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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eighth Eye Blind" data-source="post: 242696" data-attributes="member: 49683">All species of Poecilotheria are considered threatened or endangered. Because of this, they're covered by an international conservation treaty known as CITES that prohibits unregulated trade of those species between pretty much every country on the planet. You can't legally import or export a Poecilotheria species without special, very expensive, and difficult-to-obtain permits from both the country of shipment and the country of destination.This means that all of the P. metallica (legally) in the hobby were bred from individuals exported from India between the rediscovery of the species in 2001 and the time it was protected under CITES in 2019. There's obviously some illegal trade still going on but given the small wild population, the relatively short time they were legally available, and the small number of people who actually breed them in captivity, it's pretty safe to assume that every P. metallica in the hobby is inbred to a large degree. Fortunately, more and more T breeders are adopting ethical practices and bringing in new breeding stock instead of just crossing the same individuals over and over again. Animals that are already in the hobby can't be used to replenish or reestablish a wild population so it's not unethical to own a CITES-listed species . . . don't feel bad about that. But if you get another one please do make sure that it comes from a captive breeder who mixes his stock. That way the animals that we have in the hobby can stay as genetically healthy as they can.</blockquote>

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