Phormictopus sp. purple Sling Threat Posture

/ cancerides

Not too young for a little sass.

I currently keep three Phormictopus sp. purple slings, and to date, they’ve been aggressive eaters but well-behaved little buggers overall. Well, while performing maintenance on another T the other night, I brushed up against one of the purple’s enclosures. When I looked back up, I was confused for a moment, as this is what I saw.

My sassy little 1.5" Phormictopus sp. purple giving me the threat pose.

My sassy little 1.5″ Phormictopus sp. purple giving me the threat pose.

Apparently, my little guy took exception to me nudging his home, as he was vertical in a rather impressive threat posture. The only other T I’ve seen go this vertical in a threat was my female OBT (and she’s a bit high-strung if caught out in the open). Even after I ran to get my phone to get a picture, he remained in this position, and it took about 15 minutes for him to settle back down.

As this species can get to be 7-8″ as an adult, I’m in for an exciting time when he gets a little size on him. Still, I couldn’t help but to find the display to be quite cute and endearing.

Let’s see if I still feel that way if he continues to do this when full grown…

5 thoughts on “Phormictopus sp. purple Sling Threat Posture”

  1. Hiya Tom, do you remember how long your P cautus slings were in pre-molt when this size? Mine sealed off its cork hide and stopped eating around 3+ weeks ago. It dug a big cavern all the way to the bottom of its enclosure so I only see it from below really. Thanks.

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    • Hello! I’ve found at this size they can definitely take a few weeks between premolt and actually molting. I had Phormictopus sp. south hispaniola slings that would bury themselves during premolt and take quite a while to reemerge. One was buried for close to 2 months at one point before it finally reappeared much larger and quite hungry. Hope that helps!

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  2. Hey Tom, do you happen to know of a good source for Phormictopus Ts? I just checked my list of vendors I have bookmarked and was only able to find cancerides. I really want a purple one! Are all the not-cancerides species hard to find?

    -Teresa

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      • Thanks for replying! I actually found some greens and atrichomatus on my fave site Palp Friction! Was tempted to get like ALL of them but I just got my very first Ts the week after Thanksgiving and I already have 10 slings. >_< My favorite is my 1/4" Euathlus sp red–I didn't even have to unwrap it and coax it into its enclosure, it just walked right out of the paper towel tube on its own volition! So cute.

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