Gooty Sapphire Tarantula – Poecilotheria metallica

The Gooty Sapphire Tarantula is a beautiful tarantula that is native to India. A metallic blue tarantula has several common names. It’s also known as the peacock parachute spider. A species that is critically endangered so it is illegal to remove it from the wild. This type of tarantula is famous for its dramatic colors, including bright yellow and blue. Getty Tarantulas are famous for their exotic coloring. The effects of different levels of dietary copper on reproductive performance and some biochemical parameters in the male and female spiders. It’s true, their main body color isn’t because of the color blue, but instead, it’s because of a special type of hair that protects them from outside factors.

Lamellated means ‘scaly’. Those hairs have a scaly appearance that disrupts how light is reflected from their surface so that blue wavelengths dominate.

This isn’t true at all, the hairs themselves are not blue at all. Blue sapphires tend to be more saturated in the color blue than yellow, so if the light is hitting a blue sapphire’s surface at a shallow angle the sapphire’s intense blue color will appear to be more muted. You can also read about another species Indian Ornamental Tarantula.

Taxonomy of Gooty Sapphire Tarantula

The gooty sapphire tarantula belongs to the family Theraphosidae. The black widow spider is a type of tarantula and there are more than a thousand different species of spiders in the world. The order is called Mygalomorphae. While the other types of spiders are often referred to as “false tarantulas”, in the Mygalomorphae order they are referred to as true tarantulas.

The Gooty Sapphire Tarantula belongs to the genus Poecilotheria. These spiders are the only tarantula species native to Sri Lanka, which is one of the world’s most popular destinations for visitors from around the globe. The scientific name for the Gooty Sapphire Tarantula is Poecilotheria Metallica.

Natural Habitat

The Gooty Sapphire Tarantula is native to a single forest reserve with a total area of less than 100 square kilometers. The blue-spotted boa constrictor is a species of venomous spider that is critically endangered because of habitat destruction. They live in an Andhra Pradesh forest in South-East India. There have been efforts made to try and find this tarantula in nearby forests but none have been found.

Scientific Name	Poecilotheria metallica
Kingdom	Animalia Phylum
Arthropoda Class	Arachnida
Order	Araneae
FAmily	Theraphosidae
Genus	Poecilotheria
Species	P. metallica

The Gooty Sapphire Tarantula, or rather the Gooty Sapphire, has been known for more than a century, but it’s only in the past few years that it’s been found in its natural habitat. This tarantula is known for a nasty sting, but it can be handled if it is treated right after it stings. It is believed that the tarantula was transported to Gooty on a train.

Size and Life Span

The average body length of a female Gooty is about 6 cm with a leg span of 22. The female will mature to a length of 6 inches while the male is significantly smaller. On average, males reach up to 7 inches in body length and have slightly longer thinner legs than females. These are larger than the average tarantula spider but smaller than most species.

Female and male tarantulas are both equally lethal, but one species lives to be about a year old while the other lives only 2 months. Males usually die not long after reaching maturity – around three or four years old. Males also can live for 12 to 15 years. Sexing males usually occurs in the fall, when they shed their exoskeleton.

Housing and Enclosure

To keep a Gooty Sapphire Tarantula alive in captivity, you’ll need a fairly well-lit area. If you keep the right things around your spider enclosure, you don’t have to buy a special spider enclosure. Spiders are arboreal animals so you need to make sure their enclosure has lots of height. Spiders are much easier to care for if you aim for enclosures that are about three times the height of the spider’s leg span. A few pieces of cork bark may be placed in the walls to absorb sound. These make a nice place for your spiders to set up a web and hang out. A large, shallow bowl on the floor of the enclosure will provide the tarantula with a lot of space for digging. This should help keep humidity levels up.

 A substrate that holds moisture well should also be used while a layer of sphagnum moss will also help. Ventilation is important in their setup, and you should keep that in mind. A Tarantula needs to have good ventilation since stagnant air is not good for them. Holes on the side of the enclosure will let air flow through them, helping keep the heat down and keeping the temperature moderate. Once the spider grows, you’ll have to relocate it into a larger enclosure. An adult Gooty Sapphire Tarantula can be kept in a 12” x 12” x 18″ tall. Read about old world tarantulas to discover more about their fascinating and unique habitats.

Feeding

You should feed a young spiderling Gooty Sapphire Tarantula one or two prey items once a week depending on the size of the meal. Food that isn’t eaten should be removed from the refrigerator within 24 hours. Spiderlings can be fed very small cricket or flightless fruit fly.

Prey species can vary in size. Prey species that are too large should be prekilled before placing them in the spider’s enclosure. Once a week you should feed these juvenile poikilothermia crickets.

How big is your spider and how big are the meals? This will depend on the size of your spider and the size of the meal. A large juvenile might eat 4-5 crickets while a smaller one might eat 2 medium crickets. Again, it is important to remove uneaten food within 24 hours.

A large adult Gooty Sapphire Tarantula can be fed a couple of large crickets every 7-10 days. They can live in homes that are up to 30 feet wide and 15-20 feet tall. You should supplement your tarantula’s diet with other prey items, including locusts dubias roaches, mealworms, super worms, and the occasional pinkie mouse.

Temperature and Humidity in Enclosure

You can keep your Gooty Tarantula at room temperature. If the temperature is comfortable for you, it’s comfortable for them. In a very cold climate, you may need to add some supplemental heat during the winter.

You typically want to keep them between a temperature range of 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit. Whether you need to add heat to your enclosure, an under-tank heat mat is your best option. This should be connected to a good-quality thermostat to make sure the temperature in the cage is just right. Tarantulas are not harmed by ultraviolet light. They simply use their camouflage to blend in with their surroundings, and a tarantula needs. All that’s needed are sufficient daylight hours and a well-designed environment.

You should use a substrate that holds humidity well, without molding. If you don’t use good quality substrate, mold may appear. Most tarantula keepers use a substrate such as a coco fiber or peat soil, which have these properties, but other substrates will also work. To help the soil hold water better, you should add sphagnum moss to it. The layer of sphagnum moss will also help increase humidity. Poecilotheriids don’t usually need to be provided with lots of substrates because they tend to burrow more than adults. They are a tree-dwelling species and so they are not only arboreal but also burrowing. It is necessary to take this into account when installing.

Cleaning

You might need to clean your ornamental enclosure only if you have a lot of insects living in it. This species is known for putting its food bolus in the same place. With regular cleaning, the enclosure will be a bit cleaner than before. Cleaning your tank will be much easier when you do it only once a month on average. Remove the substrate, then top it off. It’s a good idea to remove leftover live insects after feeding.

Are gooty sapphire tarantulas poisonous?

These Tarantulas are not only venomous, but they also have a strong bite. They’re aggressive and will strike if you try to get too close. In the animal kingdom, venomous animals use their bite to deliver toxins, while poisonous animals are toxic when they are eaten. Yes, they are very venomous indeed, and you should wear gloves when handling them.

Unlike Tarantulas, gooties rely solely on their venom as their defense mechanism, and they do not flick irritating hairs from their abdomen to repel threats. To be more effective, spider-venom research has been undertaken. They’ve discovered that their bites are so painful that they were never considered to be among the most dangerous of spiders. But, some members of the spider community have recently reported ‘hot bites’ from P. Metallica. That is long-lasting and severe damage to the skin.

Reproduction and Breeding

In many species of tarantulas, males and females of sexual maturity can be kept together in the same tank for brief periods so they can mate. Both males and females should be separated as soon as they have had success, which generally means that the male has started to successfully insert into the female. Spiders that are not well-fed or receptive will not usually separate themselves after being given an opportunity.

Gooty Sapphire Tarantula Handling

The Gooty Sapphire is a beautiful-looking tarantula. It’s best kept as a display animal than as a species you can take out and handle regularly. These tarantulas are a little nervous and will shy away from anything that scares them. But if they are backed into a corner, they will attack. Spider-handling is very stressful for these spiders. There are many spider species in the world. Some of them are harmless and others have very dangerous bites. There’s conflicting information about whether a bite can be medically significant. A Gooty Sapphire is not dangerous to humans. However, it’s extremely painful, and its bite can cause swelling, muscle cramps, nausea, and headaches.

How Much Does Gooty Sapphire Tarantulas Cost?

At the time of writing, an inch spiderling (also known as a sling) sells for between $100 to $200 in the US. At this size, they can be sent through the U.S. Postal Service. It’s a great idea to buy from a reputable, recommended breeder, or someone you meet at a hobbyist’s convention. An established breeder will be most concerned with who he is selling the spiders to. Older spiders are worth more and mature females are particularly desirable.

Are gooty sapphire tarantulas aggressive?

Gooties are shy and nervous, but they are not aggressive. They tend to adopt a characteristic posture, in which their four frontmost legs point directly forward, and their four backmost legs point directly backward. A narrow, flat line, which they use to hide in cracks. The spotted hyena’s first thought when frightened is to run away quickly. They’re also one of the most agile tarantulas in the world, making them the top runner of all the animals. Nocturnal animals are active only at night, and their diet consists mostly of fruit. If you see a group of monkeys, it is safe to assume that the monkeys are asleep. They do not harm humans, although they will attack unprovoked domestic pets.

Common health problems

Tarantulas can have problems caused by mites, and just as for spiders, there is a way to control the number of mites in your pet. A bite from a brown recluse spider is most often not fatal. This is when the substrate is not cleaned properly or mites are present on other insects that are fed to your spider. Be sure to get crickets or cockroaches from a reputable dealer and don’t buy imported insects either.

Molting is a part of your spider’s life where it grows larger. The exoskeleton will keep them from eating, so they need to starve themselves to exit it. During this time of year, you’ll probably see them being sluggish, but it’s not anything serious and it’ll pass. There are even times when you will see that they have flopped over and look like they are dead. Don’t even think about flipping them. It’s much better to allow them to continue the process of molting. What you can do to assist their escape is to raise the room humidity levels. Once they’re fully developed, the chicks are defenseless and need to let their newly emerged exoskeleton become hardened. You can read about old world tarantula here.