- Joined
- Dec 6, 2015
- Messages
- 405
hey guys,
as some of you have known ive been keeping a communal group of P subfusca HL. The group started as 6 specimens of 2nd instar spiderlings and as of today they consist of 2 mature males and 4 females, all still alive and well.
I noticed that there was 1 mature male roaming around late at night a month or so ago, and today i decided to check on them all and remove the male. to my surprise there were actually 2 mature males.
the reason this is a final analysis is that now that the first of them have reached maturity i consider the analysis completed, P subfusca can very easily be kept together in a communal environment.
All 6 shared the same hide (despite almost a dozen viable locations) packed in, often on top of one another, i witnessed zero aggression throughout their growth process and maintained very consistent behavior the entire time. I have even witnessed 2 of them drinking from the dish simultaneously.
One key piece of data is im beginning to believe that specimens mature much faster (fewer molts and more often molts) in a communal setting, im unsure whether their more frequent molts is due to a feeling of added security with being together or from a more frequent feeding as this group was fed slightly more than a solitary specimen by about 10-20%. And while this species is a bit smaller of the Poecilotheria genus, the mature males are tiny (4-4.5" for one, an even 4" for the other) when i have kept this species in the past, my last mature male was 5.5-6" easily. Again im beginning to believe that they matured a molt ahead compared to my solitary specimen in the past.
As of right now, i have the two mature males separated and sitting on my desk as i type this, the females will remain together as they are, of course, still too small/young to be bred, and i do not wish to inbreed if i can help it. so they will remain where they are comfortable, in a group, until they are ready to be bred. At which time i will attempt to find a male and document their behavior as a group when a male is introduced once they are breedable.
Im sad to split them up, and part of me wanted to allow the males to stay, despite knowing they would most likely expire before fulfilling their usefulness, but with two mature males available, it would be selfish for me to withhold that gene pool from the hobby.
despite being two short of the original group, they are still one of my favorite centerpieces of my collection.
as some of you have known ive been keeping a communal group of P subfusca HL. The group started as 6 specimens of 2nd instar spiderlings and as of today they consist of 2 mature males and 4 females, all still alive and well.
I noticed that there was 1 mature male roaming around late at night a month or so ago, and today i decided to check on them all and remove the male. to my surprise there were actually 2 mature males.
the reason this is a final analysis is that now that the first of them have reached maturity i consider the analysis completed, P subfusca can very easily be kept together in a communal environment.
All 6 shared the same hide (despite almost a dozen viable locations) packed in, often on top of one another, i witnessed zero aggression throughout their growth process and maintained very consistent behavior the entire time. I have even witnessed 2 of them drinking from the dish simultaneously.
One key piece of data is im beginning to believe that specimens mature much faster (fewer molts and more often molts) in a communal setting, im unsure whether their more frequent molts is due to a feeling of added security with being together or from a more frequent feeding as this group was fed slightly more than a solitary specimen by about 10-20%. And while this species is a bit smaller of the Poecilotheria genus, the mature males are tiny (4-4.5" for one, an even 4" for the other) when i have kept this species in the past, my last mature male was 5.5-6" easily. Again im beginning to believe that they matured a molt ahead compared to my solitary specimen in the past.
As of right now, i have the two mature males separated and sitting on my desk as i type this, the females will remain together as they are, of course, still too small/young to be bred, and i do not wish to inbreed if i can help it. so they will remain where they are comfortable, in a group, until they are ready to be bred. At which time i will attempt to find a male and document their behavior as a group when a male is introduced once they are breedable.
Im sad to split them up, and part of me wanted to allow the males to stay, despite knowing they would most likely expire before fulfilling their usefulness, but with two mature males available, it would be selfish for me to withhold that gene pool from the hobby.
despite being two short of the original group, they are still one of my favorite centerpieces of my collection.
