K.hibernalis

[buthus]

Back in sept 06 I received a female K.hibernalis with slings as a freebe with a spider purchase. I stuck them in a small jar (3" high, 2.5"diameter) ...cotton they were shipped with and all. I intended on giving them a big community enclosure to start a colony, but never got around to it ...like most of my intentions.
I did make an enclosure for the adult female and she eventually webbed it up nice, creating that classic "black-hole spider" web.

Here are some shots of the adult feeding within her enclosure...

This is from inside her den looking out...

The slings remained in their little jar. I'm not sure how many I started out with ...guessing around 35 or maybe 40 (?) or so. I dipped into the population for trades ...probably took out 20.
They grew slowly ..fed them whatever was around from other feedings going on. Just opened the jar and threw food in. Maybe every couple weeks or so. They started out tiny, but now the biggest of the bunch has a leg-span of over a half inch.
Here they are ...last night...

I want to give them a big enclosure to see if they will grow as a community, but decided I had to do something with them for the time being...
Took a big jar (8" high, 4.75" diameter) and siliconed a nice cactus root to the "bottom". This should allow each some space and enough nooks and crannies for all.

Carefully started pulling out all the carcasses, molts and whatnot ...and the spiders of course...

Looked thru the refuse very carefully so not to miss any of the spiders ...and to look for signs of deaths/"siblingcide"... found only ONE obvious carcass. These are so faithful to the "clan" that even though they will eat some dead and almost rotting cricket, they didnt touch their dead sibling. Rare deal in the world of spiders indeed...

The clan while in the collection cup...

Couldnt count them in real time ...but with the photo, looks like I have sixteen...

Shots of 2 of them exploring their new home...

fun stuff :Rockon:

 

[vulpina]

Very nice, cool looking little guys.

Andy

 

[cacoseraph]

damn dude, that's awesome.

there is a thread somewhere that talks about spiders that you could breed as feeders... *ahem*. for something like these, i would say with what you got in those 16 slings, if they continue to be all hunky dory even into maturity... in like 2 generations you would have thousands and thousands of spiders. and that would take like... well, 4-6 years probably. hmm, maybe not the greatest feeder ever. but as a super bonus treat, hell yeah.

or if anybody ever tries to raise portia or something like that. spider hunting spiders.

 

[buthus]

Very nice, cool looking little guys.

Andy

Thanks I think they are pretty cool too.

damn dude, that's awesome.

there is a thread somewhere that talks about spiders that you could breed as feeders... *ahem*. for something like these, i would say with what you got in those 16 slings, if they continue to be all hunky dory even into maturity... in like 2 generations you would have thousands and thousands of spiders. and that would take like... well, 4-6 years probably. hmm, maybe not the greatest feeder ever. but as a super bonus treat, hell yeah.

or if anybody ever tries to raise portia or something like that. spider hunting spiders.

I think I showed you the hibernalis "snow-globe" when u were here. reminded me that I wanted/needed to take them out and see whats happening.

They wouldnt make for a good feeder species. I have a feeling that they only produce one or two sacs per mating. This adult has never produced another brood for me besides the slings that came with her. Yet, if a decent sized colony was thriving one could definitely dip into it now and then. ...like you said...for feeding another specialized specie or whatnot.

 

[syndicate]

nice shots.how do they get air tho?

 

[cacoseraph]

nice shots.how do they get air tho?

the amount of air that seeps in the lid (and thread, buthus?) holes is more than sufficient for the amount of spiders in there. even if you had the weight of a person in spiders, the spiders would consume at least an order of magnitude less oxygen

 

[buthus]

the amount of air that seeps in the lid (and thread, buthus?) holes is more than sufficient for the amount of spiders in there. even if you had the weight of a person in spiders, the spiders would consume at least an order of magnitude less oxygen

These two jars, even though the lids barely cover the threads, seal fairly tight against the rubber ring inside the lid, so drilling holes in the side of the lids probably wouldnt help much. (I have cut notches into these rings before, just didnt think of it this time)
But anyway, both lids have tons of holes punched into them. Even when turned over, there should be enough air getting in.
IMHO, I believe many trues need more air flow (fresh air = less mold spores and whatnot) than we normally give them, but these ..probably not so important. Feeding time also means big air exchange day also.

 

[pitbulllady]

That's a nice set-up for the 'slings. I had pieces of cut-up cardboard for mine to hide in, and I eventually wound up with 22 live 'slings, which I later released. I still have three adult females, though, including the mother of the eggsac. These are really nice spiders, easy to keep and docile. What is REALLY fun, though, is to observe the behavior of a wild colony at night, to see the interactions between individuals, both male and female and observe their pack-like hunting behavior in taking down large prey, like American Cockroaches or a cicada, or how they react to different stimuli, like the flashlight or noise. Here in SC, we have LOTS of these spiders, and now that school is out, I can observe and photograph them in their natural habitats outdoors again.

pitbulllady

 

[buthus]

and now that school is out, I can observe and photograph them in their natural habitats outdoors again.

I would very much like to see any natural habitat pics you take.

 

[Ando55]

Very nice setup, it's also great to hear how they regard and respect each other a well oiled colony not even touching their dead siblings, rarity indeed!

 

[gunslinger]

Very cool. For some reason I have trouble keeping these guys alive. I got 4 about a month ago. One somehow fell and ruptured itself, subsequently dying. Another just up and died for no apparent reason.

What type of feeders do you use for the adults? Mine seem to have a difficult time catching the quick crickets I give them.

 

[8+)]

They should do fine with crix. You can always injure them and stick them in the web.

 

[cacoseraph]

Very cool. For some reason I have trouble keeping these guys alive. I got 4 about a month ago. One somehow fell and ruptured itself, subsequently dying. Another just up and died for no apparent reason.

What type of feeders do you use for the adults? Mine seem to have a difficult time catching the quick crickets I give them.

if you catch a female that has already made an eggsac she might be on the way out. has happened to me before.

 

[8+)]

if you catch a female that has already made an eggsac she might be on the way out. has happened to me before.

I don't know for sure, but it seems improbable that the females die after making a sac, as they are known to live for up to eight years.

 

[buthus]

My juvs just took down a good sized black beetle, a few isopods, some earwigs and some crix. Once they lay down their nasty webbing, nothing struggles thru it unnoticed. Ive seen them share food a few times, but mostly they hog it with their siblings seemingly respecting their catch, so I try and throw in plenty prey for all.

if you catch a female that has already made an eggsac she might be on the way out. has happened to me before.

Like I stated above, I got my girl with sac/slings in sept 06 and she has just recently molted ...seems to be going strong. Maybe u so happened to find yours towards the end of her life and the added stress of capture and sac production were the straws that broke the camels back. ??

 

[cacoseraph]

My juvs just took down a good sized black beetle, a few isopods, some earwigs and some crix. Once they lay down their nasty webbing, nothing struggles thru it unnoticed. Ive seen them share food a few times, but mostly they hog it with their siblings seemingly respecting their catch, so I try and throw in plenty prey for all.


Like I stated above, I got my girl with sac/slings in sept 06 and she has just recently molted ...seems to be going strong. Maybe u so happened to find yours towards the end of her life and the added stress of capture and sac production were the straws that broke the camels back. ??

wait... the female that the spiderlings came from MOLTED? i was not under the impression true spiders were annually iteroparous?? er... that's not quite what i mean. i thought that true spiders had a maturing molt... which is also their ultimate molt. if that is not the case that kuk's are WAY cooler than i thought! and i already think they are pretty spiffy!

 

[buthus]

wait... the female that the spiderlings came from MOLTED? i was not under the impression true spiders were annually iteroparous?? er... that's not quite what i mean. i thought that true spiders had a maturing molt... which is also their ultimate molt. if that is not the case that kuk's are WAY cooler than i thought! and i already think they are pretty spiffy!

I thought there was a bunch(?) of true spider species that continued to molt ??

Actually, this would be her 2nd molt since producing slings.

 

[pitbulllady]

I thought there was a bunch(?) of true spider species that continued to molt ??

Actually, this would be her 2nd molt since producing slings.

All three of my captive female K. hibernalis have recently moulted, and this marks the second time that one of them has moulted while in my car, and the first that the largest has moulted, and this is after producing a successful eggsac, too. I also keep tabs on a few "free-range" colonies on our property, and I have observed individual females having moulted more than once. Apparently this species emulated tarantulas and other Mygalamorphs in more ways than just superficial appearance.

pitbulllady

 

[cacoseraph]

holy crap! this is awesome! i never knew that. learned something GOOD!

 

[Gigas]

Apparently this species emulated tarantulas and other Mygalamorphs in more ways than just superficial appearance.

pitbulllady

They are in the 4th most primitive araneomorph family, strange how quite a few of the primitive spiders hapily co habitate and the further up the chart you get the less they seem to.