# Six eyed sand spider



## BigJ999 (Jul 17, 2014)

I recently bought a six eyed sand spider they are very interesting inverts and very shy like recluse spiders.


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## Tarantula24 (Jul 17, 2014)

They are very interesting.  Where did you buy it? What kind of a setup do you have?


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## BigJ999 (Jul 17, 2014)

It's in a plastic container with some fine sand and it's buried itself which is a good sign. I bought it from ken the bug guy. I'm surprised how often I'm seeing them now given how extremely toxic they are.


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## The Snark (Jul 17, 2014)

It is my sincere hope that the OP and anyone else who obtains these spiders that they help debunk the unmitigated bullfeathers talk about them being yet another ultra deadly monster.

They are quite rare and have several very unusual traits and abilities that are often overlooked in the sensationalism. They qualify as a living fossil and possess the extreme end of metabolism control enabling them to go for phenomenal periods of time without feeding.

As other victims of sensationalism as the recluse, the venom of this spider is poorly understood. While the venom is strongly believed to be extremely toxic there have been no clinically certified deaths from the bites. The toxicity of it's venom should be kept in context and compared to other venomous animals. As example, compared to the average Crotalidae, this spider actually rates in the harmless or mildly problematic category going by the number of deaths or lasting debilities from a bite.

It is my fervent hope that people keeping this animal undertake to disseminate the true facts about this animal and promote understanding and husbandry of this little corner of our biological heritage.


OP, thanks for this post and am looking forwards to further info you may have to offer us.

Reactions: Like 4 | Informative 1


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## BigJ999 (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm all for debunking myths about this species and recluses. Both are highly venomous but they aren't aggressive spiders and are very shy. I have 3 recluses and they are very shy as well. But I won't say that either species is not capable of great harm but other spiders like Phonutria are far,far more dangerous given their temperament. Although I would like a Phonutria myself.


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## Venom (Jul 18, 2014)

The Snark said:


> It is my sincere hope that the OP and anyone else who obtains these spiders that they help debunk the unmitigated bullfeathers talk about them being yet another ultra deadly monster.
> 
> They are quite rare and have several very unusual traits and abilities that are often overlooked in the sensationalism. They qualify as a living fossil and possess the extreme end of metabolism control enabling them to go for phenomenal periods of time without feeding.
> 
> ...


I'm all for proper understanding of every creature....and toxic does not mean it's a raging maniac baby-eating monster. But...we do have every reason to believe that this spider's venom is capable of inflicting massive, life-threatening damage on a human body. That said, thankfully, they tend to live in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and have nearly zero human contact....thank goodness. If they DID have human contact, well, they're still very timid and would flee direct confrontations with humans. But in the rare case that someone did get bitten, I don't think there is any reason NOT to believe that this spider's bite would ravage their body. The toxinology studies show beyond reasonable doubt that the venom is an order of magnitude more concentrated than L. reclusa venom, and that it's SMD is just as active a cytotoxic as SMD from L. reclusa. Let us remember that Loxosceles spp. in Santiago, Chile have a clinically established 3.7% fatality rate (they have L. laeta, L. intermedia, and L. gaucho present there). The physicians in that study also cited a more than 13% incidence of systemic poisoning (renal problems and disseminated blood clots) from those spiders' bites. So yes, we have very good reason to believe a bite from a Sicarius would be very very serious, and possibly life-threatening. 

But, luckily the spiders are quite genial little critters (hardly the stuff of horror films). Personally, I think preventing a hobbyist from dying due to carelessness is a better way to maintain the public relations of our hobby than trying to convince everyone (public and hobbyists alike) that highly toxic creatures are "not that bad." Sure, they're not psycho monsters like the creatures in the Alien movies....but the venoms of some of our creatures are truly serious. I think a proper presentation of these animals balances a discussion of their benign disposition with an acknowledgement of their severe toxicity.

Oh, and just because another animal (a Crotalid, say) has had more human contact (and therefore more established mortality/ morbidity) does not mean the Sicarius sp. is less dangerous by comparison. It just means the statistical effects of being bitten are less established by experience.

Reactions: Like 2


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## The Snark (Jul 18, 2014)

Venom, your point is well expressed and quite valid. It's a goddam sucks the big one juggling act where we want people to be aware of the hazards, in this case quite significant, while not playing up to the media flash and crash sensationalism. In most cases this is a no win on both sides. Get the word out this spider is VERY DANGEROUS and several zillion morons will want to get one just to shout it out to the neighbors. Make enough noise and the local population will quite happily depredate the area of the spiders to augment their incomes. (IE the ivory trade, their catching yet another truck load of pangolins here last week or rhino horns so some decrepit Chinese turd basket can keep his wang up 30 seconds longer.)


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## Venom (Jul 18, 2014)

Hahaha! Well-said, Snark.  And thank you.

I think it comes down to an intellectually lazy population. The average internet browsing / TV watching citizen wants something that will give them interest: a thrill, something to react to....in this case, a snakes-on-a-plane rendition of a complex animal. True knowledge acquisition is no longer something our society values because we would rather be highly-stimulated consumers than beings who work and think hard at being better people. The Renaissance ideal has waned. 

Lazy thinking results in shallow handling of complex information, usually honing in on a single interesting aspect and exaggerating / romanticizing it. So, basically, I think we need to make the _entire _animal interesting in all its complexity, or no matter how balanced our presentation of these creature to the public is, the listener will always fixate on whatever interested them the most (i.e., the deadliness of the creature).

Reactions: Like 1


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## BigJ999 (Jul 18, 2014)

They are dangerously venomous but their temperament is very very shy and timid. I think of their venom as something to be researched and not feared  for all we know one of its toxins could help the fight with cancer.  my observation is that they prefer to hide most of the time and their body collects sand particals


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## The Snark (Jul 19, 2014)

Venom said:


> Hahaha! Well-said, Snark.  And thank you.
> 
> I think it comes down to an intellectually lazy population. The average internet browsing / TV watching citizen wants something that will give them interest: a thrill, something to react to....in this case, a snakes-on-a-plane rendition of a complex animal. True knowledge acquisition is no longer something our society values because we would rather be highly-stimulated consumers than beings who work and think hard at being better people. The Renaissance ideal has waned.
> 
> Lazy thinking results in shallow handling of complex information, usually honing in on a single interesting aspect and exaggerating / romanticizing it. So, basically, I think we need to make the _entire _animal interesting in all its complexity, or no matter how balanced our presentation of these creature to the public is, the listener will always fixate on whatever interested them the most (i.e., the deadliness of the creature).


You harpooned the crux of the biscuit admirably there. Quotable even.

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BigJ999 said:


> They are dangerously venomous but their temperament is very very shy and timid. I think of their venom as something to be researched and not feared  for all we know one of its toxins could help the fight with cancer.  my observation is that they prefer to hide most of the time and their body collects sand particals


I did some research and it appears this critter has got the dialing down of the metabolism into a fine art. So it can park in a virtual torpor for tremendous periods of time without the need of food or water. It is an ambush predator in a very hostile environment with few prey available which would help explain the potent venom as well as the pre digesting effects. It also has an extremely long life span. So what we have here is a puzzle that, if it can be analyzed, understood, and synthesized could replace the drug induced coma used in modern medicine and possibly provide information as to prolonging longevity.  All this goes along with it being a living fossil. It established it's apex of evolvement in the ancient past and has had no reason to further develop since. A pretty amazing animal and a lot more than just big bad toxin hazard.

Reactions: Like 1


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## telepatella (Jul 19, 2014)

The Snark said:


> You harpooned the crux of the biscuit admirably there.


I thought the crux of the biscuit was the apostrophe...


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## BigJ999 (Jul 19, 2014)

They are in the pet hole catagory but instead of a hole there is a bunch of sand lol. They do not call them sand spiders for nothing lol.


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## edgeofthefreak (Jul 19, 2014)

Pet rock, pet hole... and now pet sand. That's just terrific!


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## BigJ999 (Jul 19, 2014)

I walked in to check on it and it just vanished into the sand lol. Along with living in a very harsh environment they are also tough as nails.


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## Blue Jaye (Jul 19, 2014)

Thank you snark that was very well said and appreciated :biggrin:


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## BigJ999 (Jul 19, 2014)

I do think that the extreme toxicity does attract people for some reason maybe it's the taboo of the deadly. A deathstalker might be one of the most toxic inverts but like this species they are very shy, reclusive.


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## remainpositive (Jul 21, 2014)

I added one to my collection a few months ago, mines not necessarily a pet sandbox because she's extremely active at night roaming around her enclosure. Im actually surprised on how flighty they are, even more nervous than any kind of Latrodectus sp. I've kept. It seems they can overfeed pretty easily though...


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## BigJ999 (Jul 21, 2014)

Mine has eaten one pinhead so far and not much else they don't require much to go on due to their metabolism control which is extremely impressive. 1 little pinhead can go a long,long way with them.


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## gromgrom (Jul 21, 2014)

I've had little luck in moving these specimen of mine (I have 1.5 eggsacs worth of specimen plus another sac incubating), which is both good and bad for these little demons. I've been incredibly careful in who I've sold/traded to with what I have moved as to not cause any issues with them. 

My notes
- My gravid female will not bite my tongs, or I dont notice it doing so. They prefer to run and hide. And run they do, they're kinda quick and skittish. 
- They cannot climb like a tarantula does. They need something to grip onto like a scorpion (thank goodness)
- I've been keeping my two broods of spiderlings differently to figure out what they can handle. Ive discovered they are little piggies who love to eat alot. They can go 2 weeks without water and be just fine. I usually drop a single droplet in their enclosure if i give them any, at all. 
- given the above care, they sit on my scorpion rack a little warmer than my T rack, and I've had 0 losses and 0 escapees. 
- My female is looking to drop a third sac, or molt. She is as large as she was before she laid both times. These are pretty easy animals to keep in captivity, just the ever present danger should not put you in a false sense of security. 

Thank you,

Dustin


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## BigJ999 (Jul 21, 2014)

Mine just sits still when it's touched with tongs but bursts away with speed. Their disguise is their best defense it seems but yeah mine isn't aggressive very very skittish likes to bury itself in sand to the point of not being visible.


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## jbm150 (Jul 22, 2014)

What would be a good feeding schedule for this species?  I have an Aphonopelma I feed once, maybe twice a month; something along those lines?


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## remainpositive (Jul 22, 2014)

jbm150 said:


> What would be a good feeding schedule for this species?  I have an Aphonopelma I feed once, maybe twice a month; something along those lines?


What I do is once every other week for small instars and once a month for adults, if they looked kind of famished I toss one more in. Like they have stated before, their metabolism control is spectacular.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Germanicus (Jul 23, 2014)

Ive always thought these to be extremely interesting to watch come feeding time, same with recluse. They have a certain posture to them unlike a lot of other true spiders and it makes them very fascinating to keep, definitely not the savage monsters most make them out to be.


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## BigJ999 (Jul 31, 2014)

Mine stays buried just beneath the sand most of the time. Their body collects sand particals so they have a interesting look.


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## freedumbdclxvi (Aug 3, 2014)

jbm150 said:


> What would be a good feeding schedule for this species?  I have an Aphonopelma I feed once, maybe twice a month; something along those lines?


My S terrosus female eats about once a month.  She either takes the cricket fairly quickly, or she ignores it til I remove it the next day.


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## The Snark (Aug 3, 2014)

With an animal like that the problem would be in striking a balance. Just waking it out of it's torpor to process a bug shortens it's life a little offset by the food helping it live a little longer. It usually seems that with spiders they are better off left on the hungry side of things. But what that would be to a sand spider? A month? 3 months? 6?

What might help this dilemma is finding out what it's preferred natural food is and the availability on average from year to year.


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## High Lord Dee (Aug 4, 2014)

jbm150 said:


> What would be a good feeding schedule for this species?  I have an Aphonopelma I feed once, maybe twice a month; something along those lines?


I have mine on a once a week feeding schedule but feed it appropriately sized foods such as very small crickets, dubia nymphs, or silkworms.   Occasionally, it does not eat the prey but I found that it was in pre-molt.


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## cbsuen (Aug 5, 2014)

you're not talking about a wind scorpion are you?  or camel spider as the middle eastern variety is called.


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## The Snark (Aug 5, 2014)

Germanicus said:


> Ive always thought these to be extremely interesting to watch come feeding time, same with recluse. They have a certain posture to them unlike a lot of other true spiders and it makes them very fascinating to keep, definitely not the savage monsters most make them out to be.


I'd very much like to see a video of that.


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## ZergFront (Aug 7, 2014)

I wouldn't buy one myself but I love looking at videos of them getting into the sand.


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## Galapoheros (Aug 7, 2014)

I was given a tiny sling a while back.  How big do these get?  I don't how to tell if they are mature or not.  I guess the one I have has a leg span like that of a 50 cent coin.  It basically has the leg span of an adult recluse, so does that mean it's prob an adult?


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## Philip Mccullagh (Sep 17, 2022)

BigJ999 said:


> I'm all for debunking myths about this species and recluses. Both are highly venomous but they aren't aggressive spiders and are very shy. I have 3 recluses and they are very shy as well. But I won't say that either species is not capable of great harm but other spiders like Phonutria are far,far more dangerous given their temperament. Although I would like a Phonutria myself.


Hi I have got 8 six eyed sand spider that I hope to breed in the future as they aren’t mature yet for a YouTube video which also features Phoneutrias and sand spiders


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