NOTES ON THE COMMUNAL REARING OF POECILOTHERIA REGALIS

Please take note that I do not recommend the communal keeping of Poecilotheria sp. (or any other species) of tarantulas, at least not for the moment. Those interested in pursuing this generally unexplored facet of tarantula husbandry should remember that cannibalism within such communal colonies will always be a possibility. This experiment is being conducted in hopes that any information gleaned from it may be of assistance to others looking to keep such spiders communally.

Given the overall success of my communal group of four Poecilotheria pederseni (see notes on that project HERE), I've set out to get another one started. This go around I've set my sight on something a bit larger in both scale and scope, raising the initial colony numbers from 5 specimens (in the case of the Poecilotheria pederseni group) to a full 15 . . .

05/13/2008

Arriving into my care at approximately 1pm CST today was a group of 15 young Poecilotheria regalis. An inspection of the package contents reveal all of the specimens to be in good health and disposition - all appear to be second instar, with overall lengths from just over .5" to just under .75". After inspected their general condition, all were introduced (one at a time) into their new home.

The starter enclosure of choice this go around is a small glass container roughly 4" inches on all sides and 6" tall. It is one of those decorative storage containers that may be found in the kitchen wares section of any major department store (I've been keen on them since raising a Sphodros sp. tube web spider in one some years ago). The container was filled just under half way to the top with moistened compressed coconut fiber - two pieces of bark have been added and placed along side one another to act as the enclosure's only hide. In keeping with my observations from the Poecilotheria pederseni group, the enclosure is small to help prevent territorial behaviours from developing in the spiderlings as they age.

The first feeding was commenced almost immediately after the spiderlings were introduced into the enclosure and consisted of just over 20 baby lobster roaches (Nauphoeta cinerea) ranging in size from approximately .16" to .33". The roaches were introduced in three groups - by the end of the introduction of the third group only a handful of the 15 spiderlings were seen to be not eating. Of the ones that were, several had become greedy and were clutching as many as 3 (!) baby roaches betwixt their chelicerae. Various struggles between predator and prey throughout the enclosure aroused the curiosities of other spiderlings, who feebly attempted to share meals with their comrades before setting off to find prey of their own.

Initial interactions between the specimens were skittish but not aggressive - specimens would touch one another and then rocket off in opposite directions. Over the past half hour to hour these interactions have lost much of the skittishness, with spiderlings giving each other standing room but certainly not being afraid of one another. It would seem that a certain group mentality is present in these communal species from a young age and remains, even if the spiderlings are seperated at birth. Whether or not the group mentality would still be present were, say, adults of the same species to be introduced is unknown to me, though my suspicions are that it would not. I would think it imperative to amass these sorts of groups at as young an age as possible so that behaviors are learned communally as opposed to individually.

My observations of this new group were interrupted by an evening work shift - just before leaving I introduced another small round of baby roaches (just under 10 I suspect). When I left all but two of the specimens were busy eating (there's little more impressive than seeing a container ful l of Poecilotheria sp. all doing the tarantula's traditional dinner time turn-a-bout). When I arrived home several were still feeding but the majority were still; the substrate around the bark hides was littered with tiny food boluses.

The spiderlings seem already to be adjusting to one another's company in positive ways - the vast majority of them (8 to 10 I suspect) were observed resting on the underside of the bark pieces with the rest visible within close proximity of the others. My expectations are that a communal tube web will be in the works shortly. The four Poecilotheria pederseni of my other setup have managed to impress on this front - one can only imagine what these 15 well-fed spiderlings will be able to accomplish.

While my intentions with the previous communal setup was simply to test the viability of Poecilotheria communality, this project has loftier goals. My prime interest, should the group succeed, is breeding within the communal setting. I am also highly interested in whether or not a clutch of spiderlings produced within the community would be viewed as amicably as the adults of the group view themselves. Both of these prospects are at least 18 months away from becoming prescient, but my curiosity is stoked just the same.

05/14/2008

This morning I awoke to find the group had constructed the bare beginnings of their tube web, with considerable webbing visible towards the bottom of the bark. Aside from two specimens who were seen eating towards one of the tank edges, all specimens are tucked away, unseen, in their bark hide. Amusingly enough, both specimens seen eating finished while I was watching, dropped their tiny food boluses, and leisurely strolled back into the hide.

As with my first communal Poecilotheria experiment, I am somewhat amazed here by just how short a time it has taken for the spiderlings to be come comfortable enough to cohabitate with one another. At this point no aggressive action has been witnessed (a few of the spiderlings did become mildly perturbed while feeding early on and bat their legs to keep the rest away) and the specimens seem, this morning, to be quite relaxed amongst the others of their kind. Just before leaving for work I can see a number of them wandering about the entrance of the hide and on the bark itself, some are just exploring, others are eating, and still more are busy adding their personal touches to the web.

When I arrived home after work (roughly 9pm CST) all but two of the spiderlings were visible either resting on the pieces of bar, the ground nearby, or on the glass walls of the enclosure. All were within the half of the enclosure occupied by the bark hide and none had ventured into the areas beyond it. While construction on the tube web retreat had seemed to have stopped, webbing was prominent on all sides of the bark (including the top).

Given how voraciously they had fed the previous evening, more roaches were introduced into the tank (again, ranging in size from approximately .16" to .33") - though all of the spiders appeared healthy, with many seeming positively rotund, the majority of them (12 counted) began to feed again with the same vigor seen the previous day. Most interesting to me was the group feeding behaviour observed: One spiderling captured a larger roach and the struggle quickly attracted several other spiderlings. Taking turns, the spiderlings played a sort of disturbing tug of war until the roach was divided into several gooey bits between four of them. I was a bit worried during the start of this event, but the spiderlings seemed to be taking care to ensure that others of their kind were not injured.

In a show of irony, a spiderling no more than an inch or two from the feeding frenzy described above managed to collect a full three roaches of various sizes for itself without drawing attention from others in the group. At present things have quieted down, with only routine individual feeding behaviour to be observed.

05/15/2008

In putting together such a comparitively arge group of spiderlings I have been given an opportunity to view more complex social behaviours that have, at least as of yet, not presented themselves in my group of 4 Poecilotheria pederseni. One such behaviour was noted today . . .

Given the size of this new communal group I've been quite careful to ensure the individual satisfaction of the spiderlings themselves by providing more food than I might otherwise (in the past three days no fewer than 60-70 roaches have given up their lives for the betterment of this group). Group feeding behaviour was first observed yesterday, as noted in my previous set of notes. At that time I was more or less in awe of the fact that it was taking place at all and may well have missed one of the most interesting aspects of it.

Several (I'd say no fewer than 5) spiderlings who, during the feeding, had not managed to catch their own prey presented a curious response - the appeared to believe they were entitled to their fair share of the captured prey. For example, on spiderling captured a hefty roach (roughly the full size of the body of the spiderling) and began to make away with it. One intrepid but less fortunate individual, having captured no food of its own, pursued the other for a considerable distance across the cage (the equivalent distance of, say, you chasing your pizza box toting friend down a half a city block) in hopes of splitting the spoils. The two spiderlings in question eventually came to terms and converged on the unlucky roach (pictured above - my apologies for the quality but a new digital camera is on the way!) and are at present (some 15 minutes thence) still huddled together over it.

I expect the eventual outcome of this to be a rather grotesquely dismembered roach split between the two spiderlings, as evidenced by the larger frenzies observed previously. At present, a third spiderling has joined in on the feast, which shows no sign of ending (pictured below).

The group, in general, seems to be becoming more aclimated to itself all the time - staying inside the ever-growing retreat during the day and venturing out en masse as evening draws close. They're quite a sight to see, even at their small size, as they line the top of the bark by tens. Considering how they've been feeding these past several days I expect the first round of molts to commence within the next one to one and a half weeks, if not sooner. If the stunning growth speed of the Poecilotheria pederseni group is any comparison, I should expect to have to rehouse these sometime towards the end of July.

06/01/2008

Sorry, no pictures for this update.

The entire group has been entering premolt over the past three weeks - feedings were gradually decreased over the course of that time to account for the lesser appetites of the spiderlings. Approximately one week ago food was beginning to be universally rejected, so I ceased introduction of prey items. Yesterday evening I witnessed the first molt and over the 12 hours since then two more spiderlings have molted in my presence.

The size difference is considerable between the newly molted and premolt specimens - a quick measuring shows the premolt specimens to be between 2cm and 2.2cm, while the freshly molted specimens measure between 3.5cm and 4cm (an increase in size of 75% to 100%). Though three, total, have been witnessed molting it is impossible for me to tell how many more may have already done so, as the spiderlings have taken over the entirity of the space beneath the bark pieces and webbed it quite profusely. The result is something akin to the final shot from KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS. Closer to the bark a more organized tube web has been constructed.

The group is almost always active, more so towards the evenings than the during the rest of the day (as should be expected for any nocturnal animals). They most often take to resting themselves along the top of the bark pieces, but can also regularly be seen scaling the nearest walls of the enclosure.

There have still be no signs of any aggressive tendencies among the members of the group - those who have been molting have been left well enough alone and the few larger specimens seem to have no quarrel with their smaller brethren. Based on my observations of the smaller group of Poecilotheria pederseni (all of whom are also now in molt or premolt), I expect the entire group of 15 to have molted out sometime within the next 3 to 4 days.

06/06/2008

It has now been 5 days since the molting began and, at present, there seem to be no smaller specimens left. It is difficult to be 100% positive on this, however, since only 8 have been visible outside the tube web over the past few days. I'm still quite amazed by the size difference between the L2 and L3 spiderlings - I can't recall if my large female, now nearly 10 years of age, grew so much in her first few molts or not.

I've begun the introduction of prey again, though in considerably smaller quantities. Two specimens have taken advantage of the feedings, but the others seem quite content to rest themselves in their thoroughly webbed hide. I expect to commence regular feedings again by the beginning to middle of next week, with the next molt cycle predicted to start sometime around the second week of July.

As has been the case throughout this project, no outright violence has been witnessed between the individuals in the group - though I did witness one of the newly molted spiderlings literally stealing a roach from the clutches of a sibling last night. The wronged spiderling seemed a bit distraught at first but promptly captured another roach for itself.

06/10/2008

I have seen no un-molted specimens since posting my last update and am content in saying that the group's first molt cycle has been completed. It is now 9 days since its start and all of the specimens seem sure enough of themselves to begin feeding, so regular feeding procedures (slightly altered from the earlier) have been adopted once again.

At present I am introducing 15 prey items - lobster roaches 1/2 inch in length and below - into the enclosure at intervals of 1 to 2 days. Feeding has been as voracious as when I first received the specimens and I'm excited to say that social feeding habits are still showing up in the group. The first roach captured during today's feeding created quite an uproar and led to the even pictured below - at various times anywhere from 3 to 5 specimens were busying themselves trying to secure a piece of it.

As has been the case with all of these feeding frenzies, the specimens seek out their individual feeding spots around the tank once the shared item has been divided.

In the days after the molting the hide was a mess of webbed molting mats - since then they have been fully incorporated into the overall layout of the hide and a bizarre system of translucent catwalks have been built throughout the underside of the bark. The specimens have been quite active since molting and 2 or 3 of them are almost always visible on the top-side of the bark, with multitudes more waiting just underneath it.

As has been the case since this group was started, no aggression among the specimens has been witnessed and, if the Poecilotheria pederseni are any indication, I doubt any aggression will be witnessed provided the present conditions within the enclosure are maintained. While only time will tell for sure, I see no reason, at present, why groups of socially inclined Poecilotheria sp. (pederseni, regalis, rufilata, and subfusca, along with a few others) cannot be kept in communities such as this. My groups have been going so well that I already have another in the works - this time with Poecilotheria rufilata. Expect notes on that setup to begin appearing within the next two weeks.

08/13/2008

Over two months have passed since last I updated this article - high time for that it is (I also plan to do my first write up for the group of 11 P. rufilata I've had for the past two months sometime today).

At present the spiderlings (or most of them) are beginning their third molt cycle under my care. Their new size is approximately 2.25" (some larger), leaving them 2 and a half to 3 times the size they were when I purchased them 3 months ago. Like the P. pederseni before them, their growth rate is quite astounding, and I expect them to be at or near sub-adult size (~4-4.5") by the end of January of next year. Feeding has been consistent, but has slowed over the past couple of weeks due to so many of the spiderlings entering premolt.

Roughly two weeks ago I decided to move the entire group from the increasingly cramped glass container into a larger one measuring 5" on all sides and 8" tall - this should suit them until they are in the 3-3.5" range (another month and a half to two months by my estimation). I assure my fellow hobbyists that they have not lived until they have had to relocate 15 stubbornly uncooperative Poecilotheria sp. - I can't wait to see how it goes when they're bigger!

The new setup is a rough duplicate of the one before, only twice the size - two inches of coconut fiber serves as substrate and a piece of cork bark (roughly 4" wide by 6" long) is leaning at a 45 degree angle to provide a hide. In the two weeks since they were moved the group has constructed a mass of webbing and substrate, criss-crossed with tunnels on all sides, that takes up over a third of the space in the tank - I, naturally, expect this to expand as the spiderlings' size increases.

Behaviour within the group is consistent with previous observations - spiderlings will coalesce in large numbers, often times completely covering the surface of the cork bark, share food, and assist one another in web construction. At molting time behaviours become a bit more solitary, with spiders sealing themselves in webby bubbles for the few hours it takes them to get through the full molting process. As has been the case throughout this project, no violence has been noted and there have been no casualties.

This is an on-going project and, as such, this article will be updated periodically to include new notes and observations.