Panama Gold (Aphonopelma belindae)
| Panama Gold Aphonopelma belindae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Panama Gold |
| Name Lat. | Aphonopelma belindae |
| Family | Tarantulas |
| Family lat. | Theraphosidae |
| Order | Spiders |
| Order lat. | Araneae |
| Origin | Mexico |
| Habitat | Semi-desert |
| Diet | Live insects |
| Humidity | 40-60 % |
| Behavior | Nocturnal, semi-aggressive |
| Keeping | Individual |
| Care Level | Difficult |
| Housing | Semi humid terrarium |
| Breeding | Moderately difficult |
| Life Span | 5-10 years |
| Protection | No |
| Metric Units | |
| Size | 5-8 cm |
| Temperature Day | 22-32 °C |
| Temperature Night | 20-22 °C |
| Housing Size | 40 x 30 x 30 cm |
| US Units | |
| Size | 2"-3.1" |
| Temperature Day | 72-90 °F |
| Temperature Night | 68-72 °F |
| Housing Size | 15" x 10" x 10" |
Distribution and habitat
The nocturnal, ground-dwelling Panama Gold tarantulas are native to the open shrublands, grassy steppes, and grasslands of Panama. They live in deep, mainly self-dug burrows and tunnels.
Maintenance
For 1 animal a terrarium with a minimum size of e.g. 30 x 30 x 40 cm can be recommended. The terrarium should be placed in a quiet place without sunlight.
You need a terrarium structured with cork tubes, roots and stones (hiding places, privacy screen), a 10-15 cm deep, diggable substrate of sand-loam-peat mixture or terrarium humus, a small, shallow drinking vessel and for decoration artificial or potted plants (e.g. Ficus pumila, Scindapsus aureus). The bulk of the substrate should always be kept slightly moist. Once a day, preferably in the evening, the inside of the terrarium should be finely sprayed with water (humidity), but a rain or mist system is better
| Temp. day: 25-27 °C | Temp. night: 20-23 °C | Humidity: 70-80 |
The lighting duration should be 8-12 hrs. 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 1-2 weeks. They should not be overfed under any circumstances, 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 regular and varied diet promotes health and prevents deficiency symptoms.
Reproduction and breeding
The somewhat smaller males can be recognized by their bulbs folded in towards the body. The female lays several 100 eggs in a prepared cocoon a few weeks after mating. After 10-12 weeks the 2-3 mm large young hatch and leave the nest soon after. Drosophila, freshly hatched crickets and springtails are suitable as rearing food
The life expectancy of females can be over 15 years
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 relatively peaceful, but can be sensitive to disturbance. In defense, they hurl irritant hairs with their hind legs against the attacker (bombard). These cause skin irritation and may cause corneal damage in the eyes, as well as asthma-like symptoms. Care should also be taken when cleaning the terrarium, as irritant hairs can be stirred up from the substrate (safety goggles). A bite is very painful, the venom is equivalent to that of a bee or wasp. Crushed or held legs can be thrown off at a predetermined breaking point and regenerate completely after 1-2 molts. They change color slightly with each molt
Good ventilation without drafts and equipment for measuring temperature and humidity are necessary. The lighting must correspond to the day-night rhythm appropriate for the species and must 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