Don't kill me!

[WidowMaker]

Yes, they will completely wall theirselves in. That's actually a normal thing for them to do. One thing, that nobody's mentioned much about is diet. Some types have strict diets.... certain types of beetles, one only eats termites, another type eats small lizards. That might be part of the problem with keeping them for such a short time before death. Alot of people just throw crickets in with them and don't understand why they don't eat much. In the wild, these things do eat alot... and drink alot.... because they are so active. Their are several species that eat crickets just fine, but if not, they will starve to death... either by just 'nibbling' on what you give them, or not eating at all. If it turns down what you give it, try something else. Mine are Eremochelis bilobatus and they seem to thrive on termites. As far as plants go, I've never seen (or heard) of one that used plants to hide, unless they dug down underneath into the root system so I'd stick with rocks and bark. Best wishes.

 

[dragontears]

well he hasn't touched his crickets. I put some more hides in and he burrowed under another one quite quickly. Is there a place to tell what species eats what or should I just experiment with various foods?

Thanks

 

[WidowMaker]

Hmmmm, I only know of one website that has reasonably accurate info on them.... I just get all mine from experimentation, watching them, and friends in the field. Anyway.... www.solpugid.com. Best wishes.

 

[dragontears]

Thanks, I actually have read through that site a bit already. I'll try offering beetles tonight and see what happens. If I can't keep him alive I have a friend in San Francisco that has offered to stuff and dry him for me so that I can keep him on display at least. He still hasn't come out of his new burrow...

 

[cacoseraph]

I don't know if I should add now. All I can do is stress. You need a hell lot of cool hiding places. And I have to agree with the general consensus they are totally nuts and fast. Psionix is right - they do have one of the strongest jaw pressures in relation to body mass. These things have been known to chew through the wire tops on cages. That is just a forewarning. Don't be surprised if it doesn't last more than two weeks. I also have to stress the enclosure size. They do need a lot of space. They are very tweaky creatures. If you keep it in a 2.5 gallon - claustrophobia will set in, and the thing will literally run itself to death. They have extremely high metabolisms and therefore should eat it's own body mass everyday (I think that is right. Someone may have to double check this.) High temperatures was covered... blah, blah, blah... Okay, I think you are good to go. Keep updating regularly here for the next week and a half. These are important days.

Cheers
The Sickness

my 1"-1.5" lasted almost six months in a deli cup stuffed with hides. all the other solipugids i had (one in a large breeder box) died MUCH faster (1-2 months)

i kind of think the little guy interpreted the whole cup as a burrow. it never really ran around much. it did rearrange the cup/burrow every once in a while

 

[dragontears]

Cacoseraph: what did you feed yours?

 

[ilovebugs]

I really don't know anything much, but I thought since you said you might try beetles...

Mealworms aren't hard to raise to beetles. They are easy to rear, I'm on my third generation.

so if he'll eat those, that would be good.

 

[dragontears]

I really don't know anything much, but I thought since you said you might try beetles...

Mealworms aren't hard to raise to beetles. They are easy to rear, I'm on my third generation.

so if he'll eat those, that would be good.

I actually already raise mealworms as I have a collection of herps that eat them. I'm currently overrun with thoushands of mealworms/pupae/beetles at the moment so if my newest little guy will eat beetles then all the better.

He's still buried and for all I know hasn't eaten yet. He's still alive though since the pile of dirt in front of his hole keeps getting bigger.

 

[dragontears]

UPDATE:

I've had the little guy for a week now. He won't tough crickets (and actually shies away from them) but I've gotten him to eat a beetle. Hopefully he'll continue to eat. He spends most of his time under a bark piece in the middle of his tank. He comes out a little and moves to another hide for a few hours before going back to his favorite burrow. I'm misting him every day and his temp remains relatively constant during the day at 92 degrees. Hopefully I can keep the guy alive for awhile.