Rehousing Angry Indian Ornamental

[AntJ]

Hi guys, need some urgent advice.

I've got a pair of very angry Indian Ornamental spiders and need to find a way of moving one to another enclosure.

They really hate each other and keep getting into huge fights.

I need to do something before they kill each other, but when I open the door they disappear like rockets.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

Don't even know where to start with this.......... Viper?

 

[Poonjab]

Your first mistake was putting them in same enclosure. Your second mistake was getting T’s that way exceeds your experience. Get some catch cups and get to work. You got yourself into this mess. Time to get yourself out. If by chance I’ve overstepped my bounds and you weren’t the one who put them in there, all I can say is have fun getting them out. Try to safely remove crap to free up room to work and use big enough catch cups to capture them. Be careful.

 

[ColeopteraC]

First things first...

You should not be keeping adults of any T together, even if marketed as communal (regardless of age Tarantulas are not recorded as communal in the wild and a ‘communal’ setup is really just a ‘multiple T’s tolerating eachother’ setup.)

This fact is enforced by them hating eachother. Please put one into a seperate enclosure and refrain/alter this technique for future T’s.

Second thing second...

The enclosure the T’s are currently in is extremely unsuitable. For general pokie husbandry info I’d recommend this link.

Personally recommended improvements; these sufficient hides or cover. Instead of those twigs you want a big cork slab and lots of plastic/real foliage. Please give husbandry info (how many times/what do you feed them, what are temps like etc.)

Third things third:

I agree with @Poonjab, if you are not confident in rehousing due to their temperament why exactly are you in possession of such a sp. ? Obviously this isn’t something we can really resolve now as you have the T however please keep this in mind in future if you get more T’s or consider giving these away to someone better equipped if this difficult proves a major issue.

Get yourself a paintbrush, a catch cup and do it in a bath tub.

 

[Tarantuland]

Oh my.

Please read what everyone says here and be very careful.

 

[jc55]

And i would recommend an area where you can contain them if one or both get out of the enclosure they are in now but as stated before good luck.

 

[AntJ]

Your first mistake was putting them in same enclosure. Your second mistake was getting T’s that way exceeds your experience. Get some catch cups and get to work. You got yourself into this mess. Time to get yourself out. If by chance I’ve overstepped my bounds and you weren’t the one who put them in there, all I can say is have fun getting them out. Try to safely remove crap to free up room to work and use big enough catch cups to capture them. Be careful.

I bought them as 'communal spiders' - 7 babies January last year. The seller said they will happily live together. I thought they were a small species. As they grew, they started eating each other (seller obviously lied). I managed to move the smallest one last summer to a new enclosure (see pic) as the two largest were bullying him.

I assumed the two big ones were friends, but lately they just keep fighting - I'll be watching TV and hear loud 'bang' and they're flying at each other. I gotta rescue one before this ends in tragedy

 

[mack1855]

This needs to go to a stckey.and refenced to all the "I want to start a communal" thread.So,put them in a closed off room,with no escape routes,and paint brush both out,cup them,and rehouse.
What is the problem?

friends?..

 

[Poonjab]

I bought them as 'communal spiders' - 7 babies January last year. The seller said they will happily live together. I thought they were a small species. As they grew, they started eating each other (seller obviously lied). I managed to move the smallest one last summer to a new enclosure (see pic) as the two largest were bullying him.

I assumed the two big ones were friends, but lately they just keep fighting - I'll be watching TV and hear loud 'bang' and they're flying at each other. I gotta rescue one before this ends in tragedy

I’m not going to rag on you, for a plethora or reasons. Just please do some more research on what you buy and be safe. I can’t really help you in this matter. People can give you advice, but ultimately you’re on your own.

 

[AntJ]

First things first...

You should not be keeping adults of any T together, even if marketed as communal (regardless of age Tarantulas are not recorded as communal in the wild and a ‘communal’ setup is really just a ‘multiple T’s tolerating eachother’ setup.)

This fact is enforced by them hating eachother. Please put one into a seperate enclosure and refrain/alter this technique for future T’s.

Second thing second...

The enclosure the T’s are currently in is extremely unsuitable. For general pokie husbandry info I’d recommend this link.

Personally recommended improvements; these sufficient hides or cover. Instead of those twigs you want a big cork slab and lots of plastic/real foliage. Please give husbandry info (how many times/what do you feed them, what are temps like etc.)

Third things third:

I agree with @Poonjab, if you are not confident in rehousing due to their temperament why exactly are you in possession of such a sp. ? Obviously this isn’t something we can really resolve now as you have the T however please keep this in mind in future if you get more T’s or consider giving these away to someone better equipped if this difficult proves a major issue.

Get yourself a paintbrush, a catch cup and do it in a bath tub.

Hi, thanks for the info. Can you try and send the link again, can't see it?

I put twigs in to climb, but it does make it cluttered. Will definitely go with cork bark. I feed them Dubai roaches, no regular number, just top up when they've eaten them all. Heat mat against the back behind the eco terra foam for warmth.

Had no idea about temperament (or adult size) when I bought them. They've both got 5"-6" leg spans now. The third is about 4", he has his own tank.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

If I was in this position, I would perform these steps in this order...

1. Buy another cage exactly like the one the two are in
2. Fix up the new cage appropriate for Poecilotheria (for goodness sake, give them a cork tube or something to hide in. No wonder they fight each other.)
3. Open the front doors on both
4. Put the two open cages together facing each other
5. Seal up any gaps somehow
6. Then wait for one to run into the new cage

If that works, one spider will run into the new cage with the other remaining in the old/ current one. When that happens, close the doors.

 

[Tarantuland]

Hi, thanks for the info. Can you try and send the link again, can't see it?

I put twigs in to climb, but it does make it cluttered. Will definitely go with cork bark. I feed them Dubai roaches, no regular number, just top up when they've eaten them all. Heat mat against the back behind the eco terra foam for warmth.

Had no idea about temperament (or adult size) when I bought them. They've both got 5"-6" leg spans now. The third is about 4", he has his own tank.

You do know this genus has possibly the most potent of any tarantulas, right?
Not trying to scare you. But if you didn’t know about size or temperament I wanted to mention that. Don’t be scared, but be cautious.

 

[arachnophobis]

As @ColeopteraC said do it in a bathtub. Have a piece of cardboard handy to cover once the T is in the catch cup. Keep your eye on the opposite one you are trying to get in the catch cup. If you go in scared (which I sure as hell would be, why I don't have any OW) its not going to go well, stay focused and move slow. If possible place the catch cup on a piece of cardboard and cut a hole out big enough the cup can fit in that way if it runs up it can only go in the catch cup (or onto the cardboard). You'll have to obviously have enough room to get a paintbrush down in there still. Something longer than a paintbrush may be needed going this route. But in all the videos I've watched of rehousing OW's this was the safest way but that was also only one in the tank!

 

[l4nsky]

Anyone else get a little bit of an adrenaline rush after reading the first post when the thread has such a benign title? I've had multiple OW's running around a room, I can't imagine what that would have been like at OP's current experience level. There's a lot of good advice here. All I can really offer on top of it all is patience and a bit of situational awareness. If they bolt and they can't escape into a wall or down a drain, then let them bolt and maybe even sit to calm down a little. If they can't escape or get into a tight spot, then you have the time to catch them safely. Don't panic and rush it, that's how mistakes are made. Also, if you're trying to prod or catch cup one, make sure it's not pointed at the other one. You don't want one bolting into the other causing a pokie chain reaction.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

If I was in this position, I would perform these steps in this order...

1. Buy another cage exactly like the one the two are in
2. Fix up the new cage appropriate for Poecilotheria (for goodness sake, give them a cork tube or something to hide in. No wonder they fight each other.)
3. Open the front doors on both
4. Put the two open cages together facing each other
5. Seal up any gaps somehow
6. Then wait for one to run into the new cage

If that works, one spider will run into the new cage with the other remaining in the old/ current one. When that happens, close the doors.

I like this idea. The less catching/ handling you have to do, the better. These tarantulas aren't necessarily aggressive, but they're very skittish and fast. Their venom can have serious effects, although it won't kill a person. If you do decide to catch each of them separately using a cup, pay attention to the spider's posturing. If it's getting frightened or agitated, then it's better to just stop and wait for a few minutes instead of escalating the situation. Do things slowly and methodically.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I like this idea. The less catching/ handling you have to do, the better. These tarantulas aren't necessarily aggressive, but they're very skittish and fast. Their venom can have serious effects, although it won't kill a person. If you do decide to catch each of them separately using a cup, pay attention to the spider's posturing. If it's getting frightened or agitated, then it's better to just stop and wait for a few minutes instead of escalating the situation. Do things slowly and methodically.

I have had to deal with my fair share of agitated old world tarantulas in my day and I found that restricting their movement is the best way to get them to run up your arm. Sometimes you just have to open the flood gates so-to-speak and let them run about in a large space freeing you to capture on their terms, not your's. The case in this thread is so volatile though, that I would most likely just open the cage in the bathtub with a ladder near by then let them both run out onto the bathroom walls and recapture from there. Of course making sure all drains, cracks, crevices, faucets, etc. are sealed up before doing so. The more I think about this thread, the more I think it would be easier to fix than at first thought. Those two tarantulas just want to get away from each other after all.

 

[viper69]

I think the OP is a troll.

paraphrase OP "big ones were friends"....who even THINKS like this?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

This post just proves my point that people should be tested before owning animals of any type.

 

[Sterls]

"I had no idea" or "I didn't know" or "the seller lied" are not suitable excuses. Can't change the past but in the future you seriously need to research properly before you buy.

Good luck, please don't end up on the 6 o'clock news.

 

[Dry Desert]

"I had no idea" or "I didn't know" or "the seller lied" are not suitable excuses. Can't change the past but in the future you seriously need to research properly before you buy.

Good luck, please don't end up on the 6 o'clock news.

Further to @AphonopelmaTX advice, I found that if you place both tanks in the bath, and leave during daylight hours, to reduce the temperature in the original tank, they shouldn't fight if during the day and temperature is reduced. After being in the bath during the day - and before evening- place the two tanks facing each other. Seal off plug holes, etc. Then before opening the doors on the two tanks, place any dark material over the new tank - the darker the better- when the new tank is completely covered and black out, open both doors and one, or both T,s will move into the darkened tank. If both T,s shoot across to the new tank, close the doors, clean out the original tank and refurbish correctly. Then repeat the process covering the other tank until you have one in each tank, and both tanks are set up correctly with no need for further rehousing. May take a little while, but is probably the safest. When you have both tanks facing each other make sure there are no gaps between the two tanks. In some defense to the OP being in the UK also there are regular adverts, both private and retail, advertising P.regalis in groups of 5/6 "Can be kept communally". The ads. appear quite regularly.No excuse I know, but can be tempting to the unwary.

 

[ColeopteraC]

Hi, thanks for the info. Can you try and send the link again, can't see it?

I put twigs in to climb, but it does make it cluttered. Will definitely go with cork bark. I feed them Dubai roaches, no regular number, just top up when they've eaten them all. Heat mat against the back behind the eco terra foam for warmth.

Had no idea about temperament (or adult size) when I bought them. They've both got 5"-6" leg spans now. The third is about 4", he has his own tank.

Heya, the link is a text link (the little lighter coloured text saying “this link”. They can be a bit tricky to see.

Here’s the link, hope it helps : https://tomsbigspiders.com/2014/07/22/poecilotheria-regalis-husbandry/

As for the twigs just remove them and get proper cork bark and a few artificial plants. They don’t appear strong enough or offer any hiding space.

Husbandry is ok, just maybe tone down slightly on the amount of roaches fed (as I understand they are constantly present). Best feeding a couple of times a week and ensuring that the T catches them immediately.