huntsman

[Kykaehel]

hey all,

umm please forgive my lack of knowledge of scientific names but i was wondering if anyone could help me with an id of this spider and perhaps some care info. i've already been looking around and found out a few things i'm just mainly curious about setting up a nice home for it.

he/she decided to get friendly with my arm at work the other day in one of our bug rooms and i couldn't bear to let it be squished by a workmate so i "adopted" it. hehe.

anywho, thanks in advance guys...

oo one other thing... it's left side rear leg is gone, it looks like it's been like it for a little while but does anyone know if they regenerate?

uhh sorry for all the questions ^.^;

 

[lucanidae]

Looks like an ultimate male Delena canceridies to me. If it's not that sp., it's defintly an ultimate male. He won't live long in captivity or make a good pet, let him go outside so he can get his job done.

 

[Kykaehel]

is it because he's older that he wouldn't make a good pet or because of the species. i'm just curious because i also have a younger one that's only about a third of the size that's been eating well and has moulted once already.

i know the perfect place to let him go with no risk of squishing hehe, if i can get some more pics of him when i do before he hides then i'll post a few >^.^<

and thanks.

 

[lucanidae]

It's just because he's older, mature males don't live long, don't eat much, and just constantly look for females until they wither away. If you have a younger one and it's doing fine and it legal to keep it then I don't see why you wouldn't. It's strange to find Delena more than 3 meters from their colonies; especially during the day, so the other one and possibly this male might not be this species. However, that pic really looks like one and I work with them every day, so I have a good sense of the species. Post a pic of the smaller one if you can and I'll guess for you.

 

[Kykaehel]

lol, well i kinda hope he was far away from it and there's not a colony in my work shed hehe. they're gorgeous... in a way... but unsuspectingly having them crawl on me will give me a heartattack at 23...

thanks heaps for all the info ... sorry if i sound like a right wally

i'll try get a clear pic of the smaller one when i get home from work tonight, he's a quick little bugga though. what work do you do to work with them? umm, if you don't mind me asking that is

 

[lucanidae]

They might just have a colony in your shed, they usually live under loose bark of fallen trees! Look around carefully under loose boards. What part of Australia are you from? Anywhere near Ainsle Mountain or Gulargembone? I'd really like to have an account of them living in human built structures. Watch out for their bites, not particullarly bad but tend to itch for a couple of weeks. I'll PM you a link to the research page.

 

[Kykaehel]

there's a mighty load of places they could have a colony. it's a huge shed, the fact that it's completely concrete and bricks won't stop them because it's so full of crap they could hide behind and under that would be nice and dry and full off food. haha.

see, we breed mealworms, crickets and roaches to supply pet shops and escapees are unfortunately a common occurance. so food would be a big temptation i suppose. especially when there's no doubt there would be alot of these spiders out in the paddocks at work in all the dead trees and paperbark trees.

i'm less worried about the bite of these than i am of the bite of the red backs, which seem to think our bug rooms have the perfect conditions for them to breed and get huge. i've lost count of the ammount of them i've "found" by unknowingly placing a hand in their web on the bottom of a bug tray.

we get alot of "strays" in our shed lizards, spiders, birds, a few snakes giant grasshopper looking things that i tried real hard to id but couldn't... all looking for a free feed hehe

 

[Scolopendra55]

You need to get him a nice plump female!!

 

[Kykaehel]

well i already released the large male. not far from where i found him... or he found me rather... hopefully he gets to have some more "fun" before his life ends hehe

but the younger one i still have... and it's rather fat already but i was just wondering if anyone knew of what foods they prefer. it's already grown from an inch diameter to around an inch n a half and it's moulted once. does anyone know how often the shed their skins?

gawd i'm annoying

and last night while cleaning out a spare room i found another two spiders which i have no idea what they are... i'll try get some decent pics of them tonight. >^.^<

 

[ArachnidArmy]

Oh it's always good to have Huntsman spiders around. I hardly get any probably because they are easily eaten by the Asian House Gecko which are everywhere in Brisbane. Put up some pics up of your Huntsman! I'd love to see them