Sidney Funnel Web Spider

Reitz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 12, 2003
Messages
339
I just saw a Croc Hunter show on venomous animals in Australia. One of which was the Sidney Funnel Web Spider. Very large, and look a little bit like trap door spiders--is there any relation?

Does anyone here keep these? I don't keep T's, but these are really neat. The females are apparently 1/6th as venomous as the males, so I wouldn't mind taking care of one of them, though I've never seen them in the hobby.

They were neat to watch. They can't climb glass, so they dart around their jars scrambling like traped scorpions. They did seem defensive, however, and struck at the owner's pipette without hesitation.

And while I'm on the subject of non-T spiders, can anyone point me in the direction of some good trap door spider info? Are they dangerously venomous (I know some are, but how about the ones in the hobby)? Do the males wander at all, or are they always in their burrows? Will they take a pre-made burrow so that I can set them up like some T keepers keep their Cobalt Blues? I guess that's about it. Thanks for the info!


Chris
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,700
Nobody outside of Australia has funnelweb spiders ( except the Memphis TN zoo ), the reason being that they are illegal to export. Australia has banned the exportation of any of their funnelweb spiders, or venomous snakes.

That said, Steve Nunn has kept f-webs in the past ( cuz he lives in Australia ). All the funnelwebs ( Hadronyche and Atrax spp. ) are VERY aggressive, and yes, the males are 5 or 6 times more venomous than the females.

As for the trapdoors, they can be cared for with same deep substrate as a cobalt. They are also just as aggressive as a cobalt, and have a nasty, painful ( though not lethal ) bite, so be careful. Kelly swift has some African black trapdoor spides for sale; his site is www.swiftinverts.com .


Here is a link to a trapdoor caresheet :

http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/Liphistius-sp.html
 

Crotalus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
2,433
i kept a adult female Atrax robustus before. They are easy to keep , but no species for a beginner offcourse. Even the females are dangerous.
The show you seen were from a venom lab, where they keep them in jars without any shelter so its easy to get them in a defensive posture and take the venom from the fangs. I kept mine in "normal" conditions, in a terrarium with a hiding place where she most of the time spend her days. They do web alot so the webbing were up against the lid. And they are pretty fast inside their webs!

The females in some Hadronyche species are the most venomous contrary Atrax where the males are most toxic.

BTW it was a CB Europe spider I kept.

/Lelle
 

Steve Nunn

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
1,781
For your viewing pleasure, my favourite of the Aussie funell-webs, Hadronyche formidabilis. A huge arboreal, which gets to the size of an average T. This species is the second most venomous spider on the planet (behind H.infensa). Then comes Atrax robustus.

Enjoy.....
 

Attachments

Craig

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 12, 2002
Messages
246
when did they ban exoports of their venomous animals? i saw a couple in Atrax. in a reptile store in 2001.
 

Steve Nunn

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
1,781
Originally posted by Craig
when did they ban exoports of their venomous animals? i saw a couple in Atrax. in a reptile store in 2001.
They've always been banned Craig, they would have been smuggled out of Australia. What surprises me is that you saw them in the States. Most of our smuggled fauna ends up in Europe for some reason. I've also heard of people overseas selling diplurids as funel-webs (Hexathelidae).

Cheers,
Steve
 

Steven

pede-a-holic
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Messages
4,022
Most of our smuggled fauna ends up in Europe for some reason
Atrax species are those Australian?, cause i've seen many being offered at insectfairs

greetz
 

Wade

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,929
I get the distinct impression that the USFWS and Customs Service are much more vigilant than their European conterparts. A simmilar discussion took place recently on the myriopid forum regarding Scolopendra gigantea.

There was some sort of SE Asian spider that was very simmilar in appearance to Atrax that was apparently turning up in limited numbers in the US. I wonder if these are the diplurids Steve is referring to?

Wade
 

Henry Kane

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
1,884
Yeah, I would imagine that's more likely than any true Aussie animal being found on a pet store shelf.
I could see the likelihood of several sp. of mygale being mistaken (or falsely represented) as an Atrax or Hadronyche sp..

If I had a choice (I know I know, impossible) I'd really like a shot at keeping Missulena occatoria or bradleyi. Their chelicerae are so huge, they look deformed! Check it...

http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/dangerous/mouse/index.htm

Check the colors of the male in the second pic in this link...

http://www.rochedalss.qld.edu.au/spider/mousespider.htm

I still have much love for the mighty Atrax though! :)

Atrax
 

Kugellager

ArachnoJester of the Ancient Ones
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Jul 24, 2002
Messages
2,363
I still can't get over the size of the chelicerae on those guys...its like nature took a page from muscle car doctorine...Put a the biggest engine you can find in a small car...Natures version: Take the largest chelicerae you can find and stick them on an otherwise innocuous spider.

Yeah I'd like a mouse spider too. :D

John
];')
 

Steve Nunn

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
1,781
Originally posted by Atrax
If I had a choice (I know I know, impossible) I'd really like a shot at keeping Missulena occatoria or bradleyi. Their chelicerae are so huge, they look deformed! Check it...
I collected a bunch of Missulena occatoria for the Qld Museum about five or six years ago, beautiful species and an amazing lifestyle for a mygale. They disperse as slings by 'ballooning', rare occurance indeed. Highly venomous though, I got bitten while collecting and it does hurt ;) I have never been so sick in my entire life, convulsions, fever, the lot. They are responsible for fatalities and have extremely similar venom components to Hexathelidae (funnel-webs), this is a very recent finding though, I don't kow how much info there is out about this.

I've kept both hexathelids and actinopodids and far prefer the mouse spiders actually. They are indeed the bulldog of the spider world.

Cheers,
Steve
 
Last edited:

Crotalus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
2,433
Originally posted by Steve Nunn
Australian, but fast becoming European......
Not common here at all, I guess as common as rattlesnakes are in Oz...
 

Crotalus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
2,433
Originally posted by Kugellager
I still can't get over the size of the chelicerae on those guys...its like nature took a page from muscle car doctorine...Put a the biggest engine you can find in a small car...Natures version: Take the largest chelicerae you can find and stick them on an otherwise innocuous spider.

Yeah I'd like a mouse spider too. :D

John
];')
Then you should see the purseweb spiders, Atypidae - even larger chelicera compared to the spiders body. Huge!!
 

Dean W

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
74
Steve Nunn, umm, the Brazillian wonderers are actually the most venomous. All spiders in the Phoneutria group are, particularly Phoneutria fera
 

Steve Nunn

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
1,781
Originally posted by Dean W
Steve Nunn, umm, the Brazillian wonderers are actually the most venomous.
Umm, do tell Dean W.......

You sound very sure of this, what book/ TV documentary did you get that info from, because it's wrong mate. Hadronyche spp. without doubt are the most venomous. I'll tell you where my info comes from, Dr Robert Raven (senior arachnid curator of the Qld Museum and along with Dr Gray the best authorities on funnel-webs in the world), Dr Robert Breene (Editor and treasurer of the American Tarantula Society, if you subscribed to the ATS you'd read that funnel-webs are the most venomous ;)), Dr Mike Gray (senior curator at the Australia Museum), Dr Straun Sutherland (the man who created the antivenine for funnel-webs), Doug Wallace (president of the Rockhampton Arachnological Society) and a few others.

Don't believe everything you read.........looking forward to your reply.

Cheers,
Steve
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,700
Out of curiousity, do you have LD50 stats on Atrax/ Hadronyche, or know where they can be found?
 

Weapon-X

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
774
re

hi steve,
can you tell me if its possible to obtain dead specimens of any of the sydney funnel webs for display peices here in the states legaly? if so and if its not to costly i 'd be really intrested, either dried out specimens or ones in jars maybe? would be a real awesome converstion peice, thanks--Jeff
 

Steve Nunn

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
1,781
Re: re

Originally posted by Weapon-X
hi steve,
can you tell me if its possible to obtain dead specimens of any of the sydney funnel webs for display peices here in the states legaly?
Hi Jeff,
I can obtain some dried specimens for you, but I'd ask that you return the favour and ship me as many exuvia as you could (particularly adult or near adult Pamphos, Xenesthis, Theraphosa and Megaphobema spp.) If anyone else has these species and wants some dried funnel-webs, lemme know. Just PM me.

Cheers,
Steve
 
Top