Bolivian Black Velvet (Acanthoscurria Insubtilis)

The Bolivian Black Velvet is a fast-growing, docile tarantula. It is best known for its friendly disposition and striking looks. Typically, a Bolivian Black Velvet is chocolate brown in color. It comes with a cream-colored border along its carapace, and faint, white stripes along the legs.

As evident from its name, the Bolivian Black Velvet is native to the Bolivian region. Since it is predominantly terrestrial in nature, you’d usually find it along the crevices of rocks, or inside their puny, earthbound holes.

The Bolivian Black is usually pretty domestic in nature. So if you’re planning to have it as a pet, you’d love patting their abdomen once in a while. While it does bite once in a while, the venom is non-toxic. Additionally, the bite too will feel like a bee-sting. Under proper conditions (right temperature and ample food) your pet Bolivian Black spider can assume a leg span of four inches in as less as a year.

 Scientific Name

Acanthoscurria Insubtilis.

Geographical distribution

The Bolivian Black is indigenous to the Bolivian regions.

Preferred natural habitat

These tarantulas are terrestrial in nature and are primarily found along rock crevices and small holes. In certain cases, you might even find them in the large holes of the tree barks. Since the Bolivian Black is widely found in Bolivian rainforests, they thrive best in a temperature ranging from 21 degree Celsius to 29 degree Celsius. The humidity should be somewhere around 65 to 75 %.

Preferred food in the wild

The Bolivian Black is a pretty shy and docile creature. So although it loves eating once in a while, you wouldn’t find it aggressively hunting for preys. Typically, a Bolivian Black thrives on a meal of baby crickets, earthworms, mealworms and other small insects.

Personality

The Bolivian Black is docile and friendly. So if you manage to pet it for a while, there’s a high possibility that it’ll comfortably inhabit the vial you’ve made for them. Once your spiderlings grow up, you can start picking them up and rubbing their abdomen. Unlike other species from their family, they won’t get skittish, nor would they exhibit urticiating hairs.

Feeding as a pet

You can introduce a meal of fruit flies to your baby spiderlings. After they start growing up, replace it with baby crickets (7-8), roaches (2) and earthworms (5-6) once a week. These creatures are voracious eaters and they’ll literally devour everything you give them.

Lifespan both male and female

The female Bolivian Black usually has a lifespan of 15+ years, while the male only lives for 4-5 years.

Pet enclosure type

You can keep your spiderlings in a small two inches vial for around four to six months. Once they start growing up, shift them to a bigger 10-15 gallons tank. At this point, the vial should be big enough to accommodate at least four inches of substrate. Keep the temperature between 21 degree Celsius and 26 degree Celsius. Likewise, the humidity should be around 60-75%.

If you need help buying an enclosure why not check out our enclosure review. Click here for the article.

Pet enclosure habitat layout

Since the Bolivian Black tends to burrow once in a while, make sure you have at least four inches of substrate in the tank. The substrate can be made from a mixture of peat moss, potting soil, coconut fiber, sand, and dirt. Additionally, you can also place a large bark, which will later serve as their preferred retreat, and a small plate of fresh, clean water. Make it a point to change the water once or twice every week.

Mating / reproducing

You should ideally breed your Bolivian Black in the autumn months from September to November. Do not over-feed the female. Your female is likely to lay their egg sac after two to four months of mating. At this point, it is extremely important to observe it, because female Bolivian Blacks have a queer tendency of eating their own egg sacs. For better results, you can pull out the sac after four to five weeks, and incubate it in an entirely new tank.

Development rate

The Bolivian Black is a pretty fast growing spider, and within just one year, they are likely to achieve a leg span of four inches. An adult Bolivian Black tarantula is likely to have a leg span of seven to eight inches.