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Atlas / Library / Phrynichidae / West African tailless whip spider
BeginnerNocturnal · sleeping now
Phrynichidae

West African tailless whip spider

Damon medius

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. thetarantulacollective.com

Photograph: Daniel Onneweer · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. West African tailless whip spider is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

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https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/damon-medius

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Temperature24–28 °C
Humidity75–85 %
Enclosure30×30×45
Diet7 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
24–28°Ambient

One ambient band, 24–28°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states24-28°C

Humidity

75–85%Target RH

The sheet states75-85%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m4–5 cm
1520100400 cm
4–5 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Amblypygi
IUCN / CITES
IUCN not assessed; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner–Intermediate
Commonality
Common amblypygid in the hobby
Adult size
Body ~4-5 cm; leg-span to ~15-18 cm
Lifespan
5-10 years
Growth rate
Slow-medium
Activity & niche
Nocturnal vertical-surface ambush hunter
Temperament
Shy, skittish; harmless
Venom / defense
Harmless. NO venom and no sting; grabbing pedipalps only

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

30 cm45 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
30 × 30 × 45 cmWidth × depth × height
9dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states30x30x45 cm TALL for one adult

Temperature
24-28°C
Humidity
75-85%
Min. enclosure
30x30x45 cm TALL for one adult
Substrate
5 cm moist coco; vertical cork essential
Hides / decor / water
Tall cork bark, vertical surfaces, water dish; misting

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 7 dAs the sheet states
4Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesCrickets, roaches · 1-3 items weekly

Staple food
Crickets, roaches
Feeding frequency
1-3 items weekly
Supplements
Not required

Behaviour and handling

HandlingHarmless; fragile legs: minimal gentle handling
CommunalCommunal-tolerant with height and food; known maternal/sibling care
Defense / stress signsFast sideways scuttle, dropping, hiding flat

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
5–10 yrLifespan in care
5 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Oviparous: egg sac under abdomen; hatchlings ride the mother's back

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismolt without height/humidity; leg loss
Red flags / quarantine
SignsEnsure vertical space pre-molt; reject stuck-leg specimens; QT wild-caught

Good to know

  • Communicates with its young and siblings by gentle touches of its antenniform front legs

What it needs

Enclosure at least 30 × 30 × 45 cmbecause enclosure30x30x45 cm TALL for one adult
A thermometerbecause temp24-28°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity75-85%

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.