Poecilotheria formosa — Fact Sheet

Poecilotheria formosa · Poecilotheria formosa

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Enclosure planning dimensions: 30 x 30 x 45 cm
• Substrate planning depth: 5 cm
• Housing: One animal per enclosure

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Use a vertical enclosure with cork bark, upright structure, and secure hiding space. Height and retreat quality matter more than substrate depth.

Avoid frequent rehousing or repeated disturbance.

💡 Lighting

Use ambient room light for a predictable day-night cycle; bright basking lamps are unnecessary.

🌡️ Temperature

• Daytime air: 23-27 °C

• Cool zone: 21-23 °C

• Night: 20-23 °C

• Measure ambient temperature with a digital thermometer near the retreat

• Warm the room or one enclosure side if needed; avoid heat mats under the floor

• Avoid heat rocks, hot bulbs over small boxes, and overheating

💧 Humidity and water

Poecilotheria formosa does best with moderate humidity and strong ventilation. Fresh water should always be available.

The enclosure should never stay stale and wet for long.

Useful principles include:

• Fresh water always available
• Some moisture retention lower down or in one area
• Drying between heavier moisture inputs
• Good air exchange at all times

🪳 Feeding

Poecilotheria formosa is insectivorous. Suitable prey includes:

• Crickets
• Roaches
• Locusts where available
• Mealworms only in moderation

Feeding pace should slow with age: every few days for slings, weekly or twice weekly for juveniles, and about every 7-14 days for most adults.

Uneaten prey should not be left to bother a spider in premolt. Overfeeding is unnecessary in adult arboreal tarantulas.

Feeding changes with age. Slings can eat smaller prey or prekilled pieces more often, but uneaten prey should come out quickly, especially around premolt. Adults need less frequent meals, and an oversized abdomen is a reason to slow down, not feed more.

☠️ Safety

Poecilotheria formosa 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

Common problems include stress, dehydration, poor ventilation, overly damp stagnant conditions, and falls in poorly designed enclosures.

Warning signs include lethargy, poor feeding response in a declining animal, and difficult molts.

Repeated frantic movement, refusal to settle, or persistent climbing around doors and vents often points to enclosure stress or maintenance disturbance.