How to start with Pokies?

[alimulla616]

Interested in P. rufilata or P. regalis. I've cared for about 5 tarantulas over some time and would like to try a small one out. Definitely will not be handling it. I noticed tht ken the bug guy has quite a few for a price within my budget. how do you all keep your pokie slings, and any essential information would be helpful, thanks!

 

[Akai]

Well P. Regalis is the consensus beginner Pokie and certainly the cheapest of the Pokies. I like to keep mine in acrylic AMAC enclosures. They grow pretty dang fast too so be prepared to upgrade because these things don't stay small for long. Do you own any other arboreals....I mean FAST arboreals? They are quick as lighting s if you have a Psalmopoeus species that is pretty comparable for a large fast tarantula. To be quite honest with you they are pretty hardy. I just give mine some cork bark to climb on along with some eco earth substrate because some species like to burrow as slings along with some misting of the substrate and they'll be fine. They are pretty shy as slings so some will build tube webs at the top of their enclosure but as they get older they just like to hang out in the open. At least mine do and boy do they do know when it's feeding time. lol Don't be surprised if you catch Pokie fever and buy more. Good luck!

 

[netr]

I have two pokies at the spiderling stage: one pederseni and one metallica. The pederseni lives in a plastic 280ml deli cup with a coco fibre substrate and a small piece of bark for stabilising its burrow. The metallica inhabits a tall 1100ml deli cup, with a shallow substrate of unfertilised sphagnum and a larger piece of bark that reaches almost to the lid. They are of comparable size: 2½cm to 3cm DLS. The only reason I'm keeping them differently is that they were acquired at different times, when I had different resources available. I'll be upgrading the pederseni to the same situation as the metallica at some point.

In each case, I wet the soil and some of the wall of the container every week or so, and feed them at half-weekly to weekly intervals whenever the abdomen is not significantly larger than the prosoma.

Hope that helps! As Akai said, they are very fast growers.

 

[alimulla616]

thanks for the advice! And yes, I do own a small 1" P. irminia, and once I transferred it into its enclosure, it was pretty dang fast! kinda towrn between rufliata and regalis now. Hmm... does anyone here own p. rufilata?

 

[Brachypelmo]

I have a big 6" regalis a 2" P. Rufilata and a 2" P. Metalica and I personally like the coloration of bright yellow of my regalis better than rufilata. Just something of the high contrast between color looks like it has a custom paint job! And about them being fast oh yeah those suckers don't run they teleport! Even the big ones my rufilata is super fast never shown any aggression thankfully buit very quick! I house my slings in tall amec containers with drilled holes or vents on 2 sides and top remember they're arboreal so they need more air than people think. I'm a firm believer that stale/stagnant air is very bad for them. I keep mine with lower humidity I mist twice a week very dry here in AZ and provide a water dish for two days every other week then remove. I also use a combo eco earth and peat moss with a piece of cork bark for climbing. Here is the link to the amec boxes I use. they also sell some with flush lids but those aren't as tall. you could also use some cheaper tupperware type storage containers or jars remember height is more importatnt.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/...97&green=D95505CF-E59B-5C78-0D53-C82889E2B810
I hope that helps some.

Good Luck!

 

[Poec54]

I've got a lot of Poecs, all 13 species; height isnt mandatory for cages, you can keep subadults/adults in clear 15 qt storage boxes (sweater box size). The most important thing is that they have a retreat they feel secure in. I use cork slabs for that. You can also lay some cork pieces on top of the substrate so they're walking on bark. Big trees have large horizontal branches, especially huge tropical figs (with aerial roots) that aren't that tall but one tree can spread out and cover an acre. As has been said, ventilation is important for arboreals.

I start Poec slings off in 32oz deli cups, with an inch of substrate, a piece of cork slanted against the side, some long fiber spagnum moss, and a small plastic water bowl (from a water bottle). I use a soldering gun to make a couple rings of mall air holes near the top. I mist the spagnum when it's dry, and that keeps the substrate from getting soggy. Gross things will end up in the water bowls, and when that happens, I throw them out and replace with a new one. Slings will almost invariably make a retreat just above the substrate, or under it, not at the top like Avics. When they're juveniles around 3" I upgrade them to 7 quart clear plastic storage boxes (shoe box size), with a couple inches of substrate, some larger cork pieces, and a 1 oz plastic souffle cup for a water bowl. I put a lot of air holes in these (sides and lids), of a larger diameter, as the spiders are then too big to squeeze thru them. At 5-6" they get moved to 15 to 30 qt plastic boxes with cork slabs and 3 oz souffle cups.

3 species of Poecs are from high elevations: subfusca, rufilata, and smithi & prefer daytime highs of 80 or less. The rest are from sea level to middle elevations and can take temps from 80 to 90. The warmer you keep them, the more they need to eat, and the faster they grow. When kept warm, males mature in 12 to 18 months, females usually 6 to 12 months after that. Mine are at 90 degrees daytime this time of year (10-15 degrees cooler at night) and are fed several times a week. They have significant growth when they molt; as they near adult size, they get fed once a week. At this point, instead of food going into a rapidly increasing legspan, it tends to wind up more as fat abdomens. You don't want pudgy arboreals, unless it's a female that's been paired up.

When Poecs are hungry, sling to adult, they'll be out (especially at night) waiting for food to come by. When they're premolt, they usually seal themselves in their retreat. Occasionally they'll spin a molting bed in the open. It's usually obvious when to feed and when not to. get the balance of humidity and ventilation, and a secure retreat, and they're pretty hardy spiders. They're capable of bursts of incredible speed, so don't take the lid off for longer than necessary, and keep an empty deli cup in arm's reach. Slings and uveniles are more prone to racing out of cages and flinging themsleves into the air. I'm sure you know these are not spiders to handle. Treat them with respect, and expect what they're capable of, not what they usually do. Mine still surprise me. They can be calm for months, and then one day explode. Misting tends to panic them, so when you do it, just crack the lid a bit, and be prepared for a mad dash. They live where there's monsoons, so they have a good reason to run away from rain.

 

[MarkmD]

You should get a new pokie, i just sold my P,Regalis and P,ornata two weeks ago, thay are amazing and big T's, I've just got into the trapdoor side.

 

[EightLeggedFreaks]

To my knowledge, regalis is better looking than rufilata, and it gets bigger if i'm correct. My first two poecis were a pederseni and an ornata.

 

[Poec54]

To my knowledge, regalis is better looking than rufilata, and it gets bigger if i'm correct. My first two poecis were a pederseni and an ornata.

Rufilata is the largest, then ornata; both of them are closely-related. After that, females of the rest get 6 to 7". As far as what Poec's better looking, it's a matter of taste. They're all beautiful.

 

[BobGrill]

Rufilata is the largest, then ornata; both of them are closely-related. After that, females of the rest get 6 to 7". As far as what Poec's better looking, it's a matter of taste. They're all beautiful.

Agreed. But I read that Rufilata and Ornata are pretty similar in size.

 

[Poec54]

Agreed. But I read that Rufilata and Ornata are pretty similar in size.

Close in size, with rufilata holding the top spot, although I'm sure some ornatas are larger than some rufilatas. Individuals vary, maybe genetically, or maybe due to food, temps, humidity, etc. Some people say they have 9" regalis. Ornata (Sri Lanka) is very colorful: overall dark blue with vivid yellow under the front legs and red under the palps. Rufilata (India) is a mix of more muted colors, lots of greens and browns, with purple/blue under the front femurs.

 

[Alltheworld601]

thanks for the advice! And yes, I do own a small 1" P. irminia, and once I transferred it into its enclosure, it was pretty dang fast! kinda towrn between rufliata and regalis now. Hmm... does anyone here own p. rufilata?

I used to have a rufilata, sold her to a friend, but she was pretty cool. They are among the largest Poecis.

There's a difference in temperament between the Indian ones and the Sri Lankan ones. The subfusca are known to be some of the best "beginner" because they're a lot more mellowed out than some of the others. Ornata are known to be higher up on the venom scale, and possibly the attitude scale as well.

If none of that matters, I'm partial to green which is why I got the rufilata. Also had a subfusca lowland that really was a sweetie and so pretty, like an argyle sweater. Both of those get pretty huge.

 

[Stirmi]

I have never owned poecs so I'm not the best to give advice but I heard P subfusca are by far the best begginer pokie due to there calmer nature

 

[Poec54]

I have never owned poecs so I'm not the best to give advice but I heard P subfusca are by far the best begginer pokie due to there calmer nature

As with any T species, individual temperments vary. Any can be defensive, or run like lunatics. You can make any of them panic, intentionally or not. The ones that I find to be more wound up are formosa. The rest tend to be more or less similar, which means most times there's no incidents, but expect the unexpected. You will get surprises. If you can work with one Poec species, you can work with them all. As far as bites, you don't want to get yourself in a position to be bitten by any of them. People's reactions to venom vary, partially due to the size of the animal, the size of the person, amount injected, and the aggitation level of the spider, so I don't know that any are noticeably hotter then the others. There's very little work done on this so far. Don't get bit. Even 'mild' venoms can have serious consequences in people with allergies and medical conditions.

T's behavior is also going to vary with temperature. Those kept at 70 degrees are going to be slower and more mellow than for the guy that keeps them at 85. Unless someone has personally kept 5 or 10 Poec species long term, I don't put much stock in their comparisons to other Poec species. If they've only had one or two Poecs, and especially of they're still slings, they're not particularly experienced or well-versed. If they have one Poec that happens to be a calmer individual and is kept cool, their perception isn't necessarily representative of that species, or the genus.

---------- Post added 06-22-2013 at 08:22 AM ----------

There's a difference in temperament between the Indian ones and the Sri Lankan ones. The subfusca are known to be some of the best "beginner" because they're a lot more mellowed out than some of the others. Ornata are known to be higher up on the venom scale, and possibly the attitude scale as well.

No, there isn't a difference in temperament depending on which country they're from. Ornata ('defensive') and subfusca ('mellow') are both from Sri Lanka. Formosa ('defensive') and metallica ('mellow') are from India. There's no correlation to elevation either, as subfusca is high elevatuion, and metallica is low. There's a lot of variation in individual personalities, that can account for much of this, and all are capable of the same things.

 

[EightLeggedFreaks]

Clearly I don't know my poeci's!

But I do know that when I got my 1" P.Pederseni, it ended up on my back! Hah. I had to slowly take off my sweater so it wouldn't bolt and I wouldn't be able to find it!.

 

[Poec54]

Clearly I don't know my poeci's!

But I do know that when I got my 1" P.Pederseni, it ended up on my back! Hah. I had to slowly take off my sweater so it wouldn't bolt and I wouldn't be able to find it!.

I've had two or three Poecs get inside my clothing during cage transfers. You never know what's in store when you open the lid. It can be a walk in the park, or it can be pure pandemonium.

 

[Storm76]

The first Poecie I ever got was a ~2" unsexed P. subfusca. I rehoused the little guy (it's a sexed male by now with 4"+ already!) once since then with no problems. At least my little fellow is very reclusive, extremely light-sensitive and hasn't shown any whatsoever defensiveness so far. He's much rather hiding than doing anything else. I truely don't have much experience with Poecies so far, but I'm not regretting having bought this one as a sling as I can learn with him growing up and having done my research beforehand. Once he matures, I'll send him off to a befriended breeder to do his deed - it's already arranged

 

[Poec54]

Juvenile Poecs tend to be less defensive, and more prone to running. Even then they can strike suddenly. I had a 3" regalis see a reflection from something I was holding, and in it's closed deli cup, it stood and extended it's fangs. Totally out of character from what I'd seen from it previously. You never know what seemingly innocent thing can trigger a reaction, from panicking to biting. That's why I tell people 'expect the unexpected.' Too often they think 'Well, that's never happened with mine', and sure, it never happened before... until the first time it does it. Like the classic line 'My dog never bit anyone before.' Best to base your techniques based on what it can do, rather than what it normally does.

 

[Munch]

I would suggest you wait for a while until you get a very good idea of what the p.irminia acts like, then get a regalis.Btw I am a 10 year old who has none of these animals, I am just giving you my 2 cents, hope all goes well.

 

[fenhawk1]

I think that miranda and metallica have the best/good rep