Common Name: Chilean Rose Tarantula Scientific Name: Grammostola rosea
COMMON Red-kneed Tarantula Distribution: Chile Habitat: Desert Body Length: Up to 8cm Leg Length: Up to 18cm Diet: Carnivorous Insects and occasional small mammals
Chilean Rose tarantulas are very docile, low maintenance and attractive spiders hence are the most popular tarantula to be kept as a pet. Chilean Rose Tarantulas are found in the driest desert on earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile. Areas of this region have had no rainfall ever in recorded history! They can last for months without any food at all and obtain water either from their food or from the occasional fog that drifts in from the South Pacific Ocean. They hunt at night, jumping out at their prey. They inject digestive juices through their hollow fangs and suck up the resulting juices. The majority of their diet is made up of insects but they will also hunt mice and frogs. The bottom of their legs are sensitive to vibrations, smell and taste and along with their eight eyes are used to locate prey. Tarantulas bodies are covered in hairs which they use in defence. When threatened they will flick these hairs off their bodies in an attempt to irritate it’s attacker.