Anyone ever try breeding wolf spiders?

[chanda]

I have a pair of captive-born wolf spiders (Hogna species) from a wild-caught mother (from Tucson, AZ) who laid the egg sac while in my care. I would like to try to breed them, but I'm not sure if they'll be agreeable or not, since they've lived out their entire lives so far isolated in small cages. I do have a larger cage that I'm hoping to use as a breeding tank. It's one of those large plastic breeder boxes, roughly 12"x18"x6", with sand substrate and bits of wood and cut desert plants for hiding places. I just rehoused the female into the larger tank today and she is busy running around and exploring it.

Obviously, before I introduce the male, I need to be sure that both of them are well-fed, but does anybody have any other suggestions? Has anyone successfully bred wolf spiders in captivity?

(I did recently release a pair of Lynx spiders that had also been captive-born from a wild-caught mother and spent their entire lives in deli cups. Because there were both a male and a female, I released them both on the same rose bush - and within less than a minute, the male had found the female and begun courting her! I don't know if he was successful or not because I gave up watching after about 40 minutes, but he was definitely persistent - and she did not seem entirely opposed to the idea, nor was she acting as if she had any real interest in eating him just at the moment. With any luck, they'll breed a new generation of Lynx spiders for my garden!)

 

[wolfs79]

I have a pair of captive-born wolf spiders (Hogna species) from a wild-caught mother (from Tucson, AZ) who laid the egg sac while in my care. I would like to try to breed them, but I'm not sure if they'll be agreeable or not, since they've lived out their entire lives so far isolated in small cages. I do have a larger cage that I'm hoping to use as a breeding tank. It's one of those large plastic breeder boxes, roughly 12"x18"x6", with sand substrate and bits of wood and cut desert plants for hiding places. I just rehoused the female into the larger tank today and she is busy running around and exploring it.

Obviously, before I introduce the male, I need to be sure that both of them are well-fed, but does anybody have any other suggestions? Has anyone successfully bred wolf spiders in captivity?

(I did recently release a pair of Lynx spiders that had also been captive-born from a wild-caught mother and spent their entire lives in deli cups. Because there were both a male and a female, I released them both on the same rose bush - and within less than a minute, the male had found the female and begun courting her! I don't know if he was successful or not because I gave up watching after about 40 minutes, but he was definitely persistent - and she did not seem entirely opposed to the idea, nor was she acting as if she had any real interest in eating him just at the moment. With any luck, they'll breed a new generation of Lynx spiders for my garden!)

Hi there I have bred wolf spiers successfully I actually have couple females from Tucson area as well! Both females both about three inch legspan or 1.25 inch body.

I have bred hogna carolinensis in the past with success pretty automatic as long as female is sexually mature same as male make sure he is mature make sure she is plump full .

I tried couple weeks ago breeding my male hogna sp tucson /carolinensis she destroyed him but she layeD a sac anyhow.

Maybe she had already mated so my fingers are crossed hope sac is fertile

 

[wolfs79]

I have a pair of captive-born wolf spiders (Hogna species) from a wild-caught mother (from Tucson, AZ) who laid the egg sac while in my care. I would like to try to breed them, but I'm not sure if they'll be agreeable or not, since they've lived out their entire lives so far isolated in small cages. I do have a larger cage that I'm hoping to use as a breeding tank. It's one of those large plastic breeder boxes, roughly 12"x18"x6", with sand substrate and bits of wood and cut desert plants for hiding places. I just rehoused the female into the larger tank today and she is busy running around and exploring it.

Obviously, before I introduce the male, I need to be sure that both of them are well-fed, but does anybody have any other suggestions? Has anyone successfully bred wolf spiders in captivity?

(I did recently release a pair of Lynx spiders that had also been captive-born from a wild-caught mother and spent their entire lives in deli cups. Because there were both a male and a female, I released them both on the same rose bush - and within less than a minute, the male had found the female and begun courting her! I don't know if he was successful or not because I gave up watching after about 40 minutes, but he was definitely persistent - and she did not seem entirely opposed to the idea, nor was she acting as if she had any real interest in eating him just at the moment. With any luck, they'll breed a new generation of Lynx spiders for my garden!)

Would love to see some pics of the wolf spiders!

 

[Tigrosa]

Yep, it's been done I have never done it myself, but I have a captive-bred carolinensis that I got at a herp expo. It's probably pretty easy... wolf spiders are tough customers at any age. Once the slings molt and leave their mother, they will eat anything they can overpower. Pinheads and fruitflies work just fine. They will also eat each other.

As wolfs97's observed, the females are pretty prone to cannibalizing the males before, during, or after mating. I think that with a bit of observation and research this can probably be prevented much of the time... both male and female wolf spiders will call to each other when they are feeling the need to breed, so a soft introduction with a barrier would be a good idea before introducing the two, to see how they will reach to each other.

This is what their mating call (stridulation) sounds like.

 

[aaarg]

I've bred Tigrosa georgicola and Rabidosa punctulata (Rabidosas do much better outside, but Tigrosas are great pets!).

I'd feed the female a large meal several hours before introducing the male. If the male was alive the next day, I'd rescue him - if not, sorry bud. I got to see the mating process a few times (creep!), which is cool.

With the first couple of sacs, I was careful to re-house each individual spiderling as soon as it dispersed from the mother. That meant feeding each spider individually (flightless fruit flies) and putting water in a lot of tiny enclosures. I learned to leave all the slings in with the mom for a few days - they end up eating one another, but you're left with fewer & stronger spiders. Feels kind of cruel, though. The easiest thing is to let the slings go (assuming you caught the spider locally).

One of the cutest things I've ever seen is a bunch of lycosid spiderlings sharing their momma's prey.