P. Regalis, only not really!!!

Napier19

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
28
Sooo, about a year ago I decided to get into the hobby and purchase a T. I went to the pet store and I bought an "Indian Ornamental" (P. Regalis). I know I know it's a terrible first choice. However I done a ton of research and I didn't have any intentions of holding it. Today I decided to look at some pictures online and try to sex my "pokie". I quickly realized that there were some simularites but my T was distinctly different from what I was looking at. After looking on backwater reptiles for another T to order, I found out I didn't have a pokie at all but rather a a Heteroscodra maculata aka togo starburst. Backwater has it listed as an ornamental baboon. As you can expect I'm in shock!!! It seems to be molting every 3 to 4 months and as I said, I've had it abiut a year or so. If anyone has any insight on sex, age, or any comments in general, feel free to share!!! 20160813_182850.jpg 20160813_182825.jpg
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
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Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
Surprised you got that! It definetly is a H. mac, so you have a great T on your hands. Looks to me like a beautiful female, but shots on her underside would be nice :) Can't be sure otherwise. Also, you went for a pokie and got an arboreal baboon. What a score! You should look into more baboons, because H. macs are about as worse a beginner as they come XD Love the T, hope she doesn't run out on you :D
 

Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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since youve had it for a year already, im guessing you know what to do. but can you post a pic of the whole cage? it looks pretty big.
 

Poec54

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Mar 26, 2013
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OW arboreals have potent venom. Not a good place to start. Have you read bite reports?
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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100% correct way for sexing is trough the exuvia check... anyway, those are great, and a fun to have. Attention, always. They are more high strung than, in general, 'Pokies' :-s
 

Napier19

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
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28
I'm assuming the critter keeper is the large size. I'm guessing around 5 gallon. I just moved it today from the one gallon but if this is to big I can return it to the previous enclosure. Im estimating it to be around 4.5 inches. I feed it large to adult dubia roaches. It eats ometimes 1 a week sometimes 1 every 3 weeks. I've read one bite report from an ow and it was brutal!!! 20160813_225224.jpg 20160813_224920.jpg
 

Napier19

Arachnopeon
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Aug 13, 2016
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28
BTW thanks for all the feedback. Just because ive kept it for a year and it's successfully molted multiple times, I'm open to any suggestons for care.
 

WeightedAbyss75

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Feb 22, 2014
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921
I'm assuming the critter keeper is the large size. I'm guessing around 5 gallon. I just moved it today from the one gallon but if this is to big I can return it to the previous enclosure. Im estimating it to be around 4.5 inches. I feed it large to adult dubia roaches. It eats ometimes 1 a week sometimes 1 every 3 weeks. I've read one bite report from an ow and it was brutal!!! View attachment 217878 View attachment 217879
Seems like you're doing a pretty good job, considering this as your first T ;) Big enclosure to give you space and feeding roaches. Also, looks like a female too! Can't tell if you are lucky or unlucky
 

advan

oOOo
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Apr 11, 2010
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100% correct way for sexing is trough the exuvia check... anyway, those are great, and a fun to have. Attention, always. They are more high strung than, in general, 'Pokies' :-s
No need with this spider. 100% female. ;)
 

gottarantulas

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Jun 30, 2009
Messages
251
Backwater Reptiles doesn't have a very good reputation nor track record with respect to handling customer service, especially complaints. And your beautiful T is a female.
 

Andrea82

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Jan 12, 2016
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My goal is that we don't see you writing up a first-hand account in the bite report section.
Usually i agree, but since the spider is doing well and OP manages rehouses well, i should think he is doing ok, in spite of it being his first T.
 

creepa

Arachnoknight
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
260
Why can one not start with a oldworld as a sling?
If you begin with a sling your experience grows with the spider...

In the topic starters and in my case it all went well, so why is everybody always hammering on begining with a docile spider...?

If you begin with a rosie the difference between new and old is huge
But if you jump the gun and start with a small old world it can only get easier.

Just my two cents...
 

Napier19

Arachnopeon
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Aug 13, 2016
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Excited to hear it is now a she. Hopefully I'll have her for a very long time!! I pray I never get bit. I have been very cautious and showed a lot of respect. I've also not gone around popping the top of the cage everyday and handling it. I never had any interest in handling it honestly. I can see people's mindset though as far as which T to start with. If it was a snake you'd say get the ball python not the copperhead LOL. I called the petstore I got my H. Mac from and they got some other Ts in. She said that had a Thai Tiger which I assume is Haplopelma sp, Brachypelma Albiceps (Mexican Red Rump), OBT- Pterinochilus murinus, and I think she said a greenbottle (Chromatopelma Cyaneopuesens). She said the body of the OBT is around 2in without including leg length. I think the Tiger is a sling. I think that's part of the problem with people starting with the wrong T. Old world's are just as readily available at my petstore as an Avic. Not to mention the price was not that much different and the OW is much more intriguing than a solid black T with tiny pink toes. That being said, that wasn't what happened with me BUT I know how general public is.
 

Python

Arachnolord
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Mar 21, 2005
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631
I love them all especially old world arboreals. When I first got into the hobby years ago, the price list I got them off of only had common names, no scientific names. Add that to the fact that our local library only had two books total and one of those had already been colored in and you can see how information was quite hard to come by. I worked for a mom and pop pet store at the time and the only T's we carried were "rose hair" and "striped knee". In retrospect I have no idea what we had. These days there is really no excuse for misrepresenting a T short of laziness or outright deception. Whichever one was the case here, you ended up with a very nice animal. Congrats, but mind the pointy bits, they can ruin your day.
 

Sana

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Joined
Oct 26, 2014
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1,139
Why can one not start with a oldworld as a sling?
If you begin with a sling your experience grows with the spider...

In the topic starters and in my case it all went well, so why is everybody always hammering on begining with a docile spider...?

If you begin with a rosie the difference between new and old is huge
But if you jump the gun and start with a small old world it can only get easier.

Just my two cents...
The hard part for me {and possibly a number of other folks here} is that for every keeper that has success starting with OWs there are ten that really shouldn't have and they get themselves into really bad situations. As @Poec54 said, OWs have venom that means business. I read the bite reports before I considered my first OW. It was enough to insure that I am cautious and thoughtful in working with them, especially my H. mac. The majority of new keepers don't know that there is such a thing as the bite reports section here so they don't have all the information that they need to make the best decisions. Folks here, myself included, truly don't want to see anyone hurt or disenchanted with the hobby because they started with a spider that grew too quickly for their skills to keep up. Another side to the discussion that many {again including me} don't always think about are the potential ramifications of an OW escape. While I'm prepared to work with an OW and understand the potential consequences, my cat doesn't and wasn't offered a choice in the matter. An OW bite stands a reasonable chance of being deadly to my other small pets. The others that weren't offered a choice in the matter include my family, my neighbors, and guests in my home. I don't have any way to know that a new keeper possesses the knowledge that one needs to work successfully with OWs but I have seen the one in ten pattern for myself over the couple of years I've been on the boards. A new keeper doesn't always know what information that they are missing or what questions to ask. When asked for advice from my experience, I will always ere on the side of caution. My experience has developed my opinion that OWs don't make a very good first tarantula. When the topic comes up {as we all know it does regularly} I would rather attempt to make sure that a new keeper has all of the knowledge that I can share. Unfortunately one piece of that knowledge is the percentage chance of something really bad happening.
 

creepa

Arachnoknight
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
260
my point is that there is to much scaring of people going on here...

Its allways like: fast bla bla venom bla bla escape bla bla instead of directly giving good advice.

Dont get me wrong there is tons of good advice given here by everyone but personaly i'm getting sick of the scaring people about old world spiders...
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 8, 2016
Messages
3,013
Well you will gain great experience if that is your first T..

... It's all basically a walk in the park from there :rofl:
 

bryverine

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
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Apr 18, 2012
Messages
890
Why can one not start with a oldworld as a sling?
If you begin with a sling your experience grows with the spider...
My P. regalis has grown from 2" to over 6" in 4 months. No joke. They grow so fast it's ridiculous.

If you begin with a rosie the difference between new and old is huge
But if you jump the gun and start with a small old world it can only get easier.

Just my two cents...
I'd say you couldn't be more wrong here. They get MUCH more defensive with size. When they're small, they run and hide out of necessity. When they're big, they will aggressively defend themselves with their full size and larger venom supply.
 
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