Poecilotheria ornata

Like the other Poecilotheria species the Fringed Ornamental is a very fast and somewhat aggressive spider. I bought 6 of them as they had newly emerged from the cocoon (larvae II). They molted just 3 days later and are now growing quite happily. I was surprised at the size of the spiderlings because compared to a Brachypelma or Grammostola spiderling they are quite large.

All of them take small cickets and flies regularly. However, ornata seems to be frightened more easily than the regalis which I also keep.
 

Poecilotheria regalis

The Indian Ornamental is a very large tree dwelling species. It also is incredibly fast and hungry. It is a good advice to be very careful when handling this spider and to keep the fingers well away from the terrium. Especially when feeding the spiders one has to be careful so that the spiders don't escape. Again: THEY ARE FAST!

I keep 10 of those spiders in groups of 5 individuals together. They have been kept together from the very beginning and so far they are not cannibalistic (yet?). I should add that I keep the animals well fed to avoid cannibalism. By the way, although the spiders are still young, they already take fully grown crickets. When I put a cricket if the terrarium, several of them jump out of their hiding place behind a piece of cork and grab the food from different sides and tear it apart. Impressive!

On a piece of bark the camouflage of Poecilotheria regalis is just perfect.
 

Return to previous page