Thoughts on opiliones becoming more popular in the hobby?

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

I have heard a few cases where people have kept WC opiliones and I know a website that sells vonones ornata. Most people have great experiences with opiliones as children, arachnophobes or not. So why are they not more common in the hobby. I would like to see a wide variety of opiliones in expos and online stores. I have only seen vonones ornata for sale. I think they would be a perfect pet for arachnid keepers like me. The care is very simple and they are harmless. I don't think I have ever met someone who is actually terrified of them. There are a few that look a bit scary such as pachyloidellus goliath. Pachyloidellus goliath would be a great addition to the hobby in my opinion. I also heard they are easy to breed. I have three opiliones that are thriving. In a few weeks I am going to go to a place that I know that I can find V. ornata.

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

I have heard a few cases where people have kept WC opiliones and I know a website that sells vonones ornata. Most people have great experiences with opiliones as children, arachnophobes or not. So why are they not more common in the hobby. I would like to see a wide variety of opiliones in expos and online stores. I have only seen vonones ornata for sale. I think they would be a perfect pet for arachnid keepers like me. The care is very simple and they are harmless. I don't think I have ever met someone who is actually terrified of them. There are a few that look a bit scary such as pachyloidellus goliath. Pachyloidellus goliath would be a great addition to the hobby in my opinion. I also heard they are easy to breed. I have three opiliones that are thriving. In a few weeks I am going to go to a place that I know that I can find V. ornata.

In my opinion I don't think it would be very easy to keep them seeing that at day they hang out in clusters and haveing only one or two would keep them from feeling comfortable in captivity but that's just my take on it

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

In my opinion I don't think it would be very easy to keep them seeing that at day they hang out in clusters and haveing only one or two would keep them from feeling comfortable in captivity but that's just my take on it

A lot of people in the hobby are already used to keeping large numbers of inverts. So keeping 5 or more opiliones wouldn't be that different in my opinion. Just think about isopods and roaches, people keep hundreds sometimes thousands of them. Plus, having multiple just makes things more interesting.

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

heres my reasons for not keeping them

i dont want to keep like five of them

it seems like they need alot of space that i cant provide

and there too fast and agile so keeping them in would be wayyy too hard

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

heres my reasons for not keeping them

i dont want to keep like five of them

it seems like they need alot of space that i cant provide

and there too fast and agile so keeping them in would be wayyy too hard

From my experience so far they seem really simple. Most cannot climb glass, so their speed shouldn't be an issue unless you want to handle them. Which you don't handle other arachnids do you? (Except for jumpers.) I don't think space is an issue either. I have my three in a small Kritter Keeper. I love having communal species so they are perfect for me.

 

[draconisj4]

I got 2 Vonones ornata a few months ago. I'm guessing I now have about 20 because they had babies,lol. not really sure how many because they hide in the moss and leaves in their enclosure. I have them in a kritter keeper with a modified top because the babies when they were tiny had no problem climbing the sides, but now that they are grown they don't climb, just hang out under their cork bark and in the moss on top. Really easy to keep and very interesting.

 

[coniontises]

I think the problem with opiliones is that they are too obscure, period.

There are a large number of tenebrionids in existence, and many have fancy shapes and textures. Furthermore, adults are usually very easy to keep. But what do you see being sold? Tenebrio/Zophobas, which are predator food, Eleodes/Asbolus/Cryptoglossa, which make good pets, and maybe the occasional oddity like Bolitotherus being offered in a dusty corner of Beetleforum. If you wanted the other types, you’d probably have to catch them yourself.

Same problem with carabids, opiliones, colorful heteropterans, and so on...

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

From my experience so far they seem really simple. Most cannot climb glass, so their speed shouldn't be an issue unless you want to handle them. Which you don't handle other arachnids do you? (Except for jumpers.) I don't think space is an issue either. I have my three in a small Kritter Keeper. I love having communal species so they are perfect for me.

Hhhmmmm well in that case I might have to catch some

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

I can't wait until I get the chance to get some vonones ornata. I missed out last summer, Hopefully they will still be in the same area.

 

[dord]

I'm interested in harvestmen as well... It's shocking how obscure they are, being communal, easy to breed, and accepting a wide range of food.

 

[Mpaul213]

Add me to the list of those intrigued by these guys! I am getting Vonones late March, and have been searching high and low for Metagyndes Innata (coolest Opiliones in my opinion) I will pay good money if anyone finds them. Other than that, there are a few other interesting looking species that occasionally enter the hobby/U.S.

 

[dord]

Dunno if these are or have ever been in the hobby but some other interesting harvestmen are Mitogoniella spp. and Metagryne bicolumnata... I've seen pics of harvestmen with huge clawed chelicerae and this very attractive species I can't identify in this video:

 

[Durchschlag]

I think that's Odiellus spinosus.

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

One of my four harvestmen finally molted! I think I have Odiellus Pictus btw. I'm still excited about getting a V. ornata colony soon. When I first got into this hobby I had no idea how to care for them, so I never tried to keep them. After doing a lot of searching to find the little information I got, I decided to keep some. Now the have become one of my favorites. For some reason I prefer the "underappreciated" arachnids. I wish there were more about care for these guys as well for the people who do want to keep them. If you know any thing about opilione care, you should add to this thread. I think they like to hang when they molt, because the molt I found was upside down on a twig I had in the enclosure.

 

[dord]

I think that's Odiellus spinosus.

Yeah, that pattern looks very similar. I wonder where the blue coloration comes from though, the lighting? Food?

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

here are some pictures of each one of my current opiliones.

 

[VaejovisCarolineanusSDS]

Here are a few opiliones that I would love to have and see within the hobby.

I think these would be amazing additions to the invert hobby. How can you look at these and not find a single one you want to add to your collection. Even without the fascinating shapes and colors, they are still very fascinating. Watching them move around their enclosure is really cool, and seeing them group together is also really cool. Some of these are pretty much tribal masks with legs.

 

[The wolf]

I love these guys I keep any I can find but I am on the lookout for v.ornata I think a massive communal would be amazing

 

[dord]

I love these guys I keep any I can find but I am on the lookout for v.ornata I think a massive communal would be amazing

V. ornata are in stock at BIC right now.
EDIT: Oh... you're in the UK, whoops

 

[The wolf]

V. ornata are in stock at BIC right now.
EDIT: Oh... you're in the UK, whoops

Why must you torture me so