Borrelia burgdorferi basic membrane protein A (BmpA) plays a critical role in Lyme arthritis, mediating immune responses and inflammation progress. This study aimed to describe the manifestations and the main evaluation method for recombinant BmpA (rBmpA)-induced arthritis in tree shrews. rBmpA injection was used to stimulate the knee joints of tree shrews in vivo. The degree of arthritis was evaluated according to arthritis severity index scoring, histopathology, and measurement of the expression of proinflammation cytokines. Following rBmpA treatment, the joints of the tree shrews were noticeably swollen, and the incidence of arthritic joints and the average arthritis index score were both enhanced. Additionally, both TNF-α and CXCR4 mRNA levels were significantly increased in peripheral blood, while inflammation was seen to peak from day 7–15 after BmpA injection. Histopathological examination showed cartilage degeneration, depressions in the synovial cartilage of the joints, chondrocyte proliferation, and cartilage microfibrosis. rBmpA-induced arthritis in the tree shrew can be a candidate model for investigating Lyme arthritis pathogenesis and treatment.Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 32060180, 81860644, 81560596, and 31560051], Joint Foundation of Yunnan Province Department of Science, Technology-Kunming Medical University [No. 2019FE001 (-002) and 2017FE467 (-001)], and the Natural Scientific Research Foundation of Yunnan Science and Technology Department [No. 2013FZ057].Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.Ethics Approval Statement: The experiments were performed under a project license (No. LA2021744) granted by the Experimental Animal Committee of Yunnan, complying with the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals guidelines published by the US National Institutes of Health.