Caribena versicolor, the Antilles or Martinique pinktoe, is the species most often blamed for killing beginners' confidence. Spiderlings are electric blue, adults are green and red and pink, and both are frequently lost in the first year. Almost every one of those losses traces back to the same cause: an enclosure that holds moisture and does not move air.
Where they come from
Martinique is humid, but it is humid outdoors, where air moves constantly. A pinktoe on a tree trunk experiences damp air that is always being replaced. Recreate the damp and forget the replacement, and you get a spider sitting in its own respiration products.
The setup that works
- Ventilation first. Openings low and high, on more than one face. This is not optional for this species.
- Substrate: four to six centimetres, kept damp at the base, never soaking.
- Cork: a tube or angled slab reaching well up the enclosure. They will web a tunnel and live in it.
- Water dish: always full, at the front, away from the retreat.
- Temperature: normal room temperature, roughly 22 to 26 °C. No heat mat against the panels.
- Humidity: aim for damp substrate and dry air movement rather than a number on a gauge.
Behaviour and handling
Versicolors are calm but fast, and they can and do launch themselves when startled. They are not a handling species: they are a watching species. Work with a catch cup, keep the enclosure low on the table, and open the door only as far as you need.
Growth and size
Spiderlings grow quickly with regular feeding, reaching a leg span of around thirteen to fifteen centimetres as adults. Males mature faster and live one to two years after maturity; females can live eight to twelve years or more.
The mistakes that cost spiders
- Sealing the enclosure to raise humidity. This is the big one.
- Misting the animal rather than watering the substrate.
- Deep enclosures with the cork pressed flat against a vent panel, blocking the airflow.
- Leaving old prey remains in a webbed retreat, where mould starts.
If you keep one rule, keep this: damp base, moving air, and never both wet and closed. That is the entire care sheet.