician said:


> I had another look at P Irminia on the spidershops site and in the cold light of day it looks bloody scarey! Has anyone got pics of their own P Irminia, Euathlus Truculentus (any ideas what 'truculentus' means?), and B Bohemi
> Many thanks, Ben
> 
> Reason being i want to see which is least scarey looking!


E.Truculentus is it's scientific name, its common name is Chile Beautiful.

Some P.Irminia:


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Young_Gun said:


> E.Truculentus is it's scientific name, its common name is Chile Beautiful.


 
You misunderstood! - I meant what does that translate to in english. Like what does Autobahn mean in english - it means motorway. Cyanobubecens - (from the GBB - meaning when it is mature (the pubecens bit) it turns cyan (bluey).

So what does Truculentus mean? (Sorry - am i trying to be too clever?!)

Yours doesan't look as scarey as the spidershop photo! LOL (quite nice tho!)


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Wait, you're getting a P.irminia as a first spider?? ...or am I misunderstood? I can't have a go, my first was a Pterinochilus, just be cautious, you should be fine having kept Royals.

As for cleaning, besides the removal of prey I don't touch the enclosure until I'm sizing up.

For rehousing an arboreal, here's a tip. Find the spider, empty cricket tub over the top, slide the lid underneath. Tubbed spider. Do this in reverse in the new enclosure.

Rehousing my girlfriends Heteroscodra maculata was a bit more tricky, we couldn't get a cricket tub into the curved cork bark she'd settled on so we had to tentatively move that cork bark into a fish tank and coral the spider with a paintbrush onto the sides, then tub it.

Don't be scared of your spider - just respect it and take it easy.


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

I have the same reservations as Phobia, P. irminia doesnt make a good introduction to tarantula. You need to know you've got the conditions right before you start with an advanced species like this. 
That doesnt mean its not possible, but it does mean its not prudent.

Plus, how can you resist these:
B. klassi









B. smithi









B. boehmei









A. sp. New River









C. cyaneopubescens









D. fasciatum









A. geniculata










or even one of these:
Pamphobeteus platyoma


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

all pics of my own spids (by the way, none were refrigerated for the purposes of the photos)

B. boehmei










juvie GBB










Avic avicularia










Eupalaestrus campestratus










H lividum juve










Euathlus vulpinus


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Seems like I need to get some 'poser pics' too...

Pox, nice to see someone else using the large ET-Faunariums (the B.boehmei pic) - and some beautiful spiders, both of you!

Yeah, I must say that Andrew Smith's After Dinner Lecture (February 2008, "In Search of Mexico's Brachypelma Red Leg Tarantulas") got me rather hooked on some of the Brachy's I wasn't overly keen on before (I loved B.smithi and auratum, but never went much on the others). They make wonderful spiders to keep - shown nicely by the fact they just randomly picked up wild species.

I may have to invest in more Brachy's when I move out.

EDIT:
I must add that Paraphysa parvula have recently joined my 'excellent beginners spider with a touch of difference" list... (the list needs a new name).


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Not all my spiders are as obliging as those ones were :lol2: The lividum was a quick snap taken when I dug it up to rehouse it, and I haven't seen it since 

I'm not convinced my 3" P. ornata or my irminia slings would pose so nicely, but I'm going to try and do my A. genic and a better pic of the E. vulpinus at the weekend.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

I was lead to believe that P irminia was an okay-ish spider - On spidershop website it has a two star rating - (eg chile rose would be one star, and shelob from LOTR would be 5 stars) (I had to close my eyes for that part of the film the first time around - yes I am 27 and i do get my girlfriend to remove the house spiders! :lol2:

But I''l take your advise and leave the irminia.

Whats the difference between B Bohemi and B Klaasi? 

Are there any spiders that look like avics but are terrestrial?

Bugger me there are some nice looking animals there! (This is coming from a severe phobic!)


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

While im in spider-ville when i was lookin gfor pictures of spiders i like the look of, i came across one that had a pinky-orangey starry blob on it carapace - any ideas what it was? I cant find it again!


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Mujician said:


> I was lead to believe that P irminia was an okay-ish spider - On spidershop website it has a two star rating - (eg chile rose would be one star, and shelob from LOTR would be 5 stars) (I had to close my eyes for that part of the film the first time around - yes I am 27 and i do get my girlfriend to remove the house spiders! :lol2:
> 
> But I''l take your advise and leave the irminia.
> 
> ...


boehmei seem to be more slightly built than (say) smithi and in my limited experience, i have never heard of a chilled-out boehmei. Everyone I know who has one says they are on the skittish side. Not had a klaasi so I can't comment.

I'm surprised irminia only got 2 stars to be honest. Mine are only teeny, but they were like lightning when I housed them. They were all over the bathtub and my hand and I could hardly keep track of the little devils! I've also heard they can be a bit on the nasty side.

Not sure if I can think of a terrestrial that looks like an Avic. Avics are uniquely "cute and fluffy", I think. As long as you can provide them with both humidity and good ventilation, they are not a bad starter spider. Although arboreal, they are much slower than irminia and again as a *general* rule, they are pretty chilled.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

garlicpickle said:


> Not sure if I can think of a terrestrial that looks like an Avic. Avics are uniquely "cute and fluffy", I think. As long as you can provide them with both humidity and good ventilation, they are not a bad starter spider. Although arboreal, they are much slower than irminia and again as a *general* rule, they are pretty chilled.


Aye, most avics I've dealt with have been chilled and calm; mine's a little sweetie, but my girlfriends one's a bit wild - more defensive than my P.murinus. Honestly, avics are 9/10 fine, just a cereal container, a piece of cork bark and voila. Easy avic


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

ph0bia said:


> Aye, most avics I've dealt with have been chilled and calm; mine's a little sweetie, but my girlfriends one's a bit wild - more defensive than my P.murinus. Honestly, avics are 9/10 fine, just a cereal container, a piece of cork bark and voila. Easy avic


mine's a cutie too, although I wasn't too happy when she decided to go walkabout up my arm and down my back at 1.30AM one time, when I was on my own in the house :lol2: dealing with the situation did go a long way to increasing my confidence though, so it wasn't all bad.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Mujician said:


> While im in spider-ville when i was lookin gfor pictures of spiders i like the look of, i came across one that had a pinky-orangey starry blob on it carapace - any ideas what it was? I cant find it again!


 
Anyone?


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

do you remember what the rest of it looked like, at least colour-wise?

Quite a few have nice carapace patterns


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

May be this one.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

or this?


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

H.mac! *drools* Love that spider, certainly not an easy little bugger but stunning!


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

slings for sale soon over on AP if you want one ph0bia


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Not even close - do you not know pink or orange looks like?! It seriously looked like someone had taken a paintbrush and push some bright coloured paint on the spiders carapace - Garlic Pickle - your picture looks closest to what I saw apart from the colours!


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

garlicpickle said:


> do you remember what the rest of it looked like, at least colour-wise?
> 
> Quite a few have nice carapace patterns


 
It was the colour rather than the pattern - I thought it was called starburst or something but its not an OBT as I would have remembered that


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

ph0bia said:


> H.mac! *drools* Love that spider, certainly not an easy little bugger but stunning!


And never seen. Dont bother. 



Mujician said:


> Not even close - do you not know pink or orange looks like?! It seriously looked like someone had taken a paintbrush and push some bright coloured paint on the spiders carapace - Garlic Pickle - your picture looks closest to what I saw apart from the colours!


No dear im color blind. :whistling2:


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

forgot about the pinky-orange bit, soz :lol2:

Maybe it was an OBT, one of its other common names is Mombassa Starburst.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Mujician said:


> It was the colour rather than the pattern - I thought it was called starburst or something but its not an OBT as I would have remembered that


It could be a Pterinochilus murinus, but not the OBT colour form. Take a look at baboonspiders.de and see if it's any of theirs.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

garlicpickle said:


> slings for sale soon over on AP if you want one ph0bia


May just have to take you up on that!



Lucifus said:


> And never seen. Dont bother.


I have an H.lividum, H.albostriatum, and my P.chordatus is a heavy burrower. Also, my girlfriend has an H.maculata, we see her plenty =)


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

ph0bia said:


> May just have to take you up on that!


it's Layla's OH selling them he said they'll go up next week probably


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## Emily N (Jul 31, 2008)

I think for a beginner spider, anything in the genus; Brachypelma, Aphonopelma, Grammostola and Euathlus, would be perfect. They are all generally docile, slow moving, and easy to look after. I'm presuming you are getting an adult?

I do love the Euathlus genus in particular, they are quite subtle, but I still think they are beautiful!

My favourite Brachypelma would have to be B. albiceps, stunning!


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## SpiderGirl33 (Sep 2, 2007)

garlicpickle said:


> forgot about the pinky-orange bit, soz :lol2:
> 
> Maybe it was an OBT, one of its other common names is Mombassa Starburst.


Orange Baboon Tarantula is Usambara baboon not Mombasa?


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

I know that, but Google doesn't :lol2:
so I just wondered if the OP might have come across a incorrectly named OBT


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## SpiderGirl33 (Sep 2, 2007)

hehe silly common names


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

SpiderGirl33 said:


> Orange Baboon Tarantula is Usambara baboon not Mombasa?


Incorrect... sort of.

Orange Baboon Tarantula is an unofficial common name for Pterinochilus murinus RCF, or Usambara Mountain Variant.
The TCF (Typical colour form) of P.murinus is a hazy pinkish orange, this is the Mombassa Starburst Tarantula, thus this is the correct and official 'Common Name'.

OBT, or Usambara Mountain Variant is a colour morph of Pterinochilus murinus, the Mombassa Starburst Tarantula.

(See. Pocock)


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## SpiderGirl33 (Sep 2, 2007)

meh I'll stick to the scientific names


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

ph0bia said:


> Incorrect... sort of.
> 
> Orange Baboon Tarantula is an unofficial common name for Pterinochilus murinus RCF, or Usambara Mountain Variant.
> The TCF (Typical colour form) of P.murinus is a hazy pinkish orange, this is the Mombassa Starburst Tarantula, thus this is the correct and official 'Common Name'.
> ...


Can you name all the colour forms? :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Young_Gun said:


> Can you name all the colour forms? :Na_Na_Na_Na:


There are four variants of P.murinus, TCF, RCF, UMV and DCF.

RCF and UMV both share the common name of Usambara Mountain Variant.
The TCF is Mombassa Golden Starburst (or just Mombassa Starburst).

The DCF does not exist in the hobby and it's actual existence is in dispute. It is argued that DCF P.murinus are most likely just P.chordatus.

*strikes one on the chalk-board*

:Na_Na_Na_Na:

And before anyone asks, that's going by Richard Gallon


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

ph0bia said:


> There are four variants of P.murinus, TCF, RCF, UMV and DCF.
> 
> RCF and UMV both share the common name of Usambara Mountain Variant.
> The TCF is Mombassa Golden Starburst (or just Mombassa Starburst).
> ...


Who's a clever boy then :razz:


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

ph0bia said:


> Incorrect... sort of.
> 
> Orange Baboon Tarantula is an unofficial common name for Pterinochilus murinus RCF, or Usambara Mountain Variant.
> The TCF (Typical colour form) of P.murinus is a hazy pinkish orange, this is the Mombassa Starburst Tarantula, thus this is the correct and official 'Common Name'.
> ...


Pocock didn't use common names!
There are no official common names! merely accepted ones.

The colour forms proposed by Richard Gallon ( 2002/2008 ) are as follows:


 *P. murinus TCF: typical colour form*
Named after the colouration of the type, different pale beigecolouration, sometimes with a greenish sheen, long setae on legs and abdomen pale pink.
 *P. murinus RCF: red colour form*
Long and short setae red/orange, often sold as _P. mamillatus_ or _P._ spp. "usambara"
 *P. murinus UMV: Usambara Mountains variant*
Probably a natural intergrade between TCF and RCF (but more close to TCF). Their coloration is more intensive yellow/pale orange than TCF.
 *P. murinus DCF: dark colour form*
Coloured general darkgrey, partial black. Carapace gold/yellow with dark radial striae - those are not as intensive as _P. murinus_ TCF. Rarely seen and not in the hobby. The abdominal pattern are the same in all colour variations.

As for the pink carapace I'd suggest you look at the Pamphobeteus or Xenesthis genus

P. platyomma









X. immanis









X. intermedia


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Poxicator said:


> Pocock didn't use common names!
> There are no official common names! merely accepted ones.


Whoops, didn't mean to imply that Pocock used common names, I meant it was he who first described the Pterinochilus species'. I did point out it was Richard Gallon who'd commented on the four types.

Sorry for the confusion... :blush:


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