Poecilotheria miranda — Fact Sheet

Poecilotheria miranda · Poecilotheria miranda

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 and enough room to climb and retreat. Height and enclosure security are more important than dense decoration.

Decoration should stay stable and practical. Tall loose decor or cluttered layouts make maintenance harder and can increase stress during rehousing or cleaning.

💡 Lighting

Ambient room lighting is sufficient, with no need for UVB or basking lamps.

🌡️ 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 miranda does best with moderate humidity, fresh water, and strong airflow. The enclosure should not remain stagnant or wet overall.

Useful principles include:

• Fresh water always available
• One side or lower area can stay slightly more humid
• Upper air space should stay well ventilated
• Heavy constant spraying should be avoided

🪳 Feeding

Poecilotheria miranda is insectivorous. Suitable prey includes:

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

As a rough guide, feed slings every 3-5 days, juveniles once or twice weekly, and adults every 7-14 days when body condition supports it.

Frozen-thawed vertebrate prey is not appropriate. Uneaten live prey should be removed if the spider is in premolt or has clearly stopped feeding.

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 miranda 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, falls, and molting trouble.

Warning signs include lethargy, weak feeding response, frantic movement, and difficult molts.

If problems appear, first re-check enclosure security, airflow, water access, and temperature stability. Old World arboreal species should be approached calmly because rushed interventions can make a situation worse.