Mexican redknee tarantula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brachypelma Smithi

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Family:	Theraphosidae
Genus:	Brachypelma
Species:	B. smithi

Binomial name

Brachypelma smithi
F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897

Synonyms

Eurypelma smithi Euathlus smithi

The Mexican redknee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) is a species of burrowing tarantula native to the western face of the pacific sierra madre mountains Mexico. The natural scrub-forest habitat is complex, where shading retains moderate humidity (around 55-65%). Many older books are in error to say they are from desert/arid habitats. They are among the most popular tarantulas available in the pet trade, due to their impressive size, striking coloration, and general docileness. They are a slower growing species, and it is not uncommon to have females live 25 years or more. They carve deep burrows into soil banks, which keep the spiders protected from natural predators like coati.

1 Description
2 Diet
3 Behavior
4 In captivity
5 External links

[edit] Description

Female

The mature Mexican redknee tarantula has a dark-colored body with orange patches on the joints of its legs; the second element of the legs (the trochanter) is orange-red. Following moulting, the colors are more pronounced. The dark portion is very black while the orange-red portions will be far more on the reddish side.

An adult female has a body roughly 4 inches (10cm) long, with a legspan of 6–7 inches (15 to 18 cm), and a weight of approximately 15 to 16 grams.

[edit] Diet

In the wild, they will consume almost any kind of arthropod, small lizard, or small rodent that they can overpower and immobilize with their venom. In captivity, baby spiders have to be fed with small flies like Drosophila. When they are around half a centimeter in size, one can switch to small crickets. Adults can be regularly fed mealworms and adult crickets. Optionally and very occasionally baby mice may be used as food. A large meal is often enough to sustain the tarantula for several weeks before it needs to eat again.

[edit] Behavior

A tarantula moults (sheds its skin) when the skin is too small. After moulting, it will emerge from its exoskeleton, leaving the old skin behind, often fully intact, and almost looking like a second spider. They are also capable of kicking what are called urticating hairs from the rear of their abdomen. These hairs are irritating to the skin, causing itching and sometimes blistering. If they are introduced to the eye, they can cause damage to the vision.

[edit] In captivity

The Mexican redknee is a mostly docile species. That, coupled with its coloration, makes it a very popular pet species. An enclosure measuring approx. 30 cm × 30 cm × 30 cm (11.8 in × 11.8 in × 11.8 in) is adequate to house them. They can be kept on a substrate of fairly dry peat, sometimes mixed with vermiculite. Being a terrestrial species, the substrate should be fairly deep, though B. smithi is not typically known for its burrowing. It will instead often make use of a provided hide area, like a terra cotta flower pot half buried in the substrate. Live plants are typically discouraged from tarantula enclosures, as they can often attract pest insects.

Feeding is easily accomplished with commercially available crickets, 2–3 per week for an adult. If keeping a younger tarantula in captivity, feed them the same insects 3-4 times per week. They will also eat other easily catchable insects, such as mealworms, locusts, or waxworms. Water can be provided in a shallow non-metallic dish.