# Tarantula Growth Rates



## The Lone Gunman (Oct 14, 2009)

I’m interested in learning more about the growth rates of the following eight species:

Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma smithi)
Big Bend Gold (Aphonopelma caniceps)
New River Rust Rump (Aphonopelma sp.)
Chaco Golden Knee (Grammostola pulcheripes)
Salmon Pink (Lasiodora parahybana)
Brazilian Black (Grammostola pulchra)
Desert Blonde (Aphonopelma chalcodes)
Curly Hair (Brachypelma albopilosum)

Can anyone with experience of rearing any of these tarantula species from spiderlings please give me an estimate on approximately how fast they are likely to grow from a 1cm leg span up to 4cm, 8cm, 12cm and their full adult sizes?

My collection currently consists of three adult female Chilean Roses, which I’ve had for around eight or nine years, a juvenile Mexican Red Knee (approx leg span 5cm), a juvenile New River Rust Rump (7cm), a Big Bend Gold spiderling (3cm) and a Brazilian Black spiderling (1.5cm). The juveniles and spiderlings have all been purchased relatively recently.

I’m interested in possibly adding one or two of the other four species I’ve mentioned to my collection, so any advice on their expected growth rates would be very much appreciated so that I can plan ahead as regards the space I am likely to need to house them in future.

Many thanks in advance for any help.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

*Average Maturation Time in Years - Male/Female:*

Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma smithi): 3/9
Big Bend Gold (Aphonopelma caniceps): 2/6
New River Rust Rump (Aphonopelma sp.): 2/6
Chaco Golden Knee (Grammostola pulcheripes): 3/9
Salmon Pink (Lasiodora parahybana): 1/2
Brazilian Black (Grammostola pulchra): 2/6
Desert Blonde (Aphonopelma chalcodes): 3/9
Curly Hair (Brachypelma albopilosum): 2/4

That's a very rough approximation of the average time taken to reach maturity. Thing is, it's very dependent on care - ie, higher temps (but never over 95!) and more regular feeding usually accelerates growth (and ultimately death) whereas the opposite is also true.


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