Spiders that are Unable to Climb Smooth Surfaces?

[Gwennie]

I'm relatively new to the world of spiders, and would love to get into some species of true spider. I have a small number of tarantulas I greatly enjoy, but as it stands currently will not be able to breed until I have a secure facility of my own (I share my house with some people who appreciate them but would NOT enjoy baby tarantulas and have banned me breeding them ). I was wondering if there are any cool TRUE spiders that have trouble or cannot climb smooth surfaces such as smooth plastic, glass, and acrylic.

I've heard some trapdoor spiders cannot, but I want opinions and info from experienced keepers on this to make sure I don't go wrong. Regardless of whatever it is, I would still keep it in a secure container, as incidents occur with live animals!

 

[me and my Ts]

Wolf spiders can’t climb glass

 

[The Snark]

Yups. Lycosids. Can't climb for beans.

 

[goonius]

If you are looking for non-tarantula mygalomorphs (as opposed to true spiders), I can vouch that our Cyclocosmia (trapdoor) and Sphodros (purseweb) spiders are not able to climb plastic/glass. For breeding purposes, I was told recently that some Sphodros slings do disperse by ballooning, so that might blow your breeding plans. But the Sphodros (though I rarely see the actual spiders) are really fun, and always put on a show when catching prey. The Cyclocosmia is quite timid and a bit of a pet hole, as I imagine most trapdoor spiders might be...?

 

[viper69]

exist ?

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Six eyed sand spiders can't climb smooth surfaces, they have strong venom but I would think as long as you keep your fingers out of reach you'd be fine. Not sure about availability though. Wolfies are much easier to come across and some of them are pretty big, all of them are beautiful.

 

[The Snark]

By the way, the can't climb for beans capability is a quick and easy way to tell a lycosid from across the room. Roams with the best of them on the ground but a couple of inches tall vertical surface stops them in their tracks. Sparassids are the opposite. They prefer vertical surfaces and will lurk there instead of roaming around on the ground.

 

[Gwennie]

Are fishing spiders able to climb? They super super cool

 

[RezonantVoid]

All non-tarantula mygalomorphs except for Barychelidae are unable to climb smooth surfaces. That's pretty much every trapdoor, every wishbone, every curtain web and every purse web that you'll find available.

Most trapdoors require a bit more effort to set up, but are awesome when done correctly. The only people I see calling them "boring jars of dirt" are the ones who have put basically zero research or effort into housing them

 

[goonius]

Most trapdoors require a bit more effort to set up, but are awesome when done correctly. The only people I see calling them "boring jars of dirt" are the ones who have put basically zero research or effort into housing them

Not to derail the OPs thread but we own one trapdoor (a Cyclocosmia torreya). It’s a tiny little thing — maybe 1/8” (3mm)? — and aside from occasionally witnessing a feeding (the trap door popping open and the prey disappearing at lightning speed) it is definitely a tiny box of dirt. The enclosure is only 5.8cm sq. but now I wonder if there’s something about its setup we have not done properly. I’m open to new knowledge and advice.