Suggestions for caring for huntsmans.

[Rebecca74]

I'm looking to keep an Australian huntsman as a pet and need some advice as to the best set ups.

I'm in country Victoria and there are a lot of holconia insignis and holconia immanis in this area. So that will likely be what I keep. A badge huntsman may be another option.

I've never kept a spider as a pet before. I'm not interested in handling them. I'm interested in homing them, caring for them, and observing their behaviour and life cycle and photographing them. I have a few questions.

What shape and size terrarium would be the best?
What do I feed them and how often?
Do I need to install a water dish?
Should I put gravel or sand or leaf litter on the bottom?
Best kinds of bark or branches?
Do they need heating in winter? (we have a reasonably temperate winter with an average temperature of around 15 celsius).
How often do they moult?
Any general tips or suggestions?

Any help would be really appreciated and thank you in advance! :biggrin:

 

[pa3k_87]

Not sure if this would help you but they're really sensitive in regards to humidity. Out of over 300 that hatched out from a sac, I only have 8 left. Oh yeah, I had the Brown huntsman (Heteropoda venatoria).

 

[Rebecca74]

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. I'm thinking of using a spritzer to give the tank a bit of moisture. I have a huntsman I caught in my house in a small makeshift aquarium/container at the moment. It had a moult yesterday and I was wondering if they get really thirsty after a moult. I put a couple of teaspoons of water in the bottom of the container and within about 30 seconds it ran down to the water and started having a drink.

I found some interesting guides on huntsman behaviour and keeping huntsmans, see links below:

http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v8_n2/JoA_v8_p193_grey.pdf

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2009/12/18/hunting-the-huntsman-keeping-the-giant-crab-or-huntsman-spider-part-1/

I keep goldfish and the aquarium that I have would probably be brilliant for a huntsman. It's wide and tall but without too much depth which would make for good observing and photographing. It's one of those one's with an inbuilt light in the lid that would provide a little more warmth in the cooler weather. It also has a small alternate opening/flap in the lid for dropping food into the tank. I got it from Big W and I'm sure they still have them or something similar.

I'm thinking dry gravel on the bottom with a small clay saucer for water (I could change the water by using tongs and cotton wool to absorb the old water and then gently pour freshwater in - I'm not putting my hand in there that's for sure...).

I'm also thinking some flat large pieces of bark for hiding and maybe a small live plant in a small removable pot that will thrive under a fluorescent light to keep the air fresh.

As for food there are plenty of bugs around here in the warmer months. It's the cooler months that bother me in terms of food sources. That's something I'm still trying to figure out.

 

[Mello]

Just set up the enclosure like the huntsman lives in the wild. I don't know much about huntsman besides they are massive and faster than a Lamborghini lol, but you can never go wrong if you reinact it's natural environment. As for food, go to your local petshop and get some crickets so you don't have to bother trying to catch bugs outside.

 

[pa3k_87]

Interesting links you got there Rebecca. I clicked on a related article just below your second link about housing where it describes the substrate used. I myself am using coco peat right now and so far it's been working great in retaining moisture. I've moved all the babies I have left to pill bottles with holes poked at the lid for ventilation. I use coco peat substrate and some sphagnum. I got a piece of bark for the larger one and it just loves it. In the Philippines, where I got mine from, they're always found during the day hidden in really tight spaces like between the wall and furniture or spaces between the beams of the house. Found some outside the house also where they stay under tree bark or the stem of palms attached to the trunk.

 

[Rebecca74]

Where do you get coco peat from? I'm thinking for the ground cover some dried gum leaves and paper/stringy bark? However, that might change. I'm on two weeks annual leave from work as of this Friday so I'm going to go bush for a couple of days and see what I can find in terms of housing materials and eight-legged cuties.

This is the aquarium that I have my goldfish in: http://www.bigw.com.au/home-garden/pet-accessories/bpnBIGW_0000000024560/marine-master-panoramic-ezistart-glass-fish-tank-starter-kit-21l I went into BigW this arvo after work and they still have them for $65 plus some smaller eight litre ones, exactly the same with with in-built light for $45. I think I'll get another 21 litre one as huntsmans like to roam and I'd feel bad putting them in a smaller tank.

Good news is that a local pet store sells live crickets so at least I'll have a back up food source during the cooler months.

 

[pa3k_87]

You can get coco peat from pet stores or garden centers. Here in North America we have it as Eco earth under the brand Zoomed sold in pet stores. I guess if you don't have that regular potting soil should be ok as long as it doesn't have chemicals and stuff. It's got peat moss mixed in so that should hold moisture nicely too. And you can just top it off with gum leaves and bark.

 

[Rebecca74]

I'm now ready to purchase a tank and build a habitat in it but I need some advice and suggestions.

The photos below are of my small (around 21 litre) home aquarium. I'm thinking of purchasing another one of this same one to house a huntsman.

There's plently of room, enough height for climbing, hunting and excercise and a hinged lid which folds back and has an inbuilt fluorescent light that can also act to provide a little warmth in the cooler months. There's also a little flap in the lid that folds back so you can drop food in without having to swing the entire lid up.

Keep in mind that the water filter in the pics below, both the submerged part and the part along the top, is optional and I obviously wouldn't be installing it in the new tank.

The problem I'm facing is the attached lid. It's almost perfect, however, the only problem I have is that when you lift the lid back the entire top of the tank is exposed which could mean easy escapes and huntsmans are lightning fast. I'm also concerned that a huntsman would more often than not decide to curl up and hide unseen up in the lid. The vents in the lid (see pic 3) can be easily covered with mesh and some black electrical tape to hold it in place.

I need some type of breathable, transperant, heat resistant covering just under the black edging around the top (see last pic). I was thinking of buying a length of wire fly screen mesh and cutting it to size and glueing it just under the black edging with a velcro opening of some sort so I can lift the lid back safely to do water changes etc. But I'm not sure this would work and the glue would show through the glass and look messy.

What ever I use it will need to be heat resistant as the light in the lid can get pretty warm after a while.

Suggestions?

I'm hoping to get this set up this weekend and then go on a field trip next week to see what I can find for a specimen.

 

[pannaking22]

I probably wouldn't use the light just because that could add too much heat and dry your huntsman out. I had one for a little while (sent by accident from China in a crate of materials for the university I attend. Boy were they freaked out!) and it did just fine at room temperature. Definitely use the coco fiber (or something like it that will hold moisture) and mist reasonably often as long as the substrate looks dry. You'll need to have a container with good ventilation as well, or else you will have mold. It may also be beneficial to try to find a different container that you don't have to take the entire lid off of in order to do maintenance. Mine almost escaped on me a couple times because she shot across her container when I opened it to mist, which was always quite the surprise. The container I kept her in was literally just a large clear plastic bin with a lid and she was fine with it after I got some holes poked in everywhere. pa3k_87 is definitely right for using large pieces of cork bark for them to hide behind. Height is way more important with these guys than floor space.

 

[Rebecca74]

I've given up on the fish tank idea above as it would take too many 'renovations' to work. Instead I'm bidding on an acrylic terrarium on ebay w/h/d 60 x 40 x 40cm with vents and a door on top. If I get it I'm planning to turn it on it's side and use it so it's 60cm high with the door on the back and more suited to a huntsman's needs.

The only things I'll need to do is get some cheap fly screen and glue to attach over the vents as they're a bit big and my huntsman is still quite small and young.

I can get bark and leaf litter from the back yard and a small jar cap will serve as a water dish.

I'll also hunt down a cooler led lighting set up.

The better thing about this one is that, being acrylic, it's lighter than glass. So in winter, if the is house is too cold, the terrarium can be easily moved a little closer to the heater for added warmth.

 

[pannaking22]

Score, sounds like you are in good shape then Good luck with your huntsman!