In stock Antilles & Puerto Rican Pinktoe Tarantulas for sale All tarantulas for sale
Caribena spp.
Sold under its hobby name. This guide covers the group or trade name this fella is sold as, so the ranges fit the whole group. Start in the middle and watch how your animal settles in.
Antilles & Puerto Rican Pinktoe Tarantulas: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: C. versicolor (electric-blue sling maturing to green-and-red) and C. laeta. Docile but extremely skittish jumpers. Slings die from stagnant damp air more than anything else. Adults reach about 4.5-6 in. Not recommended for handling.
Group: Industry StaplesDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Arboreal, heavy ventilationHandling: Not recommended, fast leap-prone jumper
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 72-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 70-80% air: dry floor, heavy cross vent, dish |
| Setup Type | Arboreal, heavy ventilation |
| Substrate | Dry substrate, 1-2 in, mold-resistant mix |
| Feeding | Crickets over mealworms weekly, strong eaters as slings |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | Not recommended, fast leap-prone jumper |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- Sling: compact secure enclosure.
- Juveniles and smaller adults: vertical bark setup with heavy cross ventilation.
- Adult C. versicolor: taller, heavily ventilated vertical arboreal build.
Warnings First
- Slings die from stagnant damp air. Ventilation, not humidity, is the whole game.
- Going to the ground and staying there is almost always fatal for a sling.
- Docile but a fast, leap-prone jumper. Never handle.
- Sheds urticating hairs and flicks feces when threatened. Give it space.
- Cross flow means low vents on one wall and high vents on the opposite wall. Holes only in the lid is not cross ventilation.
Simple Care
- Vertical enclosure, dry substrate, a water dish, and heavy cross ventilation, 60+ vent holes for sling cups.
- Vents low on one wall and high on the opposite wall so air crosses the enclosure diagonally.
- Light water droplets on the webbing 2-3x weekly, then let it dry. Never a sealed humid box.
- Shallow water dish with pebbles so slings cannot drown.
- Cork bark slab and foliage near the top.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- C. versicolor (Martinique) and C. laeta (Puerto Rico) are close relatives of Avicularia. Treat them the same: vertical, dry substrate, water dish, abundant airflow.
- Mass die-offs in versicolor slings trace to substrate mold. A mold-resistant mix plus heavy cross ventilation is the fix. Condensation on the walls is the warning sign.
- Hole count matters less than placement. Put half the venting low on one wall, the rest high on the opposite wall, so air crosses diagonally through the layer where slings die.
- Keep the substrate dry, run a dish, and put droplets on the webbing 2-3x weekly, letting it dry back completely between times. No ambient number to hit.
- Keep the water dish packed with pebbles below the rim, versicolor slings drown in open dishes.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Strong eaters as slings. Offer crickets over mealworms weekly, remove leftovers fast.
- Pre-killed prey works for the smallest slings. A dehydrated sling with no water source is the other common loss.
- Turns sluggish and sits tight in its silk retreat before a molt, refusing food for days or weeks. Pull feeders, leave it alone, wait 5-10 days after the molt before feeding again.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Martinique (C. versicolor) and Puerto Rico (C. laeta): humid tropical island forest.
- Habitat translation: A vertical, heavily cross-ventilated arboreal enclosure with dry substrate, a water dish, a cork slab and foliage up top, and water droplets on the webbing instead of misting.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Adult size about 4.5-6 in leg span, medium growth. Females live about 10-12 years, males 2-4. The blue sling color fades to the adult green-and-red.
- Slings are unforgiving of ventilation mistakes, adults are far more robust. If one goes to the ground and stays there, it's usually already too late.
- Docile but extremely skittish: leap-prone jumpers that shed setae and flick feces when threatened. No handling.