Hogna Carolinensis Questions

JesseVonDobner

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
4
Hi Everyone, I need some assistance. I have a north carolina wolf spider who is almost 3 inches long and I have several questions:
1. How do I sex this lil bugger? The guy I bought it from was kind of a social retard and didn't tell me the age or gender despite my repeatedly asking. It was captive bred so I assumed this "great, reliable, knowledgeable" dealer could at least give me that much...
2. Feeding: how often should I feed him/her? Its been averaging about a cricket a week and its abdomen is huge now. When it first arrived the abdomen was quite small, now its got a jammin booty.
3. Socialization: Any pointers on handling? Everytime I stick my hand in there it runs and hides. I'm glad to know my spider's eyesight is very good, but I'd like it to know that the hand doesn't = death or harm.

on a related note I was considering giving it a pinky mouse to try, because sometimes the crickets aren't so receptive to the thought of being eaten and will hide for a very long time in the enclosure and occasionally die under some moss for no good reason. A pinky mouse would let me know reliably if its eating, but will not give it anything to hunt. Thoughts?
Eating mammals might retard any socialization process, too, as it learns that mammals can be a food source.
Anyway, maybe I'm overthinking this. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
 

dannyboypede

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
142
1. im not too good at that. i can only sex MM's haha

2.what you are doing is fine. you can really feed it as much as you want, but of course that requires it eating. meaning that you can feed it as long as it eats. when its not hungry it will stop eating.

3.you arent going to be able to really train your spider to know that the hand doesnt mean death. obviously if it is running away from you, then it isnt interested in being handled and will most likely be skittish when you finally get it out. i have a couple of wolf spiders that i handle. i keep a skewer close by so they can take their aggresion out on that and not on my finger. just dont grab or pinch it.

there is a lot of debate about feeding mammals to spiders. i dont really want to get into that because you can search it yourself. if you dont want the crickets to run and hide then you can tong feed or prod the crickets in the spider's direction. if it doesnt eat then remove the prey after a while.
spiders dont categorize things as mammal=food. they categorize things as large possible predator=run and as small moving creature that i could probably kill=food. i personally wouldnt suggest feeding it a pinkie mouse. that is a very large meal for a spider that size.

--Dan
 

loxoscelesfear

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
1,096
Males have swollen pedipalps when fully mature. Feed sparingly- a cricket once or twice a week. Carolinas are nervous spiders-- do not handle. An awesome wolf spider, one of my faves. Just observe and enjoy. Very easy spider to keep.
 
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