Brachypelma Verdezi – The Mexican Rose Grey Tarantula
Brachyelma Verdezi, also known as the Mexican Rose Grey is a spectacular tarantula belonging to the Brachypelma group of species. Both the male and female specie of Verdezi have spectacular colorations along their carapace. While the male features red and orange hair on its dark black carapace, the females feature a triangular mark right above their abdomen. These spiders are mildly aggressive, and they won’t kick out urticating hairs unless you provoke them to do so.
Scientific Name
Brachypelma verdezi
Geographical distribution
Verdezis are indigenous to the Mexican and Central American regions.
Preferred natural habitat
The preferred natural habitat of the Verdezi is along Savannahs and Scrublands. In the wild, their ideal temperature ranges between 21 degrees Celsius to 29 degrees Celsius. Their ideal humidity ranges around 75 to 80%. Since these tarantulas are opportunistic burrowers, they spend a significant chunk of their time hiding in tree trunks, barks and rock crevices. So, in case you’re planning to have them as a pet, do ensure that their terrarium has large barks for burrowing.
Preferred food in the wild
The Mexican Rose Grey is an avid eater and it voraciously eats any and every insect it manages to spot in the wild. The typical diet of this tarantula include cricket, grasshoppers, months, earthworms and any other moderately sized insect.
Personality
These species are usually docile in nature. Due to this reason, they won’t kick out hair or bite you, unless constantly provoked. In almost every case, the Brachypelma Verdezi turns out to be an excellent display tarantula.
Feeding as a pet
The average diet of this tarantula typically includes crickets, beetles, earthworms, roaches and moths. At certain times, you can also spot them eating worms and grass-hoppers. If, however, you don’t manage to find multiple insects, you can always feed them a daily staple diet of crickets. The adults need to be fed twice a week, and both the spider lings and the adults should be provided with a water dish at all times. If the tarantula hasn’t eaten an insect, remove it immediately since it is likely to attract mites. Additionally, also ensure that the food you use isn’t bigger than the abdomen of the species.
Lifespan both male and female
While the female specie manages to live for 10 to 15 years, the male specie only thrives for 4 to 6 years.
Pet enclosure type
You can keep your tarantulas in a vial or terrarium that allows at least 3 to 4 inches of substrate. The terrarium should also have a volume of at least 2 to 5 gallons, as it’ll ensure that the tarantula moves around it comfortably. The temperature can be set between 21 degrees Celsius to 29 degrees Celsius and the humidity can be anywhere around 75 to 80%. If you are really looking to ensure that the tarantulas stay in a conducive environment, wet one side of the terrarium with water, and allow it dry out naturally. This will ensure that the enclosure is comfortably moist for the tarantulas.
Pet enclosure habitat layout
Like we already mentioned, the Brachypelma Verdezi prefers living in a terrarium that allows at least 3 to 4 inches of substrate. You can easily whip up this substrate by coming up with a concoction of peat moss, vermicelli and coconut fibre. Alternatively, you can also pot in vermiculite for added firmness. While these species aren’t avid burrowers, they occasionally burrow once in a while. So, in order to facilitate the process, you can also keep a couple of barks in the terrarium. You will notice that this tarantula prefers staying out of its burrow once they reach 3 inches of the substrate. At that point, they turn out to be excellent display tarantulas.
Mating / reproducing
While mating these tarantulas might seem relatively difficult, they can be pretty rewarding at the end. This is because, a single round of successful mating can bring forth 50 to 2000 eggs based on the size and genetic characteristics of the female.
Development rate
The growth rate of these species is medium to low. When I first got a pair of Verdezis, they were ¼ inches in size. Like other tarantulas belonging to the Brachypelma group, they too assumed a size of one and a half inches after the first year. Eventually, with proper and consistent feeding over the following three years, these spiders assumed a size of three inches.
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