Tarantulas

What Are the Most Colorful Pet Tarantulas?

~ BackwaterReptiles

Spiders come in all shapes and sizes. This might get you wondering – what are the most colorful pet tarantulas?

There are many species of tarantula available that are safe to keep as pets. Some are larger than others, some are more docile than others and – you guessed it – some are more colorful than others. In this article, we’ll discuss the most colorful species of tarantula commonly kept as pets and give some useful care tips for each kind.

Greenbottle Blue Tarantula (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens)

One of the main things that gets us excited about keeping this beautiful spider is that they are typically a safe bet for beginners. Maintaining a terrarium that suits them is simple enough given that they prefer dry substrate and moderate temperatures.

Although they are skittish, fast and kind of considered “scaredy cats,” they are lovely to look at once you get past the spiderling phase. After a few molts, their gorgeous colors will begin to appear and you can watch the magic continue to unfold as you raise your tarantula.

If you are interested in a tarantula with blue or teal-colored legs and a bold, rusty-orange red abdomen, then Backwater Reptiles has got you covered! Keep in mind that we typically offer juveniles of this species, so you will be able to enjoy watching your tiny little one grow and color-up.

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula (Brachypelma boehmei)

This colorful terrestrial species is known for being very docile and grows to have a leg span between 5 to 6 inches at maturity. When fully grown, they display red and black/very dark brown coloration with their legs being particularly bright.

Here’s a fun fact about this species: females can live around 25 years in captivity, whereas males are known to live around six or seven.

Although Mexican Firelegs are best kept by intermediate level hobbyists, many consider them to be one of the more docile species of tarantula. In our experience, this can vary as some can be prone to flick urticating hairs while others are calm around people. It all depends upon the individual spider and the attention that the handler pays to the spider’s body language.

This is a popular display species because they actually do spend quite a bit of time outside of their burrow. This means that you can usually watch them eat, drink and molt without them feeling distress.

If you are interested in a Mexican Fireleg taratula, Backwater Reptiles can help you out. We sell a range of sizes of this particular spider, so you can choose a baby and watch it grow or an adult that is already sexed and displaying lovely colors.

Here’s a picture of one of our employees handling one of the larger fireleg sizes we offer.

Gooty Sapphire Ornamental Tarantula (Poecilotheria metallica)

The Gooty Sapphire is probably the most sought after tarantula species. As its name suggests, the gooty is a dazzling blue spider with yellow accents. It is also called the peacock parachute spider for its ability to catch prey mid-flight.

This is an exceedingly colorful tarantula that does well in captivity. Because of its heftier price point, rarity and supply and demand, we advise that you do a lot of research and prepare your habitat accordingly.

The basic things to note when obtaining a Gooty Sapphire are:

  • This is an arboreal species and should therefore have an arboreal set up. This means your enclosure needs to be taller rather than longer. Height is important.
  • This species grows fast! If you acquire a spiderling, be prepared for it to eat, molt and mature quickly.
  • This is considered an ornamental and display species. It is best left to its own devices and they typically don’t enjoy being held.

If you are interested in buying a gooty sapphire sling, you can visit Backwater Reptiles to do so. The bluish colors begin to show after just a few molts.

Purple Pink Toe Tarantula (Avicularia purpurea)

As you might be able to surmise, the Purple Pink Toe Tarantula is know for its purple sheen. When you see the semi-iridescent nature of the purple, you will understand why this spider is on our list of the most colorful pet tarantulas.

Purple pink toes, while colorful, are known to be on the smaller side. They usually don’t exceed legspans of 4-5 inches. Females have been known to live 12 years or so in captivity, while males typically reach around 5-6 years old.

This is an arboreal species. We’d also like to mention that they are excellent climbers and as such, they are excellent escape artists. If you are planning on buying this species, make sure you have an enclosure with a secure top! Spiderlings are especially notorious for “going missing.”

We recommend this species for intermediate-level tarantula owners. It’s propensity for escaping and its speed make it a spider that requires at least a modicum of experience.

Purchase your own gorgeous purple pink toe tarantula sling here. Please note that baby spiders (spiderlings) of this species do not typically possess the shiny purple sheen that their juveniles and adult counterparts do. It can take several molt cycles for this coloring to appear.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula (Avicularia versicolor)

This species of spider actually has several different common names including the Martinique Pink toe and the Martinique Red Tree Spider. It hails from the Caribbean, Martinique and Lesser Antilles. When it is mature, it has a pink or red abdomen and legs with a greenish blue head. It is quite a strong contender in the most colorful pet spider competition.

It should be noted that this arboreal species needs very good ventilation in its enclosure in order to thrive. While humidity is important to its health, it cannot live in conditions that are overly wet or misty. Make sure that proper airflow can be achieved. The good news is that this is a “room temperature” spider, meaning that if you are comfortable with the temperature, your spider should be too.

A word of caution: this is not an overly timid, shy or fearful species of colorful tarantula. While they make excellent display pets, they are very prone to jumping. If you open the spider’s enclosure to mist or feed, be aware of where your spider is at all times. They have been known to jump out onto owners unexpectedly which can be startling and potentially harmful to all parties involved if the response is panic.

Conclusion

While there are many species of colorful tarantulas, we’ve covered the most popular ones in this article. All of the spiders we discussed tend to display colors other than brown, black or grey and are highly sought after by hobbyists for display pets.

One thing that is important to keep in mind when buying a spiderling tarantula of any species is that baby spiders do not look like their adult counterparts. As we’ve mentioned, it takes many molts and some time to mature before the brilliant colors are displayed.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the tarantulas listed above, Backwater Reptiles has got you covered! Check out our list of spiders for sale and discover the tarantula that speaks to you.

What Gender is My Tarantula?

~ BackwaterReptiles

How do I know what gender my pet tarantula is?

It’s very easy to determine the gender of a cat, dog or other mammal commonly kept as a pet. However, arachnids don’t have discernible external markers that clearly determine their gender.

It takes a bit more detective work to find out what the sex of your tarantula is. Here’s a hint: you’ll need to keep your spider’s molted exoskeleton!

what gender is my tarantula

What traits can I use to help identify the gender of my tarantula?

While it’s really only useful to very experienced tarantula keepers, it is possible to examine the underside of a tarantula’s abdomen to help assess gender. However, this requires very good eyesight, a lot of experience and a calm spider that will allow you to turn it over without stress or retaliation.

It’s also necessary to have a spider with a leg span of at least two inches. We do not advise using this method to determine spider gender for those reasons.

If you have a fully mature tarantula, you can also use identifying traits that only males possess to help determine gender. For instance, most male tarantulas develop what are known as “boxing gloves” and tibial hooks on their legs.

They will also be longer and lankier-looking in appearance than females. Again, we’d like to mention that these traits take time and experience to recognize and are not usually a good method of determine gender for most owners.

Size is another trait that can be used when you are looking at a mature tarantula. Females tend to be larger and they also live much longer than males. This makes them quite prized in the hobbyist community. However, this trait is not helpful when you are dealing with juvenile spiders that have not undergone many molts.

juvenile tarantula

How do I use my tarantula’s molted exoskeleton to determine its gender?

Be aware that in tact molts can be a little hard to acquire. As soon as your spider has finished molting, you will want to secure the molt while it is still semi-pliable. If you allow the molt to dry out for too long, it can crumble when you try to look more closely at it.

Once you have your molt handy, you need to look between the first set of book lungs or respiratory organs. Female spiders will have a spermathecae, which is a special organ where the female stores sperm until she is ready to lay eggs. Males lack this organ and the molt will appear smooth in this area.

Not all spermathecae look the same in different spider species. For most species, it looks like a flap or small protrusions. Again, you will know you have a male spider if it is flat and smooth in the area between the book lungs.

Be mindful that examining a tarantula’s molt is the only tried and true method to determine gender accurately and without fail. You can most certainly use other indicators to make educated guesses, however molts are the best way to know whether or not you have a male or female spider.

mature mexican fireleg tarantula

When is my tarantula old enough to find out its gender?

There is currently no known and reliable method to determine the gender of a baby tarantula or spiderling. Not only are they very hard to keep still, they are even tougher to visually examine closely enough to make any type of assessment.

Spiderlings have also not fully developed their sex organs yet, so more molts are necessary before you can examine either the spider itself or its exoskeletons for traits to determine gender.

Usually, you can begin to determine the gender of the spider when you notice that it is large enough to leave behind a fully intact molt. In order to accurately find out if your spider is male or female, you will need to look at and handle the molt very closely. So the larger the molt, in theory, the easier you can determine gender.

tarantula molting

Conclusion

Unfortunately, you can’t find out the gender of your pet tarantula by turning it upside down and examining its abdomen. Spiders that are commonly kept as pets simply don’t possess traits that would easily identify them as male or female the way that most mammals do.

In order to find out whether your tarantula is a boy or a girl, you will need to wait until the spider has matured a bit. You will also need to keep a shed exoskeleton so that you can examine it closely.

So, unless you already know the gender of your spider, we highly recommend giving it a gender neutral name!

You can view the wonderful list of tarantulas we have for sale by clicking this link.

How to Pick Up a Pet Tarantula

~ BackwaterReptiles

Although tarantulas are not the most hands-on type of pet, they can be handled and interacted with if you understand the animal and its body language.

While we recommend leaving your pet tarantula to its own devices most of the time, there will be times when you will need to remove your spider from its enclosure. The most common time to take your spider out of its cage is when it requires cleaning.

In this article, we will discuss tips, tricks, and methods for removing your spider from its enclosure as well as handling it in a manner that is the most stress-free for both you and your arachnid.

how to pick up a tarantula
When picking up a spiderling such as this Antilles Pink Toe, be sure to support the spider entirely and be one step ahead of where it will be crawling. Baby spiders can be not only fast, but skittish, so you’ll want to be very careful.

How To Pick Up Your Pet Tarantula

Why would I need to pick up my pet tarantula?

Although it is true that in general most species of tarantula are best observed and not handled, if you are a tarantula owner, odds are that at some point in your spider’s life, you will have to remove the arachnid from it enclosure.

The most common reason to pick up any pet tarantula is to clean the spider’s cage. However, if you are a diligent spot-cleaner, you can certainly keep full-enclosure cleanings to a minimum. For instance, you should make sure to remove any molt exoskeletons once your spider has fully completed the process. Any uneaten cricket or insect corpses should also be removed in a timely fashion.

Many tarantula owners also have the desire to interact with their spider on a one on one level. Again, this should be done by experienced arachnid owners who know how to read their spider’s body language.

While tarantulas might not appear fragile, they can be rather delicate. Plus they have what are called urticating hairs that can be shed in distress. These hairs not only irritate human skin, but they can leave bald marks on the spider if they become overstressed and shed too many of these hairs.

brazilian salmon pink birdeater
Large spiders such as the Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater can have tricky dispositions, so be extra careful if you choose to handle one.

How do I handle my pet tarantula?

So now that you know that pet spiders can in fact be picked up and held if you choose to do so, what is the proper way to go about doing so? How do you pick up the spider without stressing it or causing it to bite?

First of all, you’ll want to know that there are certain species of tarantula that we simply do not recommend holding with  bare hands, regardless of your experience level. You can read more about those particular species later on in this article.

But if you do have a species of tarantula that is suitable for limited human interaction, first and foremost, before you even place your hand anywhere near the spider, you’ll want to know how to read the arachnid’s body language. Most tarantulas have very clear indicators that they are not in a good mood and if you notice any of these behaviors, you’ll want to steer clear of handling the spider until the bad mood has passed.

Here are the most common signs that your spider is simply not interested in interacting with you:

  1. Your tarantula lifts a leg or two from the ground and waves it. While the remainder of your spider’s body will stay grounded and relaxed, one or two of its front legs will raise up and be tense.
  2. Your tarantula is rearing up and displaying its fangs. This behavior is a very clear indicator that your spider is feeling aggressive. Odds are if you attempt to pick up, hold, or otherwise disturb your spider while it is in this posture, it will either attempt to bite you or rub urticating hairs in your direction.
  3. Your spider turns around and faces its abdomen towards you. This stance is usually followed by the tarantula rubbing its legs against its abdomen. If your arachnid does this, it is flicking urticating hairs in your direction and you should steer clear if you don’t want your skin to be irritated, red, and itchy.
  4. Your tarantula is extremely sluggish, slow, and hasn’t eaten in a while. In most cases, this means your spider is preparing to molt. While your tarantula might not be exceptionally grumpy during this time, you’ll certainly want to avoid disturbing it or handling it because it can upset the molting process and be hazardous to your spider’s health and well-being.
  5. If your tarantula is lying on it back upside down. This is a sure sign that the spider is undergoing the molting process and definitely should not be disturbed or moved in any way.

mexican fireleg tarantula
We always recommend using two hands when handling a tarantula as they will likely want to crawl.

If your tarantula is flat with his legs bent and abdomen gently parallel to the ground, it means that it is relaxed and feels safe in its current state. This type of posture means that your spider is in the proper mood to be held.

Once you’ve determined that your spider’s body language indicates you can interact with it, the next step is to make sure you are wearing the proper clothing. You might want to wear pants, long sleeves, and sometimes even gloves depending on the personality of your spider. Less skin that you have exposed means there is less of an opportunity for the tarantula to bite you should it become startled or defensive.

If you want to be hands on with your spider, we do recommend wearing gloves until you are 100 percent at ease with your pet and know how it tends to react and behave in general.

If you can, it’s best to have the spider on a flat surface so that you can gently place one hand in front of it and the other behind it to softly encourage the spider forward onto your hands.

Once you have eased the spider into your hands, make slow movements, speak softly, and avoid poking, prodding, or waving the spider around. Being at ease around your tarantula will in return put the animal itself at ease.

You can also use the “paper sliding under a cup” method of picking up your spider. More on that method later. Helpful hint: this method is best for very aggressive spiders.

golden knee tarantula
If you want an interactive pet spider, we highly recommend doing your research as not all species enjoy human handling.

What tips and tricks do you know for interacting with my tarantula?

A really good piece of advice that is (hopefully) self-evident for most spider owners is to keep your fingers away from the spider’s fangs. Don’t poke it or try to hand feed it. If you want to train your spider to accept food from you on command, always use tongs.

Be calm. When you make slow movements you will keep your spider in a calm mindset and it will feel far less threatened than if you make quick, frantic, or jerky movements.

Avoid touching the tarantula’s abdomen. Spiders that possess urticating hairs have them on their abdomen and if you brush these or rub them too hard, they will be released into your skin, which is not a pleasant experience for the spider or for the owner.

When you handle or interact with your tarantula, make sure that you are well out of the reach of other household pets. Avoid handling your spider around noisy dogs, clingy cats, or even other pet spiders. It’s best for the safety of all parties, human and animal, that are living in the household.

If you have a particularly active spider, hold it over a flat surface so that if it unintentionally walks out of your hand, it will not be injured by a fall from a high place. We also recommend keeping overactive spiders in your hands – don’t let them crawl into your hair, clothing, or appendages.

Which species of tarantula are the most interactive?

While many species of tarantula that are not considered classically docile can be held, it is true that there are certain types that are known for their calm temperaments and ability to interact with their owners.

A few species that are excellent spiders for beginners and for people who want to hold their spider are: Mexican Red Knees (Brachypelma smithi), Brazilian Blacks (Grammostola pulchra), Rose Hairs (Grammostola rosea), Curlyhairs (Brachypelma albopilosum), and Pink Toes (Avicularia avicularia).

Which species of spider should not be handled?

Certain species of tarantula are known for their aggressive natures and propensity to fling urticating hairs and/or bite. These types of spiders should not be held. If you need to remove the spider from its enclosure, we recommend wearing gloves or using the paper sliding underneath a cup method.

Here are a few species of spider sold by Backwater Reptiles that we do not recommend picking up: any species of “Baboon” tarantula (King Baboons, Orange Baboons, Ornamental Baboons, etc), Goliath Bird Eaters, and Trapdoor Spiders. Each of these species would pack quite a painful bite.

What should I do if my spider is aggressive?

If you cannot get your pet spider to voluntarily walk into your hands, then you might want to try using a stiff piece of paper and a cup, bowl, or another similar object to place on top of the spider. Then you can gently scoot the stiff paper underneath the cup and pick up the entire set up and move the spider where you need it to go.

This method is best used for spiders that are not meant to be held or for spiders with tricky dispositions. It’s also great for arachnids that are easily stressed.

If you do accidentally get bitten by your spider, the first thing you should do is not panic. You’ll likely be very distracted and possibly even frightened of your spider if you get bitten, but in order to avoid further injury to either you or your pet spider, you’ll need to gently remove the spider from your person and place it back into its enclosure.

holding brazilian salmon pink tarantula
Sometimes it’s necessary to wear gloves when handling spiders with tricky dispositions.

The next step to take in the event of a tarantula bite is to clean the wound. Wash it with soap and water and apply an antiseptic. Watch for signs of infection, a lot of redness, difficulty breathing or an abnormal amount of swelling. If you notice any of these signs, we highly recommend seeking professional medical attention as you could be having an allergic reaction to the bite.

It’s very likely that your spider bite will be painful and likely get a bit puffy and red. Any normal pain reliever such as acetaminophen or Ibuprofen should help with the discomfort.

Should you be unlucky enough to get urticating hairs in your skin, the best way to remove them is to use a piece of tape. Put the sticky side on the affected area and pull it off and the hairs should come out.

If you experience a lot of itching, swelling, or other discomfort after handling a tarantula or after knowingly having urticating hairs flicked onto you, it might be necessary to see a physician, although most cases are not that serious.

NOTE: You should never put your face and/or eyes close to a tarantula, but if you do somehow get urticating hairs in your eye, we do recommend seeing a doctor as soon as possible if you experience side effects that are adverse or long-lasting.

Conclusion

Tarantulas make excellent pets! They are beautiful to look at, fairly low maintenance, and can be fun to handle.

Please keep in mind when buying a pet spider that not all species are meant to be picked up or held. Some species are more docile than others and will take well to human handling, while others are aggressive in nature and should be “look don’t touch” pets.

If you would like recommendations on the best species of spider to keep for your needs or for your family’s needs, you can always ask in the comments section or email our customer service support team at sales@backwaterreptiles.com.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula Care (Avicularia versicolor)

~ BackwaterReptiles

Many exotic pet enthusiasts are drawn to the Antilles pink toe tarantula for its striking coloration and fairly mild disposition. People enjoy purchasing these tarantulas as spiderlings and watching the animal molt, change color, and mature into a big, beautiful arachnid.

Below you’ll read our Antilles pink toe care sheet, based upon our experience with these strikingly beautiful tarantulas.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula Description

This brilliantly colored spider is found in Martinique, which is off the coast of South America. It makes its home in trees and is therefore also commonly called the Martinique Red Tree Spider.

antilles pink toe tarantula care
Pictured is a juvenile Antilles pink toe tarantula. Notice it steely blue coloration. Their care isn’t complex, although we do recommend doing your research.

As baby spiders, Antilles pink toes are a metallic, steely blue-black color, but once mature, they become remarkably more colorful. Adults have a metallic greenish blue carapace while their abdomens are covered in red hairs. Their long legs are coated in a combination of red, brown, and pink hairs.

Antilles pink toes are considered to be medium-sized spiders. Adults will grow to have leg spans of four and a half to six inches. Males will be thinner than females with a more spindly-like appearance, while the females will tend to be a bit meatier and heftier of body.

The disposition of these colorful spiders is relatively even-tempered. They are not particularly aggressive, although they can and do bite from time to time. Overall, they prefer to be left alone as they can be quite skittish. In fact, Antilles pink toes are very fast and can jump quite far. This means that if you do handle your spider, you’ll want to stay near to a flat surface and make sure that the spider doesn’t have very far to fall if it should decide to jump out of your hands.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula Housing

Because they are an arboreal species, Antilles pink toes should be kept in an enclosure that is vertically oriented. Be sure to provide hide spaces and objects to climb on. Plants, wooden decorations, and other stable, vertically-oriented pieces are best.

The cage or enclosure needs to be kept at a relatively high humidity level, but also needs to be well ventilated to prevent stagnation. Generally, enclosures with one or two mesh screens or vents meet this requirement. Ideally, humidity levels should be kept at 75 to 85%, while the temperature range should be 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

antilles pink toe tarantula
Spiderlings can be housed in an enclosure as small as a shoebox stood up vertically.

Although they live in colonies in the wild, in captivity, Antilles pink toe tarantulas should be housed separately with the exception of mating pairs.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula Feeding Habits

These tarantulas are aggressive feeders and usually don’t reject food. It is acceptable to feed your Antilles pink toe nearly any type of feeder invertebrate – roaches, crickets, mealworms, wax worms, and horn worms are all great fare for this spider.

Interestingly enough, in the wild, Antilles pink toes are known to consume anole lizards and other small vertebrates, but in captivity, it’s best to stick to various insects.

Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula Molting

If you’ve never kept a pet tarantula before, you need to know that spiders molt and shed their old exoskeletons on a regular basis.

Prior to the actual molt occurring, tarantulas generally start to behave differently, and this is also true for the Antilles pink toe. Don’t be surprised if your spider becomes lethargic and even refuses food. The spider might also do a lot of extensive web spinning.

Eventually, you’ll notice that your tarantula has flipped over onto its back. It will appear to be dead, but don’t be misled. This is a completely normal behavior for molting spiders. Just be sure to not disturb your spider when it is in this state.

adult antilles pink toe tarantula
When your Antilles pink toe has undergone enough molts, it will be bold red and blue/green in color like the one pictured.

Once your tarantula has righted itself, it will be vulnerable until its new exoskeleton hardens. Be sure not to feed it until a fair amount of time has passed. Feeder insects can actually hurt the spider if you feed it before the hardening process has completed.

If you want more information on this process, we wrote an entire separate article on what to do when your pet tarantula molts.

Conclusion

Antilles pink toe tarantulas are best looked at and kept as pets for display purposes. They are not considered aggressive, but are very fast and can jump far. This means they are not ideal for being handled or coddled.

If you are ready to commit to a colorful spider that you can show off to your friends and family, Backwater Reptiles has Antilles pink toe tarantulas for sale.

Best Pet Tarantulas

~ BackwaterReptiles

Welcome to our list of the best pet tarantulas in the world. Pet spiders are very polarizing – people either love the idea of keeping a large spider in their home or they hate it. At Backwater Reptiles, we take care of spiders destined to be people’s pets every day, so we understand the appeal of arachnids.

Our goal for this blog article is to describe and detail our picks for the top four best pet tarantulas. Read on to find out which species we chose.

Mexican Red Knee Tarantula (Brachypelma smithi)

Red Knees are one of the most commonly kept pet tarantulas. They are readily available in chain pet stores and most people probably think of this species when they imagine what a tarantula looks like.

As you’ve probably surmised, Mexican red knee tarantulas are dark brown or black with distinctive red knee patches on the joints of their limbs. They grow to have a leg span of approximately seven inches. Males will live for around three to six years old, while females can live for around twenty five years.

best pet tarantulas
Although we don’t necessarily recommend putting any tarantula with urticating hairs on your face, red knees are so docile that most owners feel comfortable enough to take the risk. Here’s one of our employees (Amanda) with her favorite Red knee.

Known for their reasonable temperaments, red knees usually don’t mind being handled. Although there is always some danger of being bit or getting urticating hairs in your skin, you don’t usually need to worry about this behavior with red knees. For the most part, although they can be skittish at first, red knees would rather hide from you than attack you.

We highly recommend a docile Mexican red knee tarantula if you are interested in acquiring a pet tarantula.

Rose Hair Tarantula (Grammostola rosea)

Rose hair tarantulas get their common name from the color of the hairs on their bodies. Some are more brightly colored than others with semi-metallic pink hairs, while others just have more of a dull pink tinge to them.

The rose hair is another species of tarantula that is known for its docile disposition. Many rose hair owners play with and handle their spiders on a regular basis without fear of being bitten or getting irritating hairs embedded in their skin.

rose hair tarantula
This particular rose hair tarantula only has hints of pink or rose to its coloration. The amount of pink to the spider’s hairs varies from animal to animal.

If you purchase a spiderling rose hair, it will take approximately three to four years for it to reach maturity. A spiderling that starts off life around the size of a pencil eraser will eventually grow up to have a leg span between four to five inches.

Purchase your own pet rose hair tarantula from Backwater Reptiles.

Brazilian Black Tarantula (Grammastola pulchra)

Many people label the Brazilian black tarantula as the “ideal” pet spider. This is because they are a bold, jet black color with highly docile attitudes. They have simple care requirements and healthy appetites. They actually make great pet tarantulas for beginners and we’d even recommend them as a classroom pet.

Brazilian Blacks are terrestrial spiders, so although they don’t require a massive amount of space, we do highly recommend that your spider live in an enclosure that is wide and not super tall.

brazilian black tarantula spiderling
Pictured is a baby Brazilian black tarantula. They start out small, but they grow quite large.

Interestingly enough, we do recommend keeping a water dish in the Brazilian Black’s enclosure. Even though you might never see your spider drink water, both spiderlings and adults need humidity, and a water dish helps to maintain that.

Ready for a classroom pet? Or just want a friendly pet spider? Backwater Reptiles has healthy pet Brazilian Black tarantulas for sale.

Golden Blue Leg Baboon Tarantula (Harpactira pulchripes)

We’ve included the rare golden blue leg baboon tarantula on our list because it is almost a “collector’s” spider. Because it is so hard to find in the U.S., it becomes a highly sought after spider for arachnid enthusiasts. Keep in mind that because it is so sought after, it does come with a fairly steep price point.

Although it begins life as a relatively unremarkable spiderling with a tinge of blue to it, the golden blue leg baboon tarantula matures into a beautiful, large spider with metallic blue legs.

golden blue leg baboon spiderling
This spiderling is a very rare. When this little spider matures, it will have brilliant blue legs.

Like all the spiders on this list, the golden blue leg baboon will happily eat crickets and other appropriately sized invertebrates. Spiderlings can eat a small cricket every day, whereas adults are perfectly happy eating once or twice a week.

If you’re a spider enthusiast, Backwater Reptiles does sell rare golden blue leg baboon  tarantulas.

Conclusion – The Best Pet Tarantulas

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our guide to the best pet tarantulas in the world. Indeed, tarantulas aren’t for everyone. But, if you’re not an arachnophobe, then we would recommend any of the spiders on this list as a pet. Most are pretty friendly and all of them are very easy to care for in captivity.