Grass spider enclosure

[Spiderguy47]

Is this a good grass spider setup?
She's a mature female.

 

[Ratmosphere]

I'd put some fake plants so she will have a place to build more webbing.

 

[chanda]

It looks fine. She might appreciate a few more twigs or plants or something to attach webs to, but she's going to pretty much fill the entire cage with webbing anyway. That's what mine did. I had one that a student brought me a few years ago in a small plastic cup with no plants, substrate, hide or decor of any sort - and she still built her funnel web just by attaching webbing directly to the walls. (She was not kept in there for long - we released that one at the end of the week.) My current gal is in a plastic kritter-keeper type enclosure with dried native plants as anchor points and a dirt/eco earth mix.)

Does that enclosure open from the top or from the front/side? She may web the opening shut, particularly if it opens on the front or side, because the majority of the webbing will be horizontally oriented. If so, that will mean destroying her web every time you open the enclosure to feed her. I've found that a small hatch in the top works best with these ladies. I can open it with minimal web damage to drop in a couple of crickets.

 

[Spiderguy47]

I've had her for 2 days but all she's done is leave a few strands of silk.

And yes the enclosure opens from the top.

 

[chanda]

I've had her for 2 days but all she's done is leave a few strands of silk.

And yes the enclosure opens from the top.

Give her time. If it really is a grass spider, they're heavy webbers.

I can't get a good look at her in your picture, but some wolf spiders can look similar to grass spiders. The main differences are that wolf spiders have larger eyes while grass spiders have long, obvious spinnerets. The spinnerets of a wolf spider are small and hard to see. Wolf spiders do not make much webbing.

 

[Spiderguy47]

 

[Ratmosphere]

Looks like a wolf spider, probably Rabidosa sp.

 

[chanda]

Yeah... with those big, beautiful eyes, it looks like you've got yourself a wolf spider - probably a Rabidosa species such as Rabidosa rabida or a close relative.

For comparison purposes - the eyes of a grass spider: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1004546/bgimage (see how they are all pretty close to the same size?) and those of a wolf spider: http://bugguide.net/node/view/220826/bgimage (two big ones right in front, with two slightly smaller ones set back and slightly to the side, and a row of tiny ones below the big ones)

See also the difference between the spinnerets - grass spider: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1232446/bgimage (very long) and those of a wolf spider: http://bugguide.net/node/view/212755/bgimage (you can't see 'em)

The cage will still work for a wolf spider, but don't expect much webbing. A few strands is about all you're going to get. Wolf spiders do prefer a bit more room to run around in, but can be kept in something that size. When I've kept them in smallish containers like that, they've actually worn a track in the substrate around the perimeter of the cage from circling it so much.

 

[Andee]

I agree, I have grass spiders right now and both mine have webbed almost the entire enclosure I have given both of them. Yours definitely looks larger and totally different in many ways. Wolf spider in my opinion. And I agree they are definitely wanderers. You may want to give it lots of things to do if you don't intend to move it into a larger enclosure. Even fake foliage and some extra stick would help. These guys from my experience are intelligent in many ways and just like exploring different things even though they are mostly terrestrial doesn't mean they don't climb on occasion.

 

[NolanRobertsIntrovert]

I had a grass spider eggsac from my female girl who sadly died from old age but her eggs have hatched sadly there no fruit flies but i throw in a prekilled cricket for them to swarm like hyenas and eat it