Extremely Large Wolf Spider?

[pbenner]

Hi guys,

When I picked my Girlfriend up from work this afternoon, she and her coworkers were in a tizzy about a very large spider carrying her young that was stuck to a glue trap.

Noting that she was alive, I took her home and got her loose, but she appears to have injured herself struggling, some of her legs are not working like they should. Combine with the hundreds of babies on her back, I want to help.

I'm going to move her into a shoe box with some dirt and a hide for now, and offer her a Dubia in a couple of days, but what else can I do for her and the littles? She is honestly as big as my native Texas Tarantula...

 

[The Snark]

Putting it bluntly, Mommy is toast. Or rather, pretty much WYSIWYG. She's fully mature and will not molt again so her legs are unlikely to be repaired. Your best course of action is keeping her and her kids happy, allowing mom to enjoy her remaining time on the planet as best you can.
Thanks much for the rescue and may your world be filled with curious lycosids for years to come.
I'll step aside here and let the experts in their husbandry chime in.

 

[pbenner]

Putting it bluntly, Mommy is toast. Or rather, pretty much WYSIWYG. She's fully mature and will not molt again so her legs are unlikely to be repaired. Your best course of action is keeping her and her kids happy, allowing mom to enjoy her remaining time on the planet as best you can.
Thanks much for the rescue and may your world be filled with curious lycosids for years to come.
I'll step aside here and let the experts in their husbandry chime in.

Thank you my friend! I was pretty sure that this was the case, so I didn't want to just let her loose being damaged and all. I set her up in a large semi-clear tub like I use for my adult T and have her and the little ones in there. Seeing as that she is 3-4x the size of most of the mature adult females I've seen, I am most interested in raising her little ones. She's as HUGE.

I'll take care of her through her last of her days, but I've ordered in 100 3.25oz cups for the babies to be moved in, and I'm prepping extra Fruit Fly Colonies now.

Paul

 

[wolfs79]

Thank you my friend! I was pretty sure that this was the case, so I didn't want to just let her loose being damaged and all. I set her up in a large semi-clear tub like I use for my adult T and have her and the little ones in there. Seeing as that she is 3-4x the size of most of the mature adult females I've seen, I am most interested in raising her little ones. She's as HUGE.

I'll take care of her through her last of her days, but I've ordered in 100 3.25oz cups for the babies to be moved in, and I'm prepping extra Fruit Fly Colonies now.

Paul

Would love to see some pics of her and would be interested in buying some of the young if your ever interested in selling some.

 

[pbenner]

In order:

On the trap
Freshly off the trap and in my 5 gallon bucket.
That night in her new temporary house.
Last one is tonight with her babies starting to come off and explore.

 

[pbenner]

Would love to see some pics of her and would be interested in buying some of the young if your ever interested in selling some.

Pictures above. I've never shipped spiders before but I know some people around that have. I don't doubt if I can get them eating that I'll have more than I know what to do with. I'll keep this updated. I'm gonna start moving them into tubs tonight.

Paul

 

[mantisfan101]

A hogna sp! Nice!
Also gonna be honest but it mommy spider's not in good shape. She can't heal those legs. Yu might be able to keep her alive for a while for a couple months but she's not gonna be able to recover from that.

 

[Cherri]

I'll take a baby or 2! I love wolf spiders! She's gorgeous. Too bad mama in bad shape.

 

[wolfs79]

Thanks for the pictures she is lovely looking even though shes got some problems with her legs looks like you did an amazing job saving her hats off to you!

Definitely would like some I would like to keep in touch with you through private messaging.

I used to breed hogna carolinensis mine came from Arizona, and Florida, localities.

I would love to have some from Texas, which more than likely these are Hogna carolinensis but would need ventral picture to be sure but not worth disturbing her right now.

If she's as large as you say she is she should be carolinensis or Carolina wolf spider.

Of course I would wait until the are maybe 1.5 inches in legspan before I would have you ship them depending on how many you keep I would like it least 8 of them.

They are super easy to raise / will be able to take pin head crickets in no time.

They do grow somewhat slower that other true spiders, but not until they reach juvenile stage so at first expect fast growth I will keep in touch with you, and if you, have any questions please feel free to contact me, through arachnoboards private message or at arachnids2000@gmail.com


OTE="pbenner, post: 2984412, member: 138991"]Pictures above. I've never shipped spiders before but I know some people around that have. I don't doubt if I can get them eating that I'll have more than I know what to do with. I'll keep this updated. I'm gonna start moving them into tubs tonight.

Paul[/QUOTE]

 

[pbenner]

This is my Friday night. Lol.



50 cups full of dirt and starting to move babies. Using eco earth. Headed to get a fruit fly culture tomorrow to drop flies in all the cups. I need to poke holes yet too for ventilation.

Paul

 

[pbenner]

Thanks for the pictures she is lovely looking even though shes got some problems with her legs looks like you did an amazing job saving her hats off to you!

Definitely would like some I would like to keep in touch with you through private messaging.

I used to breed hogna carolinensis mine came from Arizona, and Florida, localities.

I would love to have some from Texas, which more than likely these are Hogna carolinensis but would need ventral picture to be sure but not worth disturbing her right now.

If she's as large as you say she is she should be carolinensis or Carolina wolf spider.

Of course I would wait until the are maybe 1.5 inches in legspan before I would have you ship them depending on how many you keep I would like it least 8 of them.

They are super easy to raise / will be able to take pin head crickets in no time.

They do grow somewhat slower that other true spiders, but not until they reach juvenile stage so at first expect fast growth I will keep in touch with you, and if you, have any questions please feel free to contact me, through arachnoboards private message or at arachnids2000@gmail.com

Pictures above. I've never shipped spiders before but I know some people around that have. I don't doubt if I can get them eating that I'll have more than I know what to do with. I'll keep this updated. I'm gonna start moving them into tubs tonight.

Paul

Hey man. Your inbox is full. As you can see I am separating babies. You're welcome to send me a message and get my email address.

Paul

 

[pbenner]

I got 64 of them into individual tubs so far.

I am using a 16g needle to poke holes in the plastic. 4 in the lid near the middle and then 4 around the tub. Should I add more to each cup?

Paul

 

[wolfs79]

Hey man. Your inbox is full. As you can see I am separating babies. You're welcome to send me a message and get my email address.

Paul

Looks great I cleaned my inbox up now.

 

[kevinlowl]

How big is the mother exactly?

 

[wolfs79]

Maybe get a leg span and body length to give us an idea or put a quarter next to her for size reference.

 

[pbenner]

Here she is with a quarter for reference. I have removed 100 babies so far and have more cups arriving tomorrow. An Entomologist suggest to leave them with her until they vacate on their own and have been moving them one at a time to 5.5oz deli cups.

They are getting hydei fruit flies and the ones interested have attacked and killed almost immediately.

I've got to prep some live oak leaves off my yard tree but am going to put half a leaf In each tub for something to hide under/hunt from.

Anything else? I will admit I am a total newbie here but am having a lot of fun.

Paul

 

[Tortuga]

you're gonna go blind from feeding all those tiny slings lol. Just a tip, they will scavenge. I found it way easier to chop up feeders rather than use WFF. Trying to wrangle slings and fruit flies is like trying to keep two dogs and a cat in a bath tub.

 

[pbenner]

you're gonna go blind from feeding all those tiny slings lol. Just a tip, they will scavenge. I found it way easier to chop up feeders rather than use WFF. Trying to wrangle slings and fruit flies is like trying to keep two dogs and a cat in a bath tub.

Hello sir!

WFF is Wild Fruit Flies? I've got cultures of flightless fruit flies currently. The current enclosures that the slings are in give me about 2cm of clearance from the surface of substrate to the rim of the cup. Plenty of time to open, insert fly and close. The little spiders can't climb the ultra smooth plastic so there is little risk.

I'm feeding through a similar method to how I moved them around from mommy's box to their tubs. I've got a piece of slightly stiff paper bent in a V. I place this under the animal to be moved and then tap it into the cup. I've only lost one Sling and a fly or two this way. 99% success rate and going up.

I'm glad to know they will scavenge. I'll just keep throwing in flies weekly. If the fly dies it could still get eaten is good. Makes me happy.

I'm still all ears for anyone with advice. I'm totally new at this and want to not screw up.

Paul

 

[wolfs79]

View attachment 323258

Here she is with a quarter for reference. I have removed 100 babies so far and have more cups arriving tomorrow. An Entomologist suggest to leave them with her until they vacate on their own and have been moving them one at a time to 5.5oz deli cups.

They are getting hydei fruit flies and the ones interested have attacked and killed almost immediately.

I've got to prep some live oak leaves off my yard tree but am going to put half a leaf In each tub for something to hide under/hunt from.

Anything else? I will admit I am a total newbie here but am having a lot of fun.

Paul

See if you can get some peat moss or eco earth for substrate you can still use leaves etc.

 

[pbenner]

See if you can get some peat moss or eco earth for substrate you can still use leaves etc.

They are on Eco Earth that's been pressed down so it holds form currently. Was going to do the leaf for some type of hide.