General Questions About Paraphrynus Cubensis

[Amblypygi00456]

I recently got a paraphrynus cubensis baby from a reptile expo, and I had been wondering why it wasn't eating any of the fruit flies I gave it. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted that it had molted. From here there are a couple of questions that I have regarding the care of this species.

1. Do tailless whip scorpions eat their own molts?
2. Will spraying the sides of the enclosure with water be enough for providing sufficient hydration?
3. How long do I wait until I try feeding it again?
4. Do these species eat flightless fruit flies when they are little?

 

[that1ocelot]

@mantisfan101 can give you a specific overview of the species, I believe they've bred them.

But I also got a bunch from likely the same expo! I'll give some general amblypygi knowledge.

1. They do not eat their own molts.

2. The only times I've ever seen my whip spiders drink is when I neglected to keep their substrate wet for a long period of time. I discourage everyone from spraying their whips in general, just saturate the substrate so it's moist. Whip spiders don't need any additional hydration.

3. Generally I wait 7 - 10 days for newly molted animals.

4. Fruit flies bad. For amblypygi. For whatever reason, they seem to not give the appropriate nutrients for molting. I'd advise against feeding them fruit flies just about 100% of the time. It can be successful, but not worth the risk. I've seen quite a number of accounts where young animals were only fed fruit flies, never molt and just die.

I've got animals from the same clutch eating 1/4 inch crickets. I just give em a little smush before I toss them in. They'll happily take pre-killed or maimed prey.

 

[Amblypygi00456]

@mantisfan101 can give you a specific overview of the species, I believe they've bred them.

But I also got a bunch from likely the same expo! I'll give some general amblypygi knowledge.

1. They do not eat their own molts.

2. The only times I've ever seen my whip spiders drink is when I neglected to keep their substrate wet for a long period of time. I discourage everyone from spraying their whips in general, just saturate the substrate so it's moist. Whip spiders don't need any additional hydration.

3. Generally I wait 7 - 10 days for newly molted animals.

4. Fruit flies bad. For amblypygi. For whatever reason, they seem to not give the appropriate nutrients for molting. I'd advise against feeding them fruit flies just about 100% of the time. It can be successful, but not worth the risk. I've seen quite a number of accounts where young animals were only fed fruit flies, never molt and just die.

I've got animals from the same clutch eating 1/4 inch crickets. I just give em a little smush before I toss them in. They'll happily take pre-killed or maimed prey.

Thank you very much for the info! I didn't know that fruit flies were not sufficient feeders. Good to know. As for gut-loading, what should I feed the crickets?

 

[Sarkhan42]

@mantisfan101 can give you a specific overview of the species, I believe they've bred them.

But I also got a bunch from likely the same expo! I'll give some general amblypygi knowledge.

1. They do not eat their own molts.

2. The only times I've ever seen my whip spiders drink is when I neglected to keep their substrate wet for a long period of time. I discourage everyone from spraying their whips in general, just saturate the substrate so it's moist. Whip spiders don't need any additional hydration.

3. Generally I wait 7 - 10 days for newly molted animals.

4. Fruit flies bad. For amblypygi. For whatever reason, they seem to not give the appropriate nutrients for molting. I'd advise against feeding them fruit flies just about 100% of the time. It can be successful, but not worth the risk. I've seen quite a number of accounts where young animals were only fed fruit flies, never molt and just die.

I've got animals from the same clutch eating 1/4 inch crickets. I just give em a little smush before I toss them in. They'll happily take pre-killed or maimed prey.

Great rundown, but I strongly disagree with point 2. Almost every time I do maintenance, I see my whips drinking after spraying down their enclosure, multiple individuals every time across a collection of 100+ now. Often it’s only after I wait 20-30 minutes for them to settle from being disturbed, but it happens like clockwork.

 

[Sarkhan42]

For cubensis specifics, there isn’t much. They seem pretty hardy but grow more slowly than most IME. I feed/water once a week, wetting the substrate and allowing for droplets to form for drinking. They take crickets readily, both prekilled and live.

If you’re curious, this is what their US habitat looks like (at least where I’ve had success finding them)

edit: I have no idea why this originally attached like 8 photos. Please ignore

 

[Amblypygi00456]

For cubensis specifics, there isn’t much. They seem pretty hardy but grow more slowly than most IME. I feed/water once a week, wetting the substrate and allowing for droplets to form for drinking. They take crickets readily, both prekilled and live.

If you’re curious, this is what their US habitat looks like (at least where I’ve had success finding them) View attachment 445623

edit: I have no idea why this originally attached like 8 photos. Please ignore

Oh wow! I've never seen their natural habitat before. Cool!

 

[Amblypygi00456]

Great rundown, but I strongly disagree with point 2. Almost every time I do maintenance, I see my whips drinking after spraying down their enclosure, multiple individuals every time across a collection of 100+ now. Often it’s only after I wait 20-30 minutes for them to settle from being disturbed, but it happens like clockwork.

So should I mist the enclosure every few days, or should I moisten the substrate with a syringe?

 

[Sarkhan42]

So should I mist the enclosure every few days, or should I moisten the substrate with a syringe?

I moisten the substrate to the desired level when I set the enclosure up, and then once or twice a week I remoisten the soil with a spraybottle, and spray down the enclosure surfaces to give them areas to get a drink.

 

[that1ocelot]

I moisten the substrate to the desired level when I set the enclosure up, and then once or twice a week I remoisten the soil with a spraybottle, and spray down the enclosure surfaces to give them areas to get a drink.

Interesting! I'll definitely try that regime out.
@Amblypygi00456 for most species, more moisture is good. I'd try out what Sarkhan suggested

 

[Amblypygi00456]

I moisten the substrate to the desired level when I set the enclosure up, and then once or twice a week I remoisten the soil with a spraybottle, and spray down the enclosure surfaces to give them areas to get a drink.

Thank you for the info!

 

[Amblypygi00456]

Interesting! I'll definitely try that regime out.
@Amblypygi00456 for most species, more moisture is good. I'd try out what Sarkhan suggested

Thank you for the info!