SPECIES CARE GUIDE
Eight-Spotted Crab Spider / Pikachu Crab Spider
Platythomisus octomaculatus
ENVIRONMENT
Core care conditions
Use these ranges as a starting point and adjust for life stage, enclosure ventilation and observed behaviour.
HUSBANDRY OVERVIEW
At a glance
- Origin
- Southeast Asia
- Lifestyle
- Arboreal
- Adult size
- 4 cm
- Temperament
- Skittish
- Experience level
- Advanced
- Burrowing
- Does not burrow
- Growth rate
- Moderate
CARE NOTES
Keeping considerations
Requires a tall, vertical arboreal enclosure (such as a 15x15x25 cm terrarium) outfitted with vertical branches and broad live or silk leaves. They do not build web nets, acting instead as ambush hunters that target flying insects like fruit flies for juveniles, and small moths or flies for adults. Use a moisture-retaining substrate such as cocopeat, unfertilized potting soil, or a mix with sphagnum moss. Lightly mist every other day to maintain 70–80% humidity so they can drink water droplets directly from leaves, while ensuring exceptional cross-ventilation to prevent mold formation.