Want to take care of your Brazilian Black Tarantula but don’t know how? Fret not. We noted down a detailed guideline below that will help you achieve that.
Exotic pets come with great responsibilities. Especially if they are from the tarantula family.
Brazilian black tarantula is known for its long life and is admired for its docile nature and deep coat. So this little creature is often owned as a pet. Although they can be a great companion, unlike traditional pets like cats and dogs, it’s hard to identify their discomfort. That is why it’s important to treat them the right way.
If their care and housing are not done properly, they can easily fall sick or even die. However, knowing what to do and what to avoid could be challenging. Especially if you’ve never done it before.
But don’t worry. We got you.
Want to keep your Brazilian black tarantula happy and healthy? Here are all the essential steps noted below, which you can follow to achieve that.
Interested? Then keep on reading.
Let’s get started.
Care and Housing for Black Brazilian Tarantula
Although our tips and recommendations are backed by user experience and extensive research, it is still not absolute.
It is important to remember that wild tarantulas grow in the ever-changing natural environment of the wild. But you can still take care of your exotic pet with these general guidelines.
Housing Recommendation
The enclosure you use for your Brazilian Black Tarantula can be customized according to your choice. But it should follow some general guidelines. If the enclosure is a rectangle, the length and breadth should be around 2-3 times the leg span.
If it is round then the diameter should be around 3 times the leg span. You should also make sure that the height of the enclosure is not more than 1 times the leg span of the tarantula.
Housing for Spiderlings
Just like any other baby creature, spiderlings need extra care and attention to grow up healthy. Having the proper housing facilities is a very crucial part of it. To ensure it the following requirements need to be met.
- Use a small clear plastic container with holes towards the upper rim to keep the spiderlings. You can use a heated pin to make these holes.
- Use ground coco fiber, peat humus, peat moss, or any mixture of these to build a substrate 3-4 inches deep when packed for burrowing. The substrate should have enough moisture so that it clumps together when squeezed.
- Until the spiderlings reach a 1-inch leg span, provide them with droplets of water for humidity and hydration. Use a spray bottle to lightly mist the side of the enclosure a few times a week. But make sure not to hit the spiderlings directly.
- When the specimen reaches a 1-inch leg span, provide it with a water bowl. A bottle cap is great as a water bowl. It will help with the hydration and at the same time keep the tarantula’s lungs safe from the water. Keep a small stone in the water dish to give the tarantula a means to escape drowning
- As your pet grows up always make sure to change the water dish with fresh water a little less than the leg span of your tarantula. To maintain body fluids and feel secure spiderlings need to burrow.
Housing for Adult Spiders
Adult tarantulas don’t need as much extra care as spiderlings. However, they still require some basic pet needs.
- You can keep the adults in semi-arid set-ups. A 10-gallon aquarium or any similar-sized enclosure with a strong lid is a good choice.
- If you have more than one tarantula, house them separately to avoid cannibalism.
- When it comes to the measurement of the enclosure, it should not be less than 2 times or more than 3 times the leg span of the tarantula. These animals rarely explore more than a few leg spans from their home. However, as per anecdotal evidence, it may differ.
- You must have strong, sturdy floor space. Tarantulas use their fangs to dig into hard-packed soil. They can chew through strong materials like nylon, plastic, aluminum mesh, etc. So it is more important to ensure a stronger base than height.
- For substrate, use peat moss, peat humus, ground coco fiber, or any mixture of these. It should be lightly moisturized, and enough to have a 5-6 inch layer. The upper 3-4 inches should be dry and the lower 2-3 inches should be moist. As adults don’t require as much moisture as spiderlings.
- To create a hiding area, use objects like small coconut shells, cork bark, partial clay pots, or anything similar. Fancy decorations are not necessary other than your eye appeal. But make sure the extra decorations are tarantula friendly before you use them.
Caring Requirements
Besides housing requirements, you also need to take care of some other factors to keep your Brazilian black tarantula healthy.
Although we only mentioned specific requirements below you should keep other basic factors in mind too. Like keeping the specimen safe from pesticides, heating sources, potential predators, etc.
Food Habits
Spiderlings eat roach nymphs, pinhead crickets, or similar small insects around 1-2 times every other day. Whereas adults eat crickets, various types of roaches, or other large insects 3-8 times per month depending on their size.
But the prey should not be bigger than the tarantula.
Temperature Settings
An average range for temperature is between 65° and 85° Fahrenheit. Since tarantula survives in nature with fluctuating temperatures they are usually very adaptive. However, they are found to thrive between 75° and 85° Fahrenheit.
Lighting
While there are no conditions for lighting for any kind of tarantula, Grammostola Pulchra (G Pulchra) is seen to be relaxing near lights. You may use 15-watt fluorescent lights near the enclosures of G Pulchra for them to go to the light and enjoy sitting next to it.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article helpful. We tried our best to provide you with all relevant information that might help you.
Thank you for being patient and staying with us till the end.
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