Caribena versicolor female • 2 1/2″ (Martinique or Antilles pink toe)

Description

An undisputed hobby favorite, Caribena versicolor is endemic to the island of Martinique, one of the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles island chain.

The northern half of Martinique supports lush tropical rainforest and is home to C. versicolor. The southern half is drier and has different terrain. It supports another hobby species, Acanthoscurria antillensis.

Through its lifetime C. versicolor has two color patterns. Spiderlings are shades of blue and have banded abdomens. As they mature they lose banding and acquire adult color. Both color patterns are something to behold.

When one satisfies its keeping requirements, C. versicolor‘s appetite and activity always seem to be good. Worth mentioning is that spiderlings have narrower requirements for successful raising, they require more attention. A fair number of those sold don’t make it to adulthood. Fortunately, by the time they reach the size offered here they’ve acquired considerable robustness.

We recommend keeping this young female in a vertically oriented enclosure with vertically placed cork bark or wood. She’ll choose attachment points above ground to web a hide. Room temperature (68-72F) is fine. As always, warmer temperatures promote appetite and growth rate.

Although a juvenile’s robustness exceeds a spiderling’s, there are still some pitfalls to avoid. These regard enclosure moisture. Firstly, with any tarantula there’s no need to keep enclosure air at or near saturation (95-100% RH). It’s true that many terrestrial spiderlings can handle air saturated with water. However, C. versicolor spiderlings, as do all true New World arboreal spiderlings, do better with enclosure air kept below the dew point. In other words, they do better when humidity is below the point where water readily condenses. Condensation happens when water-saturated air is cooled, such as at night.

We prefer 80-90% RH. Some hobbyists, fearful of ‘stagnant air,’ go even further. They use dry substrate, daily misting (for sips of water more than sustained humidity), and an abundance of holes along the top and sides of the enclosure. The arboreal spiderling is kept on a knife-edge of hydration/dehydration, but the method does work.

We’ll outline our approach to raising spiderling/juvenile true New World arboreals in an upcoming Knowledge Base article.

Photos: 1-specimen for sale, 2.5″ after recent molt (ArachnoEden); 2-premolt color pattern of specimen for sale, 1.5″ (ArachnoEden); 3-adult female (ArachnoEden)

Care highlights:

• slightly dry substrate + water dish or other humidity source
• room temperature (68-72F) up to 80F
• elevated humidity (80-90% RH)
• vertical structure for climbing and webbing