Avicularia sp. 'Pucallpa' (Mardi Gras Pink-Toe Tarantula) 0.5-0.75" *RARE*

Avicularia sp. 'Pucallpa' (Mardi Gras Pink-Toe Tarantula)

The Mardi Gras Pink-Toe Tarantula, or Avicularia sp. 'Pucallpa', is an arboreal pink toe from Pucallpa in Peru. Adults have green legs finished with pink toes, a gold carapace (head), and a purple abdomen, and this color combination in one animal is what earned it the Mardi Gras name. Spiderlings start out in the iconic black and pink that most pink toes hatch with, and the adult coloration begins coming in around 2 to 2.5 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 very docile, though still quick and capable of sudden movement the way most arboreals are, and it suits a keeper who wants a color combination almost nothing else in the hobby offers. A captive bred new world tarantula for sale from a trusted breeder, offered here as a spiderling.

Why do hobbyists keep Mardi Gras Pink-Toe Tarantula?

• Stunning Coloration: Green legs finished with pink toes, a gold carapace and a purple abdomen. Green, gold and purple on one animal is a combination almost nothing else in the hobby offers.
• Colorful Spiderlings: Slings come in the iconic black and pink of a traditional pink toe, and watching them turn over into the green, gold and purple between 2 and 2.5 inches is a large part of why keepers raise this one from small.
• Heavy Webber: Tubes off heavily up high and keeps building, so the enclosure fills in over the first few months.
• Docile Temperament: Very calm for an arboreal, quick when it wants to be but not a species that squares up on you.
• Rare in the Hobby: A Peruvian species that is only ever around sparingly, and a mardi gras pink toe tarantula never lasts long on the list when it does turn up.

How should Avicularia sp. 'Pucallpa' be kept?

• Adult Size: Mardi Gras 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 0.5 to 0.75 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, the optimal range for most tropical species like this one. Cooler temperatures are survivable, but increase the odds of trouble molting and growing, so we recommend staying in this range for the best results. Most keepers do not need any extra heating to hit it.
• 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 1/8", the right size for a 0.5 to 0.75 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 sp. 'Pucallpa' Mardi Gras Pink-Toe Tarantula spiderling measuring around half to three quarters of an inch (0.5 to 0.75 inches) in diagonal leg span, which is the size given in the title, unsexed, with roughly a 50/50 chance of male or female. A rare Peruvian locality, still in the black and pink hatchling look shared by most pink toes at this size, well before the gold, green and purple combination that gives the mardi gras pink toe its name starts coming in.