Range:

Habitat:

Desert and scrub regions

Characteristics:

It is a colorful, fairly large, very docile and hardy arachnid. It’s colors can range from gray, to pink, to a reddish brown color. The spider will grow to about a five to six inch leg span. The males will live about five years and females can live as long as twenty years.

Behavior:

Usually skittish, running away from danger rather than acting defensively, but they may also raise their front legs and present their fangs in preparation to defend themselves. They can act especially defensive for days after molting. As with the majority of tarantulas from the Americas, they have small spine-like hairs on their abdomen that they kick off or release when threatened as a defense.

These animals are nomads, living solitary lives and fending for themselves. They are also nocturnal, spending their days in the shelter of moist, cool burrows, and venturing out at night in search of prey or a potential mate.

Reproduction:

Chilean rose-haired tarantulas reach sexual maturity at 2-3 years of age. Mating season is in September and October. The gestation period is 6 weeks. The female constructs an egg sac and lays a large number of eggs (from 80 to over 1000). She will carry the egg sac around with her and aggressively guard it against any intruders until the spiderlings emerge.

Interesting Facts:

As with all tarantulas, females outlive their male counterparts considerably. When males reach sexual maturity (indicated by the presence of physical sexual characteristics after a final molt) their life is nearly over. Once the male has fulfilled the biological function of mating, it usually will die of natural causes or the female may eat him.