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Chromatopelma
cyaneopubescens
(Greenbottle blue) Tarantula
Care in Captivity
by Todd Gearheart
 This
extremely colorful species is found in Venezuela.
It is one of the most colorful
tarantulas in the world. Bright blue legs,
metallica green carapace and pumpkin orange
abdomen.
Other common names (not
official): Orange & blue bottlebrush and
Venezuelan bottlebrush.
Described by: Strand (yr.
unknown)
Distribution: Along the Paraguara
river in Venezuela in Xerophil bush areas and dry
forest.
Size: Spiderlings emerge as
1/2" 1st instar. Adult females may reach
6" in leg span and weigh just over 1 ounce.
Males reach 4.5". Growth rate: Medium growth
rate.
Temperature: Keep 80-90F. They
can take drops to 65 F for short periods of time
as long as they have a deep burrow. Keep your
tarantula's enclosure away from windows and
sunlight.
Humidity: 40-60%. Keep substrate
mostly dry. Provide
a shallow water dish. Spray spiderling pill
bottles once a week lightly. The substrate should
NEVER be "swampy" nor should it dry
out.
Habitat type/enclosure/substrate
needed: This is a short-burrowing species found
in dry forest/ bush areas . Keep adults in 5
gallon tanks with 4-6" peat moss/vermiculite
mix.
Food: Feed prey that is smaller
than the length of the tarantulas body.
Spiderlings less than 1" leg span will need
to be fed mini-meal worms.
Cleaning: To keep your
tarantula's tank clean and keep your animal
healthy, get in the routine of feeding your
tarantula one day, and then coming behind the
next day.
Longevity: Not much is known
about the longevity in this species. Males will
probably only live to be 2-4 years old, while
females will live over 12 years old.
Handling/Disposition/Venom:
These are somewhat fast and skittish tarantulas.
Best advice: Don't handle!
Tarantulas are not "pets", but
"display animals" much like keeping
fish.
Captive breeding: Difficult to
breed. Males are very small and act nervous and
skittish around the females which are mostly
aggressive towards the males. A large tank is
required.
Record keeping: Keep good notes
such as the stock #, if any , that it was sold
as, when born, molt dates, etc.
To find out more about this
animal and the Tarantula Keeping hobby, I
recommend the following:
Read these books: "Tarantulas and Other
Arachnids" by Sam Marshall, "Keeping
and Breeding Tarantulas in Captivity" by
Ronald Baxter, Andreas
Tinter's "Tarantulas Today" and Stanley
and Marguerite Schultz's "The Tarantula
Keeper's Guide". Buy copies of WEBBINGS
Invertebrate Magazine. (email:
tgearhea@peganet.com) or visit
www.petbugs.com/webbings Join the Southwest
Florida Tarantula Society (SWFTS) contact at:
(email: tgearhea@peganet.com, and the British
Tarantula Society (BTS) to obtain the bi-monthly
newsletter, The Journal. Join the Arachnid
Mailing Lists on the internet. Copyright © 1999
by Todd Gearheart
Reprinted here with
permission
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