Sparky (Grammostola mollicoma)

Quick stats:
Type: Terrestrial, may burrow some
Size (approx): 5" mature male
Feeding: Large crickets, roaches, zoophobas
Enclosure: Approx. 2.5 gallon plastic Petcrest® Creature Habitat
Substrate: 4" deep bed-a-beast
Furnishings: Cork bark shelter, terra-cotta water dish
Temp/humidity: 80-84°F, 60-70% humidity
Temperment: Not aggressive usually, but iritable.
Recieved From: West Coast Zoological on 02/05/2000

Sparky's photo album

  Sparky, the G. mollicoma
He's a mature male now.

Species Information:
The common name for this tarantula is the Brazillian Giant Tawny Red. This species is a rare one in the spider trade. On 07/19/2000, Sparky molted into a mature male and was sent off for breeding on 09/12/2000. I currently know very little about this species other than that they are native to Brazil and supposedly like their enclosures on the humid side of things. This is not the same spider as in Thomas Ezendam's pictures (on Troll's website and elsewhere). Since this species is very rare in the hobby, I might not actually have a genuine G. mollicoma. It could also be G. pulchripes/grossa.

Feeding:
He seems to have a decent appetite and takes in good sized crickets, and the occasional zoophoba or MHc. 		  Woops! Dropped my food on the floor.
Here he is, gnawing on a good sized cricket.

Housing:
The container is a common pet-pal style enclosure about the size of a 2.5 gallon aquarium. The substrate is 4" of bed-a-beast. I don't believe that this is a very deep burrowing species, so I don't know how much of that he'll use. The cage is furnished with a cork bark shelter and a water dish.

I haven't quite figured out the perfect humidity yet. He actually seems to like it sorta dry and will usually climb the walls if I ever mist. Maybe 60-70% seems alright. He's at about 80-84°F.

  Home for Sparky, the Grammostolla mollicoma
This is his older, smaller cage..

Temperment:
He seems sorta skitty, but mostly docile. He kinda freaks when I mist the cage, so he might not like as much humidity as purported. He shows no interest in hiding either.

Molting:
 Date  Old LS  New LS 
 03/04/1999  2"  2½"? 
 04/19/2000  2½"?  3"? 
 07/19/2000  3"?  5" 
  - Notes: Mature male, super leggy.
  Shed skin (03/04/2000 molt).
His shed skin with a quarter for scale (03/04/2000 molt).

Copyright ©1999-2008 Thomas Schumm