Psalmopoeus irminia
Venezuelan Suntiger Tarantula: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A gorgeous, fast arboreal display tarantula with a strong feeding response: adults reach about 5-6.5 inches across.
Group: TarantulasDifficulty: Spice 4: AdvancedSetup: ArborealHandling: NEVER
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 |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (60-75%) with cross ventilation; lightly damp lower substrate, dry cork faces |
| Setup Type | Arboreal |
| Substrate | Lightly moist substrate + vertical cork |
| Feeding | Weekly; strong feeder |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 4: Advanced |
| Handling | NEVER |
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
- Compact secure enclosure while it's a tiny sling
- Vertical bark setup for juveniles
- Taller vertical arboreal build for the adult
Warnings First
- Fast and defensive
- Bolting risk
- No handling
- Constant wet substrate plus a sealed lid is the failure mode here. Cross ventilation low on one wall and high on the opposite wall is what keeps a webbed cork retreat healthy.
Simple Care
- Vertical cork is mandatory.
- Keep airflow strong and moisture moderate.
- Vents low on one wall and high on the opposite wall so air rises past the cork and out above the retreat.
- Shallow water dish with pebbles in it so slings cannot drown.
- Rehouse with a catch cup ready.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- P. irminia often webs behind cork and uses vertical retreats heavily. Give it a secure tube/hide rather than empty vertical space.
- A moisture gradient is useful, but constant wet substrate can create stale conditions.
- The detail that makes that gradient work is where the vents go. This species webs behind cork, which means its retreat is a sealed pocket against a flat surface with almost no air exchange of its own. Put vents low on one wall, at or just above the substrate, and high on the opposite wall, so air enters across the damp ground layer, rises past the cork, and exits above the retreat. Lid-only venting leaves stale, damp air trapped in exactly the space behind the bark where the spider sits.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity are one setting. Hold 60 to 75% by keeping the lower substrate lightly damp and running a water dish, then let the vents flow. Sealing the enclosure to raise humidity is what turns 'a moisture gradient is useful' into the stale conditions the note above warns about.
- Judge by touch rather than by gauge. Lower substrate lightly damp with no free water when squeezed, cork faces and upper webbing dry. Condensation on the walls means add airflow.
- Keep a shallow water dish with pebbles or coarse grit so the waterline sits below the rim. Slings drown in open dishes, and on a species this fast you want water permanently available rather than opening the enclosure for extra misting runs.
- Mist the substrate at the base of the cork rather than into the retreat. That recharges the ground-level damp microclimate and lets moisture rise through moving air, while the webbed pocket behind the bark stays dry and ventilated.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Expect speed. Feeding and rehousing should be done with controlled openings and a catch cup.
- Feeding schedule: slings tiny prey 2×/week; juveniles weekly; adults every 1-2 weeks. Keep prey smaller than the abdomen, feed more often if it looks thin, less if it's plump. Strong feeder, fast grower.
- Molting: a premolt Suntiger turns sluggish, seals into its cork retreat, and stops eating for days or even weeks. Normal. Pull uneaten feeders, leave it alone, and wait 5-10 days after the molt before feeding again.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Venezuela and nearby northern South American forest habitats.
- Habitat translation: Arboreal cork retreat with moderate humidity and ventilation.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Expect speed and defensive reactions; keep the enclosure simple enough to locate the spider.
- Slings web heavily and can vanish; feed tiny prey and avoid flooding web retreats.
- Adult size ~5-6.5 in DLS; a fast grower; females ~10-15 years, males ~2-4. It lacks urticating hairs, but it possesses potent venom: a bite can be quite painful and may cause nausea, dizziness, and muscle cramps. Advanced keepers only.