Crab spiders

[Anonymity82]

So I was thinking of possibly trying to catch a crab spider but I can't find any reliable information on caring for them at home. Has anybody kept any of the flower dwelling crab spiders or can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

[Ciphor]

Flower crab spiders can be tricky to keep happy in an enclosure. They are also seasonal (1 year cycle) so if you find a mature one, you will be lucky to get 6 months out of it.

 

[Anonymity82]

They're so awesome looking though. I don't want them to be unhappy either. Thanks Ciphor. I don't know enough about them to attempt keeping it if it's going to be tricky.

 

[le-thomas]

I've got some kinda Xysticus who seems to be at least a year old (had it for around 8 months). It has laid an eggsac which has yet to hatch (and I'm not sure if it ever will).

 

[mmfh]

I currently have a yellow crab spider. I keep it in a small container with a hide and a fake flower to climb on. I mist it a tiny bit once a week and keep the substrate dry. So far it is eating and living. I have to give it dead crickets as it is very little and I dont have pinheads. It will drag the cricket up the side of the cage and eat on it for about two days.i feed it once every two weeks. No idea if this is the right way to keep them but so far it is working. Good luck.

 

[Anonymity82]

How small a container? I was wondering if I kept it in a XL iced coffee cup since they're arboreal. At least I think they're arboreal. They live in the flowers haha. An inch of substrate at the bottom and a fake flower, maybe some fake leaves too.

 

[mmfh]

I keep it in a 2/2.5" long by ~4" high plastic container with two 1/4" holes in the plastic lid covered with window screening. I have an inch of dry coco fiber with a tiny styrofoam hide and a fake plant. The spider hangs out all over the tank, from the top to the ground, and actually seems to have spun trip lines around the container. Today while trying to feed it a small dead cricket a 1/4" cricket jumped in the container and *bam* that tiny crab spider had that cricket in its fangs! Very impressive to see.

 

[Anonymity82]

Really cool. I'm going hiking tomorrow and I'm going to try and get me a crab spider. I'm going to use a little piece of cork bark for a hide on the bottom and a couple of these fake plants. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Anonymity82]

:/ No luck. I didn't see any flowers and I'm not sure where else to look for them. There's a lot of flowers in our neighborhood so maybe I'll just check out their flowers.