You thought T blondi's were big!

[Peloquin]

Solifuge are quite hard to keep in captivity.The longest I've ever had one for is just under 18 months.
The first one I had was given to me and I was still new to the hobby.I didn't realise quite how fast they are (no internet in them days sonny)and somehow got a little nip from it.Bloody hell they can bite hard.
Awesome creatures though.I'll be getting a couple more in a few weeks.
Does anyone know if they can be kept communially?

 

[sansoucie]

definately keep us updated and send some pics.

I remember the pre internet days fellow oldster! LOL! When if you were interested in Entomology in any form ya had to pay an arm and a leg to join a society or go to college to get in the know

18 months is way to short.. what longevity do they average in the wild?

 

[JohnxII]

For those who want more camel spider pix/info, I found a link.

As for the Face Hugger design, yes it's the human spinal cord + human female genital as the "mouth", but the legs are very tarantulary. In fact, I remember one of the scenes where someone was examining a dead specimen, and the poking of the sternum resulted in spidery leg contractions.

 

[Palespider]

All this "eww"" and "gross" reminds me of some of the reactions I got for my T's in the past.


Todd Gearheart has a great page on these at his site:
http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/pages/solifugid.htm

Very fascinating creatures.
Jim B.

 

[Angelo]

man those things are way gnarly! i think there totally cool. i dont know much about them but i think that im going to look into keeping one. well first im gonna find out alot more about them. cool pic!

 

[Peloquin]

Some of those links are cool.According to a few of the sites, the lifespan ranges from 12 months to approx 5 years, depending on the species.
They are definately worth getting.A couple of points to remember with them are:-
You need a large enclosure, they are constantly moving.
Loads of food, they never stop eating.
Dry substrate and a small water dish-this is what almost every site says about them but the one I had for a while used to have water tipped in 1 corner of the tank once every couple of weeks so that the sand would stick a little so it could burrow.I used a theory that because they eat so much, if the food was well hydrated, the Sol. would get all the water it needed from them.

 

[danfekar]

Those are cool looking arachnids

I don't think it looks THAT big though. It definately looks like a shed exuvium is still attached to it, and if you compare it to the hand and the sleeve in the right/upper right corner of the picture it doesn't look very big at all.

I'm still going for the blondi for size

Regards,
Dan J

 

[Angelo]

BTW what do they eat. crix and stuff?

 

[Love to Foxtrot]

food

Mine used to eat large crickets very well. I never fed him anything else, and he seemed pretty healthy and active until he died of old age.

Aubrey

 

[sansoucie]

All this "eww"" and "gross" reminds me of some of the reactions I got for my T's in the past.

Can't help it.... all I could envision was waking up with it in a tent with me! Eww gross nothing, I'd be scream run stomp piss myself..... and THEN come around to the Oh cool maybe this would be neat in a collection stage :}

 

[blackacidevil]

H R gigers aliens were mainly based on Termites Well in the second film they were

I thought the original "Alien" was inspired by a certain kind of copepod from "the Deep Sea".....or so it says in the Blue Planet DVD.

 

[Wade]

The picture isn't fake, it's just extremely foreshortened. Someone is holding them with a pair of pliers up to the camera. Don't pay any attention to the solider behind them, as he's probably further in the background than he appears. For size reference, check out the shirt cuff and part of a hand on the right side. The critters are probably in the 5-6" legspan range.

I believe it is clearly two animals, one biting the other. I remember hearing that soliders would catch and stage fights (and possibly bet on them) with solifugids to kill time. Possibly, this is what was going on when the picture was taken. Being extremely pugnatious and voracious, they are more than willing to attack one annother when placed together.

The animals pictured are likley the genus Galeodes, wich containtains the largest members of the order Solifugae. These do come into the pet trade from time to time, but as others have mentioned they don't live long. Although this may be partially husbandry related, I think it's mostly due to a naturally short lifespan. The exporters collect the largest individuals, which are probably also the oldest and nearest to the end. Unfortunately, there has been almost no captive breeding at all of these. The little success that has been had has been with the NA genus Eremobates, smaller than the middle eastern ones but impressive nonetheless. If captive breeding procedures could be established, these could become a part of the hobby much as mantids have.

The movie monsters that were most inspired by solifugids have to be those things from "Starship Troopers". Anybody remember them?

Wade

 

[abstract]

So the question is....who sells 'em?

 

[Wade]

From time to time, I've seen them offered by Regal Reptiles, Glades Herp, and Todd Gearheart, among others. Todd was offering some very unusual ones awhile back, but I'm not sure who is selling any now. I suspect their availability is very seasonal.

Wade

 

[Eurypterid]

The movie monsters that were most inspired by solifugids have to be those things from "Starship Troopers". Anybody remember them?

Wade

I agree. The first time I ever saw one I was about 6 years old. I was digging in a harvester ant mound (don't ask) in Arizona, and I uncovered one. They apparently often prey on the ants and bury themselves in the loose sand of their mounds during the day. When this thing emerged it was, well, not happy. It immediately began grabbing ants in its chelicerae and tearing them in half. It would pick one up in both chelicerae, spread its chelicerae apart (ripping the ant in half), immediately drop the two halves and grab another ant. The ants began attacking, but even though they outnumbered the critter by the hundreds, and have a very nasty sting (with the highest LD-50 of any insect) it just mowed through them. It really did look just like one of those "Starship Troopers" bugs ripping through the soldiers. A very cool bug, and most definitely not gross.

Gary

 

[abstract]

These guys are SPAZZES!

Look what I found (video):

http://www.ecologicproductions.com/video_projects/TSCK/endangered/TSCK_spider.html

 

[FelixA9]

So what are those little "shark tooth" looking things on the rear leg/abdomen area? They were one of the first things I noticed and surprisingly nobody has asked about them. Anybody know what they are? :?

 

[Nikos]

So what are those little "shark tooth" looking things on the rear leg/abdomen area? They were one of the first things I noticed and surprisingly nobody has asked about them. Anybody know what they are? :?

these are the fangs and are on the front side not the rear....

 

[FelixA9]

these are the fangs and are on the front side not the rear....

Yuck, yuck, yuck. Maybe you ought to look at the picture and actually read what I wrote and work a little on the comprehension while you're at it.

 

[Wade]

They're called malleoli or "racguet organs" and are sensory in nature (chemoreception), probably simmilar in function to the pectines of scorpions. The solfugids can often be seen probing and brushing the groud with them as they move about.

Wade