This is important to consider too. If you don’t have experience with other fast (and potent) species this is not a great spider for you. I do think they’re a little more fun than say a trapdoor (or other pet hole). I don’t personally own any but I’ve seen feeding videos and those are pretty fun to watch.Not a great idea for a starter spider. It's a pet hole without the hole 51 1/2 weeks a year and a potentially nasty bite.
I just got mine exactly a week ago and it is fun to watch the feeding time... but they are very quick spiders with quite potent venom, so you should have some experienceI'm really taken with this species (despite the obvious, perhaps overhyped risk) and I was wondering if it's possible to purchase them. I'm pretty new to arachnids so I'm not sure where to look or who the best sellers are. TIA!
Not a great idea for a starter spider. It's a pet hole without the hole 51 1/2 weeks a year and a potentially nasty bite.
@NYAN Thanks for the correction. Do you have a web addy of research of their venom potency?
I was going by an associate's friend who has one. He sees it for about 5 minutes once every couple of weeks during feeding. He posted a video. The thing is blitzing fast and also in a hurry to get back under the sand.
Yep. Whilst a bite would surely be unpleasant off a south American 6 eyed it's the African 6 eyed that would be an immediate cause for concern.I have kept two species of Sicarius so far and have around 50 individual specimens. I see mine much more often than a lot of other spiders, sometimes daily. They can absolutely spend a lot of time hidden, but this is because people don’t give them anything to hide under. When given something to hide under, they often do not bury themselves. If you have a good angle you can view them from underneath their hide. Also, an interesting phenomenon that has been brought to my attention, is that sometimes certain individuals will seemingly stop hiding or burying themselves.
Additionally, the popular idea that their venom is super potent seems to be flawed. Recent research on the Sphig D concentrations for many of the South American species have shown that a lot of species are notably less potent than Loxosceles.
This photo is insane ! Look at the detail...Posted more pics on my thread but figured with this being about 6 eyed sand spiders I'd post this 1 here too.
You can see the fluids from the cricket's mouth have washed away the dust and sand particles from my adult female Sicarius thomisoides, showing her true colour. Sand spiders have hairs that trap the dust and sand to give them better camouflage.
View attachment 351820