Pinktoe Tarantula Care Sheet

  • Scientific name: Avicularia avicularia
  • Country of origin: South America + Caribbean
  • Potential adult size: 6 in
  • Average life span: 5 years
  • Dietry requirements: Carnivorous

Introduction

Pinktoe Tarantula's are a bright and colourful species of Arboreal spider. These do tend to be on the more docile side of Tarantulas. While the temperature and humidity requirements put this captivating species in the intermediate category, but they are relatively easy to keep.

Natural History

Housing

Pinktoe tarantulas do well with a glass terrarium as their enclosure. This is because glass is great at allowing heat to escape, ensuring that the enclosure stays cool enough. Other enclosures, such as wooden vivariums, are far too efficient at retaining heat.

The pinktoe tarantula's terrarium should be at least 300mm in length and 450mm in height. The pinktoe tarantula is an arboreal species so they will need more height than floor space. This tarantula will grow to around 6" so they need a space large enough for them to move around in.

Heating

Pinktoe tarantulas require a near-constant air temperature of 70-75°F. This is best achieved by sticking a heatmat on one side of the glass enclosure. This heatmat is regulated using a thermostat to make sure the temperature stays constant.

As the glass is only being heated on one side this also creates a small temperature gradient within the enclosure allowing the toad to warm itself up or move away to cool down.

Lighting

Decorations

Spider LifeThe pinktoe tarantula is an arboreal speices and will need vertical structures to climb. Small natural wood ornaments look very effective and also provide perches for the tarantula We find the best substrate for tarantulas is a soil mix called spider life.

The tarantula's vivarium can be decorated with artificial plants for a more natural look. Trailing plants are very good at disguising electrical wires and equipment, as well as providing cover for young tarantulas.

Diet & Water

Pinktoe tarantulas are carnivorous and have a diet consisting of live insects. The core of the livefood diet should be high in protein and relatively easy to digest. We have found that brown crickets are the most readily accepted, but you can also use black crickets or locusts (hoppers).

Supplements

Spiders don't require extra supplementation as they get the vast majority of their needed nutrients from their diet. However, you should still gutload your live food to make sure you are giving the best food you can to your animal.

Breeding

Cleaning

Pinktoe Tarantulas, as with most pets, require a clean environment to thrive. We recommend a spot clean as often as possible (every day) and a full clean every 4 weeks or so. If you are keeping the snake in a bioactive enclosure, you can spot clean and monitor the enclosure. It may still be a good item to change out the bedding a few times per year.

When cleaning the enclosure, you should remove your animal, all decorations and all of the bedding. Once the enclosure is clear you can spray it all over with a reptile-friendly disinfectant. These usually work very quickly and only need to be left for around 30 seconds, instructions can normally be found on the disinfectant's packaging. Once the disinfectant has done its work it can be wiped away from the surfaces with a paper towel. In some cases, you might want to repeat this process a second time to ensure that the enclosure is thoroughly cleaned.

Your decorations can be cleaned in a similar method, simply spray them down with the disinfectant and rinse thoroughly with water before drying them off and putting them back into the enclosure. We recommend this process is done during the daytime to make sure that the spider will be going back to a warm vivarium for at least an hour before the basking lamps are turned off for the night.

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Also known as:

  • Guyana pinktoe, or South American pinktoe.