Ybyrapora diversipes spiderling • 3/4 – 1″ (sapphire pink toe)

Description

Ybyrapora diversipes is the flag bearer for Ybyrapora, having been around since it was in the Avicularia genus. Like its Ybyrapora cousins, Y. diversipes is from the Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. (Note, some refer to Y. diversipes with the common name Amazon sapphire. Yet the species is not from the Amazon basin.) Bright colorful contrasts in the spiderling stage contrast with purplish and reddish browns in the adult stage.

As is common with New World true arboreals in general, spiderlings of Y. diversipes require closer attention than juveniles and adults. The main parameter to watch is enclosure water. As straightforward as this sounds, it’s a bit more nuanced. We suspect a fair number of spiderlings don’t make it to adulthood.

We recommend keeping Y. diversipes spiderlings in vertically oriented enclosures with vertically placed cork bark or wood. We use acrylic or polystyrene containers with a volume of 100 to 200 mL. Room temperature (68-72F) is fine. As always, warmer temperatures promote appetite and growth rate, at the risk of faster drying.

As mentioned above, the most important consideration is enclosure moisture. With any tarantula, but particularly New World arboreals like Y. diversipes, there is no need to keep enclosure air saturated or nearly so (95-100% RH). While many terrestrial spiderlings can handle air moisture in this range, the true New World arboreal spiderling does better with enclosure air moisture kept safely away from the dew point, that is, below the point where water condenses. If not, commonly achieved drops in temperature (e.g, just a few degrees as at night) cause water to condense on walls, wetting the substrate surface. Repeated cycles eventually produce wetness and biofilm, a toxic combination. The spiderling goes off feed. Some may be sold in this condition and never recover.

Some hobbyists, fearful of what they call stagnant air, drop humidity drastically, using bone dry or no substrate, daily or twice daily misting, and an abundance of holes along the top and sides. The arboreal spiderling is kept on a knife-edge of hydration/dehydration, but the method does work. Note, room air in most US homes are in the 40-50% RH range, too low for most any spiderling.

Turns out one doesn’t have to swing the pendulum so far to the dry side, although it does seem to help to use dry substrate. Even slightly dampened soil raises humidity fairly aggressively because substrate surface area is typically large compared to air volume.

It’s possible to achieve moderate humidity in the 75-85% RH range without wetness. We use substrate dry to the touch, a water vessel and ventilation control. With such a system a spiderling can go more than a week without intervention and without “stagnation.” If you’re new to keeping New World true arboreals but are apprehensive about raising a spiderling, ask us to include a low-tech set up with instructions.

Photos: 1-representative Y. diversipes spiderling (ArachnoEden)

Care highlights:

• substrate dry to touch + water test tube or other humidity source
• control ventilation to achieve 75-85% RH
• room temperature (68-72F) up to 80F
• vertical structure for climbing and webbing