Tarantulas of the World

The Trinidad Chevron Tarantula is a New World majestic tarantula from the tropical areas of Trinidad and Tobago. Loved due to their great chevron marking on their abdomens these animals spend most of their time up in trees blending in with their environment. They tend to make silk tubes in trees/leaves to live out in. Average growth for these animals tend to be about 4 to 5 inches with males living to be about 2 to 4 years and females living close to 12 years. As they grow from spiderlings (slings) to adults they tend to change colors looking more colorful as juveniles.

Habitat:

The Trinidad Chevron Tarantula is an arboreal species and it spends most of its time suspended on tree limbs and plants. They are not known for being on the ground and we would recommend an enclosure that has more height then it has length or width. Of course we would recommend it being at least between 12 to 16 inches in height. The floor of your enclosure should have some sort of coconut fiber with at least 2 to 3 inches of very damp substrate. Humidity is key as they require 80% or better humidity with a temperature of about 78 to 85 degrees. Beware of stagnant air as this can certainly end up killing your tarantula so be sure to keep the enclosure well ventilated. You should have enough bark or plants for it to climb and spin its web on. As always a fresh shallow water dish should always be overfilled with clean water. A great tip would be to perhaps glue the water dish to the bark on in the enclosure so that your tarantula does not have to climb down to drink.

Feeding:

The Trinidad Chevron tarantula is a decent eater, as most tarantulas all it really requires would be crickets, cockroaches, locusts or even fruit flies. It is highly unlikely that you can overfeed this species but only feed it once a week a couple of insects at a time.

Attitude:

These are fast and aggressive tarantulas and we do not recommend handling them. Though they can sit on their bark all day not moving they tend to be extremely fast. They do not have urticating hairs and rely in their bite and venom as a primary defense. There are even stories of these tarantulas attacking their own molt.  Caution should be applied when maintaining their enclosure.

This would be a great tarantula for the intermediate/expert hobbyist getting their first old world tarantula. They require rather low maintenance and do not cause much problems. However due to their temperament we do recommend not handling them.

The Ornamental Baboon Tarantula, also known as the Togo Starburst Tarantula is an old world arboreal species native of West Africa. They are known for their great growth rate (with adults reaching full size within 3 years), excellent speed and great cryptic patterned colors (black, white and grey). They are quite secretive but once out in the open a definite crowd pleaser. They grow to be about 8 to 10 inches in length.  They are not to be messed with as they tend to be very aggressive and carry a potent venom.

Habitat:

In the wild the Ornamental Baboon Tarantula like to be up in trees hidden due to their amazing camouflage-like colors. At full growth you are going to want an enclosure that is anywhere between 10 to 15 gallons in size. Make sure your enclosure has less floor space and more height as this tarantula is arboreal and would rarely use the tank floor to crawl on. As small spiderlings you will notice that they try to burrow but that only lasts for months, as juveniles they will switch it up to be more on higher grounds. Enough bark should be available for them to climb on. Substrate should be about 2 to 4 inches and should be kept damp to supply the right type of humidity for this species. A clean shallow water dish should also be readily available and should be overfilled at all times. Temperature should be between 80 to 85 degrees with a humidity level of about 65 degrees.

Feeding:

This tarantula eats mostly large crickets, cockroaches, moths and locusts. In captivity they will do just fine being fed once a week a few large crickets at a time or 2 b.dubia cockroaches. A close eye should be kept on them, a stop in eating could be a sign that your tarantula is getting ready to molt.

Attitude:

The Ornamental Baboon is known as having one of the most potent venom out of all tarantulas. They are incredibly fast and will not hesitate to bite. They do not come equipped with urticating hairs and therefor have no primary way of protection other then using their fangs. Extreme caution should be used when opening its enclosure and we most certainly not recommend you handling them.

It is a beautiful species for a more advanced hobbyist as we do not recommend them to any beginner or even intermediate tarantula connoisseur.

The Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula or as many call it, the Giant Whiteknee Tarantula, is a tarantula of Brazil known for its fast growth, great size and awesome colors. Your typical Acanthoscurria geniculata will grow to be about 8 to 9 inches in length and will reach that big size in only 2 to 3 years. They have great coloration with striped black and white knees/legs. They are rather fast for their size and are semi aggressive.

Habitat:

Your Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula is a terrestrial tarantula though some do burrow most of them will not. Simply having a hide big enough for it to fit under in your enclosure should be fine. As for size of your enclosure will want to have a 10 to 15 gallon tank. The Brazilian Giant is a poor climber due to its large size therefor it is key to have a tank that is more long and wide then it is tall. The height should be just enough to allow your tarantula to easily flip over should it start a molt. This will prevent your tarantula from climbing up the enclosure and prevent any injuries it might undergo should it fall. A full shallow water dish should also be readily available with fresh clean water at all time. Your substrate should be about 3 to 4 inches and should be relatively dry. A nice mix of vermiculite/peat moss and coconut fiber should be just fine. As for temperature you will want something between 75 to 80 degrees with a humidity level of about 70 percent.

Feeding:

Your tarantula will pretty much eat anything from insects to small lizards and mice. We would recommend a steady feeding of only large crickets, cockroaches and locusts. Ideally they should be only fed once a week . As always though they can eat small mice and lizards it is not recommended. The amount of calcium it consumes might end up hardening its exoskeleton which can make it harder for it to molt and in cases can cause a bad or wet molt.

Attitude:

The Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula is semi aggressive and should it get startled will easily assume a defensive position showing fangs. They do come equipped with urticating hairs which can be quite irritating. At full grown size they pack a powerful bite with fangs that can easily be an inch in length which can easily cause severe damage should they pierce human flesh. Their venom is semi potent and a bite can surely cause muscle cramps, pain and swelling. We recommend minimum tampering with its enclosure as they do not like to be bothered much.

Handling should be done if you have been handling it since little so that he/she is accustomed to it. Due to their size we normally would not recommend handling. Due to size it might be hard to properly hold your tarantula which can result in it biting you or worse case scenario falling from your hands which will certainly result in serious injuries or death of your spider. It is a great species that should be respected and set as more of a display tarantula for your collection. It is excellent specimen for an intermediate to expert hobbyist.

Tell us about your Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula, we’d love to hear from you. Do you have questions? Comment down below!