Golden Orb-Weavers

[Ecstasy]

I'm not too big on spiders but I do find them fascinating and I want to keep one or two and I'm almost debating on keeping the Orb weavers, but I have some questions.


1.) Are they good climbers?
2.) Are they interesting to own, if anybody has owned them before?
3.) Any caresheets available for them?

I'm also open to other suggestions, but I want to keep something I can find, not interested in buying anything as I'm not going to get into the invert hobby heavily again for awhile.

 

[The Snark]

You are referring to the Nephila sp. I believe. I've heard of several sub species being called golden orb weavers.
Yes, they climb things like plants very well. They aren't too swift on open ground though as they are very adapted to using their comb feet for nearly all mobility.
Interesting to own. As in, watch them sit immobile in the center of their web for days at a time. Actually, watching them do web maintenance always has amazed me. Since they tend to be quite large you can get a very close up look at the architecture of the orb web as well as how she uses her legs and feet (combs).
I'm sure there is some care info about but they are difficult to keep in that they want a lot of room. Their webs can get up to 10 feet across.

 

[Ecstasy]

You are referring to the Nephila sp. I believe. I've heard of several sub species being called golden orb weavers.
Yes, they climb things like plants very well. They aren't too swift on open ground though as they are very adapted to using their comb feet for nearly all mobility.
Interesting to own. As in, watch them sit immobile in the center of their web for days at a time. Actually, watching them do web maintenance always has amazed me. Since they tend to be quite large you can get a very close up look at the architecture of the orb web as well as how she uses her legs and feet (combs).
I'm sure there is some care info about but they are difficult to keep in that they want a lot of room. Their webs can get up to 10 feet across.

Yea, I know that from experience. When we go 4-wheeler riding through the woods they always have huge webs with these spiders directly in the center. Usually I take my machete and do a circle to get some of the web and the spider then I set off against a different tree or something. I was just wondering if they were easy to keep.

So what would you recommend, I'll try to find out of they're native. I would keep a black widow but I know how fast they are and the last thing that I want is for a black widow to escape.

 

[terancheped42]

wolf spiders are cool and usually active, but if u want something that will make a web the orb weavers are pretty cool i've only kept the garden orb weavers so i don't know much about the other species. there are also jumping spiders which are my favorite

 

[Techuser]

For weavers there are Argiope species as an intermediate size
you can keep one in a frame about 40-50cm wide.