# Sicarius terrosus



## Gordon

Let’s start a new thread. One about a true spider genus that was not often shown in this forum: Sicarius.
Some months ago I got two Sicarius terrosus (ex Chile).
This is a special looking spider which spends the day buried in the sand where it is invisible for enemies and prey. They have a legspan of 7cm (3 inch).
I keep them warm and dry in tanks with a floor space of 30/20cm (12/8 inch) with fine sand and some stones and also a branch or something like this. They do not climb but need it to fix their eggsacks.


Here is one of the adult females:


With some luck, one of them was pregnant and built an eggsack at July 24.
This sack looks very special because the spider masks it with sand.






Now (more than two months later) the slings are here. There are not many but they are pretty large:


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## Jonathan

Hi,
That is very interesting.  Any idea what family they belong to?  And they are from Chile?  Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
Jon


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## Jonathan

Family Sicariidae?
Very unusual indeed!!
Jon


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## Gordon

You are right, they belong to the family Sicariidae. And yes, they should be from Chile, that was the information we got from the german breeder where the spiders are from.


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## Bastian Drolshagen

hi gordon, i´ve also bred those  atm I´m keeping all spiderlings together and have no problems while raising them. still waiting for dirk to get a new male for my female... I keep mine in 40*30*30 with yellow sand and as far as I could see the spiders use the dust of that sand to mask themselves with it. As I was able to see on your pics your female is grey? My female is yellow..so it really seems like they would use the fine substrate to adapt their coloration to the ground. maybe that´s what they need the setae on the carapace an dorsal abdomen for...

Reactions: Love 1


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## tyrel

Gordon said:


> You are right, they belong to the family Sicariidae. And yes, they should be from Chile, that was the information we got from the german breeder where the spiders are from.


How come germans always seem to have to cool stuff!?


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## buthus

Thomas Vinmann has/had the African flavor of these available.  I have been tempted ...they look cool and if I remember correctly, like many Sicariidaes they live a long time compared to most true spiders. 
But they need to be treated with the respect...


> Sicarius  hahnii from the Northern Cape and Namibia is possibly the most lethal spider in the world. Fortunately, due to its habitat, it is rarely encountered and appears reluctant to bite. I have often scooped up a Sicarius by hand while looking for reptiles. This spider should not be handled, as there is no effective treatment.


_Sicarius  hahnii_
Definately would be a great addition to the hobby on this side of the pond.

Edit:  I was wrong... Vinmann has _Sicarius terrosus_ on his list. (Chile, Argentina, Peru)


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## rex_arachne

beautiful spider.


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## RodG

*Wonderful Spider!!!*

Yes, I agree that our fellow hobbyists in Europe really do seem to have all the fun when it comes to what they can add to their collections. Great pictures Gordon of another fantastic spider!!!:drool:


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## CopperInMyVeins

What a coincidence, I was just looking up the family Sicariidae, specifically Sicarius hahnii, I would love to get my hands on any Sicarius genus spider, they can reportedly live as long as 15 years.  For those who don't know, genus Loxosceles is also in Sicariidae, and Sicarius genus also have the necrotoxic venom found in Loxosceles.  The juveniles of the species posted even look a lot like Loxosceles juveniles.  I guess I'll have to get in contact with Thomas Vinmann, unless you plan on selling any of your hatchlings, Gordon.


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## Jmadson13

Very attractive assassins, thanks for sharing


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## Gordon

@ Improver
That's intersting, when i am watching older pictures of my Sicarius (from the time when i got them) they where brown. So they really seems to adapt their coloration to the surroundings. I would like to see a picture of your yellow ones. 

@ buthus / CopperInMyVeins
Of course they have to be treated with caution, because I think no one can tell me how potent the venom of S.terrosus is. And i don't want to find it out.
Sorry, but most of the slings will go to a friend. So i am not able to sell some of them to others.
Ask Thomas Vinmann or Dirk Reimann.
http://www.vinmann.de/
http://www.beepworld.de/members99/dirk_reimann/


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## Steven

I also got me some from Improver (thanx   )
and my little ones are also yellow  

could be interesting to raise seperated slings on different colors of sand.
and see what they look like when adult.
mmmm,... maybe i'll give that a try  


allthough i really like the silver-look on Gordons :drool:


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## Tegenaria

cool spiders.Never heard of one that buries itself in sand before!


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## CopperInMyVeins

Gordon said:


> @ buthus / CopperInMyVeins
> Of course they have to be treated with caution, because I think no one can tell me how potent the venom of S.terrosus is.


Well, based on it's relatives Loxosceles laeta being potentially deadly, and Sicarius hahnii having a bite about as bad as a Puff Adder in terms of damage, (Only two bites on record, one resulted in death, the other losing an arm) it's definitely a "look, don't touch" species.  Which is how I treat most of the animals I keep anyway.


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## Venom

Wow! Not what I expected to see when I logged on today! Very unusual and beautiful. 

On the other hand, their venom is _hideously _toxic--definitely not something to get tagged by!  Thanks for sharing, as I hardly _ever _see or hear anything about these!


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## Bastian Drolshagen

hi,
Here´s a pic of my Sicarius setup. It´s 40*30*25cm and filled up to 10cm high with substrate (yellow sand) and some rocks:





and extra for Gordon  the female I keep in that tank:





On her back you can still see some of the yellow sand. She mostly uses the whole she dug under the middle rock and doesn´t burrow herself into the ground very often, but when she does it she´s yellow as the sand.


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## Tegenaria

This is a cool spider,no doubt!
I love the 'habitat' setups too!


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## Maybrick

@Gordon
Nice thread. I have an actual shot for this thread, too...

@Improver
In my opinion, its also important if the sand is dusty or not. I saw Gordons substrate and its really dusty, so the spiders always look grey. My substrate is not dusty, so my Sicarius looks mostly like yours (but darker), even if they dig, they always look the same ;-)

So, here is my thread picture: Sicarius terrosus building an eggsac.


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## Gordon

@CopperInMyVeins
I absolutly agree with your attitude.

@Improver
Thank you for the Pictures. 

@Maybrick
 Thanks for participate. That was the picture I speculated for in the PM.


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## Tarantula

Very nice! I keep this spec to.


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## Maybrick

Here is a new picture, I took yesterday night, when Sicarius is active.


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## Gordon

Here's a small update. Remember this picture of the slings when they have freshly left the egg sac and looked a little bit like Loxosceles:




Now, 10 days later, they are dusty and grey as the adults are and look how a Sicarius has o look.


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## RodG

*Awesome!!!*

Awesome:drool: ...'nuff said!!!


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## Tegenaria

Fantastic spiders these are!


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## Purple Recluse

CopperInMyVeins said:


> Well, based on it's relatives Loxosceles laeta being potentially deadly, and Sicarius hahnii having a bite about as bad as a Puff Adder in terms of damage, (Only two bites on record, one resulted in death, the other losing an arm) it's definitely a "look, don't touch" species.  Which is how I treat most of the animals I keep anyway.


Copper:

From where did you get the info pertaining to the two Sicarius hahnii bites on record?  I've searched fairly carefully for any mention of recorded six-eyed sand spider bites, and have failed to locate anything, so I'd be interested to know what resources I've missed.


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## Maybrick

@Steven
I have changed the substrate (a dustier one) now, so I have a silver-Sicarius too ;-). Look at my older pictures and you see, how the substrate change the look of the spider.


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## Gordon

Hey Marco, don't you have a little Video-clip for us?


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## Maybrick

*Ok, Gordon ;-)*

Here is a small movie for all people, that have not seen yet, how Sicarius terrosus dig. As you can see, the whole digging process is finished really fast. Watch it here:
http://www.schlangenforum.ch/wbb2/4images/details.php?image_id=7501

PS: Sorry for the weak quality and the background noise ;-)


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## Gigas

That is fast!
What leg span is this female?
I can't get over that video!


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## Gordon

The legspan of the females of this species is around 7cm (3 inch).


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## Maybrick

To keep these thread growing, heres a new picture.


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## DJ_AlMighty_247

My _Sicarius terrosus_-females. Maybe mated, don't know yet..













Under the sand (with a cricket),






And some videos too,

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtXPmWJcuZY

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ek_c2w0_5Y


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## Tleilaxu

Where do you get those things, they are awesome!


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## P. Novak

I think they are only available in europe seeing as everyone that has posted, who has one, is from europe. 


I would love to have one, if anyone in America has some, let me know!


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## Maybrick

@DJ Almighty
I need to correct you in one thing ;-): Sicarius terrosus is NOT from Africa, they are located in South- and Middle America: mf terrosus (Nicolet, 1849) *....................Chile, Argentina, Peru. Your Sicarius should be from Chile.


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## DJ_AlMighty_247

Novak said:


> I think they are only available in europe seeing as everyone that has posted, who has one, is from europe.



- http://www.vinmann.de/  (click "download" to get the full list).




Maybrick said:


> @DJ Almighty
> I need to correct you in one thing ;-): Sicarius terrosus is NOT from Africa, they are located in South- and Middle America: mf terrosus (Nicolet, 1849) *....................Chile, Argentina, Peru. Your Sicarius should be from Chile.



Ok. Is _Sicarius hahnii_ from Africa? Confused by the species


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## Maybrick

Hi,
you can always use Platnick, its free ;-).
Listed in the moment are:
albospinosus Purcell, 1908....................South Africa
damarensis Lawrence, 1928....................Namibia
dolichocephalus Lawrence, 1928....................Namibia
hahni (Karsch, 1878)....................Namibia
spatulatus Pocock, 1900....................South Africa
testaceus Purcell, 1908....................South Africa


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## Bigboy

They bury themselves?!?


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## Bigfoot

Bigboy said:


> They bury themselves?!?


yes, they hide in the substrat


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## RottweilExpress

That's it, I'm buying some! 

Have to be careful not to be bitten though.


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## wayne the pain

Any updates?


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## RottweilExpress

I bought 4 of them and are raising them happily =) 

I'd love to add pics but I have no good cam to do it.

They are fast, but very nice in temper.


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## tarantulasperu

buthus said:


> Thomas Vinmann has/had the African flavor of these available.  I have been tempted ...they look cool and if I remember correctly, like many Sicariidaes they live a long time compared to most true spiders.
> But they need to be treated with the respect...
> 
> _Sicarius  hahnii_
> Definately would be a great addition to the hobby on this side of the pond.
> 
> Edit:  I was wrong... Vinmann has _Sicarius terrosus_ on his list. (Chile, Argentina, Peru)


yes these spiders are very reluctant to bite usually the younger specimens are more prone to bite. i had handle this species before and even crush them slightly and they still wont bite but when they do bite you you are in a whole lot of trouble there is no cure for their venom.


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## tarantulasperu

Gordon said:


> @ Improver
> That's intersting, when i am watching older pictures of my Sicarius (from the time when i got them) they where brown. So they really seems to adapt their coloration to the surroundings. I would like to see a picture of your yellow ones.
> 
> @ buthus / CopperInMyVeins
> Of course they have to be treated with caution, because I think no one can tell me how potent the venom of S.terrosus is. And i don't want to find it out.
> Sorry, but most of the slings will go to a friend. So i am not able to sell some of them to others.
> Ask Thomas Vinmann or Dirk Reimann.
> http://www.vinmann.de/
> http://www.beepworld.de/members99/dirk_reimann/


their venom is necrotic and alot more powerful at necrosis than the brown recluse spider its said its the spider with the most powerful necrosis the cool thing is they are extremely reluctant to bite.


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## cjm1991

I just posted a thread about these lol,.. guess I didnt look far enough down the page and I would have fond this. Oh well nice spiders, Im getting a couple within a few days.


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## SandyMuffinCakes94

I was wondering if there is any other spider like these that bury themselves like that that you wouldnt need to keep a extra eye , care, etc. to ? there so cute when they bury.


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