Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Poecilotheria smithi and Avicularia purpurea Qs.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Poecilotheria smithi and Avicularia purpurea Qs.

    Hello guys first to introduce myself my name is Dean and i live in north london. (anyone else live local to me?). just a couple of questions. I have an adult female Yellow backed ornamental (Poecilotheria smithi) of which im looking to get a male to mate her with but i cant seem to locate one. Are these spiders very rare in the uk? Also i have recently got 2 spiderling (Avicularia purpurea) spiderlings and although they are doing realy well and growing like weeds im a bit concerned about the humidity levels for these spiders. im currently keeping them at about 80%. is this correct? any help is much appreciated.

  • #2
    Hi There
    Welcome to our new look T' community board. I am not sure about the current state of P,smithi in captivity but I can shed some light on A,purpurea

    I have kept these from spiderlings to full adulthood and bred them succesfully allbeit a long time ago. I found that keeping them to humid quickly kill of the young spiderlings. I use a quite big containers to keep them like the tall sweet jars. I had a open top mesh lid which gave a lot of ventilation. I had a open water dish and only misted once a week but the waterdish never went more than a few days without water in it.

    The female took to the male really well. The males are very active and can jump with great accuracy from branch to side of the tank. The male resided with the feamle for two days and then she eat him.

    4 weeks later she drop the egg sac, then three weeks later 93 young emerged.

    So keep them well ventilated but with access to water at all times. Over humidty and a not well ventilated container will promote fungal infections and kill you prise tarantula.

    Hope this helps a bit
    Regards
    Mark

    ------------------------------------------------------
    Serious Ink tattoo studio -
    Discounts on tattoo's for BTS members
    My Collection: - Support captive breeding

    Comment


    • #3
      People in North London

      Hi Dean if you are a memeber of the BTS have you joined the Friendship scheme. This provides you with alist of all interested parties in your area.and there are a lot in London.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for the help. No im not a member yet but will be joining in january. I am a huge spider enthusiast and think that the BTS is great and is a real gem in the whole tarantula hobby. you guys do a great job and hope to see some of you guys at next years show

        Comment


        • #5
          Poecilotheria smithi seem to be in somewhat short supply.
          This appears to be due to a lot of failed egg sacs - seemingly partially infertile. Henrik Wessel Frank has had a lot of trouble breeding these lately, and there are thoughts that this may be due to deliberate hybridisation which occured between P.smithi and P.fasciata - resulting in the smithi "gene pool" if you like becoming tainted.
          There is an interesting thread about it you might want to read.

          CLICK HERE

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Poecilotheria
            Thanks for the help. No im not a member yet but will be joining in january. I am a huge spider enthusiast and think that the BTS is great and is a real gem in the whole tarantula hobby. you guys do a great job and hope to see some of you guys at next years show
            How refreshing to read such positive and forward thinking comments about our great Society. This is what makes doing voluntary work, worth while. I am sure I can speak for the whole committee in saying 'thank you'
            Carl Portman
            BTS Publicity Officer

            Comment


            • #7
              Hi

              P. smithi is indeed rare in the hobby. I have a mated female and know of 3 others in Europe. These females have been mated with what could be the last male in the hobby (please someone prove me wrong here). There is a slim chance that some might make it to the BTS Exhibition, but at present i think most/any young will be kept back to expand breeding groups.

              If anyone has a male i have a freshly moulted female which produced and ate an eggsac earlier this year.

              A. purpurea, it is best to try to raise the spiderlings individually in a large well ventilated sweet jar. When spraying spray the side opposite the web, these like to be kept dry and humid. I have never managed to rear any spiderlings of this species through to adult. I sugest a sweet jar as this could be the housing for the adults, i have found these particularly prone to die after rehousing as they stop producing web.

              Mark Allison has had much better succsess, any comments Mark?

              Comment

              Working...
              X