How would i go about caring for a harvestman?

[DrippingPopsicle]

I have been fascinated with harvestmen (daddy long legs) for a very very long time now, I have always wanted to keep one in a captive environment but there is no information online about how to take care of them. I assume they would be set up similar to a tarantula sling? IDK. They seem like they wouldn't be too hard to take care of but they seem to be the only arachnid without extensive online care guides. Can anyone give me a little help with this?

 

[BepopCola]

If you mean the Opiliones, then the short legged ones are pretty hardy. I've been keeping Vonones Sayi and I recently started keeping Dalquestia formosa. From my experience, they're pretty easy to take care of. They need damp substrate and verticle surfaces. They'll eat a lot of things - dead prey, or anything alive that they can pick up, veggies, fruits, kibble, algae wafers, beetle jelly, and they love fish flakes and dried shrimps.

I haven't had success in keeping long-legged species.

If you mean, like, cellar spiders. I think those are pretty easy to keep also, I let them live on my ceiling, but I've never kept them.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I suspect they'd appreciate a bit more space, since they're very active hunters, rather than sitting around and waiting for food to stumble past. I guess you could try with some WC local species and just try to reproduce the local environs as well as possible.

 

[ReignofInvertebrates]

I agree with @BepopCola. V. sayi are extremely easy to keep and breed. I keep them in a decent sized tub with plenty of hides and coconut fiber at a moderate humidity. I feed them a mixture of carrots (they chew on these but it may just be for moisture), fish food and pre-killed crickets (I recommend introducing springtails because they tend to mainly nibble and leave lots of remains). I've never attempted keeping the long-legged ones but if you're into harvestmen I definitely recommend the ornate ones.

Dalquestia formosa

Wow, I've never heard of D. formosa. Those are awesome looking. Have you had success breeding them?

 

[DrippingPopsicle]

If you mean the Opiliones, then the short legged ones are pretty hardy. I've been keeping Vonones Sayi and I recently started keeping Dalquestia formosa. From my experience, they're pretty easy to take care of. They need damp substrate and verticle surfaces. They'll eat a lot of things - dead prey, or anything alive that they can pick up, veggies, fruits, kibble, algae wafers, beetle jelly, and they love fish flakes and dried shrimps.

I haven't had success in keeping long-legged species.

If you mean, like, cellar spiders. I think those are pretty easy to keep also, I let them live on my ceiling, but I've never kept them.

So the long leg species are very difficult to keep? I found some "harvestlings" near my house and I was really hoping I could collect and raise them, do you think that would be possible? If not where would i buy those hardier species.

 

[BepopCola]

Wow, I've never heard of D. formosa. Those are awesome looking. Have you had success breeding them?

Not yet but I've only had more than 1 for a couple of weeks now. I'm hoping to find more when (if) it rains.

So the long leg species are very difficult to keep? I found some "harvestlings" near my house and I was really hoping I could collect and raise them, do you think that would be possible?

I'm no expert, so I may not have been providing them with something they needed. @Albireo Wulfbooper mentioned that they were active hunters,.. and I was keeping them like scavengers [that could be why mine died out].
You can give them a shot!

As for the shorter ones, I've seen them on the classifieds from time to time.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I'm no expert, so I may not have been providing them with something they needed. @Albireo Wulfbooper mentioned that they were active hunters,.. and I was keeping them like scavengers.
You can give them a shot!

I haven't kept any of them, so my knowledge is limited to what I've observed of the species common in my region. I wouldn't be surprised if there are significant differences in feeding behaviours among this group.