Ornamental Baboon Tarantula for sale from Big Z's (Heteroscodra maculata). Spice-rated keeper notes, care guidance, and live-arrival packing where eligible.
Fast, deadly-quick, and built to live straight up your enclosure wall
Heteroscodra maculata, the Ornamental Baboon Tarantula, is a lean West African climber wearing high-contrast mottling like static on a screen. At 1 to 3 inches it lives up on cork and web rather than the floor, an athletic Old World arboreal that turns a tall enclosure into a vertical stage. Alert, quick, and gorgeous in a stark, geometric way, this is a spider you watch, not a spider you touch.
Be honest with yourself first: the speed is real and the bite carries genuine medical risk, so this is a strict never-handle, advanced-keeper animal. Every bit of maintenance goes through a secure rehousing container, never an open lid. Give it vertical cork and web anchor points and keep humidity moderate-high over slightly damp substrate, then let it do the rest. Read the matched care guide before it arrives. That is not a suggestion, it is the entry fee.
The numbers live in the care guide. Enclosure size, temps, humidity, feeding schedule, premolt signs, handling boundaries: it's all in the care guide for this exact fella. Start with the full Advanced guide, or click for the quick Open the Simple version →
Tarantula
Ornamental Baboon Tarantula (Heteroscodra maculata) care guide Read shipping & LAG
Ornamental Baboon Tarantula for sale from Big Z's (Heteroscodra maculata). Spice-rated keeper notes, care guidance, and live-arrival packing where eligible.
Fast, deadly-quick, and built to live straight up your enclosure wall
Heteroscodra maculata, the Ornamental Baboon Tarantula, is a lean West African climber wearing high-contrast mottling like static on a screen. At 1 to 3 inches it lives up on cork and web rather than the floor, an athletic Old World arboreal that turns a tall enclosure into a vertical stage. Alert, quick, and gorgeous in a stark, geometric way, this is a spider you watch, not a spider you touch.
Be honest with yourself first: the speed is real and the bite carries genuine medical risk, so this is a strict never-handle, advanced-keeper animal. Every bit of maintenance goes through a secure rehousing container, never an open lid. Give it vertical cork and web anchor points and keep humidity moderate-high over slightly damp substrate, then let it do the rest. Read the matched care guide before it arrives. That is not a suggestion, it is the entry fee.
The numbers live in the care guide. Enclosure size, temps, humidity, feeding schedule, premolt signs, handling boundaries: it's all in the care guide for this exact fella. Start with the full Advanced guide, or click for the quick Open the Simple version →
Heteroscodra maculata - Spice 4: Advanced. Baby Buddy: spiderlings only (escape-proof ventilation; rehouse up before it's cramped); Bark Buddy: grow-out for juveniles; Taller well-ventilated custom vertical enclosure with heavy webbing anchor points for the adult: a full-grown Heteroscodra needs more height than the Bark Buddy's 8 in
Heteroscodra maculata
Big Z's Quick Verdict: One of the two most medically significant tarantulas in the hobby (the other is Stromatopelma calceatum): the Togo starburst: peptide-rich venom, documented hospital-visit bites, and a tarantula that will deliberately attack rather than retreat. Erratic, fast, and absolutely a no-contact, experienced-Old-World-keepers-only animal. Adults reach about 5 inches across.
| Temp | 75-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (60-75%) with cross ventilation; slightly damp substrate, dry webbing |
| Setup | Arboreal / semi-arboreal (heavy web) |
| Substrate | Slightly moist soil/coco mix; deep-substrate option; heavy webbing / dirt-curtain decor |
| Feeding | Medium-fast feeder: slings weekly, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Handling | NEVER |
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%+
Current Big Z's catalog: No
Heteroscodra maculata
Keeper Snapshot: One of the two most medically significant tarantulas in the hobby (the other is Stromatopelma calceatum): the Togo starburst: peptide-rich venom, documented hospital-visit bites, and a tarantula that will deliberately attack rather than retreat. Erratic, fast, and absolutely a no-contact, experienced-Old-World-keepers-only animal. Adults reach about 5 inches across.
| Temperature | 75-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (60-75%) with cross ventilation; slightly damp substrate, dry webbing |
| Setup Type | Arboreal / semi-arboreal (heavy web) |
| Substrate | Slightly moist soil/coco mix; deep-substrate option; heavy webbing / dirt-curtain decor |
| Feeding | Medium-fast feeder: slings weekly, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 4: Advanced |
| Handling | NEVER |
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%+
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