Pokies, not so bad.

[Rob1985]

Haha, as soon as I get rid of Alex I'd be more than happy to take an OBT off your hands. We could do the trade at DQ one day xD Use it to scare off those stupid kids who always leave their garbage on the floor.

she has webbed her delicup enclosure so heavily that you can barely see her insiide. Just an orange blur moving around.

 

[jonk9194]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but once he fully matures, he is only going to live about a year before nature takes it course and he dies.

Probably not for a few years lmao.. I changed majors this semester. But that doesn't mean I wont have my own place before then, I'm saving up for an apartment right now.

 

[Jared781]

My P. regalis is quite friendly... Although, she/hes 1.5"!!! he/she will cower first then run away! (Lets hope it stays like that)

I also thought my P. cancerides (1.5") was "super friendly" until yesterday it lunged at me while performing Maintenace then went into the defensive stance!

 

[Storm76]

Same goes for ALL -teleporting- species....watch out, respect them and be very careful when dealing with them. Best way to avoid getting "messed up" like JFB said...

 

[Kris M]

Not to get away from the topic of the thread, but snakes do not "tame". The way it works with snakes is that as babies they are naturally more defensive/aggressive and they lose this as they age. This process ultimately gives people the belief that their baby snake has "tamed" down over time. I would trust any spider just as much as any snake,(and I'm a snake person) I simply put more fear in the bite of tarantulas than "non-venomous" snakes.

I'd still use forceps and tongs for everything else possible, and I'm not going to go and handle him lmao I don't really handle any of my T's, I just don't think they ever "tame" the way you can "tame" a snake.

 

[gromgrom]

They're not 'bad' in that they're defensive. They're bad in the sense that a bite will MESS YOU UP for a long time. I second that you should never become complacent near a Poecilotheria. I don't stick my hands in a pokie tank, even the 'calm' ones.

I'd start looking for females for your guy to make the rounds, at 6" he's gotta be close to maturing.

]

This. Depending on the pokie specie of course. Some are more prone to bite/threat posture. metallica and regalis are more shy. (from what i hear and ive experienced) Just dont let your guard down for a second!

 

[Dr Acula]

My 2" P striata has yet to show me a threat posture. The only time it's thrown one up was during premolt when a cricket was bugging it. However, it's not calm at all, always running around like it's cracked out. That's why I named it Charlie Sheen

I also thought my P. cancerides (1.5") was "super friendly" until yesterday it lunged at me while performing Maintenace then went into the defensive stance!

Mine likes to throw himself back like he's doing the limbo, fangs ready to grab onto anything. He's a sweetheart outside of the enclosure though, defensive little bipolar bugger.

 

[ZergFront]

Here, here to the title!

I've only got two so far but I don't plan to stop there. I'd eventually like to get an adult female around the time when the two I have mature. I have two suspected male P.regalis slings. I also plan on a new P.ornata and eventually P.fasciata. Most affordable ones so far I can find.

They're not bad at all. Skittish, but the only time I've ever gotten a threat display from one was when a breath had escaped to close to them.
Don't like my breath. X-D

 

[LucasNorth]

I thought the same thing, owned 3 pokies had one of em for about a year. Sure they were skittish and quick but nothing that seemed as bad as the reputation they had. My 4" P. subfusca has been the most docile of all my pokies, until of course one day I open my P. subfusca's enclosure and she is on the back wall completely spread out, I notice the plant in her enclosure has a leaf in her water dish so i get the tongs and pick up the leaf. The second the tongs touched the water she leaped off wall hit tongs ran up my arm and jumped onto my floor and under my bed. The entire thing happened within a 2-3 second time frame. I can honestly say that the fastest I had seen her teleport was a fraction of the speed I saw that day. 15 minutes later I catch her and put her back in her cage a little shook up but she is fine. Learned my lesson then about what they really can do in terms of speed and try not to startle it while the cage is open (as it takes her a second at most to escape.)
Moral of story TL;DR: Dont get comfortable based on minimal experience, Pokies can get out of their enclosure in a blink of an eye if the situation calls for it.

 

[Eldric]

Stories like these are why you should never get to complacent with pokies: http://www.bighairyspiders.com/poec.html

 

[ZergFront]

Learned my lesson then about what they really can do in terms of speed and try not to startle it while the cage is open (as it takes her a second at most to escape.)
Moral of story TL;DR: Dont get comfortable based on minimal experience, Pokies can get out of their enclosure in a blink of an eye if the situation calls for it.

Just wait until you get a Tappy.