Huntsman Spiders Worth It?

[ECH]

I might be interested in obtaining a huntsman spider but I wanna hear what people have to say about them first.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Absolutely go for it. I love my two little Holconia insignis, I honestly wish I bought more when I had the chance, they definitely make it to my favorite inverts list. With that in mind, all of my recommendation comes from sling/juvenile stages, as I have not yet experienced the adults. Ferocious eaters, very very fast growth, and easy keeping conditions. The only thing to be aware of is that they are FAST, and I mean FAST. Faster than any tarantula, Tapinauchenius included, and faster than any other true spider I've kept. Make the wrong move and they are GONE. If you're careful and prepared however, some of the most enjoyable spiders IMO.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Holconia insignis sling

• Sarkhan42
• Feb 19, 2018
• 2

So happy to finally have some of these guys, love them already.

 

[Sarkhan42]

 

[Chris LXXIX]

They look lovely

 

[shutout2000]

Huntsman, wolfspiders, I love them all.

 

[The Snark]

The only thing to be aware of is that they are FAST,

They are fun animals to keep. BUT, you have to have a reasonable environment for them. That is, WHEN they escape there are no hazards like cats or idiot people about. And you are comfortable taking your entire house apart now and then rounding the escapee up. Catch cup adeptness and the speed of a warmed up rattlesnake is a definite plus. Unless you live a charmed life, you will mash a leg or two catching them. If young it will be back with the next molt. They also are unhindered in the speed of light thing by the loss of a leg or two.

Otherwise, they are harmless and their antics as they zoom around your house are better than prime time boob tube. The only environment required for most is a vertical surface for them to lurk on. They also usually hunt at night so expect a lot of people to ask if it's dead as it just sits there on a wall of plywood in it's jail cell. Just tell them no, it's only planning it's next escape.

 

[checkmate]

I recommend them but like others have said, they are VERY FAST. My Viridasius sp. is the only one faster it seems (another true I recommend). I keep Barylestis, Olios, Heteropoda, and Holconia and they're all pretty easy. I keep slings in dram vials and upgrade accordingly. Keep a catch cup handy (mine is a larger size to make up for my slower reflexes).
I think Fear Not is selling lunula slings now but I've never purchased from them.

 

[The Snark]

I saw a juvenile Venatoria enter the closet about the first of January. Just ignored it. Let it fend for itself. About 3 days ago the closet doors were open and out it strolled, stopped and looked around. As if "That was a nice nap. Anything around here to eat?"
Cat's locked up I escorted it out onto the porch with a broom and waved goodbye.

 

[chanda]

Everyone mentioning how fast these things can be is not exaggerating! My only spider escape - in all my years of keeping spiders - was a huntsman (Heteropoda venatoria). Let me just say, they don't run - they teleport. I was trying to rehouse her and she bolted on me. The big Rubbermaid tub I use as a rehousing container didn't even slow her down. I saw which way she went, but when I tore apart that entire half of the room, she was nowhere to be found. (She later turned up - unharmed - on the underside of a table on the opposite side of the room and was successfully recaptured.)

They're beautiful spiders, but can be a bit pet-hole-ish. Mine are usually hiding inside their cork tubes or on the back sides of the cork slabs, so I don't get to see them very often, except late at night. As much as I like them, I probably won't get another one - at least not right away. They've been a bit of a disappointment when it comes to bringing them in to the classroom to show the kids. "Ok, so you see that hunk of wood in there? Well, there's a really cool spider scrunched up inside that - but you'll just have to take my word for it, because you probably won't actually get to see her." If I'm going to bring in unseen "take-my-word-for-it" spiders, I may as well invent something really cool!

 

[The Snark]

The big Rubbermaid tub I use as a rehousing container didn't even slow her down.

And they can run on water. They live in the drains around here*. Open up the right drain and off the wall where it was lurking and zooms right over puddles.

* I wonder if that was what Jaeger was thinking of when he referred to Venatoria as 'the sewer rat of spiders'?
(Actually they are very similar to rats. Survivalists found the world over that pretty much don't care what the environment is as long as there's a meal on the horizon.)

 

[Jimmy Jamblez]

Go for it bro and post lots of pics for us too. They're stunning looking spiders. I would love to have one but they're like speedy gonzales and way too fast for me to catch.

 

[Dave Jay]

I like the badge huntsman we get here , little orange guys , but they really take a long time to relax .They're fast though, people were warning about Australian tarantulas being fast , not compared to huntsman they're not.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Absolutely worth it, i love all my huntsmans and there's so much variety of size and colour in them

 

[Dennis Nedry]

They're beautiful spiders, but can be a bit pet-hole-ish. Mine are usually hiding inside their cork tubes or on the back sides of the cork slabs, so I don't get to see them very often, except late at night. As much as I like them, I probably won't get another one - at least not right away. They've been a bit of a disappointment when it comes to bringing them in to the classroom to show the kids. "Ok, so you see that hunk of wood in there? Well, there's a really cool spider scrunched up inside that - but you'll just have to take my word for it, because you probably won't actually get to see her." If I'm going to bring in unseen "take-my-word-for-it" spiders, I may as well invent something really cool!

Get one of the bigger huntsmen and keep it in a bare temporary enclosure with only an angled piece of flat bark and substrate, it works for showing them off. Beregama sp are always the show stoppers in younger classrooms

 

[The Snark]

Absolutely worth it, i love all my huntsmans and there's so much variety of size and colour in them

 

[chanda]

Get one of the bigger huntsmen and keep it in a bare temporary enclosure with only an angled piece of flat bark and substrate, it works for showing them off. Beregama sp are always the show stoppers in younger classrooms

I've never seen Beregama sp. offered here in the U.S. So far, I've purchased a Neosparassus sp., Heteropoda davidbowie, and Heteropoda venatoria. Olios sp. are supposed to live out here in Southern California, but I have yet to find one while out hiking.

While the bare minimum enclosure does keep the spiders more visible, my experience so far is that they die a lot sooner that way. My current H. venatoria has a few more options for hiding - and is doing well so far, even if I don't see her very often. Of course, since all of my huntsmen so far have been obtained as adults - and may have been wild caught as well - it's hard to say how old they were when I got them, so that could just have been coincidence. On the other hand, it is definitely true of some of my local scorpion species that they do MUCH better (and live much longer) in captivity if given adequate sand for burrowing and plenty of cover, even if it does mean that I rarely see them.

 

[Veles]

I only ever kept micrommata virescens, but they were pretty fun to observe.

 

[basin79]

Huntsmans are phenomenal. But bloody hell they're fast.

I used to own an absolutely stunning Heteropoda lunula. Unbelievably beautiful.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

I've never seen Beregama sp. offered here in the U.S. So far, I've purchased a Neosparassus sp., Heteropoda davidbowie, and Heteropoda venatoria. Olios sp. are supposed to live out here in Southern California, but I have yet to find one while out hiking.

While the bare minimum enclosure does keep the spiders more visible, my experience so far is that they die a lot sooner that way. My current H. venatoria has a few more options for hiding - and is doing well so far, even if I don't see her very often. Of course, since all of my huntsmen so far have been obtained as adults - and may have been wild caught as well - it's hard to say how old they were when I got them, so that could just have been coincidence. On the other hand, it is definitely true of some of my local scorpion species that they do MUCH better (and live much longer) in captivity if given adequate sand for burrowing and plenty of cover, even if it does mean that I rarely see them.

I don't mean keep them in a bare minimum enclosure, but if you want to show them to a classroom move the spider into a bare minimum enclosure and the kids will be able to see it easier. I always keep my spiders in an enclosure with as many options for hiding as possible, usually putting the whole enclosure in a dark closet is enough to bring the spider out of its hiding place