Fringed Ornamental Tarantula (Poecilotheria ornata) Care Sheet

Scientific Name: Poecilotheria ornata

Common Name: Fringed Ornamental, Yellow Legged Ornamental, The Ornate Parachute Spider and the Ornate Tiger Spider

Type: Arboreal

Category: Old World

Endemic Location: Sri Lanka

Body Length: 3” (8cm)

Diagonal Leg Span (DLS): 9.8” (25cm)

Urticating Hairs: No

Growth Rate: Fast

Life Expectancy: Females 12 years / Males 3 years

Recommended Experience Level: Expert

Poecilotheria ornata, which is also known as the Fringed Ornamental Tarantula, has many other common names in the hobby like the Yellow Legged Ornamental, The Ornate Parachute Spider and the Ornate Tiger Spider This species is a large arboreal, Old World tarantula that is endemic to the forests of Sri Lanka living in the holes of trees or behind pieces of loose bark. This T is unique as it exhibits a rare behavior in the wild where it has been studied living communally and sharing its hide with small frogs called Ramanella nagaoi. This is a mutually beneficial living arrangement as the P. ornata protects the tiny frog from would be predators and the the microhylid frog protects the tarantulas eggs from tiny invertebrates that would become parasitic to the Ts eggs. 

  The genus name Poecilotheria comes from the Greek root work “poikilos” which means spotted and “therios” which means wild beast. And this genus, especially this species, lives up to its name sake. P. ornata is one of the largest T’s in the genus with the P. rufiliata being the only larger specimen. Females of this species can live up to about 12 years reaching a leg span of nearly 10” which would be a formidably sized spider to walk up on in the wild. This species is sexually dimorphic and one of the easiest to determine sex visually. At a size of 2.5-3”, this species can be accurately sexed dorsally, just look at the pattern on the carapace to determine if your tarantula is male or female.

  Being an Old World tarantula, this species does not have urticating hairs, but it makes up for not having this line of defense with lightning fast movement and powerful venom. While there has never been a human death recorded that came from a tarantula bite, this species does have medically significant venom. Symptoms include intense pain, muscle cramps, nausea and dizziness. These symptoms have been reported to last not just hours or days, but victims claim to feel the side effects of the bite weeks and months later in the form of stiff joints, sore muscles, and other issues. There is a higher amount of reported bites from the species than other Poecilotheria species which suggests that they may be a little more prone to bite as an act of defense. That being said, this species, like most tarantulas, will prefer to take flight over turning around and delivering a bite. In my experience, they will also throw up an intimidating threat pose before slapping or attempting to bite, but that should not be relied upon as  a natural progression of aggression. If you provide you T with ample places to retreat in to, and tap the glass or jiggle the door a little before opening the enclosure, they will almost always dive into their hide where they feel safe. I always use tongs when dropping prey into this species enclosure or when removing uneaten prey or the water dish. Even when it is in hiding, I avoid putting my hand in its enclosure to avoid any opportunity for it to try and bite. It is important to note again that a bite is a defensive response, not an aggressive one. If you do not irritate the T, show it respect, and are mindful during your interactions with it, you will most likely never have any issues. The most dangerous time interacting with this species would be while rehousing the tarantula. There are many methods of safely transporting your T from its old home into a new one that greatly reduce the risk of being exposed to the tarantulas fangs. I will leave links down below in the description for some great methods already posted by other YouTube channels. 

  The husbandry for this species is pretty simple. Though this T is from the hot and humid environment of Sri Lakan forests that experience precipitation nearly year round, I do not find the need to keep their enclosures overly moist. This would be a great genus to put into a bio active enclosure if that is something you have interest in. They could definitely thrive in the humid and warm environment a bio active enclosure provides. But if that is not the type of enclosure you are looking to set up, this is how I keep mine.  I keep my spiderlings in small arboreal enclosure made of acrylic with plenty of cross ventilation. I give them about an inch or a little more than the length of their body in substrate. As tiny slings, I keep the substrate moist, but not swampy. I also provide sphagnum moss which not only helps keep the humidity up, but they use it along with the substrate to create dirt curtains as they web up their hide. I buy in a sliver of cork bark or a branch I rest vertically in the enclosure and provide a small water dish I keep full of clean water. For juveniles I move them in the arboreal AMAC box enclosures with good ventilation and provide and inch or 2 of substrate, sphagnum moss, water dish, and vertical cork bark. As this species outgrows its juvenile enclosure, i sometimes move them into a larger enclosure that is in between the size of their last enclosure and their permanent  adult enclosure. This isn’t necessary and I know many people that will just move them right into the adult enclosure to avoid any extra rehousing. I use a 2.5 gallon enclosure that i stand on its end and make a front with door out of acrylic sheets. I keep the T in t his enclosure until it is about 5” then move it into its adult enclosure. For the adult enclosure I use an exo terra tall 12x12x18” arboreal enclosure but it will even thrive in a 18x18x24” enclosure, or i retrofit a 10 gallon aquarium in much the same way I did the 2.5 gallon aquarium. If you use an exo terra, zilla, or zoo med arboreal enclosure..it is very important that you remove the screen top and replace it with a sheet of acrylic with air holes drilled into it firmly glues or siliconed into place. Of all my T’s, the Poecilotheria….especially the ornata….tend to be prone to try and chew through the screen to escape. My ornata has even taken to chewing up the Styrofoam backing looking for an escape route. I provide them with a large water dish with plenty of surface area (which helps keep humidity up) that i keep full of clean water in case they want a drink. And i will use cork bark leaned up against the enclosure from tip to bottom or provide a cork bark tube for them to hide in. 

  As far as feeding. I give my slings a small cricket once or twice a week and will prekill the cricket and drop it on their webbing if they are very small slings. I wait 4-5 days after a molt before attempting to feed a sling again and always promptly remove the prey if they appear uninterested at eating at that time and then i try again a few days later. I feed my juveniles one or two medium crickets every week, no larger than ⅔ the size of the Ts body and wait about 5-7 days after a molt before attempting to feed them again. And for adults, I feed my big lady 6-10 large crickets or 2-3 dubia roaches every 10-15 days. And maybe once a year a few weeks after a molt, I will feed her an anole or other small feeder reptile from the local pet store. But that isn’t something I would recommend doing very often nor is it absolutely necessary. 

 This is a fast growing, large, and insanely gorgeous species of Poeilotheria. It is my favorite species of the genus with the P. metallica being a very close second. It is one of my favorite tarantulas to watch and I could spend hours just watching it crawl around its enclosure. This T is photosensitive, so it can be difficult to get great video or photos of it as it will usually run and hide anytime it is exposed to bright lights. This is a “look but don’t touch” tarantula in my book. I enjoy watching it, but I respect its space and I never attempt to handle this species, or any Ts from this genus really. One bite from this T could lead to a night in the hospital, so the risk of holding this T is not worth the photo I could post to instagram with this lady crawling up my arm...in my opinion at least. This is a must have T for anyone that is as enamored by pokies as I am. Even thought it isn’t a friendly T, it is gorgeous with its greenish and purple hues to its carapace and its reddish setae and remarkable patterns. This isn’t a species I would recommend to beginner keepers, but once you have enough experience to where you can comfortably rehouse New World arboreals that are quick, like Psalmopeous irminia, without any issues or having a heart attack, I would suggest looking into this species as an amazing OW arboreal to add to your collection.