Which Pokie to get?

[Bipolar Spider]

Something that's always bothered me and I never brought up before, might as well here...

I've had quite a variation of pokies over the years and the one I really disliked was the Ruffilata. Compared to all my others she seemed the smallest and very very skinny. For a while I doubted she was even female but was told over and over she was AF. Are rufilata known for being a very slender pokie thus being of the larger side length wise or do they generally come quite chunky too? I never saw another Rufilata to compare and pics never really help. I also hear people say awesome green but I only ever noticed that when I filmed her, normal light she just looked, brown. Anyways something that was always bugging me, would like to give them another chance, maybe my one was the runt of the litter.

You can see her from :34 onwards looks nice and colourful but compared to all my other pokies, very very dull under normal light, worse than a metallica or sing blue if you know what I mean.

 

[Venom1080]

Something that's always bothered me and I never brought up before, might as well here...

I've had quite a variation of pokies over the years and the one I really disliked was the Ruffilata. Compared to all my others she seemed the smallest and very very skinny. For a while I doubted she was even female but was told over and over she was AF. Are rufilata known for being a very slender pokie thus being of the larger side length wise or do they generally come quite chunky too? I never saw another Rufilata to compare and pics never really help. I also hear people say awesome green but I only ever noticed that when I filmed her, normal light she just looked, brown. Anyways something that was always bugging me, would like to give them another chance, maybe my one was the runt of the litter.

You can see her from :34 onwards looks nice and colourful but compared to all my other pokies, very very dull under normal light, worse than a metallica or sing blue if you know what I mean.

Maybe it was just your specimen.

@Nightstalker47 yeah I probably should before recommending one over the other.

 

[CWilson1351]

This may be entirely subjective, but my 5" female P.Fasciata is the most relaxed pokie I've ever come across. Minus her explosive feeding responses, she has never ever caused me to shed a single bead of anxiety induced sweat.

I have a P. fasciata about the same size and agree 100% I got mine when she was only about 1.5in DLS. She is a doll. Would rather go right to her cork hide than anything else. Unless of course you're a cricket or dubia

 

[boina]

I don't really feel competent to post here since I have my Pokies only for a couple of months, but I want to add another vote for P. subfusca sp. lowland. My two juveniles are pretty relaxed for a Pokie (much more than ornata or rufilata, at least) and out every evening and utterly pretty.

 

[mconnachan]

I don't really feel competent to post here since I have my Pokies only for a couple of months, but I want to add another vote for P. subfusca sp. lowland. My two juveniles are pretty relaxed for a Pokie (much more than ornata or rufilata, at least) and out every evening and utterly pretty.

P. subfusca lowland or highland are both stunners, the OP has decided on a P. regalis, I think so anyway, that's what he posted due to the price, still a beautiful Poecilotheria sp. My next Pokie will be P. subfusca, highland or lowland, not sure which yet....

 

[mconnachan]

@Aaron M you posted - "disagree" to my post, when it was opinions and members own experience the OP was after, I gave my opinion and my experience with P. metallica, read the whole thread next time. I don't see you offering any advice, do you have any Poecilotheria sp. any OW's, I do and have given my thoughts and my experience with them, post what you think is a suitable Pokie for the OP.

 

[Aaron M]

@Aaron M you posted - "disagree" to my post, when it was opinions and members own experience the OP was after, I gave my opinion and my experience with P. metallica, read the whole thread next time. I don't see you offering any advice, do you have any Poecilotheria sp. any OW's, I do and have given my thoughts and my experience with them, post what you think is a suitable Pokie for the OP.

Sorry must of hit it on accident had no clue I disagreed with your post I do own pokies I would say vittata is a good pokie to start with along with regalis and maybe rufilatta while the largest of pokies mine seems to be out frequently and would rather hunker down and hide instead of bolt. Metallica is probably not a best first choice just to the fact of being very photo sensitive and are not out much and could turn off some people that may not want a expensive T that's rarely seen. And again sorry for the disagree.

 

[mconnachan]

Sorry must of hit it on accident had no clue I disagreed with your post I do own pokies I would say vittata is a good pokie to start with along with regalis and maybe rufilatta while the largest of pokies mine seems to be out frequently and would rather hunker down and hide instead of bolt. Metallica is probably not a best first choice just to the fact of being very photo sensitive and are not out much and could turn off some people that may not want a expensive T that's rarely seen. And again sorry for the disagree.

Could you kindly remove the "disagree" comment please, as you said you must have hit it by accident, my P. metallica is not photo-sensitive either, I really must have an oddball! Well as I've said they're all individuals, but mine have both never been skittish or photosensitive, strange P.mets I have had. My P. regalis was extremely photosensitive but not skittish, he used to sit on his cork slab all day and hunt at night time.

 

[Aaron M]

Could you kindly remove the "disagree" comment please, as you said you must have hit it by accident, my P. metallica is not photo-sensitive either, I really must have an oddball! Well as I've said they're all individuals, but mine have both never been skittish or photosensitive, strange P.mets I've have. My P. regalis was extremely photosensitive but not skittish, he used to sit on his cork slab all day and hunt at night time.

Yep they are all different that's why it's hard to judge a species I wish my metallica ' s were odd balls but mine fit in with the norm of being very photo sensitive I did remove it and actually agreed with the fact that slings or juvenile is best way to build experience and confidence all the pokies are great T's and will not be a disappointment

 

[mconnachan]

Yep they are all different that's why it's hard to judge a species I wish my metallica ' s were odd balls but mine fit in with the norm of being very photo sensitive I did remove it and actually agreed with the fact that slings or juvenile is best way to build experience and confidence all the pokies are great T's and will not be a disappointment

Glad you agree, that's the route that I took, now I own mostly OW's, I would like some NW's such as
B. boehmei, G. pulchra, G. iheringi, all stunning NW's there are so many superb sp. that you'll never get bored with the hobby, but not to collect like toy cars, these are really advanced, fascinating animals, old and new worlds alike.

 

[CyclingSam]

Poecilotheria subfusca Highland are amazing. Don't fall for that lowland propaganda.

Poecilotheria metallica are even better. Overrated they are not.

rufilata are interesting because they get so large but look very full in person compared to other pokies. Still lworth getting for their size. They are barely green in normal room lighting, 90% brown.

Every pokie is amazing, ornata can look like rufilata but eventually look much nicer as adults. They are the second largest pokie I believe.

I don't know what kind of lighting you are hanging around, but in the normal light of my living room, my P. rufilata is yellow and green. If you are close enough, you can see it red hairs. Most of the time it has its under side up against the side of the enclosure. In that case I see blue with bands of yellow and black. I have never seen this brown you speak of.

Here is a photo, without flash, of my rufilata just chilling on my living room floor during a rehouse. She was about 3.5" here. Now she is 5".

 

[Venom1080]

I don't know what kind of lighting you are hanging around, but in the normal light of my living room, my P. rufilata is yellow and green. If you are close enough, you can see it red hairs. Most of the time it has its under side up against the side of the enclosure. In that case I see blue with bands of yellow and black. I have never seen this brown you speak of.

Here is a photo, without flash, of my rufilata just chilling on my living room floor during a rehouse. She was about 3.5" here. Now she is 5".

View attachment 245704

LEDs. Looks pretty brown to me still haha. Never said they weren't amazing. My 7.5" girl just looks dull in comparison to my white/black regalis, stirata. I prefer the look of my other 5 to my rufi.

 

[CyclingSam]

LEDs. Looks pretty brown to me still haha. Never said they weren't amazing. My 7.5" girl just looks dull in comparison to my white/black regalis, stirata. I prefer the look of my other 5 to my rufi.

Mine is still very young. Her color may wash out with age.

 

[GreyPsyche]

I have a Vittatta that has been super easy to care for with the exception of her unpacking which gave me a healthy respect for their speed. It didn't go too bad but I was amazed.

 

[mconnachan]

LEDs. Looks pretty brown to me still haha. Never said they weren't amazing. My 7.5" girl just looks dull in comparison to my white/black regalis, stirata. I prefer the look of my other 5 to my rufi.

Still a stunning Pokie, no matter how you look at it, yes compared to your other Poecilotheria sp. but still beautiful and a big specimen.

 

[Venom1080]

Still a stunning Pokie, no matter how you look at it, yes compared to your other Poecilotheria sp. but still beautiful and a big specimen.

Very true. With the right lighting, you can really see the red hairs, something only the rufilata and ornata can boast.

 

[GreyPsyche]

My Vittatta has red hairs that you speak of and even as a sling I can see them fairly easily although not all the time.

 

[viper69]

i am now wondering what would you guys recommend as my fist pokie?

None. You should wait until you have more husbandry experience with what you own. Right now you own slings, and a juvi.

 

[beaker41]

None. You should wait until you have more husbandry experience with what you own. Right now you own slings, and a juvi.

It is important to have some experience with adult t's, the consequences are a lot more severe when you're dealing with a 8" adult than a sling. You've also got to take into account cage changes, cleaning etc and be willing to take the precautions necessary to keep you and your animal safe. A 3" Juvie probably won't be bold enough to attack you vs running but an adult ornata will come right for your face in my experience. The only other pokie I've dealt with is the regalis, mine were very nocturnal and preferred a much larger temperature drop at night than any of my other arboreals. As to growing speed the regalis can get big just as fast as an LP if they're fed often.

 

[Newt Scamander]

I am partial to P metallica's. I've owned metallica's, regalis, rufilata's, and ornata's and I admire all of them. I like the P metallica's simply because of their beautiful blue coloration. I would personally recommend that you get a P metallica sling to start of with the Poecilotheria family. In that way you will be able to see it grow and it's personality and temperament evolve over time. I've found that just like other T's they will have their good days and their bad days. I don't handle my Poecilotheria's but I have had them run up my arm and down my back. I've been in the hobby for 18 years and the only bite I have ever gotten was from a cricket.

I have found that if I keep my Poecilotheria's in my bed room or my living room that they aren't as skittish as the ones that I keep in my bug room. I started keeping some of my pythons and other temperamental pets in areas of my home where they are forced to see me come and go on a daily basis and have found that it makes it easier to handle them. I learned that from NERD. I have a shelf that I keep in my living room that houses my Poecilotheria's and they get to see me binge watch Netflix all day on the weekends and they have never had any trouble with lights or sunlight. I've actually taken them outside to my back yard in the past to take some photos and they never bolted.

I've also found that P metallica's tend to be pretty calm compared to the other Poecilotheria's that I have kept. Get a sling and keep it in a comfortable place where it can see your face daily and I'm pretty sure you'll have a well mannered Poecilotheria when it matures. I would also recommend making sure that they have a lot of space. I've noticed that confined spaces tend to make them teleport. I've keep my adults in 10 gallon and above set ups. I keep my juveniles in 5 gallon containers and they seem to do pretty well.

Best