In stock Unicorn Horned Baboon Tarantula for sale All tarantulas for sale
Ceratogyrus marshalli
Unicorn Horned Baboon Tarantula: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: An Old World fossorial with a real horn on its carapace. Keep it on deep, firmly packed dry substrate with a started burrow and anchored cork; it webs the entrance shut. No urticating hair, so tongs and a catch cup only, every time.
Group: TarantulasDifficulty: Spice 4: AdvancedSetup: Dry Old World fossorial, deep packed substrateHandling: No handling, tongs and catch cup only
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 72-80°F, ordinary night drop is fine |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 40-55%: dry surface, damp deep third, full dish |
| Setup Type | Dry Old World fossorial, deep packed substrate |
| Substrate | 5-6+ in packed coco/topsoil, started burrow |
| Feeding | Juveniles 1 prey/7 days, adults 1 meal/10-14 days |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 4: Advanced |
| Handling | No handling, tongs and catch cup only |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- Spiderling: compact deep enclosure, packed substrate, started burrow, openings narrower than the animal.
- Juvenile (2.5-3 in): tall-ish fossorial grow-out with 5-6 in of packed substrate and an anchored slab.
- Adult: fossorial build sized from the animal, depth over floor area, secure locking lid.
Warnings First
- No urticating hair, so its only defenses are speed and biting. Assume it will use both.
- Painful bite with cramping that can last days. Treat every opening of the enclosure as a containment problem.
- It is fast. Stage the catch cup and close off the work area before the lid comes off.
- Absolutely no handling, at any size, for any reason.
- Digging the animal out to look at it is the most common way to get bitten and to stress it out of its burrow.
Simple Care
- Maintain 72-80°F with no concentrated hot spot.
- Fill about two thirds of the enclosure with firmly packed dry substrate and start a burrow for it.
- Anchor a cork slab over the burrow entrance.
- Keep the surface dry; light moisture only in the deepest third.
- Cross-ventilate low on two opposite walls.
- Feed at the burrow entrance. Never excavate the animal to check on it.
- Stage a catch cup before opening the enclosure, every single time.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Substrate depth is the single most important variable for this genus. A shallow enclosure makes for a more defensive animal.
- Starting the burrow yourself against the glass shortens settling-in and gives a viewing window. Anchor the cork so digging can't shift it onto the animal.
- Keep ventilation low so the surface dries back while the deep substrate stays workable.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feed by abdomen condition rather than a fixed calendar.
- Feed at the burrow entrance to keep hands out of the strike zone and avoid digging that causes most bites.
- Judge post-molt readiness by dark fangs, a firm exoskeleton and normal movement, not a day count.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Southern Africa, principally Zimbabwe and Mozambique, in dry savanna and scrub.
- Habitat translation: Dry African savanna becomes a deep column of firmly packed substrate the animal can tunnel and silk-line, dry on top with light moisture at depth, strongly ventilated, with a permanent water dish and a secure lid.
Advanced Keeper Details
- The forward-curving horn on the carapace is easy to spot and grows in with size.
- No sex or locality is known; the size lane is set from the animal as measured.