Solfugid Question

JAFUENTES

Arachnodragon
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
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218
How can one tell if one is in pre-molt? if there's a way. Got my baby a month back.
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
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Jun 27, 2010
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I've only had a couple that molted in my care, and with both of them, I was not able to tell they were pre-molt while they were still active. With the most recent one, when she was getting ready to molt she stopped moving and just looked dead with her legs sticking straight up in the air at weird angles. If disturbed, she would squirm around a bit but her legs were non-functional. Pictures here: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/solifugid-molting-anybody-have-any-advice.286312/

She stayed like that for quite a while - several weeks, if I remember correctly - and then one day I checked on her and she was running around with the remains of the exo dumped in a corner. She ate a few more times after that, but eventually ended up dying on me. Unfortunately, they don't seem to live terribly long in captivity.
 

wizentrop

to the rescue!
Old Timer
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Apr 20, 2005
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613
Here we go again..
Guys, solifugids live terribly long in captivity WHEN KEPT PROPERLY. This of course changes from species to species, but I have had ones that lived for a whopping 8 years in captivity. If you had a non-adult specimen and it had a short life span, then something was wrong in the conditions you were keeping it in. You always have to keep in mind that these animals are active 1-2 months per year. If you overfeed them or disturb them too much, yes, they will die.

Do you know this thread?
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/solifugids-actually-lives-longer-than-we-think.59006/
There is a reason why it is a sticky at the top of this forum section...
 

Smokehound714

Arachnoking
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Mar 23, 2013
Messages
3,091
Here we go again..
Guys, solifugids live terribly long in captivity WHEN KEPT PROPERLY. This of course changes from species to species, but I have had ones that lived for a whopping 8 years in captivity. If you had a non-adult specimen and it had a short life span, then something was wrong in the conditions you were keeping it in. You always have to keep in mind that these animals are active 1-2 months per year. If you overfeed them or disturb them too much, yes, they will die.

Do you know this thread?
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/solifugids-actually-lives-longer-than-we-think.59006/
There is a reason why it is a sticky at the top of this forum section...

That's not true at all. Some solifugae, like Hemerotrecha have an extremely short lifespan, they're diurnal and their 'batteries' die fast. They're thought to only live about four-five months at max.

Some genera within eremobatidae mature early in the year and are mostly active in spring and summer, others mature later in the year and are active well into december, and can be very tolerant of cold.

The larger eremobatidae like Eremorhax, Eremocosta, and Eremobates tend to live the longest, and grow more slowly.


If you want to mimic natural conditions and reduce stress, you'll want to give them long photoperiods, and short dark periods. they only enter diapause during winter or when conditions become too hostile. Eight years is by no means a natural lifespan for even the longest-lived solifugae. 1.3-1.5 years for the slower growing genera is far more realistic.


You also need to make sure these animals drink daily. you cannot offer them water dishes, use a pipette to give them water one drop at a time.


Also be mindful that solifugae have functional eyesight and hate rapid movements.
 

wizentrop

to the rescue!
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 20, 2005
Messages
613
That's not true at all.
I'm sorry, "not true"... because?
Just because you had a different experience than mine, does not mean that my long-term observations are false. Are you a scientist? See my opening statement - lifespan and activity vary from species to species. I am guessing you do not have a lot of experience with large African species.
 

schmiggle

Arachnoking
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Nov 3, 2013
Messages
2,220
Lophophora williamsi, the peyote cactus, is a slow-growing cactus from deserts in the Southwest. In very dry areas, it can take 30 years to reach the size of a golfball, but in places with seasonal monsoons, it gets palm-sized within 5-10 years.

Centrochelys sulcata, the sulcata tortoise, similarly lives in deserts, and can similarly take 50 years to reach an adult size naturally, but only 5-10 years in captivity (where it receives food year-round).

I think both these cases are examples where growth in arid-adapted organisms is sustained in short bursts, between which metabolism comes nearly to a standstill. While a peyote cactus is constantly growing new cells and budding, an animal does not have this advantage, and I have read that many arid-adapted reptiles live far longer when they are less active much of the time.

Having animals active for less time may be neither beneficial nor detrimental to the health of the animal, and I would be very interested to know if solifugids of the same species in different environments had different lifespans and reproductive cycle lengths, as peyote certainly do. It seems to me it might have more to do with essentially having a certain amount of activity that an animal can handle before it dies, and that it can essentially hibernate indefinitely.

All this being said, it might be the case that solifugids in the wild really do not live longer than 1.5 years, but that does not necessarily mean it is a problem to keep them differently in captivity. I would be extremely interested in any wild observations of these animals (I have ordered that book about them from my university library, we shall see when it arrives :p).
 
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