Deon wrote: Right, so I removed the corner rock from my L.Klugi's cage, where it was burrowing under. ( Or is it Klugii ? - seen both spellings allover) ...

Whenever you're wondering anything about the scientific aspects of naming tarantulas, and a lot of other information too, one of your first actions should be to check what Dr. Platnick has to say about them in his World Spider Catalog

For instance, after doing a search for klugi on that webpage I found the following listing under the genus Lasiodora (You do have to be sure you get the right genus because many spider names are duplicated between the various genera.):

mf klugi (C. L. Koch, 1841) *....................Brazil [urn:lsid:amnh.org:spidersp:002198]
Mygale klugii C. L. Koch, 1841a: 25, f. 708 (Dmf).
L. k. C. L. Koch, 1850: 73.
L. k. Simon, 1892a: 160, f. 75.
L. bahiensis Strand, 1907l: 54 (Dm).
L. k. Mello-Leitão, 1923a: 255.
L. k. Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1979: 294, f. 1-7 (mf).
L. k. Schmidt, 1993d: 91, f. 233-235 (mf).
L. k. Pérez-Miles et al., 1996: 52, f. 27 (m).
L. k. Schmidt, 1997g, 1998h: 18, f. 138, 142, 148 (mf).
L. k. Peters, 2000b: 40, f. 81-83 (mf).
L. k. Bertani, 2000: 30, f. 35-36 (m).
L. k. Schmidt, 2003l: 133, f. 167-169 (mf).
L. k. Peters, 2003: 217, f. 875, 877-878 (mf).

At a superficial glance we can tell that the correct spelling is "klugi." That it comes from Brazil. That it was first described in 1841 by C. L. Koch, and has subsequently suffered a number of name changes.

Another important feature is the reference after each entry, e.g., Schmidt, 1997g, 1998h: 18, f. 138, 142, 148 (mf). I don't know what a lot of that data is except that the two entries Schmidt, 1997g, and 1998h refer to references listed in the bibliography part of Dr. Platnick's website. Pick the correct year or year span (be sure you have the correct year as you look down the listing), and scroll down the listings until you find:

Schmidt, G. (1997g). Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Gattungen der Unterfamilie Theraphosinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Arachnol. Mag., Sonderausgabe 3: 1-27.

Schmidt, G. (1998h). Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Gattungen der Unterfamilie Theraphosinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae). 2. Aktualisierte Auflage. Arachnol. Mag., Sonderausgabe 4: 1-28.

How good is your German? :silly:

But, if you really needed to see what Schmidt wrote you could go to a major university library and look for a copy of that magazine, or have them order a copy from another library through the Interlibrary Loan Service (or its equivalent), or even hunt up Schmidt's contact information and ask for a signed copy!

Deon wrote: ... I replaced it with some old wood that has been eaten away and left nice hollow. It took Klugi all of 10 seconds to find it and crawl in as if it's always been living there ! I also found some natural dried moss from our local nursery, to use as decor and to block the small openings against the glass. ...

Your cage is much, MUCH, MUCH too tall! As your tarantula grows the added height will become a serious threat to it. That cage might be acceptable for an arboreal like an Avicularia or a Poecilotheria, but not for any terrestrial tarantula. It's a lizard/snake cage, not a tarantula cage. Sorry.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.


POP QUIZZES DAILY, YOUR LITTLE 8-LEGGED YODA WILL BE GIVING YOU!

Sjoe !!!, thanks Stan, way more information than expected, but I understand that your first explanation making it L.Klugi, has the most sense, to me as a beginner. Thank you also for the warning on the height of the tank ! I needed that kind of advise and someone on the forum to spot it. You see, this is what should be done for us dummy's, I thought this will be the Klugi's home for a long time and that he would grow into the size that fits this enclosure !

I never thought of the stages between small and big. Now he can still walk up the glass, but soon he will climb and fall !
Thanks a lot for looking out for my L.Klugi.

Just a thought.... maybe add a lot more substrate. That way you fix the height issue and you give the little guy some burrowing space.

Keep in mind a nice deep burrow could also mean seeing a lot less of the spider

Yes, I was also thinking along those lines, but I have more slings on the way, so I'll see what fits best and where. At the moment he has tunneled down into the corner and can be seen clearly if picking up the cage.

Uncle Stan is the man !!!

I have a 30 cm high enclosure currently housing a 14 cm L.parahybana.
I have the substrate about 15 cm thick.

I sometimes think I can see a smile on the T's face when the dirt starts flying......


Sent from my GT-N7100 a long time ago and far, far away.....

My 12 cm L.Parahybaba is in a long tank on 4cm substrate and quite happy to hang around in the open. I have never seen her burrow or try at all. Go figure