Tarantulas of the World

Hello fellow Brachypelma hobbyists! 

To start, I’ve been wanting to post photos of these two species and give a brief description between them. So I’m writing this for the many people who have a hard time IDing the two species. Obviously DNA would be the best way to tell them apart. However most of us are just miserable hobbyists that sometimes count on trusting and relying vendors and people like myself posting photos and selling the true species between baumgarteni and boehmei. If you wish to know who the current vendors are selling true Brachypelma baumgarteni private message me and I’ll be more than happy to tell you.

If you have purchased a tarantula that was sold as B.boehmei but has the appearance of a B.baumgarteni it’s most likely 99% a hybrid. You should be asking yourself the following: Why was it sold as boehmei? Why does it have the appearance of a baumgarteni? What are the years known that Brachypelma baumgarteni were successfully bred? Who were the breeders that successfully bred first and second inbred generations of Brachypelma baumgarteni? What were the known years and who imported Brachypelma baumgarteni? Who recently successfully bred first generation Brachypelma baumgarteni and where were they imported from? Was Brachypelma baumgarteni ever successfully bred in the USA and who bred them? Once you have these answers you’ll know the history of this beautiful species.

Pictured below is a Brachypelma baumgarteni immature male specimen of mine that is 4.25″ inches. My only wish is that the baumgarteni male was a bit bigger and had more of an adult appearance but these current photos will do for now. The baumgarteni male was imported out of Europe, it is the second inbreeding generation of this species, mated by Eddy Hijmensen “Metallica”. Also pictured below is a Brachypelma boehmei specimen of mine who was also imported out of Europe.

A brief description:

As  B.baumgarteni starts growing the species will have lots of dark/black hair coloration around the lighting bolt pattern on the metatarsal. On all eight legs the lighting bolt pattern on the metatarsal will be equally visually seen vs the boehmei with a black line on the metatarsal on all eight legs. Brachypelma baumgarteni is light beige, peach coloration vs boehmei a fire red color.

On the carapace between B.baumgarteni and B.boehmei and detail appearance between the two species is a huge difference as well. With the hybrids among us I understand that it would be difficult for most of you to determine and whether a specimen you’ve acquired or seen photo of is a hybrid or a true species. Since I have previously owned both hybrids and true species of each, I like to think I’ve done a good job of helping others properly ID some specimens. Plus knowing the history of a successful breeding is a major tool to use as well. Please keep in mind I’m no taxonomists but a miserable hobbyists that can only give you my best expert opinion by my experience of owning these true species as well with the hybrids I’ve also owned in the past.

Anyways enjoy these photos of both the Brachypelma baumgarteni vs Brachypelma boehmei.

(click to expand images)

Brachyeplma baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

B.baumgarteni

B.boehmei

Article by Jose Berrios

Photos by: Jose Berrios/Exoskeleton Invertebrates

The Mexican Fireleg Tarantula also called the Mexican Rustleg tarantula is another crowd favorite from Mexico. They come from the dry savannahs of Mexico and grow to be about  6.5 inches with a life span of 7 to 11 years with females growing to be older. They are very beautiful with their nice red/orange and black colors. They are good at being beginner tarantulas but we recommend you do some research on them before purchasing one due to their skittishness and no hesitation to flick urticating hairs.

Habitat:

The Mexican Fireleg tarantula tends to burrow and so we do recommend an enclosure with 4 to 5 inches of damp substrate preferably  of coconut fiber (such as eco earth). You should also have a medium bark  in your enclosure so that it can use it as a hide to burrow under.  As most B. boehmei do not grow to be very large a 5 gallon tank should be just fine for the majority of its life as it reaches adulthood it might just end up getting slightly bigger requiring a 10 gallon tank but that can take years to happen. They usually prefer very dry environments and so overfilling its water dish in a corner should be plenty for it to get the right humidity it is looking for. Temperature wise you are looking at keeping it at a steady 75 to 85 degrees. If its a comfortable temperature for you chances are it will be the same for your tarantula.

Feeding:

Your Mexican Fireleg Tarantula is easily a great eater, you just have to make sure they do not overfeed. Feeding slings a couple of times a week, juveniles once a week and adults once every other week should do the trick. Their food should consist of small flightless fruit flies and small crickets as spiderlings to large crickets, roaches and meal worms as juveniles and adults. As always never feed your tarantula something bigger then its body to prevent the tarantula from injuring itself while attacking the prey. The reason you should keep such a feeding pattern is that as they get older it is key to check up on them going through molting phases. Most adults can go 3 or more weeks without eating if they are getting ready to molt and this pattern of feeding might help with stressing your tarantula less. If after 24 hours you see your tarantula not eating you should remove its food source out of the enclosure.

Attitude:

The Mexican Fireleg is quite docile as compared to other species of tarantulas. Handling should be easy but you should always check your tarantula to see if it is in the mood to be handled before picking him or her up. They are the most nervous of all brachypelmas and do not hesitate in flicking their hairs. Being that they are brachypelmas they are equipped with type 3 urticaing hairs which are quite distressful. They are not known for biting but that does not mean they will never bite. Though painful their bite should not feel any worse then a bee sting. Their venom though potent to kill insects only causes minor pain if not any pain at all for humans.

The Mexican Fireleg is one of the easiest tarantulas to fall in love with. They are low maintenance and docile in nature. . Though you can easily handle them make sure you do so carefully to prevent getting urticating hairs all over your arms (it will be one annoying rash). We highly recommend this as a beginner/intermediate tarantula.

Do you have a Mexican Fireleg? Have any questions about your B. boehmei? Tell us about it! Comment down below we’d love to hear from you.