Cyriocosmus aueri
Peru Love Heart Dwarf - complete care guide
Peru Love Heart Dwarf
Temperature
21-28 °C
Target ambient range
Humidity
70-85 %
Substrate / enclosure RH
Adult DLS
4-6 cm
Average - varies per individual
Moult interval
Sling 2-4w - Juv 1-1.7mo
Adult 3-5mo
Adult cycle = mature females; males never moult again after maturity
About
A jewel of a dwarf from the Peruvian Amazon: barely 4-6 cm with a pale heart-shaped abdominal patch (the "Love Heart" of UK trade), vivid orange-red legs and a bright carapace. One of the fastest-maturing tarantulas known - roughly a year from sling to adult - and easy to breed, so captive-bred slings appear regularly. Escape-proofing and micro-prey are the only real husbandry challenges.
Husbandry cheat sheet
- Origin
- Peru (Loreto, Amazon)
- Habitat
- Rainforest floor leaf litter
- Temperament
- Docile
- In your collection
- 0
Growth, lifespan & conservation
- Growth rate
- Very fast
- Maturity
- ♀ 14mo ♂ 12mo
- Lifespan
- ♀ 8yr ♂ 3yr
- Continent
- South America
- UK availability
- Uncommon
Care Guide
Cyriocosmus aueri
Peru Love Heart Dwarf - a complete husbandry sheet. Use as a starting point and adjust to your individual specimen.
What size enclosure does a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula need?
Adults
15 × 15 cm is plenty for a mature female - dwarfs hunt poorly in big tubs. 5-8 cm of substrate for burrowing.
Slings & Juveniles
Small tubs with 3-4 cm of substrate and a starter burrow. They mature in about a year - plan the adult tub early.
To map exact floor space and substrate safety limits for your setup, use our free interactive tarantula enclosure planner.
What temperature and humidity does a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula need?
Heating
The Love Heart Dwarfs is comfortable at 21-28 °C. Most UK homes sit below this for much of the year; heat the room rather than the enclosure if winter drops under 19 °C.
Humidity
70-85 %: keep the lower substrate consistently moist-packed. Dry spells cause bad moults at this size.
Ventilation
Cross-ventilation with a damp-but-not-wet substrate - fine mesh only.
What substrate is best for a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula?
Recommended Mixes
Depth
5-8 cm
Notes
The enclosure IS the substrate. Deep and packed so burrows hold, with a moisture gradient - damp below, drier at the surface.
How do you set up a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula enclosure?
Décor
The Hide
A starter burrow (bark piece, straw or tubing entrance) angled into the substrate - they dig and cap the mouth with thick web.
Water
A bottle cap or tiny dish on the surface. Most drinking needs are met by the damp substrate.
Lighting
No special lighting needed. Ambient room light is enough.
How often should you feed a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula?
Good Feeders
Long refusal worrying you? Separate premoult fasting from genuine problems with our "Is my T okay?" checker.
Is my Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula dying or moulting?
Pre-moult signs to look for
Refusing food for weeks is normal before a moult - a healthy Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula fasting is almost never an emergency in itself. Watch for slowing down and spending more time in the hide, laying a thick moult mat of web on the floor. New World species like this one often show a bald spot on the abdomen that darkens to near-black as the new skin underneath readies - a darkening bald patch is a reliable countdown, not a disease.
On its back is MOULTING, not dying
A Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula lying upside down or on its side with legs curled inwards is almost certainly mid-moult. Do not touch it, do not right it, do not mist it - just remove any live prey (crickets can kill a defenceless moulter) and leave the room.
How long between moults?
For this species, expect a moult roughly every 14-28 days for spiderlings, every 30-50 days for juveniles, and every 60-100 days for sub-adults, with adult females moulting around every 3 months (up to 5 months at the extreme). Males never moult again after their ultimate (mature) moult.
After the moult: fang hardening time
The new exoskeleton stays soft, with fangs that cannot grip, for roughly 4 days in this species. Offer no food and no handling for about 7 days - feeding too early is how fresh moulters get injured. The shed exuvium is also the best sexing tool there is - see our tarantula sexing guide for what to look for.
Genuinely worried about behaviour that is not moulting? Our "Is my T okay?" triage tool walks the danger signs one by one.
What ongoing care does a Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantula need?
🪞 Moulting
Usually moults inside the burrow - you may only see the excavated exuvium at the entrance. Do not dig to check. Remove prey, keep humidity steady, and wait 3-5 days post-moult (small species harden fast) before feeding. Adult intervals apply to mature females - males never moult after their ultimate moult.
🧹 Cleaning
Refresh the water dish (bottle-cap sized) weekly. Spot clean boluses from around the burrow mouth.
✋ Handling
Gentle and nervous, no threat display - but a 4 cm spider is fragile and an escape artist. Observe, do not handle.
What are the most common mistakes when keeping Peru Love Heart Dwarf Tarantulas?
✓ What They Love
- Tiny prey - fruit flies and micro crickets
- Consistently moist (not wet) substrate
- Cross-ventilation
- Escape-proof enclosure - dwarfs slip tiny gaps
- A starter burrow they will web over
✕ Common Mistakes
- Oversized prey - a prey item thicker than the spider is dangerous
- Large enclosures - dwarfs hunt poorly in big tubs
- Letting substrate dry out - dysecdysis risk at this size
- Coarse ventilation holes a dwarf can squeeze through
Keep exploring: related care guides
More ground-dwelling species and close relatives from our full library:
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