Venezuelan Sun Tiger Tarantula (Psalmopoeus irminia)

Venezuelan Sun Tiger Tarantula Psalmopoeus irminia
Name	Venezuelan Sun Tiger Tarantula
Name Lat.	Psalmopoeus irminia
Family	Tarantulas
Family lat.	Theraphosidae
Order	Spiders
Order lat.	Araneae
Origin	South America
Habitat	Forest
Diet	Live insects
Humidity	80-90 %
Behavior	Nocturnal, semi-aggressive
Keeping	Individual
Care Level	Difficult
Housing	Humid terrarium
Breeding	Moderately difficult
Life Span	5-10 years
Protection	No
Metric Units
Size	6 cm
Temperature Day	25-27 °C
Temperature Night	20-22 °C
Housing Size	40 x 30 x 40 cm
US Units
Size	2.4"
Temperature Day	77-81 °F
Temperature Night	68-72 °F
Housing Size	15" x 10" x 15"

Distribution and habitat

The distribution range of the predominantly nocturnal, arboreal Venezuela ornamental tarantulas is in Venezuela and Guyana, where they live hidden in branch forks, tree crevices, and self-dug burrows under roots.

Maintenance

For 1 animal a terrarium with a minimum size of 40 x 30 cm and a minimum height of 40 cm can be recommended as a guideline. The terrarium should be placed in a quiet place without sunlight.

You will need a terrarium structured with vertical cork tubes, roots and branches (hiding places and privacy screens), a substrate of terrarium humus, a small, shallow drinking vessel and artificial or potted plants (e.g. Ficus repens, Scindapsus aureus) for decoration. Part of the substrate should always be kept slightly moist. Daily the inside of the terrarium should be finely sprayed with water (humidity), but better is a rain or mist system

Temp. day: 25-27 °C

Temp. night: 20-22 °C

Humidity: 80-90 %

The lighting duration should be 8-12 hrs. depending on the season. A conventional light source (fluorescent tube, incandescent bulb) is sufficient. Special lamps with high UV content are not necessary.

Diet

The food supply should consist of crickets, cockroaches, house crickets, maggots and grasshoppers as well as other arachnids. The prey animal is "injected" with the biting tools (chelicerae) with a digestive juice, which liquefies the protein components and the prey can thus be sucked out (extracorporeal digestion). Young animals can be offered food 1-2 times a week, adults only every one to two weeks. Under no circumstances should they be overfed, the basic rule being that the abdomen should be no more than 1½ times the size of the cephalothorax. Unaccepted food must be removed after 1-2 days. Refusal of food may indicate a natural phase of starvation or an impending molt. No food animals should be in the terrarium during molting, they could injure the spider

A regular and varied diet promotes health and prevents deficiency symptoms.

Reproduction and breeding

The smaller males can be recognized by their bulbs folded in towards the body

The female lays 80-150 eggs in a prepared cocoon in her burrow about 3 months after mating. After about 3 weeks, the young spiders hatch, leave the cocoon after 2 molts, and leave the nest some time later. Females can live up to 15 years.

Obligation to report

Make sure to inform yourself about any regulations on keeping or bans on keeping this animal in your state or home municipality (e.g. public order office). Your pet store will be happy to provide you with further information.

Important

Venezuela ornamental tarantulas have very large adhesive pads and many fine adhesive hairs that help them climb up smooth walls.

Their irritant hairs break off when touched and can cause skin irritation and may cause corneal damage and asthma-like symptoms in the eyes. Care should also be taken when cleaning the terrarium, as irritant hairs can be stirred up by the substrate (safety goggles).

A bite is very painful, the venom is equivalent to that of a bee or wasp. Crushed or held legs can be thrown off at a predetermined breaking point and regenerate completely after 1-2 molts. They change color slightly with each molt

Before purchasing, a terrarium should be prepared that meets the species specific needs. Good ventilation without drafts and equipment for measuring temperature and humidity are necessary. The lighting has to correspond to the species-specific day-night rhythm and should be placed in such a way that the animals cannot injure themselves. The terrarium should be locked in such a way that neither unauthorized persons can open it nor the animals can escape. Special attention must be paid to thorough hygiene and impurities must be removed regularly.

Further literature can be found in your pet store.

References

Text: petdata; Image: Franz Lowak

Source: ENGELMANN & LANGE (2011): Zootierhaltung - Tiere in menschlicher Obhut: Wirbellose, Harri Deutsch Verlag; HENKEL & SCHMIDT (2010): Taschenatlas Wirbellose für das Terrarium, Verlag Eugen Ulmer