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We’ve got a new pet at the house. In addition to Hernando, my male G. rosea, and Unnamed Spider Jr., my A. seemani (I don’t know the gender yet, so I can’t name it until it molts) we have a new A. avicularia, commonly known as a Pink-toe. I missed the reptile show in Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago, so I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the more exotic species. This one’s pretty common, but they’re neat little spiders. It was very docile when we were trying to get it into one of the little pet boxes to bring home, and again transferring to the new home in a large plastic jar. The A. seemani was a little pill, kicking hairs everywhere and trying to run anywhere but into the box. Anyway, the poor thing endured a short ride home on my motorcycle (tucked away from the wind in my saddlebag) and a transfer to its new home. It seems very docile. I’ll leave it alone for a couple of days to get settled in, and then I’ll try feeding some crickets.

I’m going to guess it’s female, just from the size, but I’m not sure until it molts. You can check the exo-skeleton after a molt for certain indicators of gender. With this species, I’ve heard the males only get to about 3″ in legspan, and this one seems bigger than that. I didn’t have a ruler handy, and I don’t want to bug it at the moment.

This is a tropical species, found in rain forests in the Amazon basin. They prefer a little higher temperature and pretty high humidity, so I’m keeping this one near my computer and I’ll mist the jar periodically. That should do the trick to keep it happy.

Anyway, I’m pleased with this little creature and I’m excited to watch it in action. It looks like a great little spider.