Pink Toe Tarantula Care

Species Info: Pink toe tarantulas are a group native to the tropical and subtropical rainforests of Central and South America (though have been likely introduced to Florida through the pet trade). The relationships between species are not known with much certainty, especially because of all the hybridization that occurs due to overlapping ranges. Though this is frustrating for taxonomists, it doesn’t matter too much for hobbyists, as care between species and hybrids are almost identical.       

Level of Care/Handling: Easy-medium. Like most spiders, pink toes do not need terribly elaborate enclosures. However, they do better in an environment with high humidity compared to other common species. These spiders can be acclimated to handling, but it should not be done more than once or twice a week for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Take extra care as well: being an arboreal (tree-living) species, falling from a hand to the floor can easily result in injury or death. Being a new world species, they have the ability to transfer irritating hairs and bite if threatened/spooked enough, but neither are any worse than the average bee sting. 

Length/Lifespan: Pink toes generally don’t get longer than 4” in legspan, with females being the larger sex. Females can live up to 8 years, but between 4-6 is more common. Males generally live 3-4 years.

Temperature/Humidity/Lighting/Space: These spiders can be kept at room temperature (65-75 degrees) and can also tolerate occasional drops into the 50’s and spikes into the 80’s. Humidity should ideally stay between 60-85%. These spiders also require high ventilation to stay healthy, making humidity retention a bit tricky. A deep substrate layer of the right type and live plants can offset this as well as give your spider plenty of places to hide. Lighting (in the form of fluorescent or LED) is only necessary if live plants are kept. As arboreals, these spiders should always be housed in enclosures that are taller than they are wide. For space, younger individuals should be kept in slings. A good rule of thumb is to move up in size once the housing is less than 3 times the legspan of your spider. To this end, an 8x8x12 cage is usually more than adequate for a full-grown adult. You can go for larger (something like a 12x12x18), but keep in mind that your spider can stress out in an an enclosure that is too large. 

Flooring: Suitable substrates include Eco Earth, peat moss, forest floor, and vermiculite (or any combination of the former), all of which hold humidity well.  

Decoration: Plants (live or fake) and pieces of cork bark are ideal decoration for pink toes and give them ample space to hide and feel secure. Attach in upper corners to provide full cage access and anchor points for webbing.

Diet: Gut-loaded crickets and roaches make great staples for tarantulas. Babies/juveniles should not be given anything more than 3/4 their size, but adults can eat anything their size and even a little larger.

Feeding Frequency: Babies should ideally eat one feeder a week, but they are also hard to overfeed. Adults are usually the same but can also go long periods of time (weeks-months) without eating. It is not unusual for a tarantula to refuse food, especially while they’re in premolt.

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