Chilobrachys huahini — Fact Sheet

Chilobrachys huahini · Chilobrachys huahini

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

For an adult, 30 x 30 x 40 cm is a useful starting size. Fill more than half the height with substrate so the spider can build a 20-25 cm retreat. The space above the finished surface should be modest. Every lid, door, feeding port, and ventilation hole must be secure before the spider is introduced.

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Use a firm mix such as pesticide-free topsoil with coco fibre and a small clay component. Compress it in layers so a tunnel holds its shape. Loose dry coco fibre alone can collapse, while pure wet peat can become airless. Avoid fertilized soil, aromatic wood, sharp stone, mesh that can trap claws, and heavy decor that could settle onto the burrow.

Set a cork-bark slab or tube diagonally into the substrate and start a narrow hole beneath it. Add leaf litter and a few stable twigs above the entrance as web anchors. The spider will redesign the area; intact silk is functional furniture, not dirt.

💡 Lighting

UVB and basking lamps are unnecessary. Provide 10-12 hours of indirect room light so the spider has a stable day-night rhythm. A dim plant light can be used if it does not heat the lid or dry the burrow.

Do not use red or blue night bulbs. For observation, brief low-intensity light is enough. Place the enclosure away from direct sun, loud speakers, constant vibration, and busy surfaces where it may be knocked.

🌡️ Temperature

• Daytime air: 22-27 °C

• Cool zone: 20-23 °C

• Night: 20-23 °C

• Measure near the retreat with a digital thermometer

• Warm the room or one external side through a thermostat; never heat beneath substrate

• Avoid heat rocks and hot bulbs over small enclosures

💧 Humidity and water

Humidity percentages are only a rough check. A practical setup keeps the lower substrate lightly moist, one side or upper surface somewhat drier, and air moving through vents on opposing sides. About 60-80% relative humidity may occur, but persistent condensation, sour odor, or waterlogged soil means the balance is wrong.

Provide a shallow clean water dish at all times. Overflow it lightly into one corner, then wait for that area to begin drying before watering again. Pouring water down one side is less disruptive than repeated spraying, which can trigger a bolt and wet the web without hydrating the deeper soil evenly.

During premolt, continue water access and keep the lower layer stable; do not soak a sealed burrow. A spider lying on its back is usually molting. Remove prey and leave it undisturbed.

🪳 Feeding

Offer captive-reared crickets, roaches, or locusts where legal. Prey should generally be no larger than the spider’s body, and smaller for spiderlings. Slings can take small portions every 3-5 days; juveniles usually every 5-10 days; adults commonly every 7-14 days or less often when well conditioned.

Use abdomen condition, not feeding aggression, to set the schedule. A very swollen abdomen increases the consequences of a fall. Remove uneaten prey within 24 hours, immediately if it burrows near the spider, and always when premolt is suspected.

After a molt, wait until the fangs are completely dark and the spider moves normally—often several days for juveniles and 7-14 days for a large adult. Whole feeder insects need no calcium or vitamin dusting.

☠️ Safety

Chilobrachys huahini must be managed without direct handling. Clinical reports of bites from some African and Asian tarantulas, including Pterinochilus murinus and Poecilotheria regalis, describe severe pain and delayed or prolonged muscle cramps. These reports justify caution across this group; they do not establish the exact severity of every species or every bite.

Use long tools and a catch cup, with a second containment tub for transfers in a closed room. Keep hands out of retreats and webbing, do not hand-feed, and do not chase an escaping spider. Keep transfers low to limit fall injuries to the animal.

After a bite, wash the wound with soap and water and contact a poison centre or medical service with the scientific name and time of exposure. Seek urgent care for severe or spreading pain, muscle cramps or persistent symptoms; call emergency services for breathing difficulty, throat swelling or collapse. Do not cut the wound or try to extract venom. Treatment focuses on wound assessment and symptom control under medical supervision.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Constant wall climbing or exposed pacing → substrate too wet, retreat insecure, ventilation poor, or recent disturbance
• Shrunken abdomen and weak posture → dehydration, prolonged poor intake, or illness
• Condensation, odor, gnats, or spreading mold → excessive water and inadequate airflow
• Refusal followed by sealed burrow → often normal premolt; remove prey and wait
• Failed molt or stuck appendage → hydration or health problem; avoid pulling and seek specialist advice
• Bleeding after a fall → serious hemolymph loss; minimize movement and obtain urgent expert help

A death curl, inability to right itself, persistent leakage, severe mite burden, or progressive weakness deserves prompt veterinary or experienced arachnid assessment. Normal hiding can last weeks or months; digging into a sound burrow usually creates the emergency the keeper hoped to prevent.