Tarantulas of the World

The Fringed Ornamental Tarantula is an Old World species native of the Sri Lanka forests. It is a very large arboreal tarantula with full grown adults reaching a length of 10+ inches. It is considered one of the largest of pokies. Poecilotheria comes from the Greek word poikilos which means spotted, therion which means wild beast and ornata which means adorned.

Habitat:

The Fringed Ornamental is an arboreal species that spends most of its time up in trees and plants in the wild. Your enclosure should be about 10 gallons in size and needs to have more height then width. Substrate should be very damp to produce enough humidity for this species. Humidity levels should be anywhere from 75 to 85 percent and temperatures should be about 78 to 83 degrees. A long piece of bark should be added to provide your pokie a hide and something for it to climb on. A clean water dish should also always be available at all times. Due to high humidity levels in the enclosure be sure to keep a close look out for mold or fungus as this can be common in the enclosure. Should you see any, waste no time in providing enough maintenance to clean up the enclosure.

Feeding:

A steady diet of crickets and large b.dubia cockroaches should be fine for this tarantula. They are insectivores and have been known to eat locusts, moths and other types of insects. Feeding should be kept at once a week and should not be an issue as these guys are great eaters.

Attitude:

Pokies are very defensive and from experience this one might just be the most aggressive out of all of them. Your Fringed Ornamental is very defensive and are known to strike fast. They do produce one of the worst venom of all tarantulas with victims experiencing immense pain, muscle cramps, fever like symptoms, vomiting, blurry eyes and even shortness of breath. Even though the toxins in its venom are not lethal it can still easily induce a quick trip to the E.R. We do not recommend the handling of this species at all, not even by the most experienced of hobbyists.

Do not let the Fringed Ornamental Tarantula’s aggressiveness of this species scare you, it is a great tarantula and a must have for any experienced keeper’s collection. Do you have a P. ornata? Tell us your story and comment down below!

The Red Slate Ornamental tarantula is a species from India that spends most of its times up in trees or plants of the Indian forests. It is a very rare species to come across due to the rare breeding of it, spiderslings tend to be very delicate and require a lot of maintenance until reaching full adult size. In addition they are scarce in the wild due to their natural habitat being threatened due to cutting of trees and plants and deforestation in India. They are most definitely a species for the more experienced of hobbyists. They tend to grow between 7 to 9 inches in length and get to be anywhere from 4 to 9 years old.

Habitat:

The Red Slate Ornamental Tarantula is an arboreal species who likes to spend its time up in trees in the wild. You will need an  enclosure of about 10 to 15 gallons that is more tall then it has floor space. About 3 inches of substrate should be used. We recommend a coconut fiber and peat moss mixture, make sure it is heavily damp. A nice piece or pieces of bark should be added for your tarantula to climb up on. It will end up webbing its home at the top of your enclosure. A fresh water dish should also be available and always overflowing with clean water. Misting is not needed but you can still do so once or twice a week. Just be sure to not spray directly on top of your tarantula but more towards the panels of the enclosure. You should have a temperature of about 68 to 75 degrees and a humidity level of about 75%.

Feeding:

The Red Slate Ornamental Tarantula is an easy eater and will devour pretty much any insects you can mix up its diet with. You can feed them either crickets, cockroaches, locusts and moths. A feeding of once a week should be just fine. As always should you see that your p. rufilata has not eaten its prey within 24, remove the prey. It could be that it has no appetite or in some cases could be in pre-molt stages. Do not stress out your tarantula by having the prey stay in the enclosure.

Attitude:

These are very skittish animals and can easily get startled. They are quite fast as slings or juveniles and only slow down as they reach adulthood. They do not come with urticating hairs and their primary line of defense is their bite. Though their venom is not lethal it still has a medium toxicity level that can cause moderate pain, muscle cramps and sometimes fever like symptoms. They are not as aggressive as other old world tarantulas but will easily go on the defense should they feel threatened.

We would not recommend this species for a beginner tarantula keeper but for more advanced and experienced hobbyist. It is very rare and great species to have.

The Trinidad Chevron Tarantula is a New World majestic tarantula from the tropical areas of Trinidad and Tobago. Loved due to their great chevron marking on their abdomens these animals spend most of their time up in trees blending in with their environment. They tend to make silk tubes in trees/leaves to live out in. Average growth for these animals tend to be about 4 to 5 inches with males living to be about 2 to 4 years and females living close to 12 years. As they grow from spiderlings (slings) to adults they tend to change colors looking more colorful as juveniles.

Habitat:

The Trinidad Chevron Tarantula is an arboreal species and it spends most of its time suspended on tree limbs and plants. They are not known for being on the ground and we would recommend an enclosure that has more height then it has length or width. Of course we would recommend it being at least between 12 to 16 inches in height. The floor of your enclosure should have some sort of coconut fiber with at least 2 to 3 inches of very damp substrate. Humidity is key as they require 80% or better humidity with a temperature of about 78 to 85 degrees. Beware of stagnant air as this can certainly end up killing your tarantula so be sure to keep the enclosure well ventilated. You should have enough bark or plants for it to climb and spin its web on. As always a fresh shallow water dish should always be overfilled with clean water. A great tip would be to perhaps glue the water dish to the bark on in the enclosure so that your tarantula does not have to climb down to drink.

Feeding:

The Trinidad Chevron tarantula is a decent eater, as most tarantulas all it really requires would be crickets, cockroaches, locusts or even fruit flies. It is highly unlikely that you can overfeed this species but only feed it once a week a couple of insects at a time.

Attitude:

These are fast and aggressive tarantulas and we do not recommend handling them. Though they can sit on their bark all day not moving they tend to be extremely fast. They do not have urticating hairs and rely in their bite and venom as a primary defense. There are even stories of these tarantulas attacking their own molt.  Caution should be applied when maintaining their enclosure.

This would be a great tarantula for the intermediate/expert hobbyist getting their first old world tarantula. They require rather low maintenance and do not cause much problems. However due to their temperament we do recommend not handling them.