Brazilian Black Tarantula Care
The Brazilian Black Tarantula is highly sought after due to its docile nature, easy-care, and beautiful black body.
If you are looking for an all-black but friendly tarantula, this might be the right species for you to check out.
Tarantulas will have specific needs when it comes to caring, and it won’t be like any other reptile you might have owned in the past. The Black Brazilian is a beginner-friendly tarantula and won’t require any unique conditions or needs.
Read on if you are interested in learning how to care for this popular tarantula:
Quick Reference Section
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Theraphosidae
- Scientific Name: Grammostola pulchra
- Type: Terrestrial
- Category: New World
- Adult Size: up to 7 to 8 inches
- Lifespan: Males: 6 to 8 years; Females: up to 20 years
- Average Price Range: $70 to $250 per spider (depending on gender and size)
- Where to buy: backwaterreptiles.com, lllreptile.com
Bioactive Brazilian Black Tarantula Setup Product List
- Enclosure: Exo Terra Glass terrarium kit
- Soil: Zoo Med Reptisoil
- Moss: Zoo Med terrarium moss
- Hide: Zoo Med cork hide
- Leaf Litter: Sungrow leaf litter
- Hygrometer: Zoomed hygrometer
- Cleaners: Springtails & Isopods
- Water Dish: Zoo Med small water dish
Appearance
Everyone knows the Brazilian Black tarantula by their hefty, wooly, glossy black bodies, and clustered eyes up in front of their faces. They are a beautiful jet-black tarantula in both their bodies and their short, fine hairs.
It might seem this arachnid has some gray or white tones in certain lighting, but that might be the gleaming of their dark hairs.
Habitat
The Brazilian Black tarantula can be found in and around Brazil, as their name suggests, and Northern Uruguay.
They choose to live in the grasslands of these areas, keeping themselves burrowed or hidden from the open. However, since this tarantula is an opportunistic burrower, it can also be found hiding behind dark wood logs or may find any other abandoned den to call home.
They will also hide beneath rocks, vegetation, and anywhere else that would allow them to hide before ambushing their prey and protect themselves from any predators.
Diet
These guys are avid night hunters that use vibrations to find nearby prey. They feed on large feeder insects like crickets and arthropods, and also indulge on mice, lizards, and more in the wild.
A mentioned earlier, they will find a place to hide or creep in their burrow, waiting for their prey to come near enough to ambush them. They do not create webs to catch them like other spiders; they will drag them, inject their venom, and eat them alive.
Lifespan
Brazilian Black tarantulas are relatively slow growers, taking up to 8 years until they reach sexual maturity. This will be near the end of the male’s life. Females can live up to 20 years and can reach up to 8 inches sometimes when fully grown.
Breeding
The Brazilian Black female can lay about 600 eggs, which take a short 2 to 3weeks to hatch. When tarantulas are ready to breed, the male will deposit his sperm in a small silk sac which he will then store in his pedipalps. Tarantula mating rituals are pretty dangerous and can be life or death for the male.
The male tarantula will first search for a mate and invite her to mate. The male will then attempt to deposit his sperm sac into the female’s pedipalps by holding back her pincers and legs so she cannot attack him.
If he can successfully deposit the sac, he will then have a few minutes to flee after copulation since the female tarantula will be entranced with chemicals that come with fertilization.
If the male is not careful or the female thinks he is not a suitable mate, he will become her dinner. However, if copulation is successful and the female Black Brazilian tarantula is fertilized, she will then protect the clutch of eggs for their incubation period until they hatch.
Check out this interesting mating process here between two Brazilian Blacks:
If you are going to attempt to breed your spiders, you need to be fast and ready to remove the male after he fertilizes her.
Legality
In general, tarantulas are legal to keep in most states, although local laws may restrict captivity, breeding, and such. Check out your local laws to find out what is not allowed in your state or city.
You can find them at pet stores easily, but we recommend you also try to look for a rescue group or at least make sure you buy from a licensed, reputable breeder.
Brazilian Black Tarantula Care Sheet
Enclosure
The key for this species is getting an enclosure that offers good ventilation since Brazilian Blacks will need a slightly more arid environment.
A good rule of thumb to follow for any tarantula enclosure is to make sure that the enclosure’s width is at least three times your spider’s leg span.
You might want to look for a tank of about 12 by 10 inches in size, at the very least. The bigger, the better, and it’s important to note that the width and length of the tank are more important than the height for these terrestrial spiders.
You might also want to get something that has an escape-proof lid since tarantulas are quite the escape artists.
Cleaning
You should try to keep your spider’s tank clean to reduce the risk of illness. This can be done by taking one day out of your week to clean their tank. Remove any uneaten food or leftover molt as soon as you see it in their cage.
Substrate
While they are opportunistic burrowers, they may dig if given the appropriate amount of substrate in their enclosure. The minimum recommendation is 4 inches at the very least.
The best choices for a Brazilian Black tarantula are chemical-free potting soil or ground coco fiber. But, again, make sure to give them 4 inches of burrowing space and that you are keeping their environment similar to that of their natural habitat.
Pack down their substrate as tight as you can until it is at the depth you want. This will allow for easy burrowing without anything falling onto your spider.
Temperature
Brazilian Black tarantulas come from a climate that can fluctuate between 65 to 85 degrees, meaning they will be most comfortable around these numbers.
They can do just fine around room temperatures, but if you find that your home goes below these numbers, you might want to consider getting a heating pad to place under one side of their tank.
This can give your spider a gradient of temperatures in their tank to choose from. Having both a warm side and cool side of the tank can allow your tarantula the choice of regulating their temperatures at the side they want to retreat to.
Humidity
You should be providing fresh water in a shallow water dish to your tarantula at all times. Not only will this help keep humidity in the tank along with their moist substrate, but it will keep them healthy.
This specific species of tarantula requires 55 to 65 percent humidity ranges to survive.
If you are caring for spiderlings, they may need a light misting to drink from as well as a moister substrate until they have reached an inch in leg span.
These spiders don’t require as much humidity as other tarantula species, so misting should not happen after they’ve reached a one-inch leg span. A water dish should be enough to keep their enclosure at the humidity they need.
Lighting
Don’t worry about lighting but monitor their tank temperatures since it is more essential to their well-being.
However, while they don’t need lighting, Brazilian Blacks have been seen to bask every once in a while. While it’s not an essential part of their life, if you see your tarantula showing an attraction to light, a 15-watt fluorescent light near their enclosure could still be safe.
Feeding
These guys can be aggressive eaters, and if you let them, they can eat up to seven adult crickets a week!
Spiderlings should be fed one or two smaller insects like pinhead crickets and roach nymphs every other day.
Adults can eat larger insects like crickets as well as various roach species. You can give adults about 3 to 8 insects a month. If you decide to give them less, you can feed them once weekly, as long as you feed them less than eight insects per month.
You shouldn’t feed spiderlings right after they molt because the exoskeleton will need to dry for a few days. An adult spider will need at least two weeks after molting.
Finally, if your spider doesn’t consume all their insects during feeding time, make sure to remove them from the enclosure. Also, make sure to remove the drained insects as well. Do not leave them behind.
Temperament
These tarantulas are great for beginners since they are docile. However, they are also known to be very active spiders.
They will rarely bite and are more likely to show defensive behavior before they even attempt to bite.
If startled or provoked, they have urticating hairs and might react by fleeing first. While they rarely bite, they still have the fangs to do it if you don’t let them be.
Handling
Since these docile creatures are rarely aggressive and are fairly tolerant to handling, you might want to try and have a go at it.
If they act defensively, give them some time to get used to your presence before you try to put your hand in their enclosure or touch them.
Use soft tongs or another light object that won’t crush them to see how they react before you consider handling them fully.
If they don’t react negatively, you might be able to try to pick them up but do so at a short height since even just a small fall could injure or even kill them. Make sure you are doing this sitting down on a carpeted floor just in case they try to flee.
Check out YouTuber Marek Kučera handling the calm Brazilian Black here:
Brazilian Black Tarantula FAQ
How much do Brazilian Black tarantulas cost?
If you are looking for an affordable pet that is incredibly easy to care for, then the Brazilian Black Tarantula is one to consider. For a good quality tarantula, you can expect to spend around $100, which is pretty affordable when it comes to purchasing what is considered an exotic pet.
How fast do these tarantulas grow?
The Brazilian Black tarantula is a slow grower. It can actually take up to eight years for them to become fully mature. They can reach up to 8 inches in size; however, the most common size is between six and seven inches.
Do Brazilian Black tarantulas eat dubia roaches?
The more common foods you can feed a Brazilian Black tarantula are locusts, grasshoppers, moths, pinky mice, and small lizards. Avoid using crickets because they can be pests to this kind of spider.
A couple of other good choices are dubia roaches and mealworms. Smaller spiderlings like to munch on small mealworms, small headless crickets, and fruit flies.
How can you confirm different spider species from a tarantula?
You can easily distinguish a spider from a tarantula based on the different characteristics of each species. Tarantulas are popularly bought as pets but can also be found in the wild as well. They have a unique body and appearance, making it easy to identify them as a tarantula.
The more common characteristics to help identify a tarantula from a spider include their black or brown-colored body, the hair on the body, dense hairs, and some have stripes covering the legs.
What are the effects of a Brazilian Black tarantula’s bite?
These spiders are not really interested in biting, but you can get bitten if they are not handled carefully. The venom isn’t dangerous and has no deadly side effects. It is often compared to that of a bee sting and the pain associated with that. If you are bit, it will hurt, though, and you will need to treat the bite to avoid infection.
Can you put two tarantulas in the same enclosure?
There are a few exceptions to this, but you will find that two tarantulas can rarely live in the same enclosure together safely. This is because tarantulas are considered cannibalistic and are more likely to eat each other if housed together. This is especially true if they are put in the same small cage or enclosure.
Conclusion
Beginner and expert collectors want the popular Brazilian Black due to its sleek look and docile nature. If you are thinking of getting one, we don’t blame you, because we agree!
We hope you learned more about caring for your pet tarantula properly, whether it’s your first time or you are an expert tarantula keeper.
Leave any questions and comments you might want to add in our comment section below, and we hope you enjoyed this care sheet on the beautiful Black Brazilian tarantula!
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