Unboxing Velvet Worms

Staehilomyces

Arachnoprince
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Messages
1,514
Here's a quick vid of me unboxing my new velvet worms. These are native Australian species, and don't require special cooling provided the room temp doesn't get excessively high. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you enjoyed the video!
 

Staehilomyces

Arachnoprince
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
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1,514
Yeah, those central and South American species make me drool.
One of the best "gettable" velvets for me is the orange morph of this species.
 

Gaherp

Arachnofarmer
Old Timer
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Oct 27, 2007
Messages
218
On my dream list. My wife loves the T's but these she put the line in the sand on. Great vid and maybe one day. Post more vids, always love to watch them move and the unique way they feed.
 

Gaherp

Arachnofarmer
Old Timer
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Oct 27, 2007
Messages
218
My wife will sort slings, pull egg sacs, feed the T's, handle a lot of crazy stuff, and put up with my shenanigans. Heck that is why I married her, but when it comes to roaches, velvet worms, centipedes, and a few other things she is skittish as all get out. We met at a pet shop around 15 years ago. Both of us would road herp together and she did not back down from handling venomous in pretty hairy situations. I was in college at the time, but I knew I was going to marry that woman.

We moved in together while I finished college which combined are herp collection which included various smaller snakes(colubrids), 3 huge burmese(16 to 19 feet she grew from hatchlings), my big redtails(real Suriname the largest female touching 10 feet), venomous(native and exotic), around a 100 dart frogs, tarantulas galore, some varinids, and geckos. Needless to say we had two rooms devoted and there was nothing she would not tackle so I thought. Than one day I got a dubia colony. She showed her first sign of being skittish around something. She would not touch the adults and I mean none. To the point of getting really jumpy around them. I found out the depth of fear towards them one night.

While I was sorting roaches I tossed a male onto her. The mayhem that transpired was of epic proportions. My habit of scaring folks is known by many, but needless to say that was a bad miscalculation of judgement. Once she stopped freaking out I got the most epic fussing i have ever received and I won't do it again. She now will handle up to juvie sized roaches to feed but no adults will ever get handled by her.

Next I purchased a scolopendra subspinipes, I had a few back in my childhood years, and I really wanted to breed them again. I eased her into it with one adult which I could tell she was uneasy about it From the start. She did not like it but she accepted it for my sake. Then the uneventful day I inadvertently got bit by it. I was pulling a lot of soil from its viv due to a major mold issue, and instead of taking the centipede out I just let it roam around the cage while this is going on. I let my guard down and rookie mistake my hand got just close enough. The bite led to a sucky night to say the least, but I managed without going to the hospital. My centipede was given away and that solidified her fear for centipedes even though she has never held one.

Finally to the velvet worms. She was watching a nature program with me. She loved the way they looked and loved the spraying of silly string like action to capture prey items. Then they show the actual jaws that are retractable. That was enough to plant the seed of unease, and dash any chance of having them. My wife is not afraid of a lot of things. We have swam with alligators an sharks, played with bears, and handled every thing from crotalids to elapids, heck dealt with what most people would be truly afraid of. My wife maybe afraid of only a handful of things, but that's okay with me. I guess being afraid of a few small creatures is a small price to pay for the love of my life. Sorry for such a long post. Oh and her small price to pay is the pranks. My family has learned if you show me your weakness or fear I will exploit it for a good scare
 

AbraxasComplex

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
1,145
Here's a quick vid of me unboxing my new velvet worms. These are native Australian species, and don't require special cooling provided the room temp doesn't get excessively high. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you enjoyed the video!
Love these. Been raising some Epiperipatus and would love to grab more. Drop me a measage.
 

Speg

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
83
I'd love to get a velvet worm. Fell in love after I saw an orange one
 

SonsofArachne

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Messages
961
Than one day I got a dubia colony. She showed her first sign of being skittish around something
It's funny what animals people are afraid of. Someone asked me what animals I was afraid of. "Only the ones I can't stop from killing me" was my answer.
 

Speg

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
83
I'm only afraid if I'm face to face... I'm not afraid of a lion on the internet... but anyone out in Africa who is 50 feet from a lion will be trembling.
 

Ratmosphere

Arachnoking
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
2,294
So lucky to have those man! I def need to pick up some of these if the opportunity comes around.
 

PlatinumSun

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 7, 2019
Messages
9
I think you could get away with buying a Velvet worm. I mean your wife will probably get used to it. I mean it cant bite and there as slow as molasses.
 

The Seraph

Arachnolord
Joined
Sep 14, 2018
Messages
601
I think you could get away with buying a Velvet worm. I mean your wife will probably get used to it. I mean it cant bite and there as slow as molasses.
I assume you are referring to @Gaherp 's comment? If so, he really should not do that. Sure they might be harmless but if she is very afraid of them without any reasoning, than he should not get them. It is only a small price to pay and getting them without her consent might break her trust.
 

PlatinumSun

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 7, 2019
Messages
9
If no amount of reasoning can make her let him get one even though she has already seen them on a documentary and liked them until seeing there mouth. No matter how cute or harmless they are then actually getting one without her permission would cause a real kerfuffle. I should have looked at it from a better angle. There my favorite animal so I was thinking pffft how could some one be so scared of them.
 
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