Camel Spiders (Solifugae): Is It Worth It?

[Aviara]

I was at the St. Louis Reptile Show yesterday, and a few dealers were selling invertebrates along with the usual snakes, lizards, etc. One species really caught my eye: a camel spider (Solifugae). I was very interested, but remembered reading about how short their lifespans in captivity are. The dealer was asking around $55 for an adult, if I remember correctly, but this species is only known to live a year or less in captivity from what I've read.

My question is, in the future, would it be worth that price to own one of these animals? I mean, I am interested in them, but with that amount of money one could easily purchase a species of tarantula or scorpion that would far outlive a Solifugae. Many snakes, lizards, and even dart frogs could be purchased for $55 for less at the show, as captive-bred juveniles. I really regretted having to walk away from such a unique opportunity to own this species, but it seems way too much money for such a short-lived species. What would you pay for a camel spider?

 

[Philth]

I wouldn't pay $55 for one. I've never had one live more then a couple of weeks. Some things are just better left in the wild.

Later, Tom

 

[le-thomas]

It's only as "worth it" as your perceive it to be.
To answer your question, someone would pay that much for it because it looks really cool and they know nothing about it. This is a very likely situation at an expo.

 

[desertanimal]

Well, I don't know where you are in TX, but this time of year they are pretty easy to find in central to southern AZ, and you don't need a hunting license for inverts in AZ. If I were you and I were interested, I'd rather plan a herping/bugging road trip and see if I could find a smaller one to collect and attempt to keep alive than pay $55 for one at a herp show. It might end up costing you more than $55 (with gas and camping) but it'd be a lot more fun to spend that money that way, IMO.

 

[jarmst4]

Sounds pretty high. I see them all the time here in tx. Never got one to live more than a few weeks.

 

[le-thomas]

Sounds pretty high. I see them all the time here in tx. Never got one to live more than a few weeks.

This seems to be the typical experience with these guys, unfortunately, though there is a sticky in the other insects section outlining care techniques and living conditions that gave longer lifespans.

 

[Aviara]

I'm currently in Missouri for the summer, but I'm in Texas most of the year. Certainly, I'd give keeping one a try if I found one, I'm not sure I'm interested enough to go looking but they are cool inverts. I was just stunned by the price for it, when it was most likely wild-caught, and most likely will have a very short lifespan as a pet. I don't have a problem with paying a high price for a rare species that is worth it, but if I do so I would want it to last a long time in my collection.

 

[taraction]

don't mean to hijack this thread, but my local pet store just imported a massive 5" gravid female, either a g. granti or a g. arabs. i want to pick her up, but only if i can keep the hatchlings alive. does anyone have any tips on egg sacs and hatchling care? thanks guys!

 

[Thistles]

I caught one here in central Oregon and kept it alive for several months. I fed it well for the first few weeks and its health seemed to decline. When I stopped feeding it so heavily it perked up and lasted much longer than I expected.

 

[Aviara]

Funny, I was looking through photographs from the Spring, and when I was out at the barn where I board my horse, my fiance and I had found this weird arachnid. Looking back at the photographs, it's extremely obvious that it is a camel spider, but I had no idea back then! I'll keep my eye out for some more when I get back to Texas. Sometimes there are explosions of a large species of velvet mite too - TX is a pretty cool place for invertebrates!

Here's a photo of the Solifugae we saw:

 

[Risky]

I caught one here in central Oregon and kept it alive for several months. I fed it well for the first few weeks and its health seemed to decline. When I stopped feeding it so heavily it perked up and lasted much longer than I expected.

Whereabouts in Central OR Are we talking like Bend area?

 

[Thistles]

Whereabouts in Central OR Are we talking like Bend area?

Yessir, in Bend. It was in the break room at work of all places.

 

[arachnidsrva]

i want to get another one the same size as monicas and let them pinch my earlobes and wear them out like cool earrings

i wonder if they attack their own reflection - although they seem pretty much blind, i will probably test this theory with a mirror before it dies
next month


On a serious note - if you wanna try to keep one - they need good humidity and they need multiple hides and objects

otherwise they will sort of wander themselves to death - also keeping them in darker environments will extend their life

 

[Thistles]

I caught another one at work today. It was running down the aisles! It was also much bigger than the one I caught before. The last one was around 1" but this was maybe an inch and a half.

 

[Metasolpuga]

I have a gravid Eremobatid found right in front of my house in the California Central Valley. Keeping her terrarium dark and not disturbing her during the day seem to be the best thing, she is active at night and wanders around in her enclosure in the same way as I found her. I read that though they are known to be 'voracious eaters' they do well feeding about once a week. Food may be hard to come by in the wild, and what does come around may be missed. Overall they are difficult to care for, but I think they need a lot of peace and quiet.

The large Galeodids and other Old world solfugids seem to be short lived, but no one really knows. Another person on this site posted their observation of a G. granti that had overwintered and is doing quite well. They all seem to be very sensitive animals and are best left undisturbed unless absolutely necessary. At the Great Valley Serpentarium in Lodi, CA there have been two gravid G. granti that were brought in from Egypt, one had survived and was sold for only $25.

 

[Metasolpuga]

I have a gravid Eremobatid found right in front of my house in the California Central Valley. Keeping her terrarium dark and not disturbing her during the day seem to be the best thing, she is active at night and wanders around in her enclosure in the same way as I found her. I read that though they are known to be 'voracious eaters' they do well feeding about once a week. Food may be hard to come by in the wild, and what does come around may be missed. Overall they are difficult to care for, but I think they need a lot of peace and quiet.

The large Galeodids and other Old world solfugids seem to be short lived, but no one really knows. Another person on this site posted their observation of a G. granti that had overwintered and is doing quite well. They all seem to be very sensitive animals and are best left undisturbed unless absolutely necessary. At the Great Valley Serpentarium in Lodi, CA there have been two gravid G. granti that were brought in from Egypt, one had survived and was sold for only $25.