# Poecilotheria communities



## Poxicator (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm a lover of Pokie communities and wondered if anyone had any interesting pix of their communities.
My latest community is 30 x P. ornata slings 2-3cm 2nd instar which I rehoused from this:











to this:















I've found this species to be less communal than other pokies and lost 3 in a tank of 4, probably because they created their own territories and I missed a feeding. 
The remainder:





However I have another community of 4 of these which are doing well after 9 months+ even though the sizes range from 2-4"!






I also have a community of 23 x P. regalis which are the same size as above at 2-3cm, living together since slings.

I have a community of 3 x P. miranda in a sweet jar which are about 2" max and show good communal characteristics, whilst also seeming to be quite calm. 
















The same can be said of my 4 x P. pederseni.

My community of 5 x P. subfusca have recently been moved into an Exo-terra but were originally kept in a sweet jar. These showed excellent communal characteristics, huddling together and looking after each other during moults. In the sweet jar I could see them, although they seemed very skittish but now that they are in the Exo I usually only see 1. I shall get some updated pix of these soon but for the meantime here's how they were:
















My first community was 3 x P. rufilata which were raised together from slings and eventually matured into males. One has subsequently come to an end, the 2nd is looking a little tired but the third is firmly in the breeding program.











Here's the last of the males:











Here's their home, which now houses the P. subfusca
















All enclosures are kept slightly damp, with springtails and pillbugs as cleaner insects. Good ventilation, no heating (they are in a warm room), surplus and regular feeding.

Enjoy and lets see your own examples.


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## Koh_ (Apr 4, 2009)

impressive! 
btw, have you tried p.metallicas communally?


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## olablane (Apr 4, 2009)

Nice!! I was under the impression that most pokies werent communal. I have a community of regalis.


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## syndicate (Apr 4, 2009)

If I were you I'd separate those ornata ;]


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## Protectyaaaneck (Apr 4, 2009)

Wow I'm extremely jealous. Great pictures and enclosures.  I can't wait till I have the money to spend on such communal's.  I really would like to do one consisting of subfusca but until I encounter a large sum of money that won't happen lol.  I'm also interested in the ornata communal that is going well.  Keep us updated as to what happens with them, I have heard they can be quite cannabalistic.  Thanks for sharing.


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## Poxicator (Apr 4, 2009)

Many people say P. ornata are cannabilistic. I have 2 set ups, 1 is working the other failed. I also have the remainder of a P. regalis community, 1 single 6" AF that decided it didnt like its inhabitants any more.
In the wild Poecilotheria are often found communally, and Peter Kirk (pers comm P. pederseni) describes communities consisting of various generations.
I think you have to consider it as an experiment and the success seems to be not providing large enclosures and therefore actively encouraging them to keep in contact. Oh, and plenty of food! If you can't afford the losses you shouldn't try it, but if you can then its a joy to watch. Its also been noted that community species fair better than individuals in size/health/mortality.

I wouldn't try a community of P. metallica purely on the basis these are critically endangered in the wild and difficult to successfully mate. Therefore the priority is to reproduce to reduce exports from India. The cost and availability are also prohibitive.


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## Protectyaaaneck (Apr 4, 2009)

What's your take on p. formosa or p. tigrinawesseli? Have you kept either of these two species communally?


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## Poxicator (Apr 4, 2009)

I haven't no, unfortunately but I'm supposed to be getting 2 or 3 large juveniles of P. formosa which come from a community.
P. tigrinawesseli is another species which seems hard to get hold of in the UK. However, BTS expo is in May so I'm hoping to pick up some more pokies with a view to community species.
Thomas Vinmann - a very experienced seller/breeder from Germany - claims that P. tigrinawesseli is communal.


Found a few pix of 1 of my P. subfusca:


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## Protectyaaaneck (Apr 4, 2009)

Gorgeous subfusca!


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## syndicate (Apr 4, 2009)

Protectyaaaneck said:


> What's your take on p. formosa or p. tigrinawesseli? Have you kept either of these two species communally?


P.formosa does very well communally.I tried ornata in the past and they ate each other in my setup.From what I've read P.ornata,P.metallica and P.striata do not do well together but I'm sure there can be exceptions.I'm currently keeping groups of formosa,fasciata and rufilata together with no problems.
-Chris


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## Protectyaaaneck (Apr 4, 2009)

That's nice to know Chris. Personally I would like to try communals of formosa, subfusca, and miranda.  If I am successful in my breeding attempts with my rufilata and ornata down the road, I might try a communal of each sp. out.


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## maxident213 (Apr 5, 2009)

Very nice groups you have there!  :clap: 

I have a 5x _P. regalis_ group, they have been raised together from slings and are now about 2".  So far, so good.


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## NoS (Apr 5, 2009)

I just don't think I could take the chance.

Then again if I had 30+ ornata's...

Impressive Poxicator


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## IrishKnight (Apr 5, 2009)

AWESOME pics and thread!


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## Noexcuse4you (Apr 9, 2009)

Sweet pics!  I currently have 2 communals.  One is 7 regalis and the other is 7 rufilata (I had 10, but I separated out the runts).  I'm planning on doing a 20 regalis communal here shortly and a 10 miranda communal as well.


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## Pokerplayer (Apr 9, 2009)

Poxicator said:


> and Peter Kirk (pers comm P. pederseni)


Im danish and dosent know what u mean by this??

The person that discovered P. Pederseni is and old friend of mine and his name is Nikolai Pedersen.
And from there, the spider got its name, if thats what u are missing?


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## PhilR (Apr 9, 2009)

Pokerplayer said:


> Im danish and dosent know what u mean by this??
> 
> The person that discovered P. Pederseni is and old friend of mine and his name is Nikolai Pedersen.
> And from there, the spider got its name, if thats what u are missing?


Pers. comm. means personal communication. It means that the poster has received an e-mail or similar regarding a subject (in this case presumably _P. pederseni_ communal groups in the wild) from someone. It is a way of referencing personal correspondence rather than published papers 

Depending on what referencing style is preferred, it's generally used as following (dated or undated) : ... _A. spider_ has been found in the wild living as close knit groups (A. Person, pers. comm).

It may interest you to know that _P. pederseni _was actually formally described in 2001 by Peter Kirk (in honour of Nikolai Pedersen) 


Kirk, P.J (2001) A new species of _Poecilotheria_ (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Sri Lanka. _Br. Tarantula Soc. J_, *16*, pp. 77-88.


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## Pokerplayer (Apr 12, 2009)

PhilR said:


> Pers. comm. means personal communication. It means that the poster has received an e-mail or similar regarding a subject (in this case presumably _P. pederseni_ communal groups in the wild) from someone. It is a way of referencing personal correspondence rather than published papers
> 
> Depending on what referencing style is preferred, it's generally used as following (dated or undated) : ... _A. spider_ has been found in the wild living as close knit groups (A. Person, pers. comm).
> 
> ...


Thx...now i get it  

Well...in honour of mr. Kirk, i think Nikolai found it before 2000.
But i could be wrong  
The only thing im sure of, it that its named after him and i think it was because he was the first one to find it


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## PhilR (Apr 13, 2009)

Pokerplayer said:


> Well...in honour of mr. Kirk, i think Nikolai found it before 2000.
> But i could be wrong
> The only thing im sure of, it that its named after him and i think it was because he was the first one to find it


Yes he discovered and collected it, but Mr. Kirk did the taxonomy, confirming it as a new species of _Poecilotheria_ 

Maybe the following quote from the publication referenced above will explain :



			
				(Kirk said:
			
		

> Initially, as is often the case these days with newly discovered tarantulas, the collection data was not forthcoming, nor were preserved specimens. In essence, confirmation of new species status was being sought without the required information and preserved specimens being supplied.
> 
> Eventually, as "luck" would have it, an accident occurred at the home of the collector of this species killing an adult female specimen. This was duly preserved in alcohol and sent to me along with accurate collection data.


Hopefully that will explain the events


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