Poecilotheria metallica Advice

[Ashlynn Rose]

My friend is very new to tarantulas. She had a sling for a few months and then decided to get more. A few weeks ago, she picked up some more beginner-friendly slings.

Then she got a P. metallica sling against my very strong recommendations not to.

I'm starting this thread because I'm worried. I have no experience with old worlds or arboreals, so I'm not well-equipped to help her. Does anyone have any suggestions for how she should raise this sling without getting herself bitten or harming the sling? Any tips or tricks?

 

[Greasylake]

Keep it on moist substrate, give it a really nice place to hide. This last part is important, because if it has a nice hide it'll spend most of it's time in there instead of hanging outside and if it's spooked it'll just run and hide, instead of bolting out of the enclosure. Tongs, not opening the enclosure all the way when doing maintenance, having a catch cup and doing rehousings in a larger container are all going to be good ideas.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

Keep it on moist substrate, give it a really nice place to hide. This last part is important, because if it has a nice hide it'll spend most of it's time in there instead of hanging outside and if it's spooked it'll just run and hide, instead of bolting out of the enclosure. Tongs, not opening the enclosure all the way when doing maintenance, having a catch cup and doing rehousings in a larger container are all going to be good ideas.

Thank you for the advice! What kind of hiding place? I know a tube wouldn't work right now because of its size, but would that be preferable when it's older? Would a cork bark flat be good for now? I'm not sure what kind of hides arboreals prefer.

 

[Greasylake]

A tube works great. For a small sling you could put a flat piece in a corner and it'll web things up and make it a home.
With this sling it may not be a bad idea for your friend to rehouse into a slightly larger enclosure than they normally would. The less rehousings they have to do the better, being inexperienced and all.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

A tube works great. For a small sling you could put a flat piece in a corner and it'll web things up and make it a home.
With this sling it may not be a bad idea for your friend to rehouse into a slightly larger enclosure than they normally would. The less rehousings they have to do the better, being inexperienced and all.

Okay, great. I'll pass the information along. Thank you. I had been reading about their care, but I wanted to hear from someone who had kept them.

 

[Greasylake]

but I wanted to hear from someone who had kept them

Well, I haven't kept and P. metallica, they just don't look that great to me. I have kept other pokies and arboreals though.

 

[lostbrane]

I like the tubes for larger specimens. I don’t see them as much but it gives them a great hiding spot. For the smaller ones, a slab of cork bark with some plastic plants/cover near the base works well. Pokies tend to stay low in their hides, rather than up like other arboreals, and some especially as slings burrow a bit (heck even my P. subfusca LL juvie has a little tunnel underneath it’s cork tube).

Moist substrate is a good idea (but remember not sopping wet). Pokies tend to be “drought resistant” but that doesn’t mean keep them dry.

They tend to be skittish. My P. metallica sling loves to do laps/run around anytime I have to go into it’s enclosure. Be sure to have a catch cup handy/put the smaller enclosure into a larger plastic tub in case it does decide to run out of it’s enclosure. However, as @Greasylake mentioned, if you bend the lid, you won’t have to deal with that.

I pretty much use 32oz deli cups (16 oz can work as well) for all my pokie slings and just change the sub depth when they start getting a little larger. Below 1” I go with the cup about half full, and anything at or over I put in maybe an 1.5”-2” of sub.

That’s how I do it anyways.

 

[Greasylake]

Pokies tend to be “drought resistant” but that doesn’t mean keep them dry.

I keep my slings on moist sub, then let them dry out when they get larger. My miranda has been on bone dry sub since he was 3 inches and he was paired twice, so he wasn't affected. I believe metallica is one of the ones that are better to keep moist throughout their lives.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

Thanks again for the advice, everyone. My secondhand anxiety is lessened.

 

[cold blood]

I agree this is a terrible choice this person made....now since i am a solutions oriented person, i will offer this real world help....bring it to me in Milwaukee, and i will trade her a bunch of great beginner species that would be much more aporopriate.

This isnt about me wanting a P. met at all, i have lots of pokies already....this is about whats best for a new keeper in the short and long term.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

I agree this is a terrible choice this person made....now since i am a solutions oriented person, i will offer this real world help....bring it to me in Milwaukee, and i will trade her a bunch of great beginner species that would be much more aporopriate.

This isnt about me wanting a P. met at all, i have lots of pokies already....this is about whats best for a new keeper in the short and long term.

I can talk to her about it, but I'm pretty sure I know what she'll say. That is incredibly nice of you to offer, but she is very confident in her ability to handle this sling because of her experience with other animals like monitors. I brought up my objections when she got the sling: venom, speed, lack of experience, etc. but she did not listen. I'm not sure how else I could convince her, but I'm afraid for her and the sling.

 

[cold blood]

I can talk to her about it, but I'm pretty sure I know what she'll say. That is incredibly nice of you to offer, but she is very confident in her ability to handle this sling because of her experience with other animals like monitors. I brought up my objections when she got the sling: venom, speed, lack of experience, etc. but she did not listen. I'm not sure how else I could convince her, but I'm afraid for her and the sling.

experience with other animals is not relevant....its like thinking you can fix a broke down jet because you fixed your blender successfully....or that you can perform open heart surgury because you can trim your dogs toe nails....lol

 

[antinous]

I can talk to her about it, but I'm pretty sure I know what she'll say. That is incredibly nice of you to offer, but she is very confident in her ability to handle this sling because of her experience with other animals like monitors. I brought up my objections when she got the sling: venom, speed, lack of experience, etc. but she did not listen. I'm not sure how else I could convince her, but I'm afraid for her and the sling.

I’ve worked with monitors, large bodied snakes, and venomous snakes. I was still shocked by how fast an OW T was and I was quickly overwhelmed when my OBT ran right out of its enclosure (thankfully I rehouse tarantulas in a much larger Sterilite tub to provide one more obstacle they’ll have to face before actually escaping). Like @cold blood said, it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

experience with other animals is not relevant....its like thinking you can fix a broke down jet because you fixed your blender successfully....or that you can perform open heart surgury because you can trim your dogs toe nails....lol

I know, and I agree, but in the end, she is her own person, and I can't run her life. I have given her my advice and am helping her how I can. I told her I wasn't comfortable with this from the get-go. She got caught up in wanting something unique, arboreal, and pretty.

I will pass along your offer, though. Thank you.

 

[Aleetist]

Hi there, I got into Pokies earlier than a lot would have recommended. Pokies got me into the hobby and were my dream to work up to, I had planned on waiting a year or so but then the interstate sales ban was going into place for Sri Lanka pokies and I decided to go ahead and get them early.

Now, I did a lot of research and made a very conscious decision and it has been good so far, your friend should REALLY watching a ton of housing/rehousing videos to understand the speed of these things. But here is what I did to help myself:

Sub needs to be moist, but not damp, and there should be enough to burrow, even my larger slings still connect their cork bark tubes to an underground tunnel.

ALWAYS use catch cups and bins to transfer, don't ever try to walk a pokie over, they move like no ones business. I personally coat my bathtub in a ring of talcum powder (mix the talcum powder with rubbing alcohol to form a paste that you can then paint) and put another tub in there and do the transfers that way, this might be overkill but it helps me knowing I'm taking as many precautions as possible. Or if your new enclosure is big enough, play it super safe and put the old enclosure in the new one and use covers and tongs to coax it out of the old and directly into the new.

House in larger homes than you might a normal sling to reduce # of transfers. 5 out of 6 of mine are in gallon jugs, when they outgrow those I will move them into their adult permanent enclosures. Before the gallon sized container keep them in a 32oz size container.

Tongs are your friend. Get lots of them at many sizes and use them.

Provide adequate hides. You won't see the pokie nearly as much, but like others have said this gives them a safe place to go and reduces the chances of your pokie running around and getting out.

Make certain you know where the pokie is before opening the enclosure.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS respect the power of this spider. This spider can send you to the hospital maybe something worse to a smaller or frailer mammal. Make sure your friend understands to never take that for granted. Always be RESPECTFUL of this creatures power.

Never try to handle. For your sake, for the spiders sake, for the hobbies sake.

Double check enclosures are closed. And then double check again.

Good luck to your friend. Make them watch videos of rehouses. It's been a good experience for me so far, but I did do a lot of research here and through videos before making the decision, I hope they do more research themselves.

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

Hi there, I got into Pokies earlier than a lot would have recommended. Pokies got me into the hobby and were my dream to work up to, I had planned on waiting a year or so but then the interstate sales ban was going into place for Sri Lanka pokies and I decided to go ahead and get them early.

Now, I did a lot of research and made a very conscious decision and it has been good so far, your friend should REALLY watching a ton of housing/rehousing videos to understand the speed of these things. But here is what I did to help myself:

Sub needs to be moist, but not damp, and there should be enough to burrow, even my larger slings still connect their cork bark tubes to an underground tunnel.

ALWAYS use catch cups and bins to transfer, don't ever try to walk a pokie over, they move like no ones business. I personally coat my bathtub in a ring of talcum powder (mix the talcum powder with rubbing alcohol to form a paste that you can then paint) and put another tub in there and do the transfers that way, this might be overkill but it helps me knowing I'm taking as many precautions as possible. Or if your new enclosure is big enough, play it super safe and put the old enclosure in the new one and use covers and tongs to coax it out of the old and directly into the new.

House in larger homes than you might a normal sling to reduce # of transfers. 5 out of 6 of mine are in gallon jugs, when they outgrow those I will move them into their adult permanent enclosures. Before the gallon sized container keep them in a 32oz size container.

Tongs are your friend. Get lots of them at many sizes and use them.

Provide adequate hides. You won't see the pokie nearly as much, but like others have said this gives them a safe place to go and reduces the chances of your pokie running around and getting out.

Make certain you know where the pokie is before opening the enclosure.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS respect the power of this spider. This spider can send you to the hospital maybe something worse to a smaller or frailer mammal. Make sure your friend understands to never take that for granted. Always be RESPECTFUL of this creatures power.

Never try to handle. For your sake, for the spiders sake, for the hobbies sake.

Double check enclosures are closed. And then double check again.

Good luck to your friend. Make them watch videos of rehouses. It's been a good experience for me so far, but I did do a lot of research here and through videos before making the decision, I hope they do more research themselves.

Thank you for the helpful advice! Thankfully, she does not want to handle this species.

 

[cold blood]

House in larger homes than you might a normal sling to reduce # of transfers

Excellent advice...although I do disagree with this little part.

Transfers shouldn't be avoided, these transfers, especially when the t is smaller, are probably the most valuable bits of hands on experience one can get, avoid them when young, and you are eventually forced to deal with transfers with a larger specimen, when things can get much worse.

I really think avoidance or minimization of transfers will not help, in fact it could easily hurt a new keeper down the line.

Best to get comfortable sooner than later.

 

[Aleetist]

Excellent advice...although I do disagree with this little part.

Transfers shouldn't be avoided, these transfers, especially when the t is smaller, are probably the most valuable bits of hands on experience one can get, avoid them when young, and you are eventually forced to deal with transfers with a larger specimen, when things can get much worse.

I really think avoidance or minimization of transfers will not help, in fact it could easily hurt a new keeper down the line.

Best to get comfortable sooner than later.

That was advice given to me/gleamed from posts. If you think this is a bad move going forward I will not encourage others doing this either than. It personally has been good advice for me so far (most of my slings when received were maybe just a little too small the gallon containers). But I can see where what you see makes sense too

 

[MetalMan2004]

For my first Poec, also a P metallica sling, I set up an AMAC box with a good piece of cork with room behind it to hide and water dish and added a feeding port on the backside. I feed through the port and watered through it with a syringe. The enclosure is never open more than the size of a bottle cap unless I need to really clean up. It’s actually almost time to rehouse!



It certainly pays to be careful. I do think you and your friend will realize rather quickly though that they aren’t hard to care for as long as you respect it.

 

[8LeggedLair]

experience with other animals is not relevant....its like thinking you can fix a broke down jet because you fixed your blender successfully....or that you can perform open heart surgury because you can trim your dogs toe nails....lol

I beg to differ, as long as you do research, and keep doing research, you won’t have a problem. That’s me though, I research extensively before delving into something unknown. My female Monocentropus Balfouri for instance is Fast basically Lightning, Unpredictable, has an Attitude, and very defensive, but not always mainly when she’s hungry. I researched and researched and did more research. Which helped of course. however nothing compares to the hands on you get once you’re doing it. My female Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens on the other hand is the exact opposite, slow, predictable, no signs of defensiveness or aggression, except during feeding she shows her swiftness and power other than that she’s very very chill which I’m expecting that to change, I’m always ready and anticipating when I need to feed
them.