Arizona blonde tarantula

A ground-dwelling Aphonopelma from the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Adult colour changes with sex and maturity.

Plan a long-lived observation animal and ask for captive-bred origin; an adult offered cheaply may be wild collected.

Arrange dependable holiday care and keep money available for food, replacement equipment and appropriate veterinary help. Test the habitat before the animal arrives.

Plan a broad enclosure around three to five adult leg spans long, with deep burrow-supporting substrate, a retreat and a low free fall. The named tank example is not a proven minimum.

Measure usable internal space after substrate, guards and furnishings. Check ventilation, cable holes and access against the smallest occupant. Fix heavy furnishings independently of loose substrate.

The keeper account uses 20–24°C ambient air. Do not copy desert outdoor maxima into the enclosure.

Record the warm and cool locations, overnight minimum and daytime maximum. Air, surface and substrate readings are different measurements. Any added heater needs compatible thermostatic control and safe separation from the animal; assess summer cooling as well as winter heating.

Use gentle room daylight and shade, with darkness overnight. No species-specific mandatory UVB target was established.

Keep the night dark and provide retreat from daytime light. Lamp percentage, electrical wattage and a product name cannot establish the exposure reaching an animal. Check the finished installation after changes to mesh, branches or lamp position.

Keep a clean dish available, a modestly moist deeper refuge and a mostly dry surface. Tiny spiderlings need closer hydration attention.

Inspect the occupied refuge and substrate as well as the air reading. Adjust water provision and ventilation together, and clean contaminated drinking surfaces. A single humidity number cannot describe every microclimate.

Check hydration and actual substrate depth for the spider’s life stage.

Use small cultured insects. The source starts juveniles around 7–10 days and adults around 2–3 weeks, then adjusts to condition and refusal.

Record what is actually eaten and follow changes in growth and body condition. Food size, life stage and the full diet matter. Supplement products require an individual plan; do not combine calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins by guesswork.

Long fasting and sealed burrows can accompany moulting. Leave the retreat intact; irritating hairs and falls make routine handling unsuitable.

Make necessary maintenance predictable and allow voluntary retreat. Prepare a secure transfer container before essential moves. Observation should not repeatedly interrupt feeding, rest or moulting.

Remove prey around a moult; resume only after fangs and cuticle have hardened.

Keep dated observations of appetite, activity and condition. A sudden decline, injury, abnormal breathing or repeated failed moults needs appropriate professional assessment. This guide does not provide a diagnosis or medicine dose.

Long fasting alone does not establish a diagnosis.

Retain dated source, sex and moult records; the common name does not establish provenance.

Ask for a dated source record, scientific identity, life stage and established care history. Keep new arrivals and their equipment separate while an appropriate quarantine plan is agreed. Check current official rules for the exact animal, route and transaction before importing or buying; this page does not establish legal clearance. Never release animals or viable eggs outdoors.

Check accessible water and the lid without excavating the burrow. Review abdomen condition, free fall height and substrate stability. Keep a dated record of measurements and observations, and revisit the full advice when conditions or life stage change.