Care Sheet
by Stephen Wagner
The Pinktoe is a very common, docile, beatiful species. It is inexpensive and though good for beginners it still is some what of a challenge to keep. This species needs to be well ventilated and well cared for. If the enclusure is not well ventilated it can cause mold to grow, even in their lungs. They also can be sometimes (though I wouldn't recemend it) be housed in communities together. Many keepers however have found that this may lead to the death of some of the pinktoes. Smaller ones will most likely be killed by larger ones. So unless you are very experienced don't try it.
Distribution: Tropical rain forests of the South America. Areas of Brazil, Trinidad, Guyana, French Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, and throughout the Amazon Basin.
Size: 4 to 4.5 inches when full grown.
Growth rate: Medium speed
Temperature: Keep 75-85F. They can take drops to 70F for short periods of time as long as they have made their tube web shelter. Keep your tarantula's enclosure away from windows, sunlight, heaters and air conditioning.
Humidity: 80-90%. Keep substrate slightly moist and provide a shallow water dish. The substrate should NOT be swampy nor should it be so dry that if you were to blow on it particles would go up in the air.
Habitat type/enclosure/substrate needed: This is an arboreal, rain forest species found in tube webs in crevices of trees and on rain forest vegetation. They need vertical surfaces and something to climb. Keep adults in 5-10 gallon tanks with 2-3 peat moss/vermiculite mix with cork bark shelter leaning against the side of the tank or placed in middle. Tubular cork bark with a 180 degree arcs works best. Use a tank that is taller than is wide. Spiderlings will need to be keep in pill bottles with peat moss/vermiculite mix for 1st six months, then moved to 8 and 16 ounce deli cups as they get bigger. Make sure your lid on top is secure. Live plants that need little light and have strong branches and leaves can be used also. Make sure your caring for your tarantula not your plant!
Food: Feed prey that is smaller than the length of the tarantula's body. You can use pin-head crickets, but these must be 1-2 week old crickets and very small as they will eat your spiderling when it tries to molt. Adults can be fed large crickets, flying insects and anole lizards and house geckos. Make sure all insects come from non-pesticide areas. Feed spiderlings twice a week a couple of prey items. Feed adults once a week a couple of insects and occasionally an anole lizard or house gecko. They rarely go off-feed for longer than one month, and this is usually due to an expected molt.
Cleaning: To keep your tarantula's tank clean and keep your animal healthy, get in the routine of feeding your tarantula one day, and then coming behind the next day and taking long tweezers and picking out any left-over prey remains. Keep the water dish (it must be shallow and wide) clean at all times. If you follow this advice, you will need to only change out your substrate (vermiculite, peat moss, sand mixture) once every six months or so. Because of the higher humidity requirements of this species, keeping a clean tank is very, very important.
Longevity: A. avics are grow at medium speed.
Handling/Disposition/Venom: A. Avics can be skittish when first imported and sold, but after being acclimated, they tend to calm down and can come across as somewhat docile, but usually remain skittish like most arboreals. They do have urticating hairs. Some hobbyists may react badly to these, but in general, most hobbyists don't react too much to A. Avic. hairs. Use long (12-18 forceps) to do tank maintanence. The genus Avicularia doesn't contain any species that have a medically significan't venom, but individual keepers may have some reaction to a bite. Best advice: Don't handle. Tarantulas are not pets, but display animals much like keeping fish. They don't understand nor have a need to be handled. They are venomous like many spiders, but their venom is not dangerous unless your allergic to their venom. Don't find out! Transfer your tarantula using cup-to-tank method.
Captive breeding: Fairly easy. Adults breed easily and eggsacs are commonly produced in captivity. Captive born spiderlings are always available on the market.
Record keeping: Keep good notes such as the stock #, if any , that it was sold as, when born, molt dates, etc.
Other Names Guyana Pinktoe Tarantula, Common Pinktoe Tarantula, and South American Pinktoe Tarantula
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