Pinktoe Tarantula Care Guide

Avicularia avicularia — the Common or Guyana Pinktoe — is an arboreal species ranging widely across northern South America, including Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, and Trinidad. It lives in the mid-to-upper canopy of tropical forest, where it spins silken tube-webs among branches and where steady airflow keeps the humid air fresh.

Because it comes from the breezy canopy rather than a sealed hollow, it needs humidity paired with good ventilation — but it is markedly more forgiving on this point than its island cousin Caribena versicolor, which is why it is the species most often recommended as a first arboreal tarantula.

Adults have a velvety dark brown to black body with a metallic sheen and the signature pink-tipped feet that give the group its name. Generally calm but fast and jumpy, the Pinktoe is the classic gateway into arboreal keeping.

This is an arboreal species, so height matters more than floor space. Use a tall enclosure with cross-ventilation (vents on opposite sides or front and top) and tall anchor points for webbing. A front- or side-opening enclosure is ideal, as reaching down from above startles the spider and tears its web.

Provide a vertical cork bark slab or tube against one wall, plus fake plants, so the spider can build its tube-web off the ground. A shallow layer of substrate (2–3 in) holds light moisture and cushions any fall, but this species lives up top, not in the dirt.

Warm, humid, and well-ventilated mirrors the island canopy. Achieving humidity without stagnant air is the whole game with this species.

Pinktoes are active, visual hunters that ambush prey from their web. They are enthusiastic feeders and often snatch prey mid-air.

Prey: Gut-loaded crickets and flying insects, plus small Dubia roaches. Keep prey no larger than the spider's abdomen. Flying prey suits this aerial hunter well.

Frequency: Spiderlings twice a week, juveniles every 5–7 days, adults every 7–10 days. Arboreals are more prone to dehydration than terrestrials, so keep moisture and water consistent.

Remove uneaten prey within 24 hours so it cannot disturb the spider in its web retreat.

Pinktoes typically moult inside their tube-web, often on their backs or sides. Each moult deepens the green-and-red adult colouration. Growth is moderate, slowing to once or twice a year in adults.

Pre-moult signs: A darkened abdomen, food refusal, and increased time sealed in the web. Remove all live prey at the first signs.

Post-moult: Leave the spider completely undisturbed and wait 7–14 days before feeding so the new exoskeleton and fangs harden. Keep humidity steady throughout — fresh moults are vulnerable to drying out.

The Pinktoe is docile and rarely defensive, but it is extremely fast and known for sudden leaps. A startled pinktoe can launch off a hand without warning, and a fall from height is dangerous for an arboreal spider. For these reasons handling is generally discouraged, and is always at the keeper's own risk.

This species has weak urticating hairs (Type II) and may also flick faecal matter as a defensive bluff rather than stand its ground. Keep any unavoidable contact — such as rehousing — low, calm, and over a soft surface, and work with the enclosure rather than the spider whenever possible.