Description
Scientific Name: Cyriopagopus longipes
Common names: Vietnamese Tiger | Vietnamese Tiger Rump
Not for beginners. Found in between rice fields, out in large plantations and forests, Vietnamese Tiger Tarantulas create a tubular tunnel entrance to their under ground lairs between thick brush and bushes but also out in open ground. As with many other Cyriopagopus/Haplopelma, they are fossorial, choosing to live mostly below ground and inside their lairs, only surfacing to lay in wait for a juicy meal or to attack anything that may be a threat.
The Vietnamese Tiger Tarantula is a tough customer just like it’s cousins Cyriopagopus minax – Thailand Black and Cyriopagopus lividus – Cobalt Blue, never afraid to confront a threat and more than happy to assume the threat posture to ward off any potential threat or careless keeper. And as usual, this warning is swiftly accompanied by fangs…
They are large, chunky tarantulas at around 16 to 18cm as adults with hues of black, blue and grey over it’s body and legs with some light and dark grey on the carapace, finished off with an awesome tiger pattern on it’s abdomen to make up it’s beautiful coloration. As can be seen in the video below, they seem to carry different coloration at different times of their annual molt cycle or with changing seasons and will vary between a black and blue appearance. Males are also sexually dimorphic and look way more brown and skinny compared to the female.