solifugids actually lives longer than we think

[KRC]

btw...

The Denver Natural History Museum is actually doing a study on these guys right now, such as identification, DNA, enviornment, and were they are native to and were they are moving to. The lady who is in charge of it came over to were i work and asked for any specimens we might find.

So if anyone is close enough to Colorado to do so, i would suggest sending specimens (she will take dead or alive ones) you may find to them so that they can continue with their research, which is sure to exspand the knowledge pool of these wonderfull animals.

 

[RodG]

Great Discussion On A Neat Animal!!!

I have just finished reading all the messages posted on this thread and what
fun reading it was! I even went as far as ordering The Biology of Camel-Spiders off of Amazon.com.

 

[JSN]

if its of any interest, I've caught a few solifugids recently, and so far they have not died on me in the last 3 and half months I've had them...

 

[Zach Valois]

dead or alive

Hello,
first let me say this has been an amazing documentation of the ideas in
current Solifugae captivity. I think all awnsers lie in the practice of habitat recreation, they have awnsered mine so far.
And scientific publications such as Punzo's work are absolutly in-vaulable.

I'm currently studying arachnid morphology and systematics, partly focusing on
the order Solifugae. If anyone does have these die, please freeze them in several bags, and send them to me. (Other than individuals from Denver; in which should be sent to Paula Cushing) I will pay money for the dead specimen(s) aswell as shipping ofcourse.


thanks,

Zach

 

[Longbord1]

maybe this solifugid survived so long because it is in fact not able to move around as much. It never really expends any energy.

 

[LeilaNami]

this is interesting! many of the books I've read on solifugids say a possibility of only a one year lifespan due to their high metabolism

 

[Randolph XX()]

maybe this solifugid survived so long because it is in fact not able to move around as much. It never really expends any energy.

good hypothesis, i guess u need much more samples to make this statement

 

[Steven Gielis]

They are always running. Even in small boxes. They can try to run for hours on the glass... Punzo also suggests that animals die of to little movement and to much food. In this example I think the animal get his food on fixed times and I assume it's just enough to keep it alive and in good condition without getting fat.

 

[Timmy]

What kind of substrate do solifugids generally need?

 

[desert solifuge]

I read the entire Thread and I never got to know what happen to the solifuge of Randolph XX's friend ???
Did it dyed after hibernation?
Cheers

 

[Randolph XX()]

Hi all
this one did wake up from the hibernation, and moulted another time
Unfortunately, it died from this bad moult

 

[desert solifuge]

You know it could have dyed of "natural" cause, if so your friend is the second person in the world to manage to breed solifugae for a entire life cycle.
Do you know if he kept the specimen in alcohol or something.
Thanks for replying
Cheers

 

[Timmy]

What kind of substrate do solifugids generally need?

anyone?

 

[desert solifuge]

Substrate

They are usually desert creatures, so sand and loose dry soil is the most adequate for them, usually the same conditions you would use for desert scorpions.
But remember that for the time being, I have no knowledge of "non biologists" breeding them, so if you get one, not only will it probably dye in a very short period of time but it was taken from the wild.
Just a thought you should have in mind before making a decision.

 

[konrad16660]

thats impressive I have heard they are really hard to keep alive in captivity. good work!:clap:

 

[konrad16660]

i would agree. i buy from shops sometimes because half the shops starve their little critters. i just bought a pink toe and it loves me to death because i feed it regularly. i'm fattening it up and getting it back to health. also...things like scorps and some other arachnids will go their whole life without moving from a small area. such as burrows and whatnot. they can't really re-locate in the wild really well considering they work mainly off of either vibrations or a very weak sence of site mainly consisting of light shadows.
anyways that little bugger you had had a great life i am sure.

chill out every one, there will always be a smart A@s somewhere try to prove himself

David Suzuki said there was a guy from a conference raised his hand saying green house effects cause global cooling and it is actually good for the world, global warming is just a big hoax

Some hobbyists just think they are "saving" wc aimals from suffering in pet shop by purchasing them and just get pissed of while they saw their animals are used as feeders somewhere else
but wat is the real suffering to a species? import thousands of them from the wild each year and just lay straight up then die in your own hand, fair to call that ethical?
i think i am kinda out of the topic
cheers anyway

 

[Tarantula_Hawk]

wow this thread has become long since the last time i saw it (which was a while ago).. anyways i wanted to add some of my experience..this happened 4 years ago..i was in a trip in ethiopia and during stops i'd happen to go around lifting rocks looking for camel spiders...after finding some kinda large yellow scorps i finally ended up in a nice really pissed camel spider.. 4cm body and 6.5 from pedipalp to leg.. anyways i managed to bring it back home in Rome (not gonna tell u how lol).. so i placed it in 50cm cage with about 10cm of sand and rocks.. i was small so didnt have much experience but i fed it regularly, not making him fat... 4 months passed and he was fine... one day he stopped moving, and curled up like a ball under a rock.. he didnt eat nor moved.. but i could see he sometimes slowly moved his legs..A LOT of time passed with him staying in this condition.. probably 6months and im not exagerating.. i was sure he was dead.. one day he wakes up from nowhere.. was during the summer.. he wakes and molts.. unfortunatley during the molt something went wrong and one of his chelicerae didnt harden and bended like rubber.. he coudlnt eat and eventually died.. i gotta say when he woke up he wasnt active as he was when i first cought him but he still walked around and dug..... im assuming the time he passed curled up under a rock was because he was hibernating?.. just wanted to opst my experience.. and Btw i still have him (dead ofc) and his molt

 

[Randolph XX()]

Now i wonder is there any model set up for us to look up to now?
ex, like Martin Hubber and V.V. wirth's Haplopelma and other burrowing spiders bookshelves type set up

 

[desert solifuge]

The bibliography on solifuge behaviour or general biology is scarce and spread in several scientific publications, the only overview is the website www.solpugid.com (that although incomplete, is my opinion the most reliable source of information on the group) and the already mentioned Punzo's book.
There are no general advices except for the ones found there, which are based on one North American species or at most, on one family, but solifugae are a pretty diverse order, I wouldn't say that the advices are valid for all solifuges species, especially considering that, for what I have seen, most of the available specimens for sale are of foreign origins and not North American at all.

Which reminds me that there is a member of the list who is selling Israeli solifuges,
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?p=885013
unfortunately I can't reply to his post and so I can't place my questions there, but I have been to Israel and being aware of Israeli laws I must ask:
Can someone collect solifuges in the wild, (as is obviously the case) and sell them online ???
Can someone legally sell solifuges at all ???

 

[desert solifuge]

Here are some sites that debate captive kept solifugae care:

http://www.technospider.com/~ts_tgearheart/pages/solifugid.htm

And another one:

http://www.goldenphoenixexotica.com/scorp.html

Although the specimens in this one are not pregnant, has the author probably discovered latter, a gravid female would actually look like that

http://www.solpugid.com/Galeodidae.htm