THE SPINNERETTE
ISSUE 1
FEATURED: POECILOTHERIA METALLICA
PETKO: THE DARK DEN INTERVIEW
TOM MORAN’S P. METALLICA COMMUNE
BEHIND THE P. METALLICA’S BLUE HUE
+ MORE P. METALLICA OWNER INTERVIEWS, SPECIES INFO / CARE TIPS + MUCH MORE!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
06 16 20 24 32 40 45 48 54 60 88 90 92
PETKO: Inside The Dark Den
An interview with tarantula keeper and YouTuber The Dark Den
Poecilotheria Metallica: The Peacock Tarantula By tarantula keeper and writer Michael Fantus
Poecilotheria Metallica Care Tips The P. metallica tarantula, at a glance
Poecilotheria Metallica Interview
An interview with tarantula keeper Korey Fuller
Observations Of A Poecilotheria Metallica Commune
By Tom Moran of Tom’s Big Spiders - educator, YouTuber, and podcaster
Poecilotheria Metallica Sling Interview
An interview with tarantula keeper and YouTuber Francis Psydex Tustin
Poecilotheria Metallica Sling Interview
An interview with tarantula keeper and YouTuber Daniel Cousin
Featured Artist: Gray Ghost Creations
An interview with tarantula owner and artist Laura Airey Le
Blue Tarantulas: More Than Meets The Eye By tarantula keeper, writer, and YouTuber S. Perez
Tarantula Community + Submissions
A collection of photos, submissions, and stories from tarantula owners
Revisions: Recent Changes In The Hobby The latest in name changes and species discoveries
Upcoming Events
Upcoming tarantula conventions and expos around the world
Sources + References
A list of sources and references from articles in this issue
PETKO INSIDE THE DARK DEN Tell us about yourself! I’m Marko, but more known as Petko. I’m from a small town called Koprivnica in a small country called Croatia. Before I became a full time content creator on YouTube, I worked in a surveying office. I have too many hobbies to be active in all of them so I’m mostly focused on my passion for animals. How long have you been a tarantula keeper and how did you get into the hobby? What was your first tarantula? For a little bit over 4 years. I started with a tiny, now adult male G. rosea named Saša.
THE DARK DEN: MY MOST METAL TARANTULA 6
How many Ts do you have right now? What other pets do you have? Don’t know the exact number as it is changing all the time, but it is around 150 tarantulas of all sizes. Besides them, I keep bearded dragon, panther chameleon, tortoise, hamster, geckos, centipedes, scorpions and similar creepy crawlers. Have you ever bred or sold tarantulas? I did pair a few tarantulas, first was Anny, B. albopilosum. She unfortunately made a bad egg sac so eggs were mostly dried when I pulled them.
Photo credit: The Dark Den
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p.CARE metallica TIPS BASIC INFO Common name: Gooty Sapphire Ornamental, Metallic blue ornamental, Peacock tarantula
Scientific name: Poecilotheria metallica
Experience level: Advanced, not recommended for beginners
Type: Old World, Arboreal
Origin: South Eastern India
Growth rate: Known to grow slower than the others in the Poecilotheria genus.
Size: 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) is the fully grown leg span.
Life span: Females can live up to 12 years. Males typically live 3-4 years.
APPEARANCE Poecilotheria metallica tarantulas have a beautiful geometric body coloration, and are the only Poecilotheria (or Pokie) species that has blue hair. Interestingly enough, this blue hue comes through much more when a Poecilotheria metallica matures, as these tarantulas are much less chromatic when they are young (the blue usually starts showing around the size of 2 inches). Male Gooty Sapphire Ornamental tarantulas also tend to be more vibrant in color. BEHAVIOR Attitude: Gooty Sapphire Ornamental tarantulas are fast-moving, skittish, and photosensitive (they will run if light is shined upon them). They are generally reclusive and like to be left alone. Bite danger: The bite of a Poecilotheria metallica tarantula is said to be “medically significant” and quite painful. A bite can cause excruciating pain, nausea, and cramping. These symptoms can last for several weeks. While most bites from this species are “dry bites” (no venom), an adult tarantula of this species may have fangs 3/4″ in length and could cause significant damage. There has never been a recorded human death from its bite. 20
Defensive behavior: Poecilotheria metallica tarantulas are more likely to retreat to their den or flee than show a threat posture, however they can be quite fast and defensive. They have been known to bite if they feel threatened. Handling: It is not recommended that you hold a Gooty Sapphire Ornamental tarantula, especially not without knowing the risks and being familiar with fast-moving species. This is not a tarantula that is recommended for beginners.
Photo credit: Phil / Tarantulaforum.com
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KOREY FULLER, cont’d How many tarantulas do you have right now? What does your collection look like? At this moment I have 120 Ts with my max being 124 (I’ve sold a few). I have more slings and juveniles than adults, as I prefer to watch them grow than to purchase sexed adults and such. Do you have any other pets? I have 25+ mantids, 2 scorpions, 2 species of isopods, x5 bumblebee millipedes, 10 ant colonies, a few black widows, a tailless whip scorpion, and 1 giant centipede. Oh, and a dog. I think that’s it. Have you ever bred or sold tarantulas? I actually just bred my first tarantulas the last week of Dec 2018. Avicularia avicularia aka “Common Pinktoe”. I have also sold Ts as well. Did you get your P. metallica as a sling? How old is she and is she your first and only P. metallica? I got my P. metallica at around 1.75-2” dls (diagonal leg span). She was a small juvi when I got her and I’ve had her over a year now. I had another I got as a sling but ended up selling it to a friend as he didn’t have one. When did you start noticing her blue color coming through? Her blue color was pretty much there when I got her. The sling I had also had some blue but not as much nor as vibrant. It seemed more of a dark blue as a sling. Describe her enclosure. What does her diet normally consist of?
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OBSERVATIONS OF A POECILOTHERIA METALLICA COMMUNE
By Tom Moran, Tom’s Big Spiders
What could be better than keeping one of the world’s most beautiful tarantulas? How about keeping 10... together. Having experienced great success with my Monocentropus balfouri communal setup, I started giving thought to trying a communal with another species. After much research and deliberation, I settled on Poecilotheria metallica. In my research, I had read several accounts of sacmates being raised together successfully to adulthood, and the photos and videos of these communes were simply stunning. It is speculated by hobbyists that P. metallica communal behavior may be a natural response to massive habitat loss. The thought is that deforestation has led to loss of their territory, and the spiders have adapted to their shrinking range by crowding together in tree hollows and crooks of branches in order to ensure their survival. After all, cannibalism would only serve to further decimate their numbers, so this type of adaptation would be crucial to their wellbeing as a species. This type of behavior is not unprecedented, as other species of Poecilotheria have been observed in close proximity to each other in their natural habitats. 32
I currently have an adult female P. metallica that I raised from a 1” sling. This was one of my shier and slower-growing “pokies”, taking over four years to reach maturity. As a sling, she was a temperamental eater who would often refuse prey that she found to be too large... or sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. Several times she would stop eating, leading me to believe that she was in premolt, only to take a meal again after several weeks. Twice, her premolt period lasted several months, with her longest being around six. Despite her odd feeding proclivities, she blossomed into a beautiful blue female; it just took her a couple extra years when compared to other Poecilotheria species I keep. With this communal setup, I really wanted to observe if there would be any behavioral differences between the specimen I kept separately and specimens kept with sac mates. I was particularly interested in the feeding responses and growth rate; would they improve?
Photo credit: Tom Moran
In June of 2018, I received a wonderful box of spiders from Fear Not Tarantulas that contained 10 1” Poecilotheria metallica slings. This batch of spiderlings came from the same sac and had been living in a group, and were even shipped to me together in a 16-oz deli cup. This was ideal, as most successful communals started with slings that had never been separated.
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After much deliberation (and some cold sweats when thinking about the initial housing!) it was finally time to take the plunge and set up this commune of blue beauties.
The Setup For the initial enclosure, I used an 8” tall by 4” diameter clear plastic cylindrical container. This setup would allow the height needed for this arboreal species while also offering a 360 degree view of the spiders. I packed in about 3” of a moist coco fiber and vermiculite (80/20) mix, and added a piece of cork bark flat, leaned at an angle, for a hide. Finally, I included some New Zealand sphagnum moss behind and around the base of the cork bark for hiding spots and to be used if the spiders wanted to web up. All of the Poecilotheria slings I’ve raised started off by burrowing a bit and using the moss and
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FRANCIS PSYDEX TUSTIN, cont’d
are in danger, and due to their small size can be hard to find or easily injured if they do escape. To prevent this, my advice would be to always use a large container to rehouse in to create a barrier in the path of any potential escapee. It is also useful to always have a suitably sized catch cup on hand to quickly and easily contain the sling should it make a break for it. My YouTube channel is PsyDex’ Invert Kingdom, and I also have a podcast called Inverted Reality!
Photo credit: Jonathan Pearson / Tennessee Tarantulas
PSYDEX’ INVERT KINGDOM: A LOOK AT THE APHONOPELMA CHALCODES
Inverted Reality is a new Podcast based in the UK for all us invert lovers! If you love the creatures most people hate like true spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes and so on look no further! Each episode will have a theme, a topic or a guest relating to the crazy world of inverts and will be brought to you by ‘Psydex’ of the YouTube channel PsyDex’ Invert Kingdom, Lucy of the YouTube channel ‘Lucyslittlecritters’ and Scarlett aka YouTube’s ‘The Black Widow’. Check us out and stay tuned as we have some awesome guests and topics coming up for you. Available to listen, share and download at Spreaker.com, and we also have a Facebook group! 44
DANIEL COUSIN // YouTube channel Kuzzen Feral Ferret Tell us about yourself! My name is Daniel but I go by Kuzzen, I am Kuzzen Feral Ferret on YouTube, and I’m in my late 20s living in South East London. I have many hobbies including inverts, caps, shoes, video games, sports (Crystal Palace Football Club and Guildford Flames Ice hockey Club season ticket holder) and a few other hobbies. I am a big music fan focusing on metal, hardcore, rap and hip hop. I call myself a Juggalo, being a fan of the Insane Clown Posse, and I love visiting other countries as well. How long have you been a tarantula keeper and how did you get into the hobby? I’ve been keeping inverts for nearly five months and tarantulas for nearly four. My first was a K. brunnipes (RIP) and a Green Bottle Blue (still alive). How many Ts do you have now? I have 87! Have you ever bred or sold tarantulas? No, but may be looking into breeding in the new year. How old is your P. metallica sling? My sling is about one inch and has moulted once since I got it. Right now it is way too small to try and sex.
Photo credit: Korey Fuller 45
tarantula
COMMU In this section we highlight tarantula owners from around the world and share their experiences. To make a submission, email theavenmag@gmail.com! 60
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UNITY 61
REVISIONS RECENT CHANGES IN THE HOBBY Tapinauchenius and Psalmopoeus generas The genera of Tapinauchenius (Ausserer, 1871) as well as Psalmopoeus (Pocock, 1895) have never been reviewed or revised before, until now. Thanks to the advancements we’ve made in diagnosing tarantulas, we have more accuracy than ever before. You can read the entire report here, but below is a summary: The Changes Tapinauchenius sp Colombia (A new species from the Amazon region) is now Pseudoclamoris burgessi Tapinauchenius gigas is now Psuedoclamoris gigas
Species: Psuedoclamoris gigas (revised) Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons 88
Tapinauchenius elenae is now Psuedoclamoris elenae Tapinauchenius sp Union Island is now Tapinauchenius rasti Tapinauchenius sanctivicenti is now Tapinauchenius polybotes Tapinauchenius subcaeruleus is now nomen dubium (meaning there is not enough accurate data to precisely describe or confirm this species) In addition to all of this, the genera/Subfamily Psalmoponinae has been revised to include the following genus families; Ephebopus, Psalmopoeus, Psuedoclamoris and Tapinauchenius.
Species: Psuedoclamoris gigas (revised) Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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