In stock Panama Wandering Spider for sale All spiders for sale
Phoneutria depilata
Panama Wandering Spider: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The Central American wandering spider, with medically significant venom: fast, climbs glass, displays before it bites. Keep it in a locked ground-level build inside a second container, tongs only. - Big Z
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 5: ExtremeSetup: Locked ground-level build, double containedHandling: No handling, ever; tongs and a second box
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 75-82°F room, low-to-mid 70s at night |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 70-80%: half damp, half dry, strong cross vents |
| Setup Type | Locked ground-level build, double contained |
| Substrate | Packed coco/topsoil 1.5-2 in, leaf litter |
| Feeding | Slings 2x weekly; adults every 7-10 days |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 5: Extreme |
| Handling | No handling, ever; tongs and a second box |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- Sling (1/8-1/4 in): sealed cup or vial with pin vents, thin damp soil, leaf to hide under, inside a second container
- Juvenile: locking small terrestrial, 1 in packed soil, cork retreat, leaf litter, damp half and dry half, second container
- Adult (3-4 in span): locking terrestrial with about 12 in of floor, 1.5-2 in soil, cork, litter, pebble dish, second container
Warnings First
- Medically significant venom: recorded bites caused severe pain, swelling, sweating and racing heart. Any bite needs medical care right away.
- Fast, climbs smooth plastic and glass, and can jump short distances. Double containment, always.
- Front legs raised and fangs open is a warning. Back off and close the enclosure.
- No handling, ever. Tongs, a catch cup and a locked lid are all that touch it.
- Slings fit through ordinary vents and are hard to raise even for experts. Sealed cup with pin vents.
- Legality is on you. Check state and city rules before you buy.
Simple Care
- Catch cup and tongs in hand before the lid opens, never over open floor.
- 75-82°F from a warm room; no lamp or mat on the enclosure.
- Half the soil damp, half dry, full pebble dish, strong low cross vents.
- Cork retreat and leaf litter at ground level.
- Feed with tongs; pull uneaten prey within 24 hours.
- Lock the lid, label it medically significant, keep it in a second sealed container.
- Nothing live in with a premolt spider.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- A ground spider of forest, plantations and grassland that hides under litter by day and hunts low at night. Build floor space, not depth.
- Adults: locking enclosure with about 12 in of floor, 1.5-2 in packed soil, cork slab, leaf litter, low cross vents. Keep decor away from the lid.
- Water the soil under the retreat, never the spider. Wet and stagnant setups lost animals to bad molts and fungus.
- Slings: sealed cup with pin vents, thin damp layer, a leaf to hide under and a droplet on the wall. House singly.
- Double containment at every stage: inside a sealed tub or locked cabinet, labeled.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Slings: springtails, flightless fruit flies and pre-killed pinhead crickets twice weekly.
- Juveniles: one prey no wider than the abdomen 1-2x weekly. Adults: one roach or cricket every 7-10 days.
- After a molt, wait for dark fangs and normal movement before feeding.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Central America and the west side of the Andes: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, from sea level to about 5,500 ft. No locality came with this group; the Panama name is a trade name, not a collection record.
- Habitat translation: Wild: warm lowland and foothill country averaging 70-79°F year-round with wet and dry seasons, living at ground level in disturbed forest edge, banana plantations, grassland and coffee, under rocks and leaf litter by day. Build: a warm room at 75-82°F, half-damp packed soil with leaf litter, a cork retreat at ground level, strong cross vents, a pebble dish, a locking lid and a second sealed container around the whole thing.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Long lumped with Phoneutria boliviensis; split again in 2021. Older Central American 'boliviensis' notes mostly apply.
- Egg sacs hold 430-1300 eggs. A gravid female is a containment problem on top of a venom problem.
- Recorded bites from this species were mostly mild to moderate, one severe; the Brazilian species carry the death records.
- Males carry less venom but somewhat more potent venom, so a male isn't lower risk.