Tapinauchenius 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.
Purple Tree Tarantulas: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: Purple tree spiders from northern Amazonia: blisteringly fast, fast-growing, and flighty rather than aggressive. They bolt into a web tube instead of biting. The real challenge is that speed at every rehouse.
Group: Industry StaplesDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Semi-arboreal to arboreal, tall with cork tubeHandling: No handling, tools and catch cup only
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 | 60-75%, damp for slings, adults drier + damp corner |
| Setup Type | Semi-arboreal to arboreal, tall with cork tube |
| Substrate | Slings 2-3 in slightly moist, adults drier + damp corner |
| Feeding | Slings weekly, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | No handling, tools and catch cup only |
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
- Slings: compact secure enclosure, 2-3 in slightly moist substrate, low and high vents
- Juveniles: semi-arboreal vertical bark setup with a cork tube
- Adults (4.5-5.5 in): taller arboreal build, drier substrate with one damp corner
Warnings First
- Teleport-fast, among the fastest tarantulas you'll keep. Plan every opening and rehouse over a tub with the catch cup in hand.
- No urticating hairs, but it can bite if cornered. Give it a tube to bolt into, not your hand.
- Slings drown in open dishes. Keep pebbles or grit in the water dish.
- Damp sling enclosures with lid-only vents go stale within days. Vent low on one wall and high on the opposite from the start.
- Premolt: pull uneaten feeders and leave it alone. Wait 5-10 days after the molt to feed.
Simple Care
- Use a tall enclosure with a vertical cork tube and web anchor points.
- Vent low on one wall and high on the opposite wall so air crosses past the tube.
- Keep sling substrate slightly moist. Adults go drier with a damp corner.
- Keep a shallow water dish with pebbles in it.
- Stage a catch cup for every rehouse.
- Mist the substrate at the base of the cork, not the tube.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- The sling stage is the risky one: a small moist enclosure has almost no air to buffer it. Vents go low on one wall and high on the opposite, exiting above the cork tube.
- Moisture shifts as it grows, airflow doesn't. Slings get damp substrate under strong airflow, adults get drier substrate with one damp corner.
- Judge by hand. Sling substrate is lightly damp with no free water and dries back between top-ups. Adult open substrate reads dry while the damp corner stays moist.
- Condensation at any stage means it needs more airflow.
- Mist the substrate at the base of the cork, not the tube. The retreat stays dry and ventilated while the ground stays damp.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Strong feeders: slings weekly, adults every week or two. They web tubes and ambush from them.
- Molting: premolt spiders slow down, seal the web tube and refuse food for days or weeks. Pull feeders, leave it alone, and wait 5-10 days after a molt for fangs to harden.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Northern Amazonia and Trinidad, humid forest understory.
- Habitat translation: Humid forest understory becomes a tall enclosure with a vertical cork tube and web anchors, cross ventilation, a water dish, and substrate slightly moist for slings, drier for adults.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Hobby species include T. violaceus (purple tree spider, often sold as T. cupreus), T. plumipes, T. rasti and T. sanctivincenti.
- No urticating hairs at all, like Psalmopoeus. Bites are rare and the venom is mild. The hazard is the speed.
- Its default escape is into the web tube, not at you, but never test that with hands.
- Very fast grower. Females live about 8-10 yrs, males 2-3 yrs.