Neoholothele incei
Trinidad Olive Tarantula: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The Trinidad olive: a bold little dwarf (about 2.5-3 inches across) that builds heavy web tunnels and comes in an olive and a gold form. One of only two tarantulas the hobby keeps communally (after Monocentropus balfouri). Fast, webby, and a great display dwarf.
Group: Industry StaplesDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Dwarf terrestrial (heavy web)Handling: Not recommended
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 | 75-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (60-75%) with airflow through the web layer; lightly moist substrate |
| Setup Type | Dwarf terrestrial (heavy web) |
| Substrate | Lightly moist soil/coco mix with substrate depth and heavy web anchor points |
| Feeding | Strong feeder for its size: slings weekly, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | Not recommended |
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
- Compact secure enclosure for slings or a starter group
- Lightly-moist heavily-webbed terrestrial setup: a forever home for individuals or colonies
Warnings First
- Tiny and fast: easy to lose at rehouse
- Communal-capable, but communal is never risk-free (size-match, feed heavily)
- Heavy webber. Give anchor points, not just floor
- Dense web tunnels block airflow through themselves. Vent low on two opposite walls so air moves under the web layer, especially in a communal setup with several animals in one box.
Simple Care
- Lightly moist substrate with depth plus lots of web anchor points.
- Vents low on two opposite walls so air crosses beneath the web tunnels rather than stopping on top of them.
- Small prey; the colony or individual will web everything.
- Small water dish packed with grit so slings cannot drown: communal groups start as slings.
- Communal groups: equal sizes, heavy feeding, multiple retreats, or just keep singly.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- N. incei (Trinidad olive, with a gold-form variant) and N. fasciata: Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela. Small terrestrial that builds dense web tunnels; give substrate depth and plenty of anchor points (cork, sticks).
- Lightly moist, ventilated. As a communal it's second only to Monocentropus balfouri, but breeding within a commune is discouraged, and cannibalism is still possible if sizes diverge or feeding lapses.
- The dense web tunnels are a ventilation baffle as much as a display feature. Air entering through a lid vent stops at the top of the silk and never reaches the spiders inside the tunnels. Put vents low on two opposite walls, at or just above the substrate, so air moves horizontally beneath and through the web layer. On a communal setup with heavy feeding, that airflow is also what stops boluses and waste from fouling the enclosure.
- Ventilation and moisture trade against each other. Keep the substrate lightly moist and let the vents flow, rather than sealing the enclosure to hold humidity. Damp silk with dead air behind it is the failure mode on any heavy webber.
- Judge by touch rather than by gauge. Substrate lightly moist with no free water, webbing dry to the touch, no condensation on the glass behind the silk.
- Keep a small dish packed with coarse grit so the waterline sits below the rim. Communal N. incei projects start as groups of slings, and a single drowning in a shared enclosure usually goes unnoticed until the head count is off.
- Water the substrate away from the web tunnels rather than misting the silk. That keeps a damp ground-level microclimate while the tunnels stay dry with air moving under them.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Strong feeders for a dwarf: slings weekly, adults every week or two; small prey, removed if ignored.
- In a colony, scatter-feed so everyone gets a share; a hungry communal is when things go wrong.
- Molting: a premolt dwarf tarantula turns sluggish, seals into its web tunnel, and refuses food for days or even weeks. Pull any uneaten feeders (especially in a colony), leave it strictly alone, and wait 5-10 days after the molt (until the new fangs and exoskeleton harden) before feeding again.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.
- Habitat translation: A small, ventilated, lightly-moist enclosure with substrate depth and heavy web anchor points; for a commune, multiple retreats and heavy scatter-feeding.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Adult size ~2.5-3 in DLS: a dwarf; fast growth.
- One of only two tarantulas with a real communal track record (the other is M. balfouri). Don't treat communal as guaranteed. It is an experienced-keeper option, not a default.
- Fast and web-loving; the 'intermediate' rating is about size at rehouse and communal management, not danger.