Poecilotheria problems

[Guy Edwards]

Hello all,
I have a bit of a worry with my female p.regalis, she is a shed a way from adulthood, and will not leave her 2" - 2.5" diameter bamboo tube.

She has webbed the entrance up (she is still visible, so do not think that she is shedding her skin). There has been a male b.dubia in there with her for about two days now and she has not touched him.

The conditions are as follows: large faunarium (vertically orientated), 3"coco bedding mixed with vermiculite subs, artificial plant in suckered in the corner, ceramic water dish and the afore mentioned 10" bamboo tube. temps 75f rising to 81f on a hot day. Light misting on a nightly basis.

when she first arrived 2months ago she, settled in for one and a half weeks, maybe two, then commenced feeding, and coming out at night. this continued for a fortnight and now she has been a recluse for a month. my previous poecilotherias have been very mobile in the evening.

I am just a bit worried for her. does all sound well, or does anyone have any advise on how to improve things for her.

Thanks so much,

Guy

[Zoltan Mihaly Lestyan]

Sounds like she is preparing for the coming molt. You can but wait for her to molt. I'd remove that roach though, they stop feeding when in premolt.

[Peter Lacey]

Sounds like a moult, quite likely to disappear for a while during a moult.
Personally I wouldn't be bothered by the cock roach. I've had one in with my P. striata for about a month. Thought she'd eaten it but it seems not. Crickets on the other hand I'd definitely remove.

[Guy Edwards]

Thank you so much Zoltan & Peter for the killer advice!
How exciting I can't wait for her to moult!!, I will almost certainly get her a larger terrarium for her when she has moulted.

How long do you guys think she will take to moult, I am keeping the substrate quite moist. anything else i should do? oh and there is no substrate in the tube with her, just bare bamboo and her silk at the other end, is that a problem?

Guy

[Peter Lacey]

Your pokie may bring substrate into the bamboo tube, I think this helps to disguise it.
Its important not to disturb it too much during moult and give it 5-7 days after the moult for the body, fangs etc to harden. However, my experience of pokies is that they get over the moult very quickly.
Of course the other possibility is that you have a gravid female! keep an eye on it but try not to disturb.

[Guy Edwards]

Hey Peter,

thanks again, I have just returned home to fing her with her tip toes out of the tube and the silk all torn down. whne I turned the main light on in the room she slunk back to the bottom of the tube - wierd! as before i am just leaving well alone, see how things develop.

thanks so much for all your advice.

on a different note, this german poecilotheria book that has recently been released - do you know if there is an english version going around, might be useful as my collection of poecilotheria grows.

thanks again,

Guy

[Peter Lacey]

I'd like to get some books on Poecilotheria too. I know there's some out there but as with the one that's recently been released in Germany, there's a language barrier. I don't know if it will be translated but I do know there's a book in progress from Smith. Hopefully someone can provide more details.

[SylviRigden]

Hi, I've heard that the new German poec books aren't going to be released in English

[Guy Edwards]

The smith book sounds interesting Peter!! i shall keep the old peepers peeled.
What a disappointment that the german Pokie book will not be translated into english, That sucks!

Cheers guys,

Guy

[Nicola Dolby]

Hello Guy,
Sooner or later your pokie is going to moult and if your worried about her getting trapped then how about putting a bark tube with a wider internal diameter where the one you have is now and lay the current tube on the substrate next to it. Pokies aren't over keen on being horizontal and you might find in a couple of days she will have moved into her new home! Good luck!