About Poecilotheria rufilata...

[Cmac2111]

Hey there folks, Cmac here.
To think that this is only going to be my second ever thread on AB, and that my first was when I was a complete newbie asking a question that has been blurted out a million times on this website about my sweet little A. chalcodes that could've been answered with five seconds of research... A lot has changed for me over the past few years and I'm still learning.

- Anyway, to get to the point.

As my small T's continue to grow, I'm rapidly coming to the realization that I will soon be out of room for any more new additions (at least for a good long while) and as such I've taken the decision to save some of that last remaining space for a T that I've admired & desired to own since entering the hobby, the Poecilotheria rufilata. Now, I want to stress that I am NOT yet close to owning one as I am still in the early stages of reading into this species & its care, all I know right now is that I for sure will be getting a rufilata and not any other Pokie (I have no desire/room to keep another rn), and that whenever I get one it will likely be at least slightly grown on as, though I do have some experience with certain fast/potentially defensive NW arboreals, I have no experience keeping arboreal slings of any kind (and no experience with OW arboreals as of yet).
EDIT: I do have experience with some old worlds to be clear, just not of the arboreal kind (only terrestrial & fossorial)

That being said, for all those that keep this species, please feel free to use this thread to post pictures, share your experiences and of course offer any words of wisdom for myself & others with regards to this particular tarantula as whilst I will of course continue to do my own homework on the site, acquiring as much useful knowledge as possible from experienced keepers is always a good thing. I just love to look at/hear about this T!

Thank you for taking the time to read this if you did, I really do get very long-winded with my posting but it's a habit I can't shake!

 

[lindale450]

Well I don’t have much experience with them, they became available through tarantula Canada about a month ago and I had to have three of them lol, two out of the three bit the paint brush well transferring into there new enclosures, they are skittish but not scared to stand there ground and fight if threatened even as small slings. they have molted once in my care, purchased as 1” slings, they put a lot of leg span on with the first molt, like almost Theraphosa type growth as far as leg span, beautiful spiders, I’m very excited to watch them grow, I also have a ornata sling that I picked up a month or so two earlier as a .5” sling that is very similar in size. Definitely a must have if you feel ready and can get your hands on one

 

[l4nsky]

They get big and they get big fast. Here's my girl's last molt at 3.5 years of age. She put on another half inch that time.

Truly a unique Poecilotheria with a beauty all their own.

 

[Cmac2111]

They get big and they get big fast. Here's my girl's last molt at 3.5 years of age. She put on another half inch that time. View attachment 436763

Truly a unique Poecilotheria with a beauty all their own.
View attachment 436765

Absolute beauty! Though I mainly like their looks (love a green spider!) their size did partially attract me to them as well. From my brief readings I knew they grew fast but my goodness that's certainly some serious growth!

 

[lindale450]

Hey there folks, Cmac here.
To think that this is only going to be my second ever thread on AB, and that my first was when I was a complete newbie asking a question that has been blurted out a million times on this website about my sweet little A. chalcodes that could've been answered with five seconds of research... A lot has changed for me over the past few years and I'm still learning.

- Anyway, to get to the point.

As my small T's continue to grow, I'm rapidly coming to the realization that I will soon be out of room for any more new additions (at least for a good long while) and as such I've taken the decision to save some of that last remaining space for a T that I've admired & desired to own since entering the hobby, the Poecilotheria rufilata. Now, I want to stress that I am NOT yet close to owning one as I am still in the early stages of reading into this species & its care, all I know right now is that I for sure will be getting a rufilata and not any other Pokie (I have no desire/room to keep another rn), and that whenever I get one it will likely be at least slightly grown on as, though I do have some experience with certain fast/potentially defensive NW arboreals, I have no experience keeping arboreal slings of any kind (and no experience with OW arboreals as of yet).

That being said, for all those that keep this species, please feel free to use this thread to post pictures, share your experiences and of course offer any words of wisdom for myself & others with regards to this particular tarantula as whilst I will of course continue to do my own homework on the site, acquiring as much useful knowledge as possible from experienced keepers is always a good thing. I just love to look at/hear about this T!

Thank you for taking the time to read this if you did, I really do get very long-winded with my posting but it's a habit I can't shake!

Something else to note is these guys are easy peasy to feed as slings, can toss a cricket in there as big as them and they will hunt that thing down like the IRS/CRA coming for your tax return lol

 

[curtisgiganteus]

I bought three 2”+ rufilata in august of last year. They are currently 4”+ and all in premolt. Their last molt was around 2 months ago. Once I got their enclosures build I moved them into 20L totes around a month back and I will most likely have to rehouse at some point in the next year or so. I can’t impress enough how quickly they grow. Also keep in mind your looking at a spider that can potentially reach 9”+

Disclaimer:
Don’t handle your Ts. I’m not the most careful when unboxing or rehousing as far as keeping the animals off of me. And when it happens I take pics instead of trying to get them into a cup lol Do as I say not as I do.







Most recent in the 20L tote

 

[viper69]

I like their colors and size- being the largest Poki by leg span. First Poki for me many years ago

Fast growing - my male was a bit nervous, great eater, easy to sex via dot method

Male P. rufilata

• viper69
• Dec 13, 2013
• 2
• dot method

The dot indicates male

 

[Cmac2111]

I bought three 2”+ rufilata in august of last year. They are currently 4”+ and all in premolt. Their last molt was around 2 months ago. Once I got their enclosures build I moved them into 20L totes around a month back and I will most likely have to rehouse at some point in the next year or so. I can’t impress enough how quickly they grow. Also keep in mind your looking at a spider that can potentially reach 9”+

I like their colors and size- being the largest Poki by leg span. First Poki for me many years ago

Fast growing - my male was a bit nervous, great eater, easy to sex via dot method

Thank you both so much for your input & info! It seems by all accounts as if the growth rate is something I'll need to seriously take into account as whilst I knew the rufilata grew fast and got huge, it seems as though the growth process is even more rapid than I first imagined (comparible with Psalmos?) with this T, and this obviously will end up being the most massive arboreal I'll keep by some stretch.

 

[campj]

Big and fast. The most nervous pokie I've kept, out of six or seven species. Not sure if there are any other pokie species that are generally more nervous. They're awesome though, totally worth owning! Achieve your goal of owning one.

 

[Cmac2111]

Big and fast. The most nervous pokie I've kept, out of six or seven species. Not sure if there are any other pokie species that are generally more nervous. They're awesome though, totally worth owning! Achieve your goal of owning one.

I will for sure achieve that goal in due time, thank you! So obviously each spider is an individual, but out of curiosity would you say that the nerves of your specimen/specimens lessened with size/age or has being nervous always been a feature of yours. Again, I desire one regardless of temperament just curious to hear more about them

 

[l4nsky]

Absolute beauty! Though I mainly like their looks (love a green spider!) their size did partially attract me to them as well. From my brief readings I knew they grew fast but my goodness that's certainly some serious growth!

To be fair, she may be an exceptional specimen. I originally purchased three 2" DLS sackmates in 2019 and got pretty lucky when they all turned out to be female. I chose to keep her because she was almost a full molt ahead of her siblings by the time she was 5.5" DLS. If her growth rate and molting period intervals stick to the curve, she has the potential to hit 10"+ DLS in three to four more years. She's actually on an eggsack right now and I'm hoping to have some available in a few months time .

I will for sure achieve that goal in due time, thank you! So obviously each spider is an individual, but out of curiosity would you say that the nerves of your specimen/specimens lessened with size/age or has being nervous always been a feature of yours. Again, I desire one regardless of temperament just curious to hear more about them

I can concur with @campj that rufilata tends to be a nervous species (but IME, ornata has been even flightier so far). A hide where they feel secure and can retreat to quickly is definitely required. They're also very fast and my female was IMO the fastest tarantula I owned before I got into Tapinauchenius sp. In retrospect, she's not really any faster than my other Poecilotheria sp. What makes her appear much faster is her size. All pokies can turn on a dime, but when you can turn on a dime and THEN reach 8" away to get your next step, you tend to disappear a lot quicker lol. If I'm being honest, out of all the tarantulas I have, she's one of the most intimidating to work with and I treat her with the utmost respect. The good news is that they might calm down with age and size like a lot of other Poecilotheria. I recently rehoused my female from a 5g to a 13.5g after I had paired her and to say I was nervous would be a bit of an understatement lol. In the end, it was one of my smoothest rehouses of an adult tarantula in recent memory. No bolts, no jump scares, just slow strolls.



Outside of the specifics on rufilata, there are some general tendencies of the Poecilotheria genus and some tips you should be aware of.

• You should have no problem feeding them. They're absolute monsters and amazing predators, regardless of size.
• They're very hardy and tolerant of periods of dry conditions. They shouldn't be kept as dry as a bone, but just overflowing the water bowl from time to time with an occasional larger soak will keep them happy.
• When Poecilotheria bolt, they tend to bolt horizontally along the walls of the enclosure, doing laps. This is in pretty stark comparison to a lot of other arboreals that tend to bolt up and out. For this reason, top opening enclosures are a good choice.

 

[viper69]

Thank you both so much for your input & info! It seems by all accounts as if the growth rate is something I'll need to seriously take into account as whilst I knew the rufilata grew fast and got huge, it seems as though the growth process is even more rapid than I first imagined (comparible with Psalmos?) with this T, and this obviously will end up being the most massive arboreal I'll keep by some stretch.

wrong- rufi grow much faster than the 2 different species of Psalmo I’ve owned over multiple speciemens.

google ladder system here at AB

your first OW shouldn’t be a Poki