Tliltocatl schroederi

🔤 Taxonomy

Tliltocatl schroederi (Rudloff, 2003) is the accepted World Spider Catalog name. It was described as Brachypelma schroederi and transferred to the new genus Tliltocatl by Mendoza & Francke in their 2020 revision. Older CITES, conservation, and hobby documents therefore often use the former combination.

Names keepers may encounter include:

• Brachypelma schroederi (former combination)
• Mexican black velvet tarantula
• Mexican blackvelvet
• Schroeders Rotfuß-Vogelspinne

Do not confuse it with Tliltocatl albopilosus or assume that every dark Mexican tarantula is this species. Traceable captive parentage is important because T. schroederi has a restricted native range and is uncommon in trade.

📌 Description

This is a heavy-bodied, dark terrestrial tarantula endemic to Oaxaca, Mexico. Conservation work reports adult body lengths around 5.5-6.5 cm; captive adults are commonly about 12-15 cm in diagonal leg span. Females may live 20-30 years, while males grow slimmer and usually have much shorter adult lives.

The spider digs or modifies retreats beneath rock and debris in dry forest and scrub. In a terrarium it may remain visible beside a hide or excavate a substantial burrow. It grows slowly and often refuses food before a molt or during cooler periods.

Although usually more manageable than the Asian fossorial species in this group, it is still a display animal. It can bolt, bite, and kick urticating hairs. Handling risks a damaging fall and offers no welfare benefit.

☠️ Venom

Tliltocatl schroederi is venomous, but available evidence does not place its bite among the routinely medically significant Old World syndromes. A bite can still cause pain, puncture injury, swelling, infection risk, and an unpredictable individual response. Avoid it rather than testing assumptions.

Urticating abdominal hairs are the more likely keeper exposure. They can cause intense itching and inflammation, and eye or airway contact can be serious. Do not put your face over the enclosure. Wear eye protection when rehousing a hair-kicking individual, use a catch cup rather than hands, and wash exposed skin without rubbing.

Seek medical advice after eye exposure, breathing symptoms, a significant bite, spreading swelling, or systemic illness. A spider fall is also an emergency: keep transfers close to the floor because a ruptured abdomen can be fatal.

🌍 Distribution

The World Spider Catalog records the species from Mexico. Peer-reviewed conservation profiles narrow it to the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca, including the Tlacolula valley around Mitla, where it uses subtropical dry deciduous forest, hillside scrub, rock shelters, and burrows from roughly 1,040 to 3,000 m elevation. A dealer-reported Acapulco origin in early material was erroneous.

The range has dry and wet seasons and large differences between exposed ground and protected burrows. Captive care should follow the burrow: stable moderate temperature, shade, mostly dry upper soil, a local moisture reserve, and water—not the hottest outdoor air reading.

🌡 Climate across the native range

Monthly normals from a reviewed preserved-specimen location in Oaxaca:

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com · CC BY 4.0 · Monthly normals calculated by Herpeton Academy from daily archive values.

Location references use GBIF.org occurrence data where available; original occurrence records retain their source dataset licenses.

⚖️ Legal status

The official CITES Appendices and EU Regulation (EU) 2026/1383 were checked on 2026-08-05. All Tliltocatl species, including T. schroederi, are in CITES Appendix II and EU Annex B. The Bern Convention is not relevant because the species is not native to Europe.

Appendix II regulates international trade; it is not a blanket ban and does not itself decide private ownership. Import, export, re-export, sale, transport, breeding, or exhibition can require documents under national and EU rules. Mexican wildlife law also matters at the source.

Buy only traceable captive-bred animals. Retain the invoice, breeder identity, date, former and current scientific names, parentage or breeding claim, and all import or transfer documents. EU Annex B trade may require proof of legal acquisition even where no transaction-specific certificate is routinely issued.

🤌 Husbandry

House one spider alone. Communal keeping and casual cohabitation are unsafe.

Quarantine a new arrival for at least 60-90 days in a secure, easily inspected enclosure in a separate area. Use dedicated tools and record water, feeding offers, waste, body condition, behavior, and molts. Check for mites or injury without repeatedly handling the animal. Never use household pesticides or reptile mite treatments near a tarantula.

Spiderlings do well in small containers with several centimetres of slightly moisture-retentive substrate, a starter retreat, side ventilation, and a tiny dish when practical. Upgrade gradually. Keep juveniles somewhat more hydrated than established adults but never swampy.

For an adult, a low enclosure around 35 x 30 x 25 cm gives useful floor space while limiting fall distance. Provide 10-15 cm of compact soil, a partially buried cork hide, a shallow water dish, and open access for cleaning. The gap from substrate to lid should be no more than about one adult leg span, especially above hard objects.

Test all lid and door gaps. Put the dish where it can be removed without reaching across the spider. Routine work should preserve the burrow and minimize airborne hairs.

💡 Lighting

No UVB or basking lamp is required. A 10-12 hour ambient day-night cycle is sufficient. Keep the enclosure out of direct sunlight, which can overheat glass or acrylic within minutes.

If plants are used, choose modest lighting and verify temperature at substrate level. Bright light may keep the spider hidden; night bulbs are unnecessary.

🌡 Heating and temperature

A practical captive range is 20-26 °C by day with an 18-22 °C cooler area and night range. Ordinary warm room temperatures are usually enough. Short gentle variation is safer than a constant hot enclosure.

If the room is too cold, heat the room or one external side through a thermostat. Do not use a heat rock or place a mat under the soil. The spider must be able to move away from warmth. Prolonged temperatures approaching 30 °C can dehydrate it and accelerate metabolism without benefit.

Seasonal cooling is not required for basic care. Only experienced breeders should attempt a mild cycle, and never with a thin, sick, newly acquired, juvenile, or premolt animal.

💧 Humidity and water

Keep most of the surface dry, provide a slightly moist lower corner, and maintain cross-ventilation. Relative humidity may often sit around 45-65%, with a temporary local increase after watering. Do not try to keep the whole enclosure at a fixed high percentage.

A shallow full water dish is permanent equipment. Overflow it occasionally or dampen one lower corner, then allow the surface to dry. Spiderlings need less dry-out because their water reserve is smaller.

Persistent condensation, a sour smell, mold spreading away from food remains, or constant wall climbing indicates excessive water or poor ventilation. During premolt, water remains available, but the correct response is not to soak the enclosure.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

Use compacted pesticide-free topsoil, a topsoil/coco mix, or another firm invertebrate substrate that can support a shallow burrow. Add a little clay if necessary for structure. Avoid fertilizer, manure, cedar and pine, loose wood chips, sharp decor, mesh floors, and unstable rock piles.

Partially bury cork bark to create a ready entrance and add leaf litter for cover. Heavy stones must rest on the enclosure floor before substrate is packed around them; otherwise digging can undermine them. Keep hard objects away from a possible fall path.

Remove boluses and dead prey, refresh the dish, and leave clean webbing and burrow walls intact. A sparse functional layout is safer than clutter that blocks a catch cup.

🪳 Feeding

Offer captive-reared crickets, roaches, locusts where legal, and occasional mealworms or superworms. Keep prey at or below the spider’s body size. Slings may eat small portions every 4-7 days, juveniles every 7-10 days, and adults often only every 10-21 days.

Slow growth and fasting are normal. Judge the abdomen: reduce food when it is markedly wider than the carapace, and investigate hydration or conditions if it becomes shrunken. Remove uneaten prey within 24 hours and immediately before a molt.

Wait for black hardened fangs after molting—often 5-7 days for juveniles and 10-14 days for large adults. Feeder insects do not need calcium or vitamin powder.

🥚 Breeding

Breeding should support traceable captive stock, not create undocumented animals. Confirm identity and sex, retain parent records, and never mix uncertain localities or similar dark Tliltocatl. Mature males have emboli and tibial hooks; female confirmation is most reliable from a molt.

Species-specific captive reproduction is less thoroughly documented than for common congeners. Plan conservatively for around 40-150 offspring and an incubation window around 45-70 days at roughly 24-27 °C, while treating these as breeder working ranges rather than guaranteed biological limits. The male needs an escape route, and the female should not be repeatedly disturbed after mating.

🩺 Common problems

• Persistent climbing → inadequate cover, unsuitable substrate, excess moisture, or recent disturbance
• Bald abdominal patch and hair kicking → defensive stress; reduce intrusion and protect eyes
• Very swollen abdomen → overfeeding and greater rupture risk
• Shrunken abdomen with weakness → dehydration, prolonged poor intake, or illness
• Refusal and dark abdomen → often premolt; remove all prey
• Condensation, mold, or odor → too much moisture and insufficient airflow
• Hemolymph leak after fall → urgent injury; minimize movement and seek expert help

Do not disturb a spider lying on its back; that is the normal molt position. Seek an exotics veterinarian or experienced arachnid professional for continuing leakage, a severe failed molt, inability to right itself, eye exposure to hairs, or progressive decline.

📌 Conclusion

Tliltocatl schroederi rewards patience: it is slow-growing, long-lived, and may spend years with the same keeper. A low fall-safe enclosure, compact mostly dry substrate, a secure hide, and restrained feeding are the daily essentials. Because its Oaxaca range is restricted and trade is regulated, lawful captive origin and durable paperwork are as important as the terrarium.

📚 Sources and further reading

• World Spider Catalog — Tliltocatl schroederi
• Mendoza & Francke 2020 — systematic revision and Tliltocatl transfer
• Henriques et al. 2019 — species conservation profile
• GBIF — Tliltocatl schroederi
• The Tarantula Collective — Tliltocatl schroederi care
• CITES — current Appendices
• CITES — identification guide to listed tarantulas
• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2026/1383