is it normal?

[dan hewitt]

hi, i have an adult female p.fasciata that is very very unsociable and hides all the time! in fact i have never seen her move apart from when i disturb her to check she is still living! she just sits in her bark tube and thats it. ive never seen her eat but i assume she does as i dont have a colony of locusts living in there, and i dont think locusts are cannibals! but she will let them crawl all over her without even a flinch. my b.smithi will pounce as soon as a cricket goes near it! i just wanted to check if its normal behaviour for a poke, as i thought they were fairly active, or at least a good show off spider! its not much fun having a pet log!
dan

[Warren Beattie]

I can't say it sounds too unusual, meself.
I sometimes see my P. regalis out during the day, but any slight disturbance and zip - down the tube she goes. In fact, she seems to be spending more daylight time outside her tube, these last few months. Now that's what I call unusual.

[Phil Rea]

Most Poecilotheria sp. are very photophobic (i.e. they hate light), so having her hiding out in her cork tube is par for the course I'm afraid.

In the wild they live in holes in trees (with the openings at the bottom so I've read), and are not seen during the day.

Some will let their food walk on them, some will drop on the food, some will grab it on the way past if you drop it in, some wait until the food is practically in their 'mouth' before grabbing it. It depends entirely on the spider.

Could it be that she feels insecure in there, and so is cautious? Very difficult to say.

[Sonny Howdle]

that is very normal for a pokie dan, i have lots of pokies and my big females just hide under or in there logs all the time. a good thing is to have 3 sides of your tank coverd up so that it is always a bit dark. on a night time if you go into your spid room use a red light because spids cannot see red and so they dont run away and hide, that way you will be able to see her. i have a big female that wont eat anything i put in and she isnt even due to shed. dont worry, its normal. if you like T's to look at try a GBB cos they make great webs and are always out.

[Robert Farmer]

My P Regalis is quite secretive, but not nearly as bad as my P Pederseni, which will simply not tolerate being seen in the light.

Wonderful to see when they are out and about mind!

[dan hewitt]

thanks guys! i got told by the guy i got it off that pokes were good display spiders so i assumed it would be out on view quite a bit.
i have a red light above my boa tank which is next door so i can see into it at night, but i still dont see her move around. at least my red knee is a bit more fiesty!
cheers
dan

[Colin D Wilson]

I've got a Regalis sling (soon to be Jo's) and this one sits on top of its cork bark throughout the day, Its quite brazen in fact you can look at it and move around near to the tank, touch it lightly though and its gone !!!

[mike halewood]

This is pretty much all I've seen of my P. fasciata. They're both going to a new home this week.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ipHx7_2s8[/ame]