Tarantulas of the World

Your Basic Tarantula Care Sheet! Tarantulas have become the pet to have they are perfect for just about anybody. Most species require low maintenance, are very affordable and best yet do not require too much space for housing (even if you are renting a room or apartment). In addition many people see how great one tarantula is and tend to acquire additional T’s and instantly become hobbyists. Though they are great pets it is key that you do the right homework for your specific tarantula. You should never obtain a tarantula without researching key elements for its survival and or handling of it in your care. We decided to make a general care sheet to help you out and that can be applied to most common tarantulas out there.

Habitat:

There are two ways of setting up a tarantula’s habitat.

You can set up a tarantula’s habitat artificially, which is the easiest and most of the times recommended for the novice tarantula keeper. Here you will try mimicking the tarantula’s habitat in the wild with basic essentials such as  temperature, humidity, substrate, hide and maybe even some bark and fake plants.

You can also set up a tarantula’s habitat Naturally, which is the most difficult and is recommended for the more experienced of tarantula keepers. Here you will try to create your own mini eco-system with live plants, organic decorations and arrangements even complicated designs on feeding, hiding/burrowing etc. Most mini ecological systems are unstable and here you might risk actually killing your tarantula if you are not sure what you are doing.

In this care sheet we are going to go with the artificial habitat for your pet tarantula. We are going to focus on the key elements that will benefit you and the life of your tarantula.

Housing:

First thing is first, the right enclosure for your pet tarantula. You must first check and see what type of tarantula you have, arboreal, terrestrial or burrowing.

• Arboreal tarantulas love to climb and rarely spend their time on the floor of an enclosure. For these tarantulas you will want an enclosure that is bigger in height then it is in length or width.
• Terrestrial tarantulas are the exact opposite and spend most of their time on the enclosure floor and though they might climb most are poor climbers. For these tarantulas you are going to want an enclosure that has more length and width then it would have height. You want to make sure its just high enough to allow your tarantula to flip over in the event it needs to molt.
• Burrowing tarantulas like to dig and make their own hide “underground”. For these tarantulas you will want something similar to what you would have set up for a terrestrial tarantula however making sure you have enough space to add anywhere between 3 to 6 inches of substrate for it to burrow (depending on your tarantula’s size) in addition to giving it enough space to flip over “above ground” should it need to for a molt.

As for your enclosure size it is normally rule of thumb to give your tarantula 2 to 3 times its leg span as floor space to move around on. As for size you should be looking at housing your small to medium tarantulas in 2 to 5 gallon enclosures, medium to large tarantulas in 10 to 20 gallon enclosures and large to extra large tarantulas in 25 to 45 gallon enclosures.

Substrate:

The second thing to look for is substrate. The right substrate is key depending on your tarantula species as it will help out with both humidity and burrowing. There are many different types of substrate (garden soil, peat/green moss, potting soil, coconut fiber) and it ends up being personal preference. We recommend coconut fiber (such as eco earth which can now be purchased through our shop). The reason is simple, you can manipulated the way it works best for you. Whether you want to have it dry, damp or wet. In addition coconut fiber can last months before giving you an odd smell or you needing to change it. It actually breaks down your tarantula’s excrement so you can’t go wrong with that!

Light/Temperature/Humidity:

This is a combination and third thing to look out for. Most tarantulas actually prefer the darkness and you should never place them in direct sunlight as this might stress out your animal. Your tarantula needs minimal lighting and just the daylight in a room should be plenty. As for temperature and humidity they almost go hand in hand. Most tarantulas (depending on their origin) either like a dry warm environment or a damp to wet warm environment. Most tarantulas do well with just room temperature. Of course if you do live in colder climate you should most definitely have some sort of heating source that can be applied once you see temperatures get colder. It is key to have both a temperature and humidity thermometer. As for humidity most tarantulas only need some humidity which can easily be controlled with something as simple as overfilling a water dish in the enclosure. Of course there are some exceptions to this and for the tarantulas needing a lot more humidity you are going to want to wet/dampen enough of the substrate until reaching the required humidity levels.

Water/Food:

More important then food would be water. A tarantula always needs to stay properly hydrated. Make sure it has an adequate water dish that is always fully filled with clean water. Make sure its a shallow water dish to prevent your tarantula from drowning should it try to drink. As for food, tarantulas are insectivores and carnivores most tarantulas end up feasting just fine on insects such as fruit flies, crickets, cockroaches, locusts, moths, mealworms, etc but some tarantulas can also eat small lizards or even pinkie mice. We recommend you feed your tarantula a steady diet of nutrient filled insects. We normally do not recommend (for those of you with tarantula’s that are able to eat lizards and mice) for you to feed your tarantula mice/lizards. The reason simply being that it can cause calcium buildup in its exoskeleton which can become an issue when molting.

These simple steps should ensure you a healthy and happy tarantula. Two things we did not go over which we have care sheets for already are Spiderling (sling) care and Molting.

Do you have any additional questions? Want to add something to this? Your voice will be heard! Comment down below.

The Singapore Blue Tarantula is a species native of Singapore and Malaysia. And this tarantula is one to fall in love with. They are best known for their amazing blueish purple colors. However males once reaching full maturity will actually change colors turning into a greenish or yellow color. Males tend to be smaller then females and both can grow  between 8 to 11+ inches in size. They are an arboreal species and spend most of their time in the wild up in trees deep in the wet Singapore forests. Males do tend to live between 6 to 9 years with females living to be about 12 to 16 years. This is most definitely an expert level tarantula requiring adequate care and maintenance and certainly one to be careful with when opening its enclosure. Though possible we certainly do not recommend handling them.

Habitat:

The best way to take care of your Singapore Blue tarantula is to make sure you have an adequate vertical enclosure for it to live in. A full grown adult should need at least a 25-30 gallon tall tank. Being arboreal you should not need more then about 2 inches of substrate, we do recommend a damp coconut fiber substrate with some moss to retain humidity. You will need between 75 to 83% humidity for this animal. In addition they are climbers and so make sure they have plenty of bark to climb up on. Within days you should see it webbing most of the bark you place in its enclosure. You can also add a hide at the bottom of the enclosure should they need it. A water dish should also be available overfilling it once or twice a week to retain said moisture. These are tarantulas to be kept solo and the only time you are to introduce a secondary spider is in the event of mating. Even so be careful as females are known for cannibalizing on males.  Temperature wise you will want to keep them at regular room temperature or anywhere between 75 to 85 degrees and they will be just fine.

Feeding:

As for feeding we recommend you give these animals a steady diet of nutrient rich crickets, cockroaches, locusts, beetles and moths. You can switch their diets every now and then and also add pinkie mice or small lizards. They are voracious animals and should only be fed once every other week. Should you notice your tarantula not eating then it could be a sign that it is going through its pre-molt phase and molt could be on its way. Do not leave prey in its enclosure for more then 24 hours if it does not eat to prevent injury of your tarantula should the prey try to defend itself. For injuries and insect bite cases, it is better to go for los angeles car attorneys who will be able to help you for a speedy recovery. Similarly, in case of road accidents you can contact auto accident lawyers to defend your case.

Attitude:

Your Singapore Blue tarantula does not come equipped with urticating hairs and can be quite aggressive sometimes. It is extremely fast and defensive. Due to them exceeding large sizes they also have large fangs which can cause some serious harm should a full grown specimen bite. They do pack a powerful venom that can give you muscle cramps, pain, burning around the bitten area, headaches and even flu like symptoms. We do not recommend the handling of this animal due to its speed. They are skittish and certain sudden moves can cause your tarantula to bite. In addition you risk letting your tarantula fall which can certainly cause it severe injuries or death.

All in all the Singapore Blue is definitely a marvelous species and definitely a great add-on to an experienced hobbyist’s collection. We recommend the only handling of this species to be when performing maintenance of its enclosure or switching enclosures all together. Handle with care when doing so as most are known to try to escape their enclosures.

Do you have a Singapore Blue tarantula? Are you planning on getting one or have questions? Tell us about it and commend down below. We’d love to hear from you!

The Mexican Fireleg Tarantula also called the Mexican Rustleg tarantula is another crowd favorite from Mexico. They come from the dry savannahs of Mexico and grow to be about  6.5 inches with a life span of 7 to 11 years with females growing to be older. They are very beautiful with their nice red/orange and black colors. They are good at being beginner tarantulas but we recommend you do some research on them before purchasing one due to their skittishness and no hesitation to flick urticating hairs.

Habitat:

The Mexican Fireleg tarantula tends to burrow and so we do recommend an enclosure with 4 to 5 inches of damp substrate preferably  of coconut fiber (such as eco earth). You should also have a medium bark  in your enclosure so that it can use it as a hide to burrow under.  As most B. boehmei do not grow to be very large a 5 gallon tank should be just fine for the majority of its life as it reaches adulthood it might just end up getting slightly bigger requiring a 10 gallon tank but that can take years to happen. They usually prefer very dry environments and so overfilling its water dish in a corner should be plenty for it to get the right humidity it is looking for. Temperature wise you are looking at keeping it at a steady 75 to 85 degrees. If its a comfortable temperature for you chances are it will be the same for your tarantula.

Feeding:

Your Mexican Fireleg Tarantula is easily a great eater, you just have to make sure they do not overfeed. Feeding slings a couple of times a week, juveniles once a week and adults once every other week should do the trick. Their food should consist of small flightless fruit flies and small crickets as spiderlings to large crickets, roaches and meal worms as juveniles and adults. As always never feed your tarantula something bigger then its body to prevent the tarantula from injuring itself while attacking the prey. The reason you should keep such a feeding pattern is that as they get older it is key to check up on them going through molting phases. Most adults can go 3 or more weeks without eating if they are getting ready to molt and this pattern of feeding might help with stressing your tarantula less. If after 24 hours you see your tarantula not eating you should remove its food source out of the enclosure.

Attitude:

The Mexican Fireleg is quite docile as compared to other species of tarantulas. Handling should be easy but you should always check your tarantula to see if it is in the mood to be handled before picking him or her up. They are the most nervous of all brachypelmas and do not hesitate in flicking their hairs. Being that they are brachypelmas they are equipped with type 3 urticaing hairs which are quite distressful. They are not known for biting but that does not mean they will never bite. Though painful their bite should not feel any worse then a bee sting. Their venom though potent to kill insects only causes minor pain if not any pain at all for humans.

The Mexican Fireleg is one of the easiest tarantulas to fall in love with. They are low maintenance and docile in nature. . Though you can easily handle them make sure you do so carefully to prevent getting urticating hairs all over your arms (it will be one annoying rash). We highly recommend this as a beginner/intermediate tarantula.

Do you have a Mexican Fireleg? Have any questions about your B. boehmei? Tell us about it! Comment down below we’d love to hear from you.