poecilotheria formosa

[Kirk McNulty]

Hi all, I am looking into the possibility of starting up a communal setup with poecilotheria formosa, I am hoping to keep upto six in a enclosure and was wondering if anyone has a successfull communal setup with formosa or if anyone can give advise on how they went about choosing the slings ie, did they come from the same breeder ( possibly from the same egg sack ) and does this matter in regards to interbreeding ? Do males and females mature within reason of each other so that they might mate. I do not wish to intentionaly breed them, but even if the slings are from different egg sacks there may still be complications. I'm sure I read on here not so long back that someone had bought the same pokies from two dealers and kept them in the same container and it was possible that they stuck to their individual groups within the same container yet still tolerated each other. I am still looking into it so any advice or help would be much appreciated, thanks, sorry for boring you.

[Guy Tansley]

Hello Kirk,
Yes, P. formosa can be kept communally. As with all communal set-ups, there's always an element of risk and you may lose a few along the way. It's best to start with spiderlings that are all from the same egg sac and that have never been separated but I know of cases where two groups have been successfully mixed. Males will mature quicker than the females so these can be removed once mature. Regular feeding and a larger enough container wide many hiding places will improve the chances of success!

Hope this helps!

[craig hill]

I have a group of 5 p. formosa, got them as slings and are now good sized juveniles, i have them in a 18 inch high exo terra with plenty of hiding places, keep them well fed, and it is less likely for them to turn cannibalistic. For my 5, i throw in about 7 crickets every 3 days.

I would suggest getting them from the same eggsac if possible. The main things are, enough food, enough space, and enough hiding places.

They started off in one of these.. they are about 6 inches high


Then they moved up to a 5l cereal tub-12 inches high


now the exo terra their in.


Craig