Taking the plunge....

Jason B

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Messages
88
Yeah I would also recommend getting an A. Metallica or Caribena Versicolor or even a P. Cambridgei to get a little bit experience before you get a pokie. Or you could even consider a my personal favorite recomendation the chromatopelma cyaneopubescens aka Green Bottle Blue now I'm biased, someone could ask me what kind of dog they should get and I'd be like green bottle blue. But they are a hardy species, heavy webber, I normally house my gbb like an arboreal anyway even though there kinda in between an arboreal and terrestrial.

But the thing is they are normally about half the price of a P. Metallica, very hardy, and they are a very visible species and they are not photosensitive like P. Metallica is and they look fantastic in almost any light. P. Metallicas tend to look far more washed out under natural light then they do in most pictures you see of them and they are more photosensitive then your average pokie so this can be problematic. They also tend to spend way more time hiding then most pokies.

Now if you decide you still want to get a Pokie, I would recommend a P. Regalis over the P. Metallica since having your first tarantula spend most of its time in his hide is not the best new hobbyist experience.
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
Pokies aren't so bad, they are quite skittish, but most would rather flee then stand their ground and strike, I've only ever seen P.ornata act super defensive. P.metallica is probably the most flighty in the genus, mine will literally take off running and do laps around her enclosure when spooked, so supplying a good hide is essential, although mine seems to forget where her hide is and scrambles around until she finds it.

A much better alternative, for both your first arboreal and a display spider is a P.cambridgei. They are much more visible then most Poeciletheria, and are less prone to flighty behavior, all my girls stand their ground and are very calm. They have a fierce appetite and grow bolder with age, meaning they are more visible as they put on size. Another plus is their low cost and ease of care, they also probably have milder venom then your average pokie.
 

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CyclingSam

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 22, 2016
Messages
214
I have 2 pokies. One is a P. Metallica. The other is a rufilata. They are both more reclusive than I would like. My P. cambridgei on the other hand is always out. It's always hungry. It's also green and orange! I vote P. cambridgei!
IMG_0288.JPG
 
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Shampain88

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
64
@Hoops71 My first arboreal was a P.Vittata and never had any temperament issues, it sounds like you have experience with some of the fastest arachnids (ie. Huntsmen) so I'd go for it if you really want one... In my experience if you have a tall vivarium and work on pokies from the top lid they tend to run around the enclosure if they decide to take off during maintenance rather than up and down but you ALWAYS have to remember a full blown bite from a pokie is as I'm sure you know not something to be taken lightly :) A wonderful genus and very rewarding imo...
 

Hoops71

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
45
After watching that video I might give Pokies a miss until I gain more experience. :wideyed:
I see The Spider Shop (UK) are selling Avicularia sp 'Blue Velvet' slings. Although I'm told Avi slings are hard to rear and are prone to sudden die offs? Im sure thats probably due to keeper neglect than an unfortunate trait? If so, I might hold on until I can get my mitts on some juveniles.
 

Shampain88

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
64
After watching that video I might give Pokies a miss until I gain more experience. :wideyed:
I see The Spider Shop (UK) are selling Avicularia sp 'Blue Velvet' slings. Although I'm told Avi slings are hard to rear and are prone to sudden die offs? Im sure thats probably due to keeper neglect than an unfortunate trait? If so, I might hold on until I can get my mitts on some juveniles.
I've had one blue velvet sling die on me and I know someone who lost three slings in a week... I'm not confident with Avic slings anymore lol
 

Jason B

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Messages
88
Alot of the misconception of Avics being harder to keep came from the popular believe that avics needed a large amount of humidity. Back in the day I too kept my avics alot of humidity. Then I remember reading a thread here on this board from someone who started keeping his avics dry with just a water bowl, and alot of ventilation and I decided to try it myself and instead of the mixed results I used to have became mostly positive results.

The biggest thing with Avics is you need good cross ventilation.
 

Jason B

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Messages
88
Since you mentioned the spider shop and I love looking at their prices and imaging how nice it would be to have those prices. I did see they have juvie P. Cambridgei for sale at the same price i'd pay for a sling.
So that is one to consider for sure, another possible option is they have a T. Latipes as a spidering. Now I wouldn't normally recommend a Tap as someones first T because of their speed. But they are considered to be more hardy then Avics. I don't know if a Tap is faster then any of the huntsman you've kept. But as far as Ts go there is not much faster. They also have P. Irminia which can be a very defensive spider and while their venom is not quite at the levels of Pokies it is above that of Avics and Taps and since they are rather defensive I'd recommend a Cambridgei over an Irminia as your first one.
 

Grimmdreadly

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
29
Well I have kept Huntsmen of various kinds. So 'skittish' spiders dont overly bother me. But I heard Pokies are moody and aggressive at best!
More moody and defensive. Pokies aren't going to go out of their way to attack you, especially once they get larger. However if you're in their space you may get zapped.
 

Grimmdreadly

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
29
With the experience of true spiders, I'm just going to suggest Tapnichinaeus Gigas, T. Santivicenti, psalmopoeus Cambridgi, or P.irminia
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I was tempted to get a Poecilotheria Metallica sling, but am worried this might not be suitable for a tarantula n00b. Thoughts?
It's not the best idea. This is probably the most nervous species of the genus.

Well I have kept Huntsmen of various kinds. So 'skittish' spiders dont overly bother me. But I heard Pokies are moody and aggressive at best!
No T goes out of their way to attack a human unless they feel threatened. They are a shy species, and genus for that matter. If you had something threatening coming after you, you'd be defensive too generally speaking.

Thats an impressive looking animal. Better temperament than a P.Metallica would you say?
Yes

Im sure thats probably due to keeper neglect than an unfortunate trait?
True. The slings have a narrow tolerance for husbandry errors. Once you have the conditions dialed in, they are easy, but never as easy as say emilian, an albo etc.
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
356
A. avic was my first T ever, and I've had no issues at all thanks to advice from here. Little guy molted just this morning!
 

Hoops71

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
45
Loving all the advice here guys n gals! Thank you so much! I've found some A.Geroldi slings (2.5 - 3cm) at another store for £13 each...so tempting (as well as that juve P.Cambridgei)! Is it true you can keep a few Avics together if the enclosure is big enough? Reading conflicting advice on the web.
 

Grimmdreadly

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
29
Loving all the advice here guys n gals! Thank you so much! I've found some A.Geroldi slings (2.5 - 3cm) at another store for £13 each...so tempting! Is it true you can keep a few Avics together if the enclosure is big enough? Reading conflicting advice on the web.
I wouldn't keep them communally
 

Jason B

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Messages
88
Loving all the advice here guys n gals! Thank you so much! I've found some A.Geroldi slings (2.5 - 3cm) at another store for £13 each...so tempting (as well as that juve P.Cambridgei)! Is it true you can keep a few Avics together if the enclosure is big enough? Reading conflicting advice on the web.
I wouldn't recommend keeping any species communally outside of M. Balfouri and possibly N incei. I say possibly to N Incei because some have had more success then others. There is some evidence that M. Balfouri not only doing well in a communal but actually thriving. I've even heard of some people having limited success with one of pokies in a communal. I believe there are quite a few species that seem to be more tolerant to a communal in the wild then in captivity. I myself would at some point like a M. Balfouri communal.. but if i'm gonna try that i'd rather attempt a pairing of some kind then use some of the slings for a project like that.
 

Grimmdreadly

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
29
I wouldn't recommend keeping any species communally outside of M. Balfouri and possibly N incei. I say possibly to N Incei because some have had more success then others. There is some evidence that M. Balfouri not only doing well in a communal but actually thriving. I've even heard of some people having limited success with one of pokies in a communal. I believe there are quite a few species that seem to be more tolerant to a communal in the wild then in captivity. I myself would at some point like a M. Balfouri communal.. but if i'm gonna try that i'd rather attempt a pairing of some kind then use some of the slings for a project like that.
P.fasciata are showing limited success in communals. It's mainly due to the fact that pokies live closer to each other because of shrinking habitat
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
Staff member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
4,096
Is it true you can keep a few Avics together if the enclosure is big enough? Reading conflicting advice on the web.
I wouldn't recommend keeping any species communally outside of M. Balfouri and possibly N incei. I say possibly to N Incei because some have had more success then others.
I just wanted to add the caveat that communal setups are considered to be a more advanced option, even with species like Monocentropus balfouri that have documented success stories. Please do not attempt a communal setup as your first.

The same goes for divided enclosures (partitioning one enclosure into smaller compartments for two or more tarantulas). The effort required to do this correctly is not worth saving a few bucks or a few inches. As Stan Schultz put it, "Don't try to cheat the system." There is a good chance that one of your tarantulas will find its way around the barrier, and you will end up with one fat tarantula. :p
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
Communal setups add a level of complication to everything. Even if you have success with it, routine feeding and maintenance becomes more challenging when you have more than one pair of fangs to worry about. And if you need to do any rehousing, I'd imagine that would be an interesting experience:hurting:

As far as avics go, I definitely would never attempt a communal. They respond (pretty impressively) to any sort of movement. I've had them attack trickling water before:wideyed:
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
356
As far as avics go, I definitely would never attempt a communal. They respond (pretty impressively) to any sort of movement. I've had them attack trickling water before:wideyed:
Mine never leaves its web. I could probably throw a tiny mariachi band in there and it not even care. Its honestly infuriating and I'm hoping this molt changes that.
 
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