Roach (or Mantid) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra

[hydrophyte]

Well that species I showed you the females and males seem to stay close. The female usually has a larger web with a male in a smaller web just a few inches away. So they might be possible to breed in captivity. If any enclosure was nice enough to promote captive breeding it would be yours.

I wonder if that spider occurs here in Wisconsin(??). It sure would be interesting to try to establish captive colonies of native spiders.

---------- Post added 06-27-2012 at 12:28 AM ----------

I did a quick search and apparently the most recent FS thread here on arachnoboards for the H. boiei is from two years ago...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?176673-Heteropoda-boiei-slings!%28Malaysian-Green-Huntsman%29&highlight=Heteropoda+boiei

 

[hydrophyte]

I was looking through my folders and ran into this other shot from before I added the leaf litter and with a different perspective.

I am working on this thing some more today so I might have new pictures to share a bit later on. I just called our local glass shop to get a little piece of 1/8" glazing for the top.

 

[Arianji]

It says on the insectID that the orchard spiders occur into Wisconsin. Other than backyards I find these spiders naturally in deep woods, where they also occur around water sources. (usually I find them face to face as I walk through their low hanging webs)

 

[Entomancer]

I did a quick search and apparently the most recent FS thread here on arachnoboards for the H. boiei is from two years ago...

There are other people who have them. Exopet posted pictures of one that he/she has in the true spider picture thread. I don't know what the availability of that species is at present, but some people around here still have them.

Ken the Bug Guy's website had some for sale at one point too, it looks like. I also found some people who got some of them a few years ago here:

scabies.myfreeforum.org/

The females apparently get pretty large, to nearly 8 inches in legspan, but the males are smaller...I know that other species of huntsman get around 4 or 5 inches in legspan at adulthood, so a male might work out if you're willing to find one...the only problem I see with this is that in order to keep them around, you'd need to breed them, and that might not be worth it just to have one male on display.

 

[hydrophyte]

There are other people who have them. Exopet posted pictures of one that he/she has in the true spider picture thread. I don't know what the availability of that species is at present, but some people around here still have them.

Ken the Bug Guy's website had some for sale at one point too, it looks like. I also found some people who got some of them a few years ago here:

scabies.myfreeforum.org/

The females apparently get pretty large, to nearly 8 inches in legspan, but the males are smaller...I know that other species of huntsman get around 4 or 5 inches in legspan at adulthood, so a male might work out if you're willing to find one...the only problem I see with this is that in order to keep them around, you'd need to breed them, and that might not be worth it just to have one male on display.

Thanks. I think that a huntsman would really be too big to scale right with this little enclosure, but I am intrigued by them. Maybe I will have a bigger planted display to keep them in sometime down the road. If I were to take the time and expense to get a few I would definitely try to establish a breeding group with them.

Do you know if they have any daytime activity, or are they more nocturnal? This could be an advantage of using a huntsman over a tarantula in a planted display if they might be more diurnal.

 

[hydrophyte]

I just got my half-dozen Phyllocrania 100% alive with the mail.

 

[Entomancer]

Probably a good call with the roaches.

The H. boiei would have looked nice, but I don't know exactly how large they get...as for diurnal/nocturnal, they seem to be nocturnal but will sit out in the open on a vertical surface during the day (and with some epiphytic plant cover, H. boiei may feel safe enough to do this.)

The other thing I realized is that Huntsmen, when at rest, seem to prefer flat surfaces, and that Manzanita root is anything but; it would have been a shame to go to the length to get a cool spider like that and then find that it would just be uncomfortable all the time.

You should keep us posted on the roaches; I'm curious as to whether they will munch the plants to death or if they will leave them alone with regular feedings.

 

[hydrophyte]

Here's one of the little P. paradoxica with the macro lens. This is just a young nymph only 1/2" or so long.


Phyllocrania-paradoxica-1-VII-12-II-m by hidrofit

 

[hydrophyte]

I just put together a new video that features this setup. It's kind of long and there is no sound, but you will get the general idea. I wan to edit it down to about 3:30 and add voiceover too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86La8BdX2BY&feature=plcp

 

[hydrophyte]

These little epiphytes are growing! Especially the mini Davalia on the middle branch. It already has several new leaves.

 

[J Morningstar]

I'm glad that you didn't go with roaches .. I think you would have a large veggie snack for roaches, if you kept them in there. Great setups.

 

[hydrophyte]

You are right roaches would have just eaten these delicate little plants. I still do want to do a planted setup with roaches, but I will use larger and faster-growing plants.

 

[J Morningstar]

You are right roaches would have just eaten these delicate little plants. I still do want to do a planted setup with roaches, but I will use larger and faster-growing plants.

if you ever find a plant that can grow that fast please let me know...
I would love to finally have something live with them and not dissapear.

 

[hydrophyte]

if you ever find a plant that can grow that fast please let me know...
I would love to finally have something live with them and not dissapear.

It might also work to use plants that are unpalatable for the roaches.

Are there any roaches less likely to chew on plants?

 

[hydrophyte]

I made another one of these manzanita features. This one has a different shape with a larger branch curving from the top center down to the lower right.

Here it is in the Exo Terra.

 

[J Morningstar]

I definately don't know..I am surre therr are people here that do though.

 

[hydrophyte]

I just formatted a new video featuring this setup to explain the Forest Floor terrarium concept. This is the short (~5:00) version video that I made using some clips that I had. I'll make a somewhat longer one with more detail sometime pretty soon.

Thanks for watching!

Selva-New-Short-8-VIII-12 - YouTube

 

[hydrophyte]

I got a few picture updates today! Here is detail of the planting up at the top of the manzanita.

 

[hydrophyte]

I got another quick picture with the setup and that manzanita feature that I made for somebody else before I shipped it off. It looks kind of cool too with just the bare manzanita in there.

 

[hydrophyte]

The little epiphytic ferns are growing in nicely.

I'll try to get a shot of the whole enclosure tonight. I need to tidy it up a bit.