# Can Baby Wolf Spiders Climb Smooth Plastic?



## Spepper (Mar 7, 2014)

I've had this mama Alepecosa kochii for a week or two now and caught her gravid.  She laid her sac last night.  The container I have her in has big holes in the lid she could surely escape from if she couldn't climb the smooth plastic walls.  Will the babies be able to?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13001499504/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/


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## Spepper (Mar 8, 2014)

I guess my wolf spider solved the problem for me.  She dropped the sac.  What does that mean? :?  If it's still a perfectly viable sac I put it in a deli cup where when it hatches it will be absolutely no problem.  Nothing could escape from there.


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## SeanSYW (Mar 8, 2014)

No, the only way they could get out is by webbing on the glass higher and higher. Good luck on the sack!


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## ReignofInvertebrates (Mar 9, 2014)

Keep this page updated!  Wolfies are my favorite!


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## Spepper (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks guys, I'll try and keep it posted.   I love wolves too!  Yeah, I didn't know if they could climb the plastic since their bodies would be a whole lot lighter than the adult's.  This species of wolf doesn't seem to web hardly at all though... I have three females, two of them are mature and one I think still has one molt to go.  One of them has zero web and I've had her since last summer.  The one that I think has one molt to go to be mature has a strip of web going around her pile of leaves to hide in like one of those straps used to hold stuff in the back of trucks.  And the one that I caught most recently and laid me a sac has a barely-perceptible web like the second one, but you can hardly see it even if you look super close.  So I guess I wouldn't have to worry about the babies webbing themselves a way out unless they web more than the older spiders.


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## SeanSYW (Mar 9, 2014)

In my experience if you leave them together for a little while after emerging, they web together, but they basically don't web individually.


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## Spepper (Mar 9, 2014)

Ahhh, okay.  Could I keep one or two together if by then they were large enough to be fed something other than each other? LOL 

The sac seems to be shriveling up. :/  Did I do something wrong?  I've tried misting the container it's in (but not the part where the egg sac sits) to heighten humidity or was there something wrong with the sac from the start?


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## Smokehound714 (Mar 10, 2014)

It IS possible.  If you mist with tap water, it could calcify the sides enough to let species that normally are piss-poor at climbing get a foot-hold.

  I lost a few anuroctonus in my home that way, haha..  fortunately i've got my uv light, so i found them quick.

 Edit: It's likely the sac was a dud.

   alopecosa females are very hostile to males.  I tried pairing a couple a while back, but the female feigned reception, and ripped him apart..  Oh well.  I could get huge numbers of them if i really wanted to.


  In fact, within this genus, the odds of a male surviving an encounter, even with a receptive female are extremely low, they're killed almost 100% of the time after mating.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Spepper (Mar 10, 2014)

I only use tap water that has been sitting out for a while for the chemicals in it to evaporate.  So I don't know if the calcium in it would have evaporated too.

Ahh, alright.  Yeah, there's a ton of them where I live so I guess it wouldn't be a problem for me to find male after male after male if I was dead-set on breeding them. LOL  It must have been a dud then... but I'll wait a little longer to make sure completely.  Would she have dropped it because it was a dud and she knew it?


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## Smokehound714 (Mar 10, 2014)

Spepper said:


> I only use tap water that has been sitting out for a while for the chemicals in it to evaporate.  So I don't know if the calcium in it would have evaporated too.
> 
> Ahh, alright.  Yeah, there's a ton of them where I live so I guess it wouldn't be a problem for me to find male after male after male if I was dead-set on breeding them. LOL  It must have been a dud then... but I'll wait a little longer to make sure completely.  *Would she have dropped it because it was a dud and she knew it?*


 Yes, they'll know.  the eggs will begin to rot, and they'll notice the bad smell.

  Normally, they'll fight to the death to ensure the sac's safety.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Spepper (Mar 10, 2014)

That explains a lot then.  Thank you, I might try introducing a male to her and see what happens, even though she might still be fertilized.


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## The Snark (Mar 10, 2014)

Even with mineral desposits on the walls, wolfies are serious clutzes at climbing. That is how I tell a wolfie from a sparassid at 20 feet in the dark. Even with the walls surface a rough stucco, the wolfs can barely get up a few inches before falling.




Spepper said:


> I only use tap water that has been sitting out for a while for the chemicals in it to evaporate.  So I don't know if the calcium in it would have evaporated too.


Doesn't quite work like that. Evaporation will remove the gasses as chlorine buy leave the salts as K, Na, and CaO, concentrating the minerals. That's how the great salt pans as around the Salton Sea, Death Valley and Bonneville develop. Fun reading: The Dead Sea where you can go swimming without getting wet.

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## Spepper (Mar 11, 2014)

Then maybe I should just save myself the bother of setting out water to evaporate the chemicals when it doesn't really work. LOL  Tap water sounds just as good after that.


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## Smokehound714 (Mar 11, 2014)

The Snark said:


> Even with mineral desposits on the walls, wolfies are serious clutzes at climbing. That is how I tell a wolfie from a sparassid at 20 feet in the dark. Even with the walls surface a rough stucco, the wolfs can barely get up a few inches before falling.
> 
> 
> 
> Doesn't quite work like that. Evaporation will remove the gasses as chlorine buy leave the salts as K, Na, and CaO, concentrating the minerals. That's how the great salt pans as around the Salton Sea, Death Valley and Bonneville develop. Fun reading: The Dead Sea where you can go swimming without getting wet.


It depends on the species, though.  But you're still right, their feet are more like a scorpion's, no pads, just a couple of claws.  Some, like pardosa, are decent climbers, because they have tiny feet.  Must be an adaptation to help them run amongst slippery wet rocks.  theyre all somewhat decent at climbing wood, however.


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## catfishrod69 (Mar 11, 2014)

When i hatched wolfies out, the babies could climb the plastic enclosure. They were everywhere. When i opened the lid, it was a battle to keep them in.

Reactions: Like 1


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## The Snark (Mar 11, 2014)

0





catfishrod69 said:


> When i hatched wolfies out, the babies could climb the plastic enclosure. They were everywhere. When i opened the lid, it was a battle to keep them in.


So babies get a leg up? What kind were they?


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## catfishrod69 (Mar 11, 2014)

I cant remember for sure, but im pretty sure they were Hogna aspersa. Ill try and dig around for some old pics. 





The Snark said:


> 0
> So babies get a leg up? What kind were they?

Reactions: Like 1


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## The Snark (Mar 11, 2014)

catfishrod69 said:


> I cant remember for sure, but im pretty sure they were Hogna aspersa. Ill try and dig around for some old pics.


I need to ID the ones common to here. The adults can get about 2 or 3 inches up the walls before falling on their backs. The babies I've seen zooming on the walls I've always assumed were sparassids. I suspect the sparassids make short work of the wolfies, especially babies out of their environment.


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## catfishrod69 (Mar 11, 2014)

Yeah i definitely couldnt help you on your species lol. Yeah i think they can climb until they are around 3-4th instar. 





The Snark said:


> I need to ID the ones common to here. The adults can get about 2 or 3 inches up the walls before falling on their backs. The babies I've seen zooming on the walls I've always assumed were sparassids. I suspect the sparassids make short work of the wolfies, especially babies out of their environment.


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## Curious jay (Mar 12, 2014)

The part about pardosa specie being good climbers makes sense.... I had three females in an open setup all with eggsacks once they hatched I come home to slings all over my desk and none inside the setup with the mothers lol, learned my lesson that day.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Spepper (Mar 12, 2014)

Curious jay said:


> The part about pardosa specie being good climbers makes sense.... I had three females in an open setup all with eggsacks once they hatched I come home to slings all over my desk and none inside the setup with the mothers lol, learned my lesson that day.


Boy if that happened my invert collection would be in danger of being gotten rid of by my family members.


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## Smokehound714 (Mar 12, 2014)

some wolves are good climbers, like gladicosa pulchra, which strongly favor arboreal habitat.  They can be found in the canopy zone.


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