Poecilotheria Formosa

[BexandRob]

Hi All, we've had a pokie for about 6 weeks now but she won't catch her prey, we recently rehomed her to this new bigger tank and it took her a few days to settle in and explore it which it took her a while to make her old enclosure hers. We used to feed her crickets and have changed her to locusts but she doesn't seem interested? They are literally crawling right past her, we heard pokies get bad reps but she's so docile

 

[viper69]

Screen bad- plenty of info on forum why.

Not eating- not surprised

Ts can take a while to settle

New food- not always appreciated

 

[CheshireGleam]

Both my P. metallica and P. regalis prefer prekilled prey for some reason so you could try that. I'm not sure if you have red runners available in your location but those are like tarantula candy, even the pickiest won't refuse them running by. She's probably still adjusting or could even be in premolt, they don't get obviously huge like new world species. Agree with the mesh lid not being ideal, your pokie will have a bad day if her tarsal claws get stuck in those little holes. Better to get a fitted piece of acrylic and drill some holes into it.

 

[BexandRob]

Screen bad- plenty of info on forum why.

Not eating- not surprised

Ts can take a while to settle

New food- not always appreciated

Viper69 yeah we need to replace the top with some Acrylic, she's starting to move around in her tank, she used to eat the crickets in her smaller tank, I think she's just turned into a juvy as she was meant to be a sling when we got her

Both my P. metallica and P. regalis prefer prekilled prey for some reason so you could try that. I'm not sure if you have red runners available in your location but those are like tarantula candy, even the pickiest won't refuse them running by. She's probably still adjusting or could even be in premolt, they don't get obviously huge like new world species. Agree with the mesh lid not being ideal, your pokie will have a bad day if her tarsal claws get stuck in those little holes. Better to get a fitted piece of acrylic and drill some holes into it.

She did used to eat crickets when we first got her, the locust literally crawled over her face this morning and she didn't move an ounce she hasn't molted for us yet either

 

[Royalty]

She is probably settling in still. Just make sure she has access to water. I have a few pokies. My p.metallica had a hunger strike for a while when I rehoused once. You could also try switching to smaller prey. I found for a long time my pokies were super picky about prey size.

 

[Frogdaddy]

There is an old saying that appetite makes the best sauce. Many creatures will often refuse the first few attempts of feeding a new prey item. They become habitualized to a specific prey item and refuse a new one. Just give it time. When hunger gets the best of them they will attack that locust as if they've been eating them the whole time.

 

[Smotzer]

Can you post a picture of the whole set up? I find that if things aren’t set up right for the spider they may not be interested in feeding or stimulated to hunt, this is also true for rehousing time periods and can compound each other.

 

[BexandRob]

Can you post a picture of the whole set up? I find that if things aren’t set up right for the spider they may not be interested in feeding or stimulated to hunt, this is also true for rehousing time periods and can compound each other.

Just to add my Theory, my partner added a heat mat to the side of her tank as we have jumping spiders the other side of it, and I don't think she likes it? She never had a mat when she was in her old enclosure and she seemed more active? She does seem to like hiding in the top of the lid under the light on top of the tank

 

[Matt Man]

Just to add my Theory, my partner added a heat mat to the side of her tank as we have jumping spiders the other side of it, and I don't think she likes it? She never had a mat when she was in her old enclosure and she seemed more active? She does seem to like hiding in the top of the lid under the light on top of the tank

Needs bigger bark. Wider and Taller so the Pokie can stretch out on it. About 2/3rds to 3/4 the height and about 1/3 the width of the enclosure

 

[Andrea82]

If you use any local heat source, be sure to leave at least 3 to 4 cm between it and the glass/mesh. Spiders are attracted to heat and will gladly cook themselves to death. She needs a bigger piece of bark. You can't have a pokie and not give her the opportunity to show herself off, they look the best stretched out in hunting pose on a large piece of bark. A bit of foliage around the base is also often appreciated. Take the locust out if she's not eating it, those mandibles are really destructive should the spider moult. Any particular reason why you switched from crickets to locusts?

 

[BexandRob]

If you use any local heat source, be sure to leave at least 3 to 4 cm between it and the glass/mesh. Spiders are attracted to heat and will gladly cook themselves to death. She needs a bigger piece of bark. You can't have a pokie and not give her the opportunity to show herself off, they look the best stretched out in hunting pose on a large piece of bark. A bit of foliage around the base is also often appreciated. Take the locust out if she's not eating it, those mandibles are really destructive should the spider moult. Any particular reason why you switched from crickets to locusts?

My partner picked them up from the pet shop once because they didn't have any crickets, we've since started our own cricket feeder enclosure as we have several other ts now, we have a gigas, salmon pinks, curly hairs, we also have a couple of mantis who all eat the crickets, we gave the locusts to our friend who has a chameleon in the end, Sheba (pokie) was out the other night on the skull, we've got a slightly smaller enclosure that's about half a foot smaller than what she is in now, her abdomen still looks nice and round she just doesn't appear to like this enclosure we don't think, she used to move around her smaller one pretty much all day and was always on display, she's our biggest T so far so we really want to keep her happy as she's lovely to watch, even our 3 year old loves to see her in her tank

 

[Andrea82]

My partner picked them up from the pet shop once because they didn't have any crickets, we've since started our own cricket feeder enclosure as we have several other ts now, we have a gigas, salmon pinks, curly hairs, we also have a couple of mantis who all eat the crickets, we gave the locusts to our friend who has a chameleon in the end, Sheba (pokie) was out the other night on the skull, we've got a slightly smaller enclosure that's about half a foot smaller than what she is in now, her abdomen still looks nice and round she just doesn't appear to like this enclosure we don't think, she used to move around her smaller one pretty much all day and was always on display, she's our biggest T so far so we really want to keep her happy as she's lovely to watch, even our 3 year old loves to see her in her tank

Side note: Crickets aren't the best food source for mantids. There are too many hard parts and they may cause impaction. Better stick to mealies, supers or roaches, or moths/flies.

 

[BexandRob]

Side note: Crickets aren't the best food source for mantids. There are too many hard parts and they may cause impaction. Better stick to mealies, supers or roaches, or moths/flies.

Ours go mad for them our stagmomantis has just molted and got her wings, she's never missed a molt and never not fed when in premolt lol she can eat a cricket and a big fly if she chooses too

 

[BexandRob]

When she's on display she's fierce

 

[Andrea82]

Ours go mad for them our stagmomantis has just molted and got her wings, she's never missed a molt and never not fed when in premolt lol she can eat a cricket and a big fly if she chooses too

It's not about mantids not liking crickets, it's about crickets being a bad source of food for mantids. They can cause serious health issues.