Six eyed sand spider

[BigJ999]

I recently bought a six eyed sand spider they are very interesting inverts and very shy like recluse spiders.

 

[Tarantula24]

They are very interesting. Where did you buy it? What kind of a setup do you have?

 

[BigJ999]

It's in a plastic container with some fine sand and it's buried itself which is a good sign. I bought it from ken the bug guy. I'm surprised how often I'm seeing them now given how extremely toxic they are.

 

[The Snark]

It is my sincere hope that the OP and anyone else who obtains these spiders that they help debunk the unmitigated bullfeathers talk about them being yet another ultra deadly monster.

They are quite rare and have several very unusual traits and abilities that are often overlooked in the sensationalism. They qualify as a living fossil and possess the extreme end of metabolism control enabling them to go for phenomenal periods of time without feeding.

As other victims of sensationalism as the recluse, the venom of this spider is poorly understood. While the venom is strongly believed to be extremely toxic there have been no clinically certified deaths from the bites. The toxicity of it's venom should be kept in context and compared to other venomous animals. As example, compared to the average Crotalidae, this spider actually rates in the harmless or mildly problematic category going by the number of deaths or lasting debilities from a bite.

It is my fervent hope that people keeping this animal undertake to disseminate the true facts about this animal and promote understanding and husbandry of this little corner of our biological heritage.


OP, thanks for this post and am looking forwards to further info you may have to offer us.

 

[BigJ999]

I'm all for debunking myths about this species and recluses. Both are highly venomous but they aren't aggressive spiders and are very shy. I have 3 recluses and they are very shy as well. But I won't say that either species is not capable of great harm but other spiders like Phonutria are far,far more dangerous given their temperament. Although I would like a Phonutria myself.

 

[Venom]

It is my sincere hope that the OP and anyone else who obtains these spiders that they help debunk the unmitigated bullfeathers talk about them being yet another ultra deadly monster.

They are quite rare and have several very unusual traits and abilities that are often overlooked in the sensationalism. They qualify as a living fossil and possess the extreme end of metabolism control enabling them to go for phenomenal periods of time without feeding.

As other victims of sensationalism as the recluse, the venom of this spider is poorly understood. While the venom is strongly believed to be extremely toxic there have been no clinically certified deaths from the bites. The toxicity of it's venom should be kept in context and compared to other venomous animals. As example, compared to the average Crotalidae, this spider actually rates in the harmless or mildly problematic category going by the number of deaths or lasting debilities from a bite.

It is my fervent hope that people keeping this animal undertake to disseminate the true facts about this animal and promote understanding and husbandry of this little corner of our biological heritage.


OP, thanks for this post and am looking forwards to further info you may have to offer us.

I'm all for proper understanding of every creature....and toxic does not mean it's a raging maniac baby-eating monster. But...we do have every reason to believe that this spider's venom is capable of inflicting massive, life-threatening damage on a human body. That said, thankfully, they tend to live in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and have nearly zero human contact....thank goodness. If they DID have human contact, well, they're still very timid and would flee direct confrontations with humans. But in the rare case that someone did get bitten, I don't think there is any reason NOT to believe that this spider's bite would ravage their body. The toxinology studies show beyond reasonable doubt that the venom is an order of magnitude more concentrated than L. reclusa venom, and that it's SMD is just as active a cytotoxic as SMD from L. reclusa. Let us remember that Loxosceles spp. in Santiago, Chile have a clinically established 3.7% fatality rate (they have L. laeta, L. intermedia, and L. gaucho present there). The physicians in that study also cited a more than 13% incidence of systemic poisoning (renal problems and disseminated blood clots) from those spiders' bites. So yes, we have very good reason to believe a bite from a Sicarius would be very very serious, and possibly life-threatening.

But, luckily the spiders are quite genial little critters (hardly the stuff of horror films). Personally, I think preventing a hobbyist from dying due to carelessness is a better way to maintain the public relations of our hobby than trying to convince everyone (public and hobbyists alike) that highly toxic creatures are "not that bad." Sure, they're not psycho monsters like the creatures in the Alien movies....but the venoms of some of our creatures are truly serious. I think a proper presentation of these animals balances a discussion of their benign disposition with an acknowledgement of their severe toxicity.

Oh, and just because another animal (a Crotalid, say) has had more human contact (and therefore more established mortality/ morbidity) does not mean the Sicarius sp. is less dangerous by comparison. It just means the statistical effects of being bitten are less established by experience.

 

[The Snark]

Venom, your point is well expressed and quite valid. It's a goddam sucks the big one juggling act where we want people to be aware of the hazards, in this case quite significant, while not playing up to the media flash and crash sensationalism. In most cases this is a no win on both sides. Get the word out this spider is VERY DANGEROUS and several zillion morons will want to get one just to shout it out to the neighbors. Make enough noise and the local population will quite happily depredate the area of the spiders to augment their incomes. (IE the ivory trade, their catching yet another truck load of pangolins here last week or rhino horns so some decrepit Chinese turd basket can keep his wang up 30 seconds longer.)

 

[Venom]

Hahaha! Well-said, Snark. And thank you.

I think it comes down to an intellectually lazy population. The average internet browsing / TV watching citizen wants something that will give them interest: a thrill, something to react to....in this case, a snakes-on-a-plane rendition of a complex animal. True knowledge acquisition is no longer something our society values because we would rather be highly-stimulated consumers than beings who work and think hard at being better people. The Renaissance ideal has waned.

Lazy thinking results in shallow handling of complex information, usually honing in on a single interesting aspect and exaggerating / romanticizing it. So, basically, I think we need to make the entire animal interesting in all its complexity, or no matter how balanced our presentation of these creature to the public is, the listener will always fixate on whatever interested them the most (i.e., the deadliness of the creature).

 

[BigJ999]

They are dangerously venomous but their temperament is very very shy and timid. I think of their venom as something to be researched and not feared for all we know one of its toxins could help the fight with cancer. my observation is that they prefer to hide most of the time and their body collects sand particals

 

[The Snark]

Hahaha! Well-said, Snark. And thank you.

I think it comes down to an intellectually lazy population. The average internet browsing / TV watching citizen wants something that will give them interest: a thrill, something to react to....in this case, a snakes-on-a-plane rendition of a complex animal. True knowledge acquisition is no longer something our society values because we would rather be highly-stimulated consumers than beings who work and think hard at being better people. The Renaissance ideal has waned.

Lazy thinking results in shallow handling of complex information, usually honing in on a single interesting aspect and exaggerating / romanticizing it. So, basically, I think we need to make the entire animal interesting in all its complexity, or no matter how balanced our presentation of these creature to the public is, the listener will always fixate on whatever interested them the most (i.e., the deadliness of the creature).

You harpooned the crux of the biscuit admirably there. Quotable even.

---------- Post added 07-19-2014 at 12:24 PM ----------

They are dangerously venomous but their temperament is very very shy and timid. I think of their venom as something to be researched and not feared for all we know one of its toxins could help the fight with cancer. my observation is that they prefer to hide most of the time and their body collects sand particals

I did some research and it appears this critter has got the dialing down of the metabolism into a fine art. So it can park in a virtual torpor for tremendous periods of time without the need of food or water. It is an ambush predator in a very hostile environment with few prey available which would help explain the potent venom as well as the pre digesting effects. It also has an extremely long life span. So what we have here is a puzzle that, if it can be analyzed, understood, and synthesized could replace the drug induced coma used in modern medicine and possibly provide information as to prolonging longevity. All this goes along with it being a living fossil. It established it's apex of evolvement in the ancient past and has had no reason to further develop since. A pretty amazing animal and a lot more than just big bad toxin hazard.

 

[telepatella]

You harpooned the crux of the biscuit admirably there.

I thought the crux of the biscuit was the apostrophe...

 

[BigJ999]

They are in the pet hole catagory but instead of a hole there is a bunch of sand lol. They do not call them sand spiders for nothing lol.

 

[edgeofthefreak]

Pet rock, pet hole... and now pet sand. That's just terrific!

 

[BigJ999]

I walked in to check on it and it just vanished into the sand lol. Along with living in a very harsh environment they are also tough as nails.

 

[Blue Jaye]

Thank you snark that was very well said and appreciated :biggrin:

 

[BigJ999]

I do think that the extreme toxicity does attract people for some reason maybe it's the taboo of the deadly. A deathstalker might be one of the most toxic inverts but like this species they are very shy, reclusive.

 

[remainpositive]

I added one to my collection a few months ago, mines not necessarily a pet sandbox because she's extremely active at night roaming around her enclosure. Im actually surprised on how flighty they are, even more nervous than any kind of Latrodectus sp. I've kept. It seems they can overfeed pretty easily though...

 

[BigJ999]

Mine has eaten one pinhead so far and not much else they don't require much to go on due to their metabolism control which is extremely impressive. 1 little pinhead can go a long,long way with them.

 

[gromgrom]

I've had little luck in moving these specimen of mine (I have 1.5 eggsacs worth of specimen plus another sac incubating), which is both good and bad for these little demons. I've been incredibly careful in who I've sold/traded to with what I have moved as to not cause any issues with them.

My notes
- My gravid female will not bite my tongs, or I dont notice it doing so. They prefer to run and hide. And run they do, they're kinda quick and skittish.
- They cannot climb like a tarantula does. They need something to grip onto like a scorpion (thank goodness)
- I've been keeping my two broods of spiderlings differently to figure out what they can handle. Ive discovered they are little piggies who love to eat alot. They can go 2 weeks without water and be just fine. I usually drop a single droplet in their enclosure if i give them any, at all.
- given the above care, they sit on my scorpion rack a little warmer than my T rack, and I've had 0 losses and 0 escapees.
- My female is looking to drop a third sac, or molt. She is as large as she was before she laid both times. These are pretty easy animals to keep in captivity, just the ever present danger should not put you in a false sense of security.

Thank you,

Dustin

 

[BigJ999]

Mine just sits still when it's touched with tongs but bursts away with speed. Their disguise is their best defense it seems but yeah mine isn't aggressive very very skittish likes to bury itself in sand to the point of not being visible.