Ceratogyrus darlingi
Commonly known as the Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula. This Old World fossorial tarantula is either the most incredible looking or the dumbest tarantula you’ve ever seen, depending on your thoughts on this seemingly pointless "horn." However, what it lacks in beauty makes up for being in the top five most prolific webbers in the hobby. They will produce incredible webs if you give them slightly less substrate than you usually would keep a fossorial. Their feeding response is also unbelievable, easily able to dispatch prey much larger than them with minimal issues, with one "purpose" of the horn thought (hypothesis by Rick C. West in 1986, but no linked studies or papers with proof are shown) to be it helped with the increasing speed of slurping food into it’s sucking stomach, allowing for the tarantula to retreat to its burrow faster.
Commonly known as the Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula. This Old World fossorial tarantula is either the most incredible looking or the dumbest tarantula you’ve ever seen, depending on your thoughts on this seemingly pointless "horn." However, what it lacks in beauty makes up for being in the top five most prolific webbers in the hobby. They will produce incredible webs if you give them slightly less substrate than you usually would keep a fossorial. Their feeding response is also unbelievable, easily able to dispatch prey much larger than them with minimal issues, with one "purpose" of the horn thought (hypothesis by Rick C. West in 1986, but no linked studies or papers with proof are shown) to be it helped with the increasing speed of slurping food into it’s sucking stomach, allowing for the tarantula to retreat to its burrow faster.
Commonly known as the Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula. This Old World fossorial tarantula is either the most incredible looking or the dumbest tarantula you’ve ever seen, depending on your thoughts on this seemingly pointless "horn." However, what it lacks in beauty makes up for being in the top five most prolific webbers in the hobby. They will produce incredible webs if you give them slightly less substrate than you usually would keep a fossorial. Their feeding response is also unbelievable, easily able to dispatch prey much larger than them with minimal issues, with one "purpose" of the horn thought (hypothesis by Rick C. West in 1986, but no linked studies or papers with proof are shown) to be it helped with the increasing speed of slurping food into it’s sucking stomach, allowing for the tarantula to retreat to its burrow faster.
What’s the ideal diet for a Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula?
All Tarantulas can eat a variety of feeders. Stick to crickets, dubia roaches, silkworms, horned worms occasionally, and a superworm or mealworm as the occasional treat!
How should I keep a Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula?
We recommend starting with a small Fossorial Fissure enclosure for this particular creature. When they are about ⅓ the size, you will want to upgrade to a medium or large Fossorial Fissure enclosure. As slings, feed them once a week. Twice if their opisthosoma (abdomen) looks small, but if the opisthosoma is wider than their prosoma (pneumothorax), then wait a couple of days to feed. For juveniles or adults, stick to feeding once a week, nothing larger than their opisthosoma. Make sure to keep a full water dish at all times; wider and deeper is fine. Your tarantula can’t drown; they float on water.
How long could a Rear-Horned Baboon Tarantula live?
Females are believed to live around 10-12 years, while males live only around 3-4 years. All estimates are based on multiple sources.
Some photos provided by iNaturalist, credit to:
Ryan van Huyssteen, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Wynand Uys, some rights reserved (CC BY)
