Golden Blue Leg Baboon Tarantula (Harpactira pulchripes) Care

Scientific Name: Harpactira pulchripes

Common Name: Golden Blue Leg Baboon

Type: Fossorial Burrower

Category: Old World

Endemic Location: South Africa

Body Length: 2” (5cm)

Diagonal Leg Span (DLS): 5” (13cm)

Urticating Hairs: No

Growth Rate: medium

Life Expectancy: Females 12 years / Males 2-3 years

Recommended Experience Level: Intermediate

Harpactira pulchripes, also known as the Golden Blue Leg Baboon, is an old world terrestrial Baboon species. This means is comes from the eastern hemisphere, does not have urticating hairs, but can have medically significant venom. This species in particular hails from South Africa.which has a temperate and arid climate with many sunny,dry days and an average temperature between 72-82 degrees but that varies based on the region and time of year. This species has a medium growth rate with males reaching a size of about 3 inches and maturing within 1.5 years, while females can grow to about 5-6 inches in size and live as long as 10-12 years and take about 2 years to mature. Being an old world species, the golden blue leg baboon does have potent venom and can be very fast but this species in particular has a more relaxed temperament and is known to be more skittish than defensive...tending to retreat into its hide before exhibiting any threat posture. I have not yet received a threat pose from my H. pulchripes other than when they are hunting a cricket during feeding. This species makes for a great first old world tarantula due to its more chill temperament and the fact that as juveniles and adults they spend a lot of time on display hanging out in the open on their web. Handling this species is not advised due to both their powerful venom and their ability to teleport and try to hide when they are disturbed or feel threatened. So avoiding handling them is as much for their safety as yours.

This species is easy to care for from a sling through an adult. They tend to burrow more as spiderlings but after reaching 1.5 - 2 inches in size they spend most of their time on top of their web. I keep the substrate dry and provide at least 4 inches for adults should they choose to burrow and sometime overflow the water dish in a corner to provide a little area of slightly moist substrate should the T prefer a little more humid spot. Provide a hide and plenty of plants, sticks or vertical cork bark for the tarantula to use as anchor points for webbing. Make sure you have a water dish in its enclosure and keep it filled up or drip some water on the web for slings. I keep this species at room temperature, just like most of my T’s, If you’re comfortable, they’re comfortable. I set up their enclosures with more width than height while making sure there is plenty of room and anchor points for the spider to web up extensively.

As far as feeding, I feed my smallest spiderlings under 3/4in flightless fruit flies, confused flour beetles, chopped up pieces of mealworm or cricket legs about twice a week. As they grow larger I feed them a couple pre-killed small crickets or similar prey once a week initially, though these spiderlings put on size fairly quickly and will be able to take down live small prey on their own in no time. Juveniles I will feed one or two medium crickets a week...usually a cricket not much larger than the size of the tarantulas abdomen. And as adults I feed 3-5 large crickets or mealworms every week depending on the size of the abdomen. If your T stops eating, just remove any uneaten prey 24 hours later and try again next week. If they go weeks without eating, don’t worry, they can survive months without eating and are probably just in premolt. Offer a little prey every week and be sure to remove it if they're uninterested. After you adult molts, wait a week - 10 days before offering prey again so you can be sure to give your T plenty of time to stretch out and harden up. Spiderlings don’t take as long to harden up and will be ready for food a little sooner.

This species is one of the jewels of my collection and high on the list of my all time favorite T’s. From the amazing feeding response, the coloration, and the extensive webbing to the relaxed temperament and fact they spend a lot of time out on display...you can't go wrong adding one of these beauties to your collection. It’s also a great choice if you’re wanting to dip your toe into keeping Old World tarantulas as the husbandry is straightforward and simple and the T is more relaxed than most baboon species.