Chilobrachys fimbriatus
-Indian Violet

Description

Scientific Name: Chilobrachys fimbriatus

Common Names: Indian Violet | Violet Earth Tiger

Not for beginners. Chilobrachys is another fast growing, super-fast moving old world tarantula species. The Indian Violet tarantula however, is said to be the most beautiful of the species, it’s legs have dark femurs that almost hint of purple but change to a rich light brown from the femur downward. It has a rich cream or bone colored carapace similar to Ephebopus murinus and Cyriopagopus sp. Hati Hati and an abdomen which is very unique. The copper toned abdomen is a rich metallic mix of light brown, brick red and violet hues along with fine-lined “tiger” striping from front to back, truly beautiful.

These are fossorial and will live in deep burrows but also very heavy webbers so if they are given a lot of structure in the enclosure, they can cast beautiful and elaborate webbed wonderlands that they will also spend quite a lot of time in and around. The keep can also drop feeders on the outskirts of this webbing which will bring your Indian Violet out in the open to grab it. Feeding them sparingly will also ensure they are always out and about hoping to grab an extra meal, making them more visible. They are claimed to have quite a long lifespan too, living over 20 years, which is quite a surprise when it comes to old an old world genus like Chilobrachys. It’s usually rare to find old world species living longer than 15 years at most.

Beautiful as they may be, being and old world species and on top of that in the Chilobrachys family, they are well known to be bold and defensive so extra care should be taken when working with this species, as with all old world species. They are voracious eaters and attack prey with plenty of vigor, making them entertaining to keep and watch, but again, feeding time is when keepers are most at risk because these guys will attack prey so quickly, they won’t be able to tell if they attacked a prey item… or your finger while cleaning out a water bowl.

Being old world and part of the Chilobrachys family, is must be assumed that it’s venom will be reasonably strong and cause intense pain and discomfort for the unlucky hobbyist.