Pterinochilus murinus – Orange baboon tarantula

The best-known form is orange: a spider with intense orange or yellow-orange setae, a dark radiating pattern on the carapace and dark marks on the abdomen. In the hobby and in the Terra Market catalogue you will find several forms labelled with abbreviations or a locality: UMV, RCF (red colour form), BCF, TCF and Kigoma. This page collects listings of all these forms.

Colour forms are not separate species. The colouring is thought to relate to the soil type where a population lives. Adult females reach a leg span of about 12–15 cm; males are slimmer and smaller.

Pocock described the species in 1897; the type locality is in the Ugogo region (now Dodoma) of Tanzania. The World Spider Catalog gives the range as Angola and Central, East and Southern Africa. The spider lives in savanna and dry scrub, where it digs burrows under stones, roots or in soil and surrounds them with dense silk.

Because the range is so wide and poorly documented at country level, we do not show a country map.

An adult female needs an enclosure with a floor of about 30 × 30 cm and a height of 30–35 cm. Pterinochilus murinus uses the whole space: it digs a burrow and also builds an extensive web between cork, twigs and walls, so give it both 8–12 cm of substrate and vertical elements.

Escape-proofing is essential. The lid should have fine ventilation holes and a secure closure, and doors are best opened so you are not directly in front of the hide entrance. Within a few weeks much of the enclosure will be covered in silk.

The species comes from dry habitats, so it handles 24–28°C and dry substrate well. A permanent water dish and one slightly moist corner of substrate are enough, especially for juveniles.

An overly humid, steamy enclosure does not suit this species. Good ventilation matters more than misting.

Pterinochilus murinus has a very strong feeding response and usually grabs prey as soon as it touches the web. Juveniles eat small crickets or roaches every 3–5 days, adults every 7–10 days. Leftovers often stay woven into the silk; remove them with long tongs.

The species grows fast. Males usually mature after about a year, females after 1.5–2 years. Females live well over ten years.

This is one of the most defensive tarantulas in the hobby. When the enclosure is opened it often reacts with a lightning-fast escape or an immediate threat posture and bite, sometimes striking at tongs. Bites from tarantulas in this group can cause strong, long-lasting pain, muscle cramps and systemic symptoms.

Do all work with long tongs (30 cm or more), in a closed room and with a catch container ready. Rehouse inside a large clear container or bag in which the enclosure is opened. Never handle this spider.