Cobalt Blue Tarantula (Cyriopagopus lividus)

Cobalt Blue Tarantula Cyriopagopus lividus
Name	Cobalt Blue Tarantula
Name Lat.	Cyriopagopus lividus
Synonym	Haplopelma lividum
Family	Tarantulas
Family lat.	Theraphosidae
Order	Spiders
Order lat.	Araneae
Origin	Thailand, Myanmar
Habitat	Rainforest
Diet	Live insects
Humidity	70-80 %
Behavior	Groundliving, nocturnal, defensive
Keeping	Individual
Care Level	Difficult
Housing	Humid terrarium
Breeding	Simple
Life Span	5-15 years
Protection	No
Metric Units
Size	5 cm
Temperature Day	20-25 °C
Temperature Night	18-22 °C
Housing Size	30 x 30 x 40 cm
US Units
Size	2"
Temperature Day	68-77 °F
Temperature Night	64-72 °F
Housing Size	10" x 10" x 15"

Distribution and habitat

The venomous Burmese blue bird spiders are crepuscular to nocturnal ground dwellers. They are native to the humid tropical forests and plantations of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. There, these shy animals live in self-dug burrows (living tubes) up to 50 cm deep.

Maintenance

A terrarium of at least 30 x 30 x 40 cm (L x W x H) for 1 animal is recommended. The terrarium should be placed in a quiet place without sunlight.

You need a terrarium structured with cork tubes and roots (hiding places and visual protection), a graveable, at least 10-15 cm deep substrate of terrarium humus with a living tube, a small, shallow drinking vessel and for decoration artificial or potted plants (e.g. Ficus pumila, Scindapsus aureus). The substrate, especially the lower layers, should always be kept slightly moist. Daily the inside of the terrarium should be finely sprayed with water (humidity), but better is a rain or mist system

Temp. day: 22-25 °C

Temp. night: 18-22 °C

Humidity: 70-80

Thermostatically controlled floor heating or heating mats are recommended. The lighting duration should be 8-12 hours depending on the season. A conventional light source (fluorescent tube, incandescent bulb) is sufficient. Special lamps with high UV content are not necessary.

Diet

The food supply should consist of crickets, cockroaches, house crickets, maggots and grasshoppers as well as other arachnids. The prey animal is "injected" with the biting tools (chelicerae) with a digestive juice, which liquefies the protein components and the prey can thus be sucked out (extracorporeal digestion). Young animals can be offered food 1-2 times a week, adults only every one to two weeks. Under no circumstances should they be overfed, the basic rule being that the abdomen should be no more than 1½ times the size of the cephalothorax. Unaccepted food must be removed after 1-2 days. Refusal of food may indicate a natural phase of starvation or an impending molt. No food animals should be in the terrarium during molting, they could injure the spider

A varied diet promotes health and prevents deficiency symptoms.

Reproduction and breeding

The smaller males can be recognized by their bulbs folded in towards the body. The female lays up to 100 eggs in her burrow lined with webs 6-8 months after mating. The eggs are spun into a dense cocoon in which the larvae develop and are guarded by the female. After the third molt, the young leave the burrow and feed on their own

Obligation to report

Make sure to inform yourself about any regulations on keeping or bans on keeping this animal in your state or home municipality (e.g. public order office).

Your pet store will be happy to provide you with further information.

Important

They are shy, defensive animals that quickly retreat to their den when disturbed. If they have no possibility to retreat, they react very aggressively. They possess a relatively strong venom. Their bite is very painful and associated with severe swelling at the bite site.

Around their burrow they build very beautiful and large living webs. They can shed bruised or held legs at a predetermined breaking point and completely regenerate them after 1-2 molts.

Before purchasing, a terrarium should be prepared that meets the species specific needs. Good ventilation without drafts and equipment for measuring temperature and humidity are necessary. The lighting has to correspond to the species-specific day-night rhythm and should be placed in such a way that the animals cannot injure themselves. The terrarium should be locked in such a way that neither unauthorized persons can open it nor the animals can escape. Special attention must be paid to thorough hygiene and impurities must be removed regularly.

Further literature can be found in your pet store.

References

Text: petdata; Image: Franz Lowak

Source: ENGELMANN & LANGE (2011): Zootierhaltung - Tiere in menschlicher Obhut: Wirbellose, Harri Deutsch Verlag; KLAAS (2007): Vogelspinnen- Herkunft, Pflege, Arten, Verlag Eugen Ulmer