Another T rescued

[Poec54]

I think that's the condition a majority of stirmi come into the country. They get picked up by collectors, then sit in deli cups in a shipment waiting to go through customs and what not for lord only knows how long.

That's all w/c tarantulas, some are hardier than others. That how dealers have kept them for the past 50 years. Back when I was a broke college student in Michigan I used to maintain the spiders for a local importer and a local exotic pet store, in exchange for free crickets for my spider collection. All were in 16 oz deli cups. I'd put a spider in clean cup with a wet cottonball and a few crickets, clean the old cup, and put the next spider in that. They'd have 50 to 100+ spiders, all NW terrestrials, and most would be kicking hairs. It was a good deal for everyone, spiders included.

Stirmi aren't drought tolerant, and can suffer more than other species, But they usually bounce right back with a little TLC. A local reptile breeder/importer near me gets in 10+ at a time, and over the last 2 years I've picked out the thinnest ones and bought them. I've got 20 now myself (at wholesale) and all are doing great. Put them in a cage with moist substrate, cross ventilation, a clean water bowl, and plenty of food, and they respond very well. You are strongly advised to use disposable plastic bowls with Theraphosa, as you will find some of the most disgusting things in them.

 

[DVirginiana]

I currently have 5 p rufilatas and a p regalis community there doing really well at the moment I've seen a lot of avic comunarals that have been very successful but yes always a risk

Sounds cool. I've always been interested in communals but never tried it with anything other than garter snakes.

 

[terror_corpz]

Sounds cool. I've always been interested in communals but never tried it with anything other than garter snakes.

It's definitely worth a try I have a thread which I update regularly on here its my 1st attempt at one so im learning as I go along

 

[Poec54]

Sounds cool. I've always been interested in communals but never tried it with anything other than garter snakes.

Do more reading. There's plenty of accounts of Poecs killing each other at 2nd instar (ornata and metallica), and other species as juveniles or suddenly after 3 or 4 years. They ARE NOT communal. They have some tolerance for each other, but they're in it for themselves, not the group. In the wild, they can leave if things get too tense, but confined in captivity, that could end up in a fight to the death. Back when P metallica prices were sky high, Kelly Swift had half a sac of slings kill the other half, wholesale slaughter. Others have had metallica in group cages for years without incident. No telling what will happen, but never assume there's a guarantee it'll be Peaceable Kingdom.

The authoritative books on Poecs: Ornament Vogelspinnen, Die Gattung Poecilotheria, by Krehenwinkel, Maerklin, and Kroes, (2008, 191 pages, ISBN 3-936180-27-X) says this:

- Kill each other as nymphs: ornata and some metallica
- Can be kept together up to 6 months old: formosa, some metallica, regalis, and striata
- Can be kept together up to 1 year old: fasciata, regalis (with 10% losses), striata (with 10% losses), tigrina, vittata, and some rufilata
- Can be kept together for one 1 year old: subfusca, and some rufilata (with 10% losses)

The authors are aware that there cases of people exceeding these times, but they're also aware of many disasters. These guys are probably the world's experts on Poecilotheria. I certainly wouldn't argue with them.

 

[DVirginiana]

Don't worry, I have no intention of keeping anything but garters communally (I would say they're one of the few exotics that is actually communal rather than just capable of cohabiting w/o killing each other). Even though I find communals interesting, I realize there is a risk, and if that risk can be put at 0% by not cohabiting then that's what I'm going to do.

That being said, my comment reflected my view on communals pretty well; It's not for me, but other people are gonna do what they're gonna do. As long as they know it's a risk, I'm going to stay out of an argument over whether or not communal caging is okay.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Don't worry, I have no intention of keeping anything but garters communally (I would say they're one of the few exotics that is actually communal rather than just capable of cohabiting w/o killing each other). Even though I find communals interesting, I realize there is a risk, and if that risk can be put at 0% by not cohabiting then that's what I'm going to do.

That being said, my comment reflected my view on communals pretty well; It's not for me, but other people are gonna do what they're gonna do. As long as they know it's a risk, I'm going to stay out of an argument over whether or not communal caging is okay.

Hello
Communal caging can be used at any stage as an accepted word,communal species is where most will tend to argue. I think anyone will realize there is a risk,but I suspect will always be a part of the hobby.