People have a fear that tarantulas are just attackers and jungle predators. But, there is still a calm tarantula to have ever walked on the face of the earth – the Mexican Red Knee Tarantula. These are one of the best spiders to have as a pet in your home and are relatively simple living creatures. Given enough attention to their caring, female tarantulas can live up to 20 years. So, here is a guide about caring for your pet.
A Look at Their Behavior
As said initially, this spider is very friendly and calm. It does not bite and rarely gets heated up, making it a perfect choice to begin your journey of being an arachnid keeper. It has hairs which it keeps ejecting whenever it smells danger around itself.
While being around a red knee tarantula, proper protection must be equipped because if they feel discomfort or get scared, they’ll start shedding their hairs, resulting in allergic skin reactions for human beings.
House for the Little One
When it comes to thinking about a house for Mexican red knee tarantulas, they aren’t choosy. They want someplace to hide behind and a bowl of freshwater for them to stay hydrated. A 15 or 20-gallon tank is enough for a tarantula’s home.
Red knee tarantulas love to play hide and seek in their vivarium, and keeping additional plants, and other fancy stuff will make them love their house a little more and make them feel happy. You should make bedding on the bottom of the vivarium of just around two inches so that the tarantula can roam freely and feel like it is in its natural habitat.
Most spiders do not love lighted surroundings; they prefer it darker. But, Mexican red knee tarantulas do not seem to oppose lights. They are somewhat okay with illuminated surroundings but make sure you do not set up lights that make their hiding place lit up. Tarantulas want to have a dark place where they can hide or sleep peacefully.
Humidity also plays a vital role in the well-being and behavior of a tarantula. Maintaining a humidity of 60 to 70 percent is essential for survival. Maintaining this level of humidity can be challenging; so to ease the work placing a water bowl and enabling continuous evaporation from it can be helpful.
Tarantulas love to spend their life in even temperatures, so placing a heating pad can help attain 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures. This is perfectly suitable for red knee tarantulas and can help them grow and live a natural life.
Feeding Them
Mexican red knee tarantulas love to eat live insects, including garden bugs, large insects, and sometimes even smaller rats. Crickets are the favorite food for tarantulas; make sure you give them such treats once in a while.
Taking proper care of your pet’s feeding schedules is necessary as an owner and an animal lover. You wouldn’t want a little creature to lead a starving life. Mexican red knee tarantulas aren’t heavy eaters. They just want food once or twice a week and are fine with it. If a tarantula is full, it won’t love the presence of any other living being in its proximity, so make sure you don’t just keep adding crickets and other bugs into the vivarium casually. This will only frighten up your little friend.
Giving protein boosts and other happy moments are also a must. To make your spider happy, you can serve them with small lizards and grasshoppers once in a while. Changing the water in the bowl frequently is also a good option, but always remembers that you clean out the bowl and its surroundings to protect the Mexican red knee tarantula from any problems.