What are good beginner spiders?

[1Lord Of Ants1]

I've had a few different true spiders over the years; namely jumpers, wolfs, huntsmans, Latrodectus, etc. - but only my Kulkulcabia hibernalis have stood the test of time. As such they're probably one of my favorite true spiders currently despite the more exotic spiders out there.

My oldest female just hit 9 years in captivity and I had been observing her living in the same spot on my house for 3 years before I took her in. When I first noticed her she was already an adult. Seeing as they're also a very slow growing species, in total I'd estimate her to be at least 14- 16 years old, if not older. That's pretty remarkable for a true spider. Most literature states females only live 7+ years, but it seems they're capable of much longer based on what I've observed and other anecdotes. During times of disinterest I'd often forgot to feed them, and I had one spider go 6 months without food or water after being misplaced in the back of a shelf, and it came out looking no worse for wear. Speaking of which, I've NEVER watered any of them, oldest female included, and she's as fat as a grape. I just added a male in with her a couple weeks ago to which she appeared very receptive towards, though I observed no insertion. He's still prancing around in there and I'm interested to see if she produces her first sac in my care.

 

[Ungoliant]

During times of disinterest I'd often forgot to feed them, and I had one spider go 6 months without food or water after being misplaced in the back of a shelf, and it came out looking no worse for wear.

The last female I bred kept eating all of the food I put in for the slings. (With previous broods, the mother would let the slings share her kills, but this time she kept taking the food.) She was so fat that I have not fed her since I rehoused her and released the slings about a year ago. I've been waiting for her to slim down to a healthier size, but she is still a grape with legs.

I just added a male in with her a couple weeks ago to which she appeared very receptive towards, though I observed no insertion. He's still prancing around in there and I'm interested to see if she produces her first sac in my care.

I never observed an insertion, and despite my best efforts to provide an escape route, the male always got eaten. Nonetheless, every pairing (except one) resulted in a viable sac. The typical time between mating and sac making is about 4-6 weeks, but I had one that took five months to make a sac.

I've even had one that mated, molted, and then produced a viable sac, which is very odd, because I thought molting would cause them to shed any stored sperm.

 

[norcalfourrunner]

Latrodectus are nice very pretty, excellent webbers and good eaters, they're also pretty easy to care for and docile so they won't come running out when you open the enclosure.

Yeah widows make great beginner spiders. Super easy, do well in small enclosures too.

 

[MetallicArachnid]

I've had a few different true spiders over the years; namely jumpers, wolfs, huntsmans, Latrodectus, etc. - but only my Kulkulcabia hibernalis have stood the test of time. As such they're probably one of my favorite true spiders currently despite the more exotic spiders out there.

My oldest female just hit 9 years in captivity and I had been observing her living in the same spot on my house for 3 years before I took her in. When I first noticed her she was already an adult. Seeing as they're also a very slow growing species, in total I'd estimate her to be at least 14- 16 years old, if not older. That's pretty remarkable for a true spider. Most literature states females only live 7+ years, but it seems they're capable of much longer based on what I've observed and other anecdotes. During times of disinterest I'd often forgot to feed them, and I had one spider go 6 months without food or water after being misplaced in the back of a shelf, and it came out looking no worse for wear. Speaking of which, I've NEVER watered any of them, oldest female included, and she's as fat as a grape. I just added a male in with her a couple weeks ago to which she appeared very receptive towards, though I observed no insertion. He's still prancing around in there and I'm interested to see if she produces her first sac in my care.

9 years is an insanely long life for a true spider, may have to look into getting a Kulkculcania hibernalis...the females look a lot like mygalomorphs.

 

[Katamus]

It's a glass five gallon with no lid...don't see what's confusing about that

Confusion being that I'm Australian and you are American, we measure in Litres whereas you measure in Gallons.
Different countries, different measurements.
Sheesh! undies up in a bunch much? No need for the rude comment mate, was just tryin to help you out, bloody hell

 

[bean man]

wolf spiders. my first bug pet. they're amazing. we gave it 2 grasshoppers the day we caught it and it ate both of them at the same time.
they're easy to keep. you can find them at your garden. put some soil and a place to hide in it's home. you can feed it once a week.
but if it has an egg sac you need to be very careful when it hatches. make sure the babies don't escape. best thing to do is free them to a natural habitat. may be your garden too. you can keep some of the babies. don't keep them in the container too much.
the spiderlings will be carried on their mother's abdomen for some time. when the mother dies they will leave her.
2 or 3 wolf spiders can be kept in the same container if theres enough space. they can even share the same cave. its possible they can kill each other though. we kept 4 wolf spiders in the same container. they lived in harmony for a pretty long time. but one day we woke up to see 2 of them were brutally killed. so don't keep more than 2 in the same container.