Cuban Bronze Tarantula (Phormictopus auratus) Care Sheet

Scientific Name: Phormictopus auratus

Common Name: Cuban Bronze

Type: Terrestrial

Category: New World

Endemic Location: Cuba

Body Length: 3.5” (9cm)

Diagonal Leg Span (DLS): 7” (18cm)

Urticating Hairs: Yes

Growth Rate: Medium

Life Expectancy: Females 15 years / Males 4-5 years

Recommended Experience Level: Intermediate

Phormictopus auratus,  commonly known as the Cuban Bronze Tarantula, is a new world terrestrial tarantula that is endemic to the island of Cuba. This species is unmistakable in the Phormictopus genus even though there has been much confusion about which species are which. The scientific name P. auratus has been applied in the hobby to a couple different species of tarantulas that are also found in Cuba and for a while  P. auratus was sometimes sold as P. cubensis. To make things even worse some people have sold P. auratus as P. platus. Phormictopus auratus was described by Ortiz & Bertani in 2005 and is unique due to the fine and dense golden hairs on its carapace visible in both the male and female specimens. In fact, in Latin, auratus means gilded or adorned in gold. 

  I purchased my Cuban Bronze from Fear Not Tarantulas a few years ago in a very momentous event. It may have been the first commercial retail purchase of a tarantula using Bitcoin...and to this day, FNT is the only dealer I know of where I can purchase my tarantulas using cryptocurrency, but that is a topic for another video. 

  This is one of my favorite species of tarantulas and was actually number 3 on my Top 10 list of New World Tarantulas. This species is fairly easy to care for, very hardy, and has an amazing feeding response. Some people can be a little intimidated by this genus as they are known to be more feisty than other New Worlds, but for me, that is one of their best traits. My P. auratus is constantly out of her hides on display and seems to love moving around and exploring her enclosure. She also seems fond of burrowing and doing some rearranging of the substrate and plants. 

   Even though the husbandry of this species is pretty typical of most NW terrestrials, there are a few things to keep in mind. I keep my slings in a basic acrylic terrestrial enclosure with more width than height. It is important to keep plenty of substrate available for this species as they really seem to prefer to burrow as slings. They also seem to prefer moist substrate at this age, so i make sure to keep the substrate moist and provide a little water dish, being mindful to not let the substrate dry out completely for long periods of time...but also not over doing it and creating a swampy, stagnant environment. Moist substrate and good ventilation is key. Once they have reached the juvenile stage and have outgrown their sling enclosures, I move them into a basic Acrylic juvenile enclosure, again with more width than height and plenty of substrate for them to use for burrowing. I make sure to keep a water dish in their enclosure and overfill it from time to time. I do not keep the substrate entirely moist, but by overflowing the water dish and saturating ½ or ⅓ of the substrate, it gives the T a choice as to which substrate it prefers. Finally, when they are adults… I move them into an 5 or 10 gallon adult enclosure. Currently I have my lady in a 5 gallon enclosure and will only consider moving her into a 10 gallon if she starts to get cramped...but shelf space is at a premium so I will only move her into a larger enclosure if and when it is necessary. I don’t worry too much about keeping the substrate damp at this stage as mine seem to prefer the dry substrate and are more forgiving of dryer conditions. I do pour water down opposite corners of their enclosures once a month or so. Doing that saturates the bottom layer of substrate while keeping the top layer dry. This gives them the dry substrate they seem to prefer while also allowing for a little added humidity to seep up from the bottom layer. Be careful to not over do it as this can lead to mold growth. If you let the substrate dry out completely before saturating the bottom layer, I find that greatly reduces any issues with mold.

   As far as feeding, I feed my Phormictopus slings 1 prekilled small cricket or roach once or twice a week until they are large enough to take down their own. Once they are taking down live prey, I avoid feeding them any live feeders larger than ⅔’s their size. As juveniles, I feed them 2 or 3 medium crickets or roaches once a week and occasionally mix it up with a meal worm. I usually crush the head of the mealworm before dropping it into their enclosure or tong feed them, but I suggest not tong feeding them unless you are very confident in your ability as they are very quick to pounce on prey and can startle you if you are not prepared for their excited feeding response. If you do choose to tong feed, I would highly consider getting wooden or rubber tipped tongs to reduce the risk of the T breaking its fang on a metal tong and NEVER try to hand feed this species with your fingers. Then for the adults, I feed my pretty lady 3 or 4 crickets or roaches every week or two and cut back on feeding as often when her activity slows down and her abdomen is looking large. This T can go on hunger strikes while in premolt, so don't be concerned if they stop eating for weeks or even a few months at a time. Once they molt and harden back up over a week or two, they will be more than ready to attack any prey you drop in their enclosure. I usually know mine are nearing a molt as they tend to spend much more time in their burrow than on top of the surface, so I dont get to worried if I don’t see them for extended periods of time….I know sooner or later they will push a fresh molt out of their burrow and be eagerly awaiting a meal. 

  I keep my Cuban Bronze Tarantulas at the same room temperature as I keep most all my tarantulas 68-74f. Though I do keep my slings slightly warmer at around 75-78f. Overall this is an amazing tarantula to have in your collection. The Phormictipus genus is much more than large brown spiders...as this species truly shows. With its gold carapace, red setae, outrageous feeding response and the fact it is on display more than hiding in its burrow,...it is a great tarantula to show off to your friends and very easy to photograph and share pictures on instagram. This is not a shy tarantula and they will move  quickly in the direction movement, so keep your finger out of the enclosure and use tongs when feeding, cleaning, and rearranging. They have a propensity for attacking their water dish when you are refilling it, but dropping in a feeder before you fill up the dish will usually provide ample distraction and keep them from rushing the water and slapping at the dish. So if you are looking to add to your collection and come across this species, you cant go wrong picking one of these up.