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Got first Tarantula sling early last month and honestly want a Poecilotheria metallica next.

Speedis88

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I fully expect to be grilled for thinking of getting an old world T this soon. I realize some are going to suggest owning a number of new world tarantulas and then maybe something like Harpactira pulchripes before getting a pokie. However I don't plan on having a room full of spiders like some truly passionate for the hobby do. Really I feel owning two Tarantulas would be enough for me. That's nothing against the people that own 20, 50 or 100+ Tarantulas. Just my own 2 cent's on how many I personally want to have.

Just for some background. When I first became interested in even owning a tarantula in the first place it was because of watching a P. Metallica feed. I then watched a lot of care videos, read forum post and read a number of caresheets for this T. After learning how powerful the venom from this T is from bite reports. I decided getting a new world would be best since I had zero experience dealing with spiders. I ended up choosing the Pterinopelma Sazimai as my first sling and I don't regret it. Really it's been funny to see how much this little fellow can reshape the dirt inside the deli cup. I thought maybe I wouldn't still want a Poecilotheria Metallica after getting the P. Sazimai, but as the post here implies I still want to get one. So here I am posting about it.

With this in mind to what degree am I being unwise if I ordered a P. Metallica sling a month or two from now?
 

Enn49

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As long as you fully understand their possible speed and the strength of their venom then I won't talk you out of it. I began in the hobby with a juvie OBT followed a few months later with a Poecilotheria metallica sling and 6 years on she is still my favourite T and oddly enough she is my calmest.
 

Jess S

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I'm not going to try to talk you out of it either, even though I've only got new worlds at the moment.
As @Enn49 says above as long as you know what your getting into then if that's what you want, who am I to try to talk you out of it?
My problem is with people who don't do the research beforehand or put much thought into it, you don't seem like that.
Don't read too many online caresheets. A lot of them aren't quite accurate (and that's putting it kindly) Search the forums for care info from actual keepers. Search everything you can think of such as bite reports and there have to be loads of threads titled 'Help, my P Metallica escaped!' Read and learn from them all.

If you get the enclosure right and plan how to rehouse and maintain that spider to minimise escape attempts (the bathtub is your friend) I'm sure you'll manage.
 

Speedis88

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As long as you fully understand their possible speed and the strength of their venom then I won't talk you out of it. I began in the hobby with a juvie OBT followed a few months later with a Poecilotheria metallica sling and 6 years on she is still my favourite T and oddly enough she is my calmest.

I have read a number of post by people saying their P. Metallica turned out to be far more chill than expected. It was almost enough to get me to buy one as my first T despite being an old world. I even got to see one in person at a not so well run pet store. I was very close to buying one online despite warning of it being a really bad idea for a beginner.

Maybe in the near future I will end up placing an order for a Poecilotheria metallica sling
by mistake. ;)


I'm not going to try to talk you out of it either, even though I've only got new worlds at the moment.
As @Enn49 says above as long as you know what your getting into then if that's what you want, who am I to try to talk you out of it?
My problem is with people who don't do the research beforehand or put much thought into it, you don't seem like that.
Don't read too many online caresheets. A lot of them aren't quite accurate (and that's putting it kindly) Search the forums for care info from actual keepers. Search everything you can think of such as bite reports and there have to be loads of threads titled 'Help, my P Metallica escaped!' Read and learn from them all.

If you get the enclosure right and plan how to rehouse and maintain that spider to minimise escape attempts (the bathtub is your friend) I'm sure you'll manage.

I mostly read forum post and watched youtube videos from those like Tom Moran to get information. The current way I do feedings + watering is placing the enclosure in a large plastic tub that has a lid I can easily use in the event my sling tries escaping. I do this in a room without a vent and seal the door behind me beforehand. I also have a catch cup ready.

If I got a P. Metallica sling I would keep it in a 32oz deli cup and then later rehouse it in what hopefully would be it's final adult enclosure because the less often I need to do that the better. I've seen a number of videos of rehousing including Tom moving 7 of them into their new enclosure. Honestly though I could never picture dealing with that many of them at one time however.

As for getting bitten my guess is I should be ready for a trip to the ER and having my whole family call me stupid. I mainly worry about it escaping and harming someone other than myself. I know that's why some people never keep any old world tarantulas.
 

MalePinkToe

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I feel much the same. I am just too shy to write about it online. P. ornata I think... My plan would include a sling apartment connecting to the final enclosure. After the sling out grows the "apartment" you remove the partition (when the sling moves into the final enclosure), the apartment can then be used to transfer food. Just a plan. If your adult becomes accustomed to re-visit the apartment you could replace the partition and go about any cleaning or upgrades to the main area with MS or MR Fang safely in the apartment Final enclosure 16 cubic feet...apartment 1 cubic foot. Maybe. We do obsess!
 

Jess S

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I feel much the same. I am just too shy to write about it online. P. ornata I think... My plan would include a sling apartment connecting to the final enclosure. After the sling out grows the "apartment" you remove the partition (when the sling moves into the final enclosure), the apartment can then be used to transfer food. Just a plan. If your adult becomes accustomed to re-visit the apartment you could replace the partition and go about any cleaning or upgrades to the main area with MS or MR Fang safely in the apartment Final enclosure 16 cubic feet...apartment 1 cubic foot. Maybe. We do obsess!

Please don't take it this wrong way, but you are overthinking it. If your plan is to make an enclosure that you will never need to rehouse the ornata etc then what happens if you get a bad mould outbreak?
If you really want one but are still having misgivings then plan for one further down the road when you feel a bit more confident. Get a more feisty arboreal with less potent venom. Something from the psalmopeous genus is what more people go for, P. cambridgei generally toured as being generally calmer.
Most pokies are quite shy (with some exceptions) and a lot of people say they are a lot calmer than given credit for. However, there is always that potential for a sudden teleporting bolt and their venom is no joke, so you need confidence that you have the experience to deal with those situations.
I am sure you will get your ornata :)
 

Arachnoclown

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I'm what you would call a pokie horder. I've got 13 of the 14 species available and currently 65 speciems and a couple sacks in the works.
Pokies are my favorite arboreals and one of my recommended spiders to keep.
However if your worried about having to rehouse them...your not ready. You should have no hesitations when transferring and rehousing them.
Just to touch on the P. metallicas being chill...each spider is a individual. I've got 3 mature metallicas and 2 of them are defensive freaks...the other is super skittish. However I have a really chill regalis, formosa and ornata....but I also have freaks of the same species. This just tells you tou never know what you got until you got it. ;) :T:
Out of all the pokies I have Poecilotheria miranda have been the all out chillest. I have 5 and all are the same so far...but you never know.:cool:
 

ilovebrachys

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I'm what you would call a pokie horder. I've got 13 of the 14 species available and currently 65 speciems and a couple sacks in the works.
Pokies are my favorite arboreals and one of my recommended spiders to keep.
However if your worried about having to rehouse them...your not ready. You should have no hesitations when transferring and rehousing them.
Just to touch on the P. metallicas being chill...each spider is a individual. I've got 3 mature metallicas and 2 of them are defensive freaks...the other is super skittish. However I have a really chill regalis, formosa and ornata....but I also have freaks of the same species. This just tells you tou never know what you got until you got it. ;) :T:
Out of all the pokies I have Poecilotheria miranda have been the all out chillest. I have 5 and all are the same so far...but you never know.:cool:
Which pokie are you missing? @Arachnoclown ...we have 13 out of 14 we can get here in the UK.. Just missing the hanumavilasumica but have a sling coming soon :) not sure if rajaei are available on your side of the pond as can't seem to get them in the UK although I'm aware in the wild they are on the endangered list
 

Nunua

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I got my first T on Feb 11, 2018; the next in March, the third on April 28, a bunch of new world slings on May 13 and my first OWs / Pokies (vittata and tigrinawesseli) on July 16, 2018. I had read a lot about them, watched a bunch of videos, and I was aware or the speed and venom. I was being very careful when opening the sling vial to transport the vittata into its new enclosure on the day they arrived - and guess what happened?

Boom, the sling bolted out, took a run all over me, and stopped on the chair. I tried to catch it, but it was fast and stressed, so it ran to the floor where I finally got it.
e1262233ca.png

Nothing bad happened but you really need to be mentally prepared to catch them if needed. All you need are calm and determined movements, no hesitations.

I'm not saying that any of you can't get a pokie next - go for it if you're ready, but never plan anything with a mindset that you won't ever need to catch or rehouse it ;)
 
Last edited:

Jess S

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I got my first T on Feb 11, 2018; the next in March, the third on April 28, a bunch of new world slings on May 13 and my first OWs / Pokies (vittata and tigrinawesseli) on July 16, 2018. I had read a lot about them, watched a bunch of videos, and I was aware or the speed and venom. I was being very careful when opening the sling vial to transport the vittata into its new enclosure on the day they arrived - and guess what happened?

Boom, the sling bolted out, took a run all over me, and stopped on the chair. I tried to catch it, but it was fast and stressed, so it ran to the floor where I finally got it.
e1262233ca.png

Nothing bad happened and but you really need to be mentally prepared to catch them if needed. All you need are calm and determined movements, no hesitations.

I'm not saying that any of you can't get a pokie next - go for it if you're ready, but never plan anything with a mindset that you won't ever need to catch or rehouse it ;)

Great advise and I love how you know the dates that you got your T's! :) I've got a feeling you use the same tarantula keeping app as me, where you can record all that stuff, it's a life saver! :)
 

Arachnoclown

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Which pokie are you missing? @Arachnoclown ...we have 13 out of 14 we can get here in the UK.. Just missing the hanumavilasumica but have a sling coming soon :) not sure if rajaei are available on your side of the pond as can't seem to get them in the UK although I'm aware in the wild they are on the endangered list
Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica is the one I'm missing. I dont think rajaei will ever be available here... :(
 

ilovebrachys

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Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica is the one I'm missing. I dont think rajaei will ever be available here... :(
It's been hard enough tracking one down here.. I don't think rajaei will ever be here either as it would be nice to have the full set :)
 

Nunua

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I've got a feeling you use the same tarantula keeping app as me, where you can record all that stuff, it's a life saver! :)
I know the app and actually tried it, but I'm too lazy to use it. My secret weapons are an Excel sheet and my Instagram account, lol :D
 

MalePinkToe

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Once upon a time I kept some wild caught Carolina Wolf Spiders. Fast is not nearly a good enough way to describe them. Not a Pokie venom- wise but perhaps good training for care of dragster types! I never gave one cause to hurt me. I never hurt one of them.
 

Jess S

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Once upon a time I kept some wild caught Carolina Wolf Spiders. Fast is not nearly a good enough way to describe them. Not a Pokie venom- wise but perhaps good training for care of dragster types! I never gave one cause to hurt me. I never hurt one of them.

Quite a few species of true spider can really move when they want to. Making the top 10 in my mind are certain species of huntsman and Eratigena atrica, Tegenaria domestica (forgive my spelling)
 

Speedis88

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Okay so because I made some extra money this week I ended up ordering a P. Metallica sling that I should get next week. To prepare I have watched and keep on watching videos on rehousing them. Because I want the sling to be safe and also not experience a trip into the local hospital.
 
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