Idiothele mira — Fact Sheet

Idiothele mira · Idiothele mira

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Adult enclosure: 30 × 30 × 30 cm (length × width × height).
• Use most of the lower space for firm, diggable substrate and a stable burrow; the listed height is not empty climbing space.
• Substrate planning depth: 25 cm
• Housing: One animal per enclosure

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Build habitat first and display second: secure retreats, water, web or burrow anchors, safe movement routes, and enough cover for normal behaviour. Keep decoration functional and leave enough access for safe cleaning and observation.

The substrate should be firm enough for a neat burrow and dry enough on top that the door does not turn moldy. Keep one lower corner lightly moist and leave the opposite side drier. A water dish can be very small but should still be present; dehydration is harder to spot in a species that spends most of its time behind a sealed entrance.

💡 Lighting

Tarantulas do not need specialist lighting; a regular room day-night rhythm is enough. Avoid direct lamps that overheat or dry the enclosure too aggressively. Quarantine new arrivals in a simple secure setup before moving them into a display enclosure.

🌡️ Temperature

• Daytime air: 22-27 °C
• Cool zone: 20-23 °C
• Night: 20-23 °C

💧 Humidity and water

Keep the surface mostly dry to moderate, with the lower burrow zone lightly moist. A small dish of clean water should always be available. Moisture should stay local; a wet, closed container quickly leads to mold around the entrance.

🪳 Feeding

Suitable diet: small crickets, roach nymphs, small locusts, and other prey sized to the spider. Remove uneaten prey and food remains. Feed according to body condition, not only appetite, and avoid leaving live prey during premolt. A fasting spider is not automatically in trouble, but refusal with weight loss, dehydration, or weakness needs a husbandry check.

☠️ Safety

Idiothele mira 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

The most common problems are a collapsed burrow, an overly wet entrance, mold, dehydration, and unnoticed leftover prey. If the spider stops repairing the entrance, looks shrunken, or ignores food for a long time, first check water, lower-layer moisture, ventilation, and burrow stability.

Do not open the trapdoor just to see the spider. Long hidden periods are normal, especially before molt. Intervention is justified if the entrance collapses, mold persists, mites appear, the abdomen is severely shrunken, or there is visible injury.

For serious injury, leaking hemolymph, or a difficult molt, seek an exotic-veterinary professional when possible. A short log of feeding, molts, and changes around the entrance is much more useful than frequent digging.