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Anonymous
Has anyone here tried to keep ordinary small spiders (native to your country) as pets?

I'd like to try with jumping spiders, but I'm totally clueless how to feed them and especially how to keep them alive during the winter.
>> Anonymous
feed it a bug every once in a while.
>> Anonymous
A jumping spider lived in my keyboard for a while. He'd come out of one of the gaps on the side, go foray for some food or something and return a while later.
He was so awesome, but he's gone now.
>> Anonymous
>>211160

Sure, but how do I make sure that the spider finds its food before dying?

I had web-weaving (garden) spiders at one time and getting them to eat needed some trickery. Throwing stuff to their webs (dead or alive) wasn't enough.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211061
typically, most spiders don't live terribly long. jumpers are cool though, and interesting to keep. if you just keep them in a container inside your house, they should be fine during the winter..unless you live in a cave or something. just keep them at or near room temp. as for getting them to catch food..a jumper would take a tiny cricket. (pinhead or micro/dust crickets, depending on the size)

huntsman are popular to keep (because they are large, and often have very nice markings/coloration), as well as widows (because they are pretty hearty). i think jumpers are the next most popular after tarantulas though.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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i used to have a flightless fruit fly culture to feed them from..but i find they are a real pain in the ass. so i switched back to small crickets.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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suddenly...Phidippus johnsoni!
>> OP
>>211172

Tiny crickets? Ok, I haven't thought that. Thank you.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211177
yep. you can usually find them at pet stores that cater to reptile keepers, and especially if they sell arachnids.

the spider in this pic is only about 0.5" in leg span, so the cricket is pretty small. some places carry even smaller crickets.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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they can take decent sized prey though. :D
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>211175
BABIES?!
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211191
yep. :D

this isn't the mother, but the same species.>>211173
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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mom in her web/cocoon.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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my grandkids all separated.
>> Anonymous
>>211061
Enjoy ur pet that lives for about a month.
>> Anonymous
>>211221

Sure I do, assuming that it dies naturally.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>211221
Actually, I am pretty sure they live longer than that. I currently have a "window spider". It is a jumping spider that I have watched grow from a tiny little speck to just about a half inch long. He hangs out on the window above my kitchen sink, usually outside the glass, but when it rains, he finds some way inside. We occasionally find him on the counter (and if you walk in the room he hops really fast back to the window). Anyway.. there has been a spider there for about 6 months now. It may not be the same spider, but if it isn't, then its really a funny coincidence that the first spider was tiny and "it" has gotten bigger.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211221
depends on how old it is when you get it really. if you buy an adult, it's tough to tell. i think the average life span is about 1 year. the longest is over 2 years. some might be seasonal..i received a female Phidippus octopunctatus (the first and third pictures i posted in this thread) and she didn't live too long. their breeding season was over..they couldn't even send me any males because they had all died already.

if OP was to catch one in the wild, it would most likely be an adult because the juveniles are very small!

if OP wants to keep a longer lived spider that doesn't get as big as the average adult tarantula..there are a lot of dwarf tarantulas that look amazing. they don't have the same "cute" appeal as jumpers though.

another of the P. octo..
>> OP
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>>211241

I usually see jumping spiders (marpissa muscosa and salticus scenicus) at the end of summer, when they're already quite old and probably die quite soon. On the other hand, females are usually full of eggs at that time, so it should be possible to get baby spiders.

It doesn't bother me if they die after couple of months, as long as it's normal.
>> E noni mos !6ts7WxNHwc
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As far as keeping spiders go it is almost pointless to keep anything but a mygalomorph. The small terrestrial species of spiders are hazardous to keep unless you are well versed on the who's who of arachnids. I am not saying a jumping spider can kill or anything but by the sounds of it you can't tell the difference between a Hobo or the common house spider. Tarantulas and all the other primitive species sold in stores are your best bet, not to mention are a thousand times funner to own.
>> E noni mos !6ts7WxNHwc
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>>211262
Hm ok so maybe you do know. Sorry to come off as a jackass. Either way I stand by my earlier comment.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211265
you can buy some cheap jumpers here: http://www.shopspiderpharm.com/servlet/StoreFront

also other spiders and some scorpions too.


OP, you should be fine with keeping a jumper from your area. try to catch them as early as you can. 1. you will be able to observe it longer. 2. you could get a gravid female. then you could watch the egg sac being made, the young disperse..and finally keep some of the babies and simply release the rest back into their natural habitat.

http://www.carolinanature.com/spiders/ some spiders in NC.

oh yea...and when/if you capture one, make sure to have some air holes that it can't squeeze through! spiders are great at slipping through openings you wouldn't expect them to be able to get through. pantyhose or other similar fabrics are good because they let plenty of air through, but don't have big holes. just take a piece and use a rubber band to hold it on.
>> Anonymous
I used to capture jumping spiders like nobody's business in hong kong. i'd just walk outside, and pick one up. i had three that i wasn't sure on how to feel so tried feeding it water with sugar dissolved in it. didn't matter anyway as one of them killed the others.
>> E noni mos !6ts7WxNHwc
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OK.. So I can't limit my curiosity anymore. Why is it that people would want to own terrestrial spiders? They are small and short lived, not to mention highly strung compared to mygalomorphs. To clarify by terrestrial I refer mainly to all araneomorphae.
>> spiderman !!Q+JluTncCte
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>>211322
i think your average person would normally go for a species of tarantula. a lot of people that keep tarantulas keep other types of spiders. it's only natural that someone would want to keep those other spiders and not necessarily care to own a tarantula. (at least at first. :D )
>> Anonymous
I used to keep (and breed) native jumping spiders and crab spiders that I'd catch early spring. I'd free the hatchlings and because I couldn't find anything small enough to feed them but the adults ate houseflies and crickets. The males would die after mating but the females would usually live until about mid-winter.
>> Anonymous
I once kept a huntsman for 6 months. He was low-maintenance. Chuck in leaves and sticks in the jar, keep the place moist, let the leaves go brown, and drop in a bug or two every week or few days.
>> OP
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>>211322

I don't know about the others, but for me the reasons are:

1) Native species have their own charm. First, you have to find and catch them. Then, you have to figure out what they need. And lastly, if it looks like you're having trouble with them, you can (usually) release them.

2) This is a cold country and the summer is short. Even though there are all kinds of interesting animals and plants here, many of them are quite rare (from an amateur's point of view) or live in distant places, meaning that it can take several years to see some particular bug.

3) When you find an interesting beetle/rodent/spider/plant/whatever, it's usually doing nothing interesting. Spiders are just sitting on their webs, rodents are trying to escape, etc. Having them in a terrarium makes it possible to see something you usually won't see.