Tapinauchenius spp.
Identity confidence: provisional. This is a genus, group, or trade name rather than a confirmed species. Treat it as the closest match we can stand behind, and use the more conservative end of any range.
Purple Tree Tarantulas: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The 'teleport' tarantulas: purple tree spiders from northern Amazonia: blisteringly fast, no urticating hairs, but flighty rather than aggressive (they bolt into a web tube, they don't usually bite). Very fast growers. The only real challenge is the speed at rehouse. Adults reach about 4.5-5.5 inches across.
Group: Industry StaplesDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Semi-arboreal (arboreal as adults)Handling: NEVER
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 | 75-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (60-75%) with cross ventilation; damp substrate for slings, drier with a damp corner for adults |
| Setup Type | Semi-arboreal (arboreal as adults) |
| Substrate | Moist substrate, 2-3 in for slings; drier with a damp corner for adults |
| Feeding | Strong feeder: slings weekly, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | NEVER |
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
- Compact secure enclosure while it's a tiny sling
- Vertical bark setup (semi-arboreal) for juveniles
- Taller vertical arboreal build for the adult
Warnings First
- Teleport-fast: the fastest tarantulas you'll keep; plan every opening
- No urticating hairs, but a defensive bite is possible if cornered
- Flighty, not aggressive. Give it a tube to bolt into, not your hand
- Slings are kept damper than adults, which is exactly when airflow matters most. Vent low on one wall and high on the opposite wall from the sling stage onward.
Simple Care
- Tall enclosure with a vertical cork tube; cross-ventilation.
- Vents low on one wall and high on the opposite wall so air crosses diagonally past the tube.
- Slightly moist substrate for slings, drier with a damp corner as adults; water dish.
- Shallow water dish with pebbles in it so slings cannot drown.
- Catch cup staged for every rehouse.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- The hobby names: T. violaceus (purple tree spider, often sold as T. cupreus), T. plumipes, T. rasti, T. sanctivincenti: humid forest understory of northern Amazonia and Trinidad.
- Semi-arboreal slings move toward arboreal adults; a tall cork tube with web anchor points is the setup. Keep slings on slightly moist substrate, adults drier with a damp corner.
- That sling stage is the risky one, because a small enclosure with moist substrate has almost no air volume to buffer it. Build cross ventilation in from the start: vents low on one wall at substrate level and more high on the opposite wall, so air enters low, crosses diagonally, and exits above the cork tube. A moist sling cup with lid-only venting goes stale within days, and this genus does not tolerate that any better than a pinktoe does.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity trade against each other, and the balance shifts as the animal grows. Slings get damp substrate under strong airflow; adults get drier substrate with one damp corner under the same airflow. Slings get damp substrate, adults get drier substrate with one damp corner. Same airflow either way.
- Judge by hand rather than by gauge. For slings, substrate should be lightly damp with no free water and should dry back noticeably between top-ups. For adults, the open substrate reads dry while the damp corner stays moist. Condensation at any stage means more airflow.
- Keep a shallow water dish with pebbles or coarse grit so the waterline sits below the rim. Slings of the fastest tarantulas in the hobby drown in open dishes, and the stones let you leave water permanently available rather than opening a Tapinauchenius enclosure more often than you need to.
- Mist the substrate at the base of the cork, not the tube itself. Moisture rising through moving air keeps the ground-level microclimate damp while the retreat stays dry and ventilated, which is the arrangement this genus actually wants.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Strong feeders: slings weekly, adults every week or two. They web tubes and ambush from them.
- Their default escape is into the web tube, not at you, but never test that with hands. Tools and a catch cup, every time.
- Molting: a premolt tarantula turns sluggish, seals up its web tube, and refuses food for days or even weeks. Pull any uneaten feeders, leave it strictly alone, and wait 5-10 days after the molt (until the new fangs and exoskeleton harden) before feeding again.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Northern Amazonia and Trinidad: humid forest understory.
- Habitat translation: Tall semi-arboreal/arboreal enclosure with a vertical cork tube and web anchor points, cross-ventilation, a water dish, and substrate that's slightly moist for slings, drier for adults.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Adult size ~4.5-5.5 in DLS; a very fast grower; females ~8-10 years, males ~2-3.
- Psalmopoeinae, like Psalmopoeus: no urticating hairs at all. The hazard is purely the speed; bites are rare and not medically significant.
- 'Teleport speed' is not an exaggeration: keepers consistently rate these as out-running almost everything else in the hobby. Rehouse over a tub, with the catch cup already in hand.