p.metallica

[Danny Wilson]

hi guys, i am about to recieve a couple of p.metallica's and was hoping maybe some1 may be able to offer alittle advice. i have a couple of pokie spiderlings but have no idea how to breed these as they move fast and can be aggresive so i have read anyway. what is the best way to breed them and would you try to remove the eggsac if successful breeding ? i have seen pics of arboreal t's having eggsacs within half coconut shells etc and this i can see to be easy to remove but arboreals are a different matter, i have no clue how to go on apart from looking after them.
oh and would you recommend a top opening setup or front

any hlp would be great thanx danny

[Richard Shah]

hi guys, i am about to recieve a couple of p.metallica's and was hoping maybe some1 may be able to offer alittle advice. i have a couple of pokie spiderlings but have no idea how to breed these as they move fast and can be aggresive so i have read anyway. what is the best way to breed them and would you try to remove the eggsac if successful breeding ? i have seen pics of arboreal t's having eggsacs within half coconut shells etc and this i can see to be easy to remove but arboreals are a different matter, i have no clue how to go on apart from looking after them.
oh and would you recommend a top opening setup or front

any hlp would be great thanx danny

To your latter question, my tank has both. I dunno about your species but I know they have to be full adults before they can breed.

The other advice Ill offer you is to use Google, and type in your species names followed by "caresheet", however if the info is too brief or you can't find any, of course ask as many que.s as you want.

I know I did but this forum is great!

[Stephen Bryceland]

Hi..When it comes to pairing up pokies I use a big huge container that both the male and females container(cereal containers) go in..I just take off both their lids and leave them to it..that way the male has plenty of room to take off from the female if need be.. you get these big containers in B&Q. They have wheels on the bottom and can be stacked if need be..the cost just under £10.. and you'll have to drill loads of hole in for ventilation..i've not had a male get munched yet (touch wood).. I mainly have pokies for breeding..
when it comes to them laying a sac the best thing i've found is try leave them with minimum disturbance but obviously you have to keep the humidity up for the sac..what I do is put the females container into an exo terra 18x 12 x 12.. you can get 2 cereal containers in there for incubation purposes..obviously have the exo heated..

[alex smith]

Danny if you are getting spiderlings I would be primarily concerned with raising them to adulthood first-this will take around 15-24months-two years old would be a good age to breed.You also obviously need a male and a female(preferably un-related, though not essential).You may end up with two males or two females-so wait and see what youve got.
This is a 'hot' species so be careful, juveniles are fast and juv.males that are nearing maturity can be aggressive but on the whole this is one of the most calm of the Poecilotheria-my adult female is a pussy cat.

I recomend keeping your slings seperatley in small plastic pots of some kind-for newly hatched slings 60mm high 40mm wide-clear plastic with very small holes punched,melted or drilled all around with some net curtin or stocking material over the top held securley with elastic.Fill the pot with 1/3rd coco fibre substrate and mix in a little fine vermiculite for structure, put in some small plastic leaves or a small peice of cork bark for a hide.Keep at 80deg and spray three times a week to ensure the substrate is moist-not water logged. As your slings grow move them upto larger pot's.When they are around 9cm leg span I recomend an all glass viv from someone like custom vivaria-available at most of the big shows.

Pokies need to be well ventilated so the pots that i have explained will cater for this well but as you move them up make sure there are two air vents so as to allow movement of air through the enclosure.

Good luck with them and enjoy this stunning species, they are in a leauge of there own for colour.