Psalmopoeus Irminia

[Conna]

Hello again Arachnopals,
I recently placed an order online for a 3" Psalmopoeus Irminia female. She is coming either this week or the next. Right now I have a small growing collection of 4 New World slings around 1" and a 4" Female Grammostola Sp Concepcion. My purpose in getting the Irminia was to get a defensive/fast arboreal tarantula to get some experience with this kind of behavior/speed. My slings right now do not really scare me and my G. Concepcion is literally a teddy bear pet rock. She has always been docile and sits still when disturbed instead of threat/hair flicking. I would love to someday own a Poecilotheria or an OBT and read lots of posts on here saying Irminia are decent Ts to get before jumping into something like a Poecilotheria. I have a few questions if you experienced keepers have a moment.

I have an extra Jamies Tarantulas adult enclosure, could I put her directly into that for a permanent enclosure? She is listed at 3".

Is this girl going to be fine at my usual room temp of 70-75F?

Any specific things you can think of that I might need to know when caring for an arboreal vs terrestrial? Besides the cage being setup differently. My only other Arboreal is less than 1" so I don't have much experience with them.

What tips would you give to someone like me getting my first faster/defensive arboreal?

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my posts. Hope you all had a great memorial weekend..


In case you were curious my current Tarantulas are Brachypelma Vagans, Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens, Caribena Versicolor, Dolicothele Diamantensis (sp?) ALL at around 3/4" - 1.5" and my final Grammostola Sp Concepcion ~4" female.

 

[Moonohol]

3" is pretty small for one of Jamie's adult enclosures but since P. irminia are fast growers, I think you could get away with it. 70-75 is a fine temp, that's what I keep mine around.

Make sure she gets a decent amount of sub in case she decides to burrow (P. irminia are known to do this; I can attest to it as mine spends all of its time in its burrow). A cork tube for the hide might not be a bad idea either.

My only other advice is don't try unpacking it yourself if you can help it. Open the lid to the deli cup/vial she comes in, place it in the enclosure, close the hatch and let her come out on her own. Getting the T in to its enclosure is pretty much the worst time to witness their blinding speed for yourself.

 

[Nonnack]

It is very good approach, buying Psalmo before jumping into OW.
My advice would be to prepare before attempting to unpack/rehouse. If it is your first really fast spider, make sure to do it in clean room, kick out all cats, dogs, and kids Also cover all small holes it could crawl into. Have caught cup handy. Maybe unpacking will go smoothly, maybe you will have to chase it around the room ;P

 

[CyclingSam]

I do not have a P. irminia; however, I do have a P. cambridgei and a P. pulcher. They are both very fast, but only in short bursts. Do any rehousing in the middle of a large room with a clear floor. I suggest having a few catch containers. I uses a large clear storage bin to catch with. It is much easier than using a small cup. By large I mean like a 4 gallon container. I agree that getting it into the enclosure will be the hardest part. Once complete and after it sets down roots it will be cake as long as you don't go poking your fingers around near its den. For mine, I give them a few inches of substrate and a slab of tree bark. I find bark and clean it by boiling and baking it. I lean the bark up on one side of the enclosure and both of mine have dug down some at the base of the back side of the bark and have then put up dirt curtains. Here is a pic of my P. cambridgei's enclosure. The dirt curtains are behind the bark.

 

[Conna]

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses and the very helpful advice! I am super excited and nervous to get this girl. I am now going to just take the lid off the container she comes in and let her come out on her own time. I am in no rush and would prefer not to have a fast spider running around my living room day one.
If she ends up looking a bit small for the Jamies could I add a bit extra substrate to reduce the fall distance as a temporary fix until next molt? I am perfectly fine getting a smaller enclosure for her until shes ready for the Jamies but if I could avoid 1 rehouse entirely that would be ideal for a noob like myself.
Thanks again!

 

[CyclingSam]

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses and the very helpful advice! I am super excited and nervous to get this girl. I am now going to just take the lid off the container she comes in and let her come out on her own time. I am in no rush and would prefer not to have a fast spider running around my living room day one.
If she ends up looking a bit small for the Jamies could I add a bit extra substrate to reduce the fall distance as a temporary fix until next molt? I am perfectly fine getting a smaller enclosure for her until shes ready for the Jamies but if I could avoid 1 rehouse entirely that would be ideal for a noob like myself.
Thanks again!

You should not have any fall issues with a P. irminia, in its own enclosure at least. Falling is mainly a terrestrial concern. They will jump by the way.

 

[GreyPsyche]

I prefer to house bigger and let them grow into their enclosures. I wouldn't worry too much about an arboreal species falling, they're very graceful and competent climbers. Also, when I unpacked my gfs P. Cam sling she literally flew out and before I knew it she was in her enclosure in a hole in the dirt faster than I could see. I've seen her out twice since. I can see her legs a lot lately though.

 

[Conna]

Okay thanks for the clarification. I will just let her grow into the Jamies enclosure. Most of the info I have looked up has been about terrestrial tarantulas because I only own the one arboreal sling. Guess I have so more googling and youtubing to do

 

[Conna]

Thoughts on my setup for her arrival tomorrow? Hope she loves it. Big bark peice to climb and hide behind, water dish, and some fake plants to decorate

 

[Conna]

Btw that light above the cage is NOT in use. It just came on the cabinet I keep them in.

 

[CyclingSam]

View attachment 241895

Thoughts on my setup for her arrival tomorrow? Hope she loves it. Big bark peice to climb and hide behind, water dish, and some fake plants to decorate

Looks nice. I expect you'll post pictures when you get the T.

 

[GreyPsyche]

Nice set up, wonder if you could get one of those UV bulbs to see her at night without putting off extra heat, just curious, I hear they can't see in that spectrum but I know nothing of it.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

View attachment 241895

Thoughts on my setup for her arrival tomorrow? Hope she loves it. Big bark piece to climb and hide behind, water dish, and some fake plants to decorate

I have a female around the same size that I've raised from a sling (she just moulted today), they're pretty easy to deal with once settled into an enclosure as they prefer to hide than fight, just be aware of their speed (they can bloody shift when they want to) and don't go poking around their den with your fingers (use long tongs for maintenance, their venom isn't anywhere near as bad as OW venom but a bite will still ruin your day).

Setup looks good, I'd personally add some plants near the top (I like to have all bases covered, my girl has never burrowed but she does make web tubes above the floor lined with moss/substrate, she's currently set up shop in the top corner of an Exo Terra Nano Tall) and a larger water dish.

 

[Ungoliant]

Nice set up, wonder if you could get one of those UV bulbs to see her at night without putting off extra heat, just curious, I hear they can't see in that spectrum but I know nothing of it.

Jumping spiders can see UV. Although tarantulas don't see as well as jumpers, this would make me hesitant to leave a UV light on my tarantulas.

 

[mconnachan]

Congratulations on your choice of T. They are extremely fast and can be very defensive, my advice when transferring, is to do it in the bath that way there is lots of open space with very few hiding places or nooks and crannies, you'll love this species it's a stunner, as for care etc, that's all been covered already so I won't go over that again, enjoy.

 

[Andrea82]

Nice set up, wonder if you could get one of those UV bulbs to see her at night without putting off extra heat, just curious, I hear they can't see in that spectrum but I know nothing of it.

Jumping spiders can see UV. Although tarantulas don't see as well as jumpers, this would make me hesitant to leave a UV light on my tarantulas.

The blue light @grayzone mentions is a 'moonlight' bulb, instead of an UV. @viper69 uses these or knows someone who does IIRC..

 

[Walker253]

I'd have no qualms about using that enclosure for a P irminia. They will use every bit of it. The only thing I would change out is that 1/2 log and put some cork bark in there. Get a big enough piece or two to go near the top.

 

[Venom1080]

Very dry. They like it more humid.

 

[Conna]

I'd have no qualms about using that enclosure for a P irminia. They will use every bit of it. The only thing I would change out is that 1/2 log and put some cork bark in there. Get a big enough piece or two to go near the top.

Roger that. I will take it out and find something taller. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Conna]

Very dry. They like it more humid.

Got it. I will moisten it up a bit before I introduce her to her new home. Thanks!