Avicularia purpurea (Purple Pink Toe Tarantula) 1-1.5"

Avicularia purpurea (Purple Pink Toe Tarantula)

The Purple Pink Toe Tarantula, or Avicularia purpurea, is an arboreal tarantula from Ecuador. Adults have a very dark base color with a bright metallic purple across the legs, carapace (head) and abdomen, a purple that shows plainly without any special lighting to bring it out. Spiderlings start out a gray and black that looks like a smoked version of the traditional pink toe, and the purple begins coming in around 2 inches. The species only grows to about 5 inches in diagonal leg span, while females live about 10 to 12 years and males mature faster, typically living only 2 to 3 years. This species is also docile but fast, quicker to bolt for its retreat than to stand its ground, appealing to keepers who want serious color from an arboreal without a defensive animal. We're excited to offer this new world tarantula for sale, offered here as a spiderling.

Why do hobbyists keep Purple Pink Toe Tarantula?

• Stunning Coloration: A bright metallic purple over a very dark base, spread across the legs, carapace and abdomen, and it shows plainly without any special lighting to bring it out.
• Colorful Spiderlings: Pink toe tarantula spiderlings typically arrive in a pink and black coloration. This species is the exception, coming in a gray and black that looks like a smoked version of that traditional look, and the purple starts pushing through around 2 inches.
• Heavy Webber: An arboreal heavy webber that builds thick silk tube retreats up in the branches, and the webbing becomes as much a part of the display as the tarantula itself.
• Docile Temperament: Calm and forgiving for an arboreal, quick to retreat rather than posture, which is why this one has stayed a favorite with pink toe keepers for years.
• Hobby Favorite: A long standing pick among arboreal keepers, and the purple pinktoe tarantula is one of the first names that comes up when somebody asks where to start with this group.

How should Avicularia purpurea be kept?

• Adult Size: Purple Pink Toe Tarantula spiderlings hatch around 0.5 to 0.75 inch and grow to about 5 inches in diagonal leg span as full adults, so every enclosure below is sized ahead of where this animal is today, not just to fit it right now.
• Enclosure: At 1 to 1.5 inches, this arboreal tarantula cage runs 4x4x5 inches, with at least 1.5 inches of substrate and a real piece of cork bark or sterile wood to start webbing against right away. Sized a notch ahead of the animal on purpose, since a pink toe that grows into its space settles and webs faster than one that outgrows it and has to be moved again right away.
• Setup Tips: Real cork bark or a real piece of wood in the enclosure is not just decoration, it is one of the most important pieces of this setup. It gives the animal somewhere real to grip and start laying web right away, and with this genus in particular, that first piece of bark makes a drastic difference in how quickly a new arrival settles in and starts webbing. We have seen a real increase in early survival success tied directly to a bark based setup versus a bare enclosure, so this is one detail worth getting right from day one, not something to add later.
• Rehousing: From here it moves up to an 8x8x10 inch enclosure, then finally a 10x10x16 inch enclosure as a full adult, with each move coming roughly 8 to 12 months apart at this genus's medium to fast growth rate, full size in about 2 to 4 years start to finish.
• Temperature: 75 to 85°F, which is typical room temperature in most homes. Most keepers do not need any extra heating for this genus.
• Humidity: Moderate to high, with the substrate kept lightly moist rather than wet, and strong cross ventilation. Airflow matters more here than maximizing humidity, so skip a fully screened top, which dries an enclosure out too fast.
• Water: A shallow water dish is enough, and placing it up on a piece of cork rather than on the floor is more natural for an arboreal and keeps crickets from drowning in it before they get eaten. Add a light misting of the enclosure once a week to help keep humidity in range.
• Diet: Prey sized around 5/16", the right size for a 1 to 1.5 inch animal, offered at least once a week. Feed on that schedule at every stage, spiderlings included, and remove anything left uneaten after a day or two.
• Temperament: Docile but fast, quicker to bolt for its retreat than to stand its ground, and capable of jumping when startled. It tends to stay high in the enclosure and may ignore prey sitting on the ground while young, so offering food up where it is sitting works better than dropping it below. This genus is genuinely easy once one thing is right: keep the air moving with real cross ventilation, keep the substrate lightly moist rather than wet, and give it real cork bark from the sling stage. Get that airflow right and this species is straightforward to raise.

Are there any additional notes or considerations?

• Pink Toe Spiders?: You will sometimes see these called pink toe spiders online. Tarantulas are arachnids, not spiders, and definitely not true spiders, the kind most people picture when they hear the word spider. This is one of the heavy bodied, hairy, long lived tarantulas that gets lumped in with that name anyway. If you searched for a pink toe spider and landed here, you are in exactly the right place.

Looking for similar species?

• Browse our Arboreal Tarantulas and New World Tarantulas collections to explore related care profiles.

Listing Notes

• This listing is for an Avicularia purpurea Purple Pink Toe Tarantula juvenile measuring around one to one-and-a-half inches (1 to 1.5 inches) in diagonal leg span, which is the size given in the title, unsexed, with roughly a 50/50 chance of male or female. This juvenile tarantula is our largest currently available size for this species, and the one where the color shift is furthest along. Past the earliest hatchling stage, on its way toward the bright metallic purple the adults carry, with fewer molts standing between it and that full coloration.
• Looking for a different size? Check out these other options: 0.5-0.75" Spiderling and 0.75-1" Spiderling.