P.Regalis Question ???

[H@GG!S]

I have 3 P.Regalis 2 from one egg sack and 1 from a diffrent one decided months ago (about 3) to house them all together. In the last 3 months they have all molted many times and are starting to get adult colours....The problem is i just caught one the larger one chasing one of smaller one's from the 2 egg sack about the tank. It didnt look to bad no front legs in the air just the larger one kind of following one of he smaller ones about. To be safe ive seperated them and if i can find the other smaller one will do the same ... i have a hollow cork bark tube in the tank and they all lived quite happly in that but last week or so the bigger one has been sitting out side the cork tube. Now its showing an intrest in the smaller one. Was thinking maybe because its becomming an adult its showing agresson or is this mormal for Regalis dont know if i should keep them together or not .... need some advice please ???
and i havnt seen the second smaller one for a while but then again ive never seen the 3 of them at the same time.

[H@GG!S]

Just to update this looks like ive only got 2 left i think one has been made into lunch

[Tracy Messenger]

Hi,
Generally if your going to keep spiders in a communal set up they should be of the same species and from the same eggsac, ie Avicularia or Poecilotheria and some people have Hystercrates communally, they should have quite a large enclosure and plenty of hiding places, also plenty of food should be available.
We have a large group of P. regalis in a set up such as this and are doing very well.
If I am wrong I am sure some of the more knowledgable forum members will correct me

[H@GG!S]

Before putting them together i did ask for advice and basicly was made aware of the risk .... The tank is a large tank with plenty of hiding places thats why i took me so long to find out if i had lost one also they always had plenty off food and seemed happy together for sevral months .... until one started getting its adult colours just wonderd if anyone else had seen this type of behavior.

[Tracy Messenger]

Sorry, must have mis read your question

[Ian Metcalfe]

I have observed P regalis spiderlings in a communal setup .They range from about 3/4" to about 1 1/4". I have seen the larger ones in the group chase the smaller ones but the persute usuall ends when they actullay make contact . The group is about 15 strong at the moment . I have also observed that the largest of the spiderlings seem to move away from the rest for short periods of time (a couple of hours ) before rejoining the rest of the group.
It is my hope that in the not too distant future I will be in a position to keep a realy large group of P regalis together. In a very large tank in order to observ if they will stay as one large group or split into sub groups and if there would be any form af interaction between these groups .

[H@GG!S]

New update on this ...

Found out why one ate the other one and was probly looking to do the same to the remaining one ... The 2 slings i got from a private breeder were what they are suppost to be P.Regalis but the one i got off of a retailer is defnetly not a P.Regalis. I was sold this T as a P.Regalis (sling Meduim size) from a retailer on the internet (that is widely recomended on this site by members) Now insted of having 3 P.Regails i have only 1 P.Regalis and a T i never wanted in the first place ..... I need advice here what come back have i got on the retailer that sold me the rouge P.Regalis ... i think its only fair she owes me 2 P.Regalis and i will send her the T back she sold me.

pics to come:
One of the Two remaining P.Regalis
This one just molted and colours are totaly diffrent from the one from the retailer ...i will post a picture of the retail T a soon as it comes out of its cork bark tube. Its from the Poecilotheria family i just dont know witch colouration is diffrent darker brown and only a little lighter grey on the legs



P.S
Tracy sorry no disrespect ment ...thanks for the reply

[Ray Hale]

We have a colony of ten P.regais all together. They are all from the same eggsac and all about 2" in size. I have noted that some are smaller than the others and there is sometimes a mad panic when they meet. I havn't lost any yet but I feel that the weakest will eventually be predated upon. Survival of the fittest etc. A risk we take I am afraid when keeping colonies. If you are unsure then as they grow separate them out. Keeping adults together will require a very large area.

Ray and Angela

[Ian Metcalfe]

Ray
When you say that keeping adults together would require a very large area, how large is large. I have seen an an adult and 2 sub adults living quite happy in a custom aquaria tank aprox 10" x10" x12" tall . The enclosure I am thinking of using is 48"x12" x 56" tall any feedback would be apreciated

[H@GG!S]

I know what your saying Ray but the T in question that ate my other T was sold to me as a P.Regalis and i dont think it is ....still not come out of the cork bark for me to take a picture but i will post as soon as i get a snap of it too see if anyone knows what Poecilotheria it is.

I would be also intrested in the question Ian M asked as i plan to setup a big display tank for my Poecilotheria Regalis's any pictures of your setup would be nice Ray please

[H@GG!S]

Ok i finaly got pictures off the T that ate one of my P.Regalis. This spider is slightly older and bigger that my one remaining P.Regalis and the colouration of this spider is a lot darker than the regalis

This was sold to me as Poecilotheria Regails ... Iknow its from the Poecilotheria family but witch one ???? any help i would be grate full as i intend to try and get what i payed for off the supplier and i would like to identify the T...

[Robert Voll]

A picture of the ventral leg patterns will make it easier to ID your spider.

Robert

[H@GG!S]

do you mean the underside of the leggs ?

[Layla McInnes]

yes he does. Shame about the deal but u still got a nice T there.x

[Ray Gabriel]

Hi All,

Haggis would need to see pics of the underside of the legs to confirm or not if it is the same sp.

As some of you know i have been keeping regalis in communities for nearly 1 year. some of the things i have recently noticed are as follows.

As they get older 3rd-4th moult they will start to eat the smaller ones, if there is not enough hiding places and/or not enough food.

This cannibalism could also be due to to cramped conditions so a larger accomodation wil be required by a larger group. (with even more hiding places)

Could this be why some specimens in a group do not seem to feed??? even when the group is offered more than enough food for all??? I dont know.

I have also noticed that same sex groups tend to grow at the same rate with very little canibalism, and that mixed sexed groups grow at different rates and there is more cannibalism (in larger groups say 20+), in mixed sexed groups the largest specimen tends to be female (this is only from 2 groups 1 of 5 specimens and 1 of 3 specimens) so not 100% accurate or definite for all groups, more experiments of rearing regalis/Poecilotheria in groups and getting the groups sexed will be required Lets see how my next few regalis eggsacs go and i might offer up a bunch for UK BTS members to rear in groups with the information and updates to be posted on the site and finnaly an article for the journal??

Would need a volounter to sex the skins !!

lets see what i can arrange for either the BTS Lectures or Exhibition to collect the spiderlings.


Depending on the size of the housing and and quantity of specimens in a group, i may suggest removing the smaller ones into a separate group, in case they get munched, its your groups at the end of the day.