Hello and I'm new to this board and the hobby.

I have a friendly and lovely male Lasiodora Difficilis (name Leo) who is about 7" now leg span. I have read things about these LD's and found many of these facts to be true, such as they do get enormous, and tend to be more docile than the other Lassies. Leo has let me handle him on a regular basis with no protest, although he does appear skittish at first (probably waking up?) He also loves his back stroked... go figure! He is proud and shows quite a lot of personality in his "strut".

It would be nice to compare notes and experiences from other owners of these amazing T's to share and learn more about this particular species, as there doesn't appear to be a lot of documentation, and that's often stated as a disclaimer (I believe it's a fairly new, unexplored species?)

Thanks! This is Leo:

I've got an sub-adult female L. Difficilis, about 12cm leg span and she's really just the meanest thing ever! Although once you pick her up, she becomes just the biggest softie ever. But I've noticed her appetite, I always thought she was just mean but she would never kick hairs or raise her legs at me. It seems she just wants to eat anything she can. She's attack my tongs, straws and any other tools i use to clean her enclosure. But when she realised it isn't food she'd go to being soft again. It seems their aggression isn't aggression but just appetite. They do become monsterously large and she's just telling me she can eat anything! Very beautiful tarantulas!

Hello Ryan,

Tongs, straws - yes! For some reason they do tend to chase them when cleaning the enclosure! Mine went after those like a dog to a squirrel!

Somewhere I also read that they do "eat like pigs" anything and everything post molt. What you describe, seems to be true here as well, not much hair kicking and no raised legs. They do grow very fast. When I first got him in March, he was only about 3 inches.. then molted in June to 5+ inches now to 7 inches. They are gorgeous and feisty after a fresh molt. I love the rich colors! Your female sounds beautiful!