# Avicularia Diversipes



## isolation (Jun 19, 2012)

what can you say about this avicularia? i mean, can you please give me some caresheets, guides on how to manage them. are they really the most sensitive among all avicularias? thank you guys!

and also, can you please show me pix of them as a sling and as an adult. to a newbie, some avicularia looks the same and a lot of pictures in the internet are misleading at times. God Bless yall!


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## EbonyKatana1664 (Jun 19, 2012)

Common Name:
 Martinique Pink-Toe    

Scientific Name: Avicularia versicolor 
Origin:
 Martinique,Antilles, Guyana

Type:
 New World Arboreal 

Temperature: 75F  
Humidity: 75% but well ventilated


Max Size:
 Aprox 5" 

Speed: Fast 

Temperament:
 Calm, gentle, secretive

Venom: Mild 

Growth Rate:
 Medium

Description

Amazing looking spiders, these little tree tarantulas start off metallic blue as slings (as shown), and moult through a variety of interesting colours until they reach adulthood, where the legs go purple, the carapace turns irridescent green, and the opisthosoma is black, but covered in bright red hair. These spiders look 'fluffy' and I challenge even the most hardened 'spider-disliker' not to see one of these and not think it looks cuddly. However, they are not cuddly, and are best viewed from outside a tank.


Housing

Avicularia require a tall arboreal setup, with minimal substrate, SUPERB VENTILATION and lots of climbing surfaces. A heat mat is a good idea to keep temps at around 75F. 

They like humidity at around 70%, but never at the expense of good airflow, so lots of vent holes, both high and low, and a BIG waterdish at the base of the tank. Lightly mist the tank every 2 days or so, depending on the relative humidty.


Versicolor slings are very delicate, and can easily die if conditions are not very close to what they need. You will need to provide numerous anchor points for the spider to web to, so lots of foliage, and branch / stick arrangements work well.

Their lack of hardyness does not make them good beginner spiders, even though their temperament suggests otherwise. 

Temperament

Pink Toes, and all Avicuilaria species are not very outwardly aggressive or particularly defensive. They cannot flick their urticating hair, but will potentially rub it off if sufficiently annoyed. They can also 'poo' directionally, and with some force, which some use as a defensive mechanism. They are not quick to bite, and are one of the more easily handleable species, as long as it is understood that they can jump, move very fast, and behave unpredictably, and are handled very close to the floor.  

Notes

The webbing these spiders produce is thick, tube-like, and copious. Special precautions have to be taken to prevent the spider webbing onto the lid of the container, forcing the keeper to destroy its home every time the tank is opened for maintenance. See the arboreal enclosure pics in the gallery for more info.

Got it from spider diaries, sorry if its wrong species but I guess they are similiar enough if I didnt get it right.


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## advan (Jun 19, 2012)

isolation said:


> a lot of pictures in the internet are misleading at times.


Even some posts are misleading. Don't rely on care sheets. See below for why.  Learn to use the search function on this site. It has years and years of experience that will teach you more then creating a thread and asking a question. 



EbonyKatana1664 said:


> Wrong species.
> 
> Max Size: Aprox 5" I've seen versi's bigger than 5".
> 
> ...

Reactions: Like 9


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## BrettG (Jun 19, 2012)

Thanks for beating me to this thread,Chad.
That said I agree 1,000% with everything said regarding versi,now here is some info on diversipes based off of OUR experiences with them the past few years.
--FAST.Probably the fastest Avicularia we have dealt with.
--DEFENSIVE as adults. Slings are fast,but not defensive from what we have seen. Once they hit 2.5-3inches it seems they begin to develop an attitude.These will NOT hesitate to throw a threat or even bite.They should be treated with respect,and remind me of a cross between an Iridiopelma and a Psalmo attitude wise,so be cautious when working with them.
--They should be kept like any other Avicularia sp. IMHO,with a slab of bark or something for them to anchor webbing to. I also provide ours with ample substrate,as some of our adult females have "burrows" that start under the bark and extend to the top of the cage. They DO hang out lower in the tanks at times compared to other Avicularia,there is no reason to be alarmed.Don'tforget a large water dish for an adult,either.
All in all they are a great addition to any collection and are very hardy and EASY to care for.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## EbonyKatana1664 (Jun 19, 2012)

Ha, thats what I get for choosing first result in a 2 minute search.

Reactions: Dislike 1


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## Toogledoo (Jun 19, 2012)

Here is a larger sling of ours.



Here is a juvie or young adult of ours who turned out to be female and now has a sac!

Reactions: Like 1


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## isolation (Jun 20, 2012)

it will be arriving very soon! thank you guys for your answers. i ordered 1 avicularia diversipes and 1 T. gigas. ill keep you guys posted. God Bless yall! again, thank you very much for your effort on sharing pictures and experiences. more power arachnoboards!


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## grayzone (Jun 20, 2012)

WOW Toogledoo .. that 1st pic is AWESOME.. that is a stage i NEVER got to witness with the diversipes ive had. I have seen the typical multi coloration stage, and the Adult stage, but i never knew they got that red abdomen... I REALLY have to get more and actually hold on to them

Congrats on your new pick up isolation..you will love it. no matter what, keep it or you will regret it lol. Adults can be a bit feisty, but nothing you wont be able to handle when that time comes.


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## Toogledoo (Jun 20, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah, they are awesome looking! One of my favorites!

Congrats, isolation, I'm sure you'll love your new additions!


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## isolation (Jun 21, 2012)

keeping my fingers crossed. hope they survive the 3day journey. thank you guys! i really learned that facts from the net are nothing compared to people REAL experiences. some made up info discourages people from getting avics. ill do my best to provide the perfect living condition for my incoming T's. ill keep you guys posted and if ever, ill ask more Q's. LOL.


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## natebugman (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm kind of bummed out that mine looks to be a male. Guess I should've gotten more than one but they weren't cheap. Are they getting more common/less expensive?


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## panterafreak21 (Jun 21, 2012)

I like how this post was for a care sheet on Avicularia diversipes but instead we got a care sheet for avicularia versicolor.


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## sbullet (Jun 21, 2012)

are you saying there is a difference 





panterafreak21 said:


> I like how this post was for a care sheet on Avicularia diversipes but instead we got a care sheet for avicularia versicolor.


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## Storm76 (Jun 21, 2012)

sbullet said:


> are you saying there is a difference


None really...


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## advan (Jun 21, 2012)

Storm76 said:


> None really...


Here's an interesting quote from last year. I never did ask him to elaborate though. 



Falk said:


> You cant keep _A. versicolor_ and _A. diversipes_ the same way for an example.


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## Storm76 (Jun 21, 2012)

advan said:


> Here's an interesting quote from last year. I never did ask him to elaborate though.


Well, if there really is a difference, that it's probably temperature or humidity-wise for some people. Personally, I do keep all my Avic slings the same way (maybe that's the reason why MY A. diversipes died...), but the breeder I got it from does it the same way (and I assume most on here do, too). I do know for sure that a LOT of german T keepers keep at least 70% of their T's different from anyone on here, though. But if someone COULD elaborate that comment, Chad, I'd certainly appreciate it, because you always learn something new...


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## BiGpDaMoNsTa (Jun 21, 2012)

Storm76 said:


> I do know for sure that a LOT of german T keepers keep at least 70% of their T's different from anyone on here, though.


Interesting... what kind of differences do you mean? which T's are part of this 70%? (Germans do a lot of things right lol maybe they have some tarantula secrets too)


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## Storm76 (Jun 21, 2012)

BiGpDaMoNsTa said:


> Interesting... what kind of differences do you mean? which T's are part of this 70%? (Germans do a lot of things right lol maybe they have some tarantula secrets too)


For example, NO species is kept "completely dry except for a waterdish" - I ran into trouble in a certain forum telling another member that her G. rosea probably doesn't like the damp substrate and that is why she's ALWAYS on the walls. I also told that member to put in more than that 1.5" of substrate as the fall from 6" COULD harm or possibly kill her T. I was pretty much called an idiot for suggesting these things, as NO T like completely dry substrate and that for G. roseas you have to have simulate season (for acclimation) in which they put the spider into the basement for an x month (I suspect 3) period by 10-12°C for example. 

Another thing would be that ALL spiders HAVE to be kept at EXACTLY the suggested humidity and temperaturelevels they have in their natural habitat. You also HAVE to simulate EXACTLY the season they'd have in their habitat at the current time. (That those siders have been captive-bred doesn't seem to occur to them, however...: and such things...

And the worst was the saying of a certain "professional" that actually was "over 9 years in the T-breeding" that a falls from a staircase would NEVER ever kill a T, since he had done some matings of his T's on his kitchen Table, which is as high as 1 meter or something and nothing ever happened. He called it "a myth that other unknowing individuals tell new keepers" - I call that reckless and rather stupid, but the fact that I even mentioned that TKG and got told "No, I don't know what TKG is, is it a brand of washing-machines? If that stuff you suggest is listed in it, it must be garbage". Either way, I was obviously jesting with the 70%, but the fact is that any info I found on here and for example looked up when someone asked there and pointed him to this thread here, I only made bad experiences and people pretty much saying exactly the opposite of, for example, Stan suggests for G. rosea, A. avic and the like. 

I'm not saying ALL are like that, but I found it alarming that all the "professionals" on -THAT- forum were on those lines obviously. Was the reason I eventually joined here and left there...don't need to buy myself a great T-Keeper book, give suggestions to others when helping them with info from it (or experience) and every single time being "corrected" or plain simply told I'd had NO whatsoever experience and should maybe better get a cat and give my T's to someone who'd care correctly for them, instead of "torturing" them by not sticking with the correct requirements.

Just remembered that "only glass-made terrariums are acceptable for spiders" bs I had to be "corrected" with, too...

However, there's a great bunch of people that DOES have knowlegde, i.e. Volker vonWirth to name one. The breeder I'm getting my T's from, too, he's not a friend of such forums anyways and basically we had a good laugh about that stuff that happened here.  
A certain other Dr. (name erased due to the fact that this person likes to instantly calls a lawyer for stuff like this) does have a kind of bad reputation lately from what I read regarding stress with some other Arachnologist. 

Either way, not everyone is an idiot, I just found it an alarming amount of people of that forum and that one had a HUGE member count....


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## le-thomas (Jun 21, 2012)

Storm76, I would've left, too. The fact that they think tarantulas are so delicate as to need natural set ups while living in a captive environment, yet are durable enough to survive a fall off of a table, baffles me. Anyways, most all Avicularia can be kept the same way. It's my understanding that this is true for most genera with some exceptions.

Reactions: Like 1


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## tny4progress (Jun 21, 2012)

isolation is this your first T?

le-thomas is right, take a look at the links in my sig you'll find them enlightening even if this isn't your first go around... :biggrin:

Reactions: Like 1


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## isolation (Jun 22, 2012)

tny4progress, i already have a m. robustum, b. auratum, a. genic, b. smithi, lasiodora parahybana, lasiodora striatipes, p. irminia, g. rosea, c. darlingi, b. vagans, b. albopilosum, and p. regalis. im still a newbie, specially when it come to avicularia, this would be my first time at it. (= hopefully, they'll will arrive tomorrow healthy and happy.


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## Storm76 (Jun 22, 2012)

isolation said:


> tny4progress, i already have a m. robustum, b. auratum, a. genic, b. smithi, lasiodora parahybana, lasiodora striatipes, p. irminia, g. rosea, c. darlingi, b. vagans, b. albopilosum, and p. regalis. im still a newbie, specially when it come to avicularia, this would be my first time at it. (= hopefully, they'll will arrive tomorrow healthy and happy.


Wait - you have P. irminia and even a P. regalis? Avics should be a piece of cake for you, man.

Reactions: Like 1


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## le-thomas (Jun 22, 2012)

Storm76 said:


> Wait - you have P. irminia and even a P. regalis? Avics should be a piece of cake for you, man.


Avicularia are easier in the sense that they're docile and easy going for the most part. I own both Avics and Pokies (well, one pokie) and they're both easy. All tarantulas are easy!
Still though, avics aren't fragile. People who say so have clearly never owned one and simply go by the wives' tales.


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## malevolentrobot (Jun 22, 2012)

BrettG said:


> --FAST.Probably the fastest Avicularia we have dealt with.
> --DEFENSIVE as adults. Slings are fast,but not defensive from what we have seen. Once they hit 2.5-3inches it seems they begin to develop an attitude.These will NOT hesitate to throw a threat or even bite.They should be treated with respect,and remind me of a cross between an Iridiopelma and a Psalmo attitude wise,so be cautious when working with them.
> --They should be kept like any other Avicularia sp. IMHO,with a slab of bark or something for them to anchor webbing to. I also provide ours with ample substrate,as some of our adult females have "burrows" that start under the bark and extend to the top of the cage. They DO hang out lower in the tanks at times compared to other Avicularia,there is no reason to be alarmed.Don'tforget a large water dish for an adult,either.
> All in all they are a great addition to any collection and are very hardy and EASY to care for.


i noticed both of these differences in mine as well and would actually rate my specimen as nastier than any comparatively sized poec or psalmo D:

as to subtle differences in care, i also noticed some ground behaviour, more than other avics in the past anyway. and after having losses i began keeping this one dryer than normal for an avic and it seems to be doing well so far.


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## sbullet (Jun 22, 2012)

I was being sarcastic (hehe)



Storm76 said:


> None really...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Merfolk (Jun 23, 2012)

Got both and they are very far apart temperament wise believe me.


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## Storm76 (Jun 23, 2012)

sbullet said:


> I was being sarcastic (hehe)


I know  I was just saying the obvious out loud

Reactions: Like 1


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## jwlp (Jun 24, 2012)

Avicularia Diversipes is one of my favorite Avics next to the Versicolor. My Diversipes is a little more skittish over the rest of my Avics, don't know if that is common with this species, but it reacts quickly to the slightest disturbance. Overall a great eater and a great mix of vibrant colors.

Here is my Diversipes sling 1 week after a molt:


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## isolation (Jun 24, 2012)

all you guys shared will not be taken for granted. i have just received the package and they are very healthy! @jwlp my diversipes is a little smaller than yours i think. nice specimen bro! 

and its true, this avic is really skittish and sort of fast, reacts to disturbance like a burglar caught red handed. LOL. im so excited. this is my first avic, hopefully, this experience will be pleasant like most of you guys. i only ordered one because of the lack of money. its hard to find a decent job here in the Philippines. anyway, i really appreciate the kindness that you've shown me. More power to our hobby! (=

---------- Post added 06-25-2012 at 12:01 PM ----------

Storm76, i'm a newbie and so i really appreciate your effort in helping me by giving these info about what to do and what not to do, what to believe in and what not to believe in. YOUR THE MAN! (= God Bless you and your family bro.

---------- Post added 06-25-2012 at 12:05 PM ----------

yes, ive kept a p. regalis and a p. irminia for over 2 months or so i guess. but still, most people are really stressing on "avics are really sensitive", "SADS" and mostly negative stuff like that. so i was really scared. but because you guys encouraged me a LOT, ive decided to get one too. FINALLY! this Tarantula is my Dream tarantula. Avicularia's are the best! my next project will ba a VERSICOLOR. (=


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## Storm76 (Jun 25, 2012)

isolation said:


> Storm76, i'm a newbie and so i really appreciate your effort in helping me by giving these info about what to do and what not to do, what to believe in and what not to believe in. YOUR THE MAN! (= God Bless you and your family bro.


I really think you mean BrettG, as he is the Avic expert, not me. Advan gave you very good advise, too.



BrettG said:


> Thanks for beating me to this thread,Chad.
> That said I agree 1,000% with everything said regarding versi,now here is some info on diversipes based off of OUR experiences with them the past few years.
> --FAST.Probably the fastest Avicularia we have dealt with.
> --DEFENSIVE as adults. Slings are fast,but not defensive from what we have seen. Once they hit 2.5-3inches it seems they begin to develop an attitude.These will NOT hesitate to throw a threat or even bite.They should be treated with respect,and remind me of a cross between an Iridiopelma and a Psalmo attitude wise,so be cautious when working with them.
> ...


This post nailed it, I only said there's no real difference in their husbandry in comparison to other Avics...


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## isolation (Jun 25, 2012)

oohh. i really meant to thank all you guys. (= sorry for missing out on some people. BrettG and Advan, thank you also! my avic just ate. and it was like BAM! its so cool watching him catch his live food. its just his 2nd day today.

---------- Post added 06-26-2012 at 09:50 AM ----------

le-thomas, i really hope my case will be the same as yours. but so far, i think they are really cool and not very sensitive. hehehehe.


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## BrettG (Jun 26, 2012)

Far from the "Avic Expert",lol,just a dude and his wife who love Avicularia......And for good Avic info read any posts from member "WARPIG"...A VERY great source of information that helped us keep our Avi happy.Really learned a lot from him and wish he posted more often.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm76 (Jun 28, 2012)

BrettG said:


> Far from the "Avic Expert",lol,just a dude and his wife who love Avicularia......And for good Avic info read any posts from member "WARPIG"...A VERY great source of information that helped us keep our Avi happy.Really learned a lot from him and wish he posted more often.


I only wanted to point out the main info came from Advan and you, not me.  Thanks for that info regarding warpig again, I'll keep that in mind and check it out.


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## advan (Jun 28, 2012)

Storm76 said:


> I only wanted to point out the main info came from Advan and you, not me.  Thanks for that info regarding warpig again, I'll keep that in mind and check it out.


I didn't give any info on _Avicularia diversipes_, it all came from Brett. I just pointed out why caresheets aren't reliable.


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## Storm76 (Jun 28, 2012)

advan said:


> I don't give any info on _Avicularia diversipes_, it all came from Brett. I just pointed out why caresheets aren't reliable.


..or that. Alright


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