If you would like to enquire about our Red Knee Tarantula please feel free to contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible

The Red Knee Tarantula was at one point so heavily collected from the wild that it is now a protected species, it was and still is a mainstay of the tarantula keeping hobby, partly due to the fact that it is incredibly docile and handleable species, and partly because of its bright colours.

It is suitable for the beginner due to the fact that it doesn’t have any high humidity requirements and can be kept quite easily. This spider is found predominantly in Mexico in desert scrublands areas. The night time temperature can drop quite low and it can reach up to the high twenties or low thirties during the day.

They are a slow growing species which can take up to eight years to mature and grows to around six or seven inches in legspan. They are a long lived species, one of the longest lived of all tarantula species and have been known to live for 40 years or more.

Red Knee Tarantula Beginner spider

The Red Knee Tarantula is a good beginners spider and is readily available if a bit pricey. They can be handled but there is the one in a million tarantula who may be aggressive. These are another species which has urticating hairs, which cause irritation and a burning sensation on the skin but can cause blindness if it gets in the eyes. That said they very rarely flick the hairs unless they are a gravid female but can be more likely to use the hairs than a chile rose. Tarantulas shed their skin to grow and do so by flipping over onto their back then ‘pushing’ off the old skin before moving away and taking up to a week (older spiders) for the skin to harden.

Red Knee Tarantula Vivarium

As with other tarantula species a smaller enclosure is better although as long as there is a well sized hide deep enough substrate is provided for burrowing a larger vivarium can be used. Ideally a twelve inch long by eight inch wide by eight inch tall aquarium tank is also suitable for this species, just make sure the lid is escape proof.

Substrate should be eco-earth mixed with sand or vermiculite. For burrowing purposes it should be at least four inches deep (use a deeper vivarium) and a depression should be made for the spider to alter itself. A piece of bark or rock can be added but its not essential. If a hide is being used then the substrate only needs to be about an inch deep.

Some moss can be used to give the spider somewhere to drink from. A water bowl can be used and should and should be kept full at all times, but shallow so the spider cannot drown in it. A heatmat set to around twenty eight degrees during the day and twenty two degrees at night with temperature regulated using a thermostat. This will make your tarantula more active and improve the spiders appetite. Humidity should be kept at around sixty to sixty five percent.