Texas Brown Tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi)

Care & Husbandry

Scientific Name: Aphonopelma hentzi

Common Name: Texas Brown Tarantula, Oklahoma Brown Tarantula, Missouri Tarantula

Type: Terrestrial

Endemic Location: Southern United States

Diagonal Leg Span (DLS): 4”-5”  (10-12.5cm)

Growth Rate: Slow

Life Expectancy: Females 30+ years / Males 7-10 years

Recommended Experience Level: Beginner

The Aphonopelma hentizi, usually referred to by their common names the Texas Brown, Oklahoma Brown or Missouri Tarantula, is a New World Terrestrial species that is endemic to the Southern United states. A cousin of the popular Aphonopelma chalcodes or Arizona Blonde Tarantula this is one of the few species of tarantula native to the US. The Texas Brown is not as popular in the hobby mostly because people find them boring or even unattractive compared to the more colorful and exotic species found in the hobby these days. This specimen has bronze or brass colored carapace, a burgundy or brown abdomen and black legs, making it very distinguishable from the Arizona Blonde. The Texas Brown is known for being very docile and very long lived, with females living over 30 years, while males tend to only live between 8-12 years. They are typically found in the scrublands or southwest prairies of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas living in burrows that are sometimes abandoned rodents and reptiles so there humidity needs are very low. During mating season in the late summer, early fall, males can typically be found wandering these areas looking for mates, even in the more populated areas of these states. 

  I keep my spiderlings, like most of my other new world slings, in small AMAC boxes. These specimens like to burrow a lot at this size, so i make sure to use an enclosure that will give them ability to dig deep. I keep the substrate mostly dry though I do drip some water down the corner of the enclosure once a week or so to help saturate the bottom levels for a little humidity, but never enough to make it swampy. I provide a hide and a small water dish if there is room. If there is no room, i mist the side of the enclosure slightly or drop some water on the webbing once a week so it was a little something to drink. I feed my texas brown slings under 0.5” 1 or 2 pinhead crickets or roaches once a week, depending on the size of their abdomen. If the abdomen is small I will feed more often, like every 4-5 days, as it plumps up i will feed less often, like every 10-12 days. If the sling refuses food, i remove the prey within a few hours and try again in a week or so. This tarantulas can go weeks, even months without eating, and if you over feed them they can go into premolt and hide in their burrow, sealing themselves off, and you will not see them for months until the molt and venture out again. I wait about 3 days after they molt before attempting to feed them, but sometimes they wont eat again for a week or two.

  Once they outgrow those enclosures, I move them into my normal terrestrial juvenile enclosures with more height than width, and fill the enclosure up about ⅔ with substrate. I usually use coco fiber or peat moss as they don’t have any high humidity requirements. I provide a cork bark hide and water dish and keep the substrate dry, but the water dish full. I feed one or two small crickets every 7-10 days and again base the frequency on the size of the abdomen. Once a week when they are skinny right after a molt, and every 10-14 days once they begin to plump up. Again, this is a slow growing species, and simply feeding them more food more often will not cause them to grow faster, it will only send them into premolt sooner. Once the t stops taking food, it will usually hide away in its burrow for weeks or even months before emerging again post molt. 

  It can take this specimen 8-10 years before they reach their adult size, so I usually move them into a 2.5 gallon enclosure that has more width than height and fill it up at least ½ - ⅔ with substrate. You don’t want the length between the top of the substrate and the top of the enclosure to be more than 1.5x the leg span of the tarantula to decrease the risk of damage caused from a fall. I provide a hide and water dish, but at this size they really become bulldozers and when redecorate the entire enclosure. Usually burying their hide and constantly filling the water dish up with substrate. Mine typically make a burrow all the way down to the bottom of the enclosure, but once they are around 3” in size, they tend to spend most of their time out in the open. At most, when full grown, this tarantula won’t need an enclosure larger than a 5 gal setup, but you can keep them safely in an enclosure up to 10gal.

  This is a fairly docile tarantula and very easy to take care of. Though they are not as beautiful as the Aphonopelma chalcodes, their care and temperament are nearly the same. The only difference I have noticed in this species is that the A. hentizi seems to be a little quicker, moving faster than the Arizona blonde, and mine seems to spend most of its time moving substrate around its enclosure. Overall this is a very easy t to maintain and a nice addition to your collection after you already have the chalcodes, seemani and bicoloratum.