Kukulcania arizonica care

[Ratmosphere]

Is the care for Kukulcania arizonica similar to caring for Kukulcania hibernalis? I found someone selling this species.

 

[Ungoliant]

Is the care for Kukulcania arizonica similar to caring for Kukulcania hibernalis?

I would assume so. (They also look very similar.)

 

[pannaking22]

I keep mine pretty dry (water once a month or so) and feed infrequently. It has been obese and lived for 7 years in my care, only molting a couple times. If you want a low maintenance spider this is the one for you.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Awesome! Thanks guys.

 

[Ungoliant]

It has been obese and lived for 7 years in my care, only molting a couple times.

While I see plenty of skinny Kuks in the "wild," it doesn't seem to be possible to have a thin one in captivity. All of mine are fat no longer how infrequently I feed them.

 

[Ratmosphere]

True, my Kukulcania hibernalis is a fat one.

 

[schmiggle]

While I see plenty of skinny Kuks in the "wild," it doesn't seem to be possible to have a thin one in captivity. All of mine are fat no longer how infrequently I feed them.

I wonder if they usually go several months without food in the wild. How infrequently have you fed yours? (I'm sure they're healthy, I'm just curious)

 

[Ratmosphere]

I let mine go two weeks without feeding it. She's super fat though!

 

[Greenjewls]

When I see K. arizonica in the wild I notice a couple things... They are in the valley where it is often over 100f and they live in slightly insulated areas within shaded areas. The webbing extends from the spider about 4"-6" to the surface air. The webbing usually appears old, unkempt. Really it looks like some old abandoned webbing. The spider itself is sitting motionless at the back of the retreat. Keep in mind I'm only speaking of females. It is always the same scenario, the inactive spider is sitting at the back of it's old unkempt retreat doing nothing. I have never found one in the act of feeding or engaging in any type of activity. Most spiders spend much of their gut-load creating and repairing webbing, or running around hunting. My impression is that this is an inactive spider that spins minimal amounts of web and probably has a very low evaporation/dessication rate allowing such a low metabolic rate that it probably rarely feeds. Entertain the possibility that the webbing may be designed to capture some dew that the spider can use to rehydrate, in this case it may only be eating an actual prey item once or twice per year. It may also require some high temps to digest or increase it's metabolic rate/activity to some extent.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Wow that's some useful information! Do you think they'd require high temps in captivity?

 

[pannaking22]

Wow that's some useful information! Do you think they'd require high temps in captivity?

Mine has been fine at room temp or a little above since I got her. Anymore I feed her once every 4+ months.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Are you serious? That's the best pet ever hahaha.

 

[Ungoliant]

I wonder if they usually go several months without food in the wild. How infrequently have you fed yours? (I'm sure they're healthy, I'm just curious)

I have fed the adults as infrequently as a couple of times a year, and they are still fat.

Even the slings seem to be pretty hardy. Last summer, I found an orphaned Kuk sac on the floor of my porch. A parasitoid wasp (that specializes on Kukulcania hibernalis!) had killed their mother, and when a new Kuk took over that spot, she apparently cut the sac out of the web. I had not been planning to open the sac for a couple more weeks, but when I found it deflated on the floor, I opened it anyway. There was only one viable first instar sling in there -- the rest were eggs with legs that would likely not survive.

I decided to raise the sling, since I felt bad about opening the sac. However, the new setup I had tried was less than ideal, and I could not find the sling anywhere in there. Eventually, I assumed it had died or escaped, so I stopped trying to water or feed it. Many months later, I cleaned out the jar, and the sling is still alive! (I set her up in a new container where it would be easier to find her, and she is doing fine.)

The webbing usually appears old, unkempt. Really it looks like some old abandoned webbing. The spider itself is sitting motionless at the back of the retreat. Keep in mind I'm only speaking of females. It is always the same scenario, the inactive spider is sitting at the back of it's old unkempt retreat doing nothing. I have never found one in the act of feeding or engaging in any type of activity.

While I have seen our local Kukulcania hibernalis feeding and repairing/expanding their webs, they are mostly inactive as well. Their slow metabolisms and low activity level contribute to their long lifespan. (The females also continue to molt as adults. Mine molt about once a year.)

From observations in captivity, I can say that their webs are a work in progress -- slowly built over many months. They will continue to use, maintain, and expand the same web for years. They do perform maintenance like removing old prey items or egg sacs, although the web has an unkempt appearance due to the texture of the silk.

Their method of producing silk appears to be very labor-intensive, which is why they don't build webs quickly. The silk comes out in hundreds of fine strands, which they fray with a special comb on their hind legs. This makes their silk mechanically sticky (like Velcro) even though there is no glue. This type of webbing also seems to have a longer shelf life than webs that rely on glue to catch prey, which is why a Kuk can use the same web for years.

 

[Greenjewls]

Do you think they'd require high temps in captivity?

nah, i just think that keeping them at room temp probably slows the metabolism compared to being in the wild in the summer

Do you guys find it interesting that the female resembles a black widow and the male resembles a brown recluse?

 

[Ungoliant]

Do you guys find it interesting that the female resembles a black widow and the male resembles a brown recluse?

To me (who has spent a lot of time looking at spiders), they don't look all that much alike, but I can see how the average person who is not very familiar with spiders might make that mistake. (Male Kuks are frequently mistaken for brown recluses. I would say that half of the "is this a brown recluse?" questions I have answered on other sites have been male Kuks.)

 

[Ratmosphere]

I could see similarities. But like Ungoliant said, for people who know spiders there are big differences.

 

[RTTB]

I'm amazed at their longevity and toughness.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Right? It's like the perfect pet to own.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Sorry to gravedig, but I'm getting one of these soon and wondering how big of an enclosure I should use. Sounds like they probably don't need a ton of space; would an enclosure that's 7 x 4 x 4 inches be too big?

 

[Ungoliant]

Sorry to gravedig, but I'm getting one of these soon and wondering how big of an enclosure I should use. Sounds like they probably don't need a ton of space; would an enclosure that's 7 x 4 x 4 inches be too big?

They don't need a lot of space but will web extra space if you give it to them.