# What Solpugids Drink?



## grossman (Jun 17, 2009)

I've been in possession of some Eremobates sp. for a few weeks now, and I can't seem to keep them alive for more than 10 days (with exception of a gravid female). One of the reasons I think they might be dying quicker than what other people say is that I'm not feeding them water the correct way. Right now I'm using a syringe with a cotton ball on the other end (Punzo said he used a cotton ball on a watch glass), but I've seen no evidence of the solpugids drinking out of it. The day before they die, they look severely dehydrated.

What's the best way to supply water to solpugids from your experience?

Additional rearing information:
Solpugids are kept in a back room with lamps that turn on for half the day.
Their cages are filled with Reptisand (from Petsmart) 4.5 x 15 x 10 cm
They are fed weekly by a cricket about the same size as they are (1cm~2.3cm)


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## Widowman10 (Jun 17, 2009)

you could try droplets on the side of the enclosure, or a small shallow dish. i think i did a combo of both and mine have lived for many months.


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## grossman (Jun 19, 2009)

Thanks, I'll try and use a combination of techniques this time. I hope that if I use the dish, the spray and the cotton ball, I might get a better survival rate this time. You can never be too sure when dealing with these guys.


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## dragongoddess (Jun 19, 2009)

*Drink or a bath*

My brand new Sun Spider crawled in to his dish about 10 minutes ago and has not stepped out.  Would this be considered a long drink or a bath  
I found him out here in the Mojave Desert and it has not rained for weeks.


Sorry for the crappy camera phone pic





ps. I also lightly mist the cage before bed


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## Widowman10 (Jun 19, 2009)

that's a waaay too big dish. i'm talking real small, just enough so it can get a drink, not so it will drown. they are desert creatures, it won't soak in water.


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## dragongoddess (Jun 19, 2009)

It's almost flat and only has a skin of water in it.  I was watching and it only hit his belly if he flattened himself out.  The cricket even got out okay and I have seen those things drown themselves in the most ridiculous amounts of water.


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## LordKabar (Jun 20, 2009)

haha very true DG

For anyone thinking of raising your own crickets on the cheap, NEVER mist (even very finely!) a tank full of immature crickets.  I watched in somewhat amused horror as they ran up to the walls, stuck their little faces against the tiny droplets and swiftly killed themselves.  Looking back, maybe I shouldn't have kept them next to the Emperor Scorpion's tank...


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## pavel (Jun 20, 2009)

LordKabar said:


> For anyone thinking of raising your own crickets on the cheap, NEVER mist (even very finely!) a tank full of immature crickets.  I watched in somewhat amused horror as they ran up to the walls, stuck their little faces against the tiny droplets and swiftly killed themselves.


Makes ya wonder how the stupid things survive in the wild.............


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## grossman (Jun 23, 2009)

I use some kind of liquid gel to feed the crickets I have. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using these gels for their solpugids and seen any success. Solpugids do after all receive most of their liquid nourishment from the prey they devour. Perhaps these gels might be a good way to satisfy the solpugids without over-feeding them. Unless anyone thinks this is a bad idea, I might test this out.


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## Spider-Spazz (Jun 23, 2009)

pavel said:


> Makes ya wonder how the stupid things survive in the wild.............


LOL.
That gave me a good laugh.


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## LeilaNami (Jun 28, 2009)

grossman said:


> I use some kind of liquid gel to feed the crickets I have. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using these gels for their solpugids and seen any success. Solpugids do after all receive most of their liquid nourishment from the prey they devour. Perhaps these gels might be a good way to satisfy the solpugids without over-feeding them. Unless anyone thinks this is a bad idea, I might test this out.


Don't test it out.  They won't be able to get water from the gel.  They have to use digestive fluids to eat their prey and do not chew like crickets can.


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## grossman (Jun 29, 2009)

LeilaNami said:


> Don't test it out.  They won't be able to get water from the gel.  They have to use digestive fluids to eat their prey and do not chew like crickets can.


Ah, Okay. I won't test it out, though I once saw one grinding up some hard dirt that had just been sprayed with water. So I figured that they might do the same thing with the gel. Some solpugids will injest water directly as a secondary means of fluid. So what I want to know is if a solpugid could grind up the gel and then absorb the liqiud from it. I don't suppose it would be any different than placing water droplets on a dish, but perhaps it would be more convenient. You don't think anything bad will happen if I add the gel to the already existent water systems I provided, do you?


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## LeilaNami (Jun 30, 2009)

grossman said:


> Ah, Okay. I won't test it out, though I once saw one grinding up some hard dirt that had just been sprayed with water. So I figured that they might do the same thing with the gel. Some solpugids will injest water directly as a secondary means of fluid. So what I want to know is if a solpugid could grind up the gel and then absorb the liqiud from it. I don't suppose it would be any different than placing water droplets on a dish, but perhaps it would be more convenient. You don't think anything bad will happen if I add the gel to the already existent water systems I provided, do you?


I don't think it will really do you any good.  What would be the point?


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## Venom (Jul 1, 2009)

Solifugids only drink the blood of their keepers...


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## grossman (Jul 1, 2009)

LeilaNami said:


> I don't think it will really do you any good.  What would be the point?


It would be easier to tell if the solpugid had been getting any water. Normally, it's hard to tell if the solpugid had been drinking lately, but with the gel you get a physical indicator. Yes, it's probably trivial since solplugids get most of their nutrients from their prey. However, when dealing with these fragile critters that usually don't last more than three weeks in captivity, every bit of extra care helps.


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## Widowman10 (Jul 3, 2009)

Venom said:


> Solifugids only drink the blood of their keepers...


no venom, remember they drink the blood from the camel's bellies they latch on to to lay their eggs in. they also scream while doing this.


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## grossman (Jul 20, 2009)

Okay, well the gel thing didn't work as planned. My solpugid instead worshiped a soaked cotton ball that I left on top of the bottom of a cut-out Styrofoam cup. Every time I re-soaked the cotton ball he/she would go right up to it for a drink. The gel did vanish after a few days but I'm not sure if the solpugid took care of that. It seems I'll have to admit defeat in respect to the gel theory.


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## jsloan (Jul 21, 2009)

Will solpugids scavange and eat dead food?  If so, kill a cricket then soak it in water over night before putting it in with the solpugid.  I do this when raising tiny spiderlings that are too small to drink from a drop of water.  I dip a dead fly in water, place the fly in the web or container, and the spiders eat the  dead prey, getting the water at the same time.


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## Widowman10 (Jul 22, 2009)

jsloan said:


> Will solpugids scavange and eat dead food?


sometimes. this is the only way i can get some to eat is to pre-kill.


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## grossman (Jul 23, 2009)

Well according to Punzo, solpugids don't readily eat dead prey since they mostly detect their prey from vibrations when they move and such. I think they also have chemo-receptors for that too, but I don't know much about them. They will however eat a dead animal if it was killed recently and placed next to their chelicerae. For smaller solpugids I have to tear a cricket in half for them to eat and sometimes I'll notice that they don't eat the lower half because it doesn't move around as much. But then again, I'd imagine they'd eat anything presented to them in captivity


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## Widowman10 (Jul 24, 2009)

grossman said:


> They will however eat a dead animal if it was killed recently and placed next to their chelicerae.


that's exactly how i get mine to eat recently-killed critters.


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