# Has anyone achived communal setup with P.metallica



## Isahales (Dec 11, 2016)

Just wondering has anyone managed to ever keep them communally I have heard they sometimes found living communally in the wild so wondered if anyone managed to achieve it in there vivariums as of yet????


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## Toxoderidae (Dec 11, 2016)

There is no true keeping of _Poecilotheria _in captivity, more just forcibly having them tolerate eachother for a set period of time until some get eaten. One or two will hog food, bully others, and then kill them. The issue with _Poecilotheria _is that there's no space for them to "cool off" if one wanders too close to another.

Reactions: Disagree 2


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## Chris LXXIX (Dec 11, 2016)

If I remember @Philth had a lovely _P.metallica_ communal set up :-s


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## Angel Minkov (Dec 11, 2016)

Toxoderidae said:


> There is no true keeping of _Poecilotheria _in captivity, more just forcibly having them tolerate eachother for a set period of time until some get eaten. One or two will hog food, bully others, and then kill them. The issue with _Poecilotheria _is that there's no space for them to "cool off" if one wanders too close to another.


Do you have actual experience with group cages, or do you just parrot what Rick says?

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Toxoderidae (Dec 11, 2016)

Angel Minkov said:


> Do you have actual experience with group cages, or do you just parrot what Rick says?


I've tried two, one with P. regalis sacmates, I lost one and have the rest seperated, and the ones that weren't hogging food have grown much slower than the one that did. I attempted it with P. metallica, and got similar results. Only difference is I seperated them before cannabalism. This was using less than one inch slings in a 2ft tall by 8 inch wide enclosure.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Venom1080 (Dec 11, 2016)

sure, but its a expensive project with a lot of risk. i think keepers in GER have quite a few, i see there pics on FB now and again.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Angel Minkov (Dec 11, 2016)

Toxoderidae said:


> I've tried two, one with P. regalis sacmates, I lost one and have the rest seperated, and the ones that weren't hogging food have grown much slower than the one that did. I attempted it with P. metallica, and got similar results. Only difference is I seperated them before cannabalism. This was using less than one inch slings in a 2ft tall by 8 inch wide enclosure.


I, on the other hand, have seen MANY successful group cages with tens of spiders of all sizes. They won't hog food if they have it in abundance. In fact, people over here, in Europe, and even Tom keep them together for convenience and overall faster growth.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## MetalMan2004 (Dec 11, 2016)

Looking forward to seeing the result if you in fact try this!


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## Toxoderidae (Dec 11, 2016)

Angel Minkov said:


> I, on the other hand, have seen MANY successful group cages with tens of spiders of all sizes. They won't hog food if they have it in abundance. In fact, people over here, in Europe, and even Tom keep them together for convenience and overall faster growth.


Emphasis on "seen"  but regardless, perhaps there was something I was doing incorrect.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Helpful 1


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## Angel Minkov (Dec 11, 2016)

There is no emphasis. After seeing dozens of successful group cages there is no other possible explanation than "it works"


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## Isahales (Dec 11, 2016)

Can somone post pictures of a communal setup showing the tarantula's in them PLZ


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## mack1855 (Dec 11, 2016)

Wrapping my head around this one.Instead of one pokie running up the tongs while doing maintenance,why not 5 or 6!!!
Oh you pokie people.Your fun.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 4


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## Chris LXXIX (Dec 11, 2016)

Isahales said:


> Can somone post pictures of a communal setup showing the tarantula's in them PLZ


I don't remember which thread was now, but as I've said, user Philth posted a couple of pics of his _P.metallica_ set up time ago. Scavenge his posts and you will find :-s

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chris LXXIX (Dec 11, 2016)

Thing is, I don't envy them when it's time to separate, lol :-s


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## Abyss (Dec 11, 2016)

I would be more inclined to ask for a definition of success. 
OP is saying they've seen more then 10 successful setups but I'd ask for what is defining success?
A day?
A week?
A month?
A year?
Many years?

Inevitably, i have to believe there will be canabalism which to me would indicate failure not success and every communal pokie setup i have heard of or seen has lasted a while but there was always losses. Imo thats failure not success

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Tfisher (Dec 12, 2016)

IMO cannibalism happens but is it poss that sling could just have died for no reason so others feed on it? Is it poss that the Ts can sense weakness? Talis est vita!


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## advan (Dec 12, 2016)

Toxoderidae said:


> perhaps there was something I was doing incorrect.


Yep, see below.



Toxoderidae said:


> This was using less than one inch slings in a 2ft tall by 8 inch wide enclosure.


If you did any research on communal _Poecilotheria_, you would have found the most success is when they are in close quarters, simulating a shared cavity in a tree. 

Most communals of _Poecilotheria_ have issues when males start maturing, so just pull the males out as they mature.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 3


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## Abyss (Dec 12, 2016)

advan said:


> Yep, see below.
> 
> If you did any research on communal _Poecilotheria_, you would have found the most success is when they are in close quarters, simulating a shared cavity in a tree.
> 
> Most communals of _Poecilotheria_ have issues when males start maturing, so just pull the males out as they mature.


INteresting, i wouod have thought the more space the better too so u wouodnt risk multiple T's going after same prey item an such

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Philth (Dec 13, 2016)

I've raised many species of _Poecilotheria _with little or no problems, despite what Rick has beaten into everyone's head on these boards lol.   I do like to separate adults that are full grown, but I've had them live together with little incident as well. I'm even experimenting with _P. ornata_ now, since everyone says that it cant be done with that species. 



Toxoderidae said:


> and the ones that weren't hogging food have grown much slower than the one that did.


I've had a ridiculous difference in growth rate with all my _Poeciltotehria_ kept in the same communal. It still never caused a issue, I just had large spiders living with small spiders. They big ones didn't attack the smaller ones.



Toxoderidae said:


> This was using less than one inch slings in a 2ft tall by 8 inch wide enclosure.


Did you do any research before trying ? It's pretty well known that smaller cages are the way to go. The info is out there.



Abyss said:


> I would be more inclined to ask for a definition of success.
> OP is saying they've seen more then 10 successful setups but I'd ask for what is defining success?
> A day?
> A week?
> ...


This pics is old and I sold a bunch of them off, but 6-8 of them are still together. They hatched 2.5 years ago and have been together since day one.


Later, Tom

Reactions: Like 4 | Helpful 2 | Love 3 | Award 1


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## Andrea82 (Dec 13, 2016)

@Angel Minkov , @Philth 
Maybe a dumb question, but who is Rick?

Reactions: Funny 1


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## creepa (Dec 13, 2016)

Andrea82 said:


> @Angel Minkov , @Philth
> Maybe a dumb question, but who is Rick?


Rick C. West...

http://www.birdspiders.com

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chris LXXIX (Dec 13, 2016)

Andrea82 said:


> @Angel Minkov , @Philth
> Maybe a dumb question, but who is Rick?


Poec54 name, I think :-s

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Abyss (Dec 13, 2016)

Philth said:


> I've raised many species of _Poecilotheria _with little or no problems, despite what Rick has beaten into everyone's head on these boards lol.   I do like to separate adults that are full grown, but I've had them live together with little incident as well. I'm even experimenting with _P. ornata_ now, since everyone says that it cant be done with that species.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How very cool!!!!!!!


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## Andrea82 (Dec 13, 2016)

creepa said:


> Rick C. West...
> 
> http://www.birdspiders.com


I know of Rick West, but did not know he was Poec54

Reactions: Funny 2


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## advan (Dec 13, 2016)

Andrea82 said:


> I know of Rick West, but did not know he was Poec54


The Poec54 Rick is not Rick West.


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## Andrea82 (Dec 13, 2016)

advan said:


> The Poec54 Rick is not Rick West.


Then were they talking about Poec54, or Rick West?


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## Trenor (Dec 13, 2016)

Philth was talking about Poec54 whose 1st name is Rick.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## creepa (Dec 13, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Philth was talking about Poec54 whose 1st name is Rick.


Then i apologize for the confusion...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Andrea82 (Dec 13, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Philth was talking about Poec54 whose 1st name is Rick.


Thank you


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## Ryan Reynolds (Jul 25, 2017)

I have two P. metallica slings that I got in February, and they were about a month old already. I have seen tons of communal setups on youtube, but I assumed that those spiders were with each other since birth, where as mine have been separated from birth (although they were from the same sac). So it's possible for P. metallicas to live together if they start together but how risky would it be to introduce my two slings together now?


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## Bipolar Spider (Jul 25, 2017)

Not a good idea, friend of mine against my advice tried that. To be fair they did last longer than a I thought, 10 mins and that was it. It's almost impossible trying to separate two slings when fighting. These were from the same sac and were separated for about a week iirc

Reactions: Informative 2


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