Does anyone mind a solifugid thread?

[James Box]

i just got a Paragaleodes sp....well looks like that to me, but it's been suggested it's a G. granti, so i'm not sure.
the bloke at the shop called it an Egyptian sunspider, so that's not too helpful.
anyways, i'm wondering if anyone has experience with these amazing little animals?
there's very little pure knowledge and alot of theory about them.
some have said on arachnoboards to feed fairly often, some say feed slowly, and some say to allow for hibernation.

i'm going to try the latter two suggestions, as it seems logical to me that these creatures might "burn out" rather fast, as they're a highly strung type of animal, and seemingly lacking the instinct to stop eating when full.

also, they're meant to be fast and "aggressive"...but mine is slow and shy lol...maybe cause it's only a baby. i put a cricket in, and though the cricket was cleary bricking it, the soli seemed to also be quite unnerved! if the cricket's still in tonight, i'll remove it (or try to).
the bloke at the shop fed it before i got it, and it's about 4 days since then.

anyways, i'm quite chuffed to have such an alien looking animal in my collection, and hope i can give it a comfortable and relatively long life!

[Neil Martin]

Is this one? Have a read of this also.http://www.livefoodshop.co.uk/forum/...howtopic=19937

[James Box]

nope, at the moment looks alot more like the attachment below.
also, this page seems to have a pic of an adult, or subadult: http://www.solpugid.com/paragaleodes.htm
mine looks most like the female in the bottom of those two pics.
thanks for the link!
ironic that it's in a venomous section on that forum, as only a couple species of the overall thousand or so actually have venom... but they do have a nasty bite!

[Rich.Harrington]

Thats the things neil, solifuges, only arachnid on the planet that actually give me shivers. Everything else in nature 'the more you leanr the less you fear' For me with them it's the opposite. Stole the gold medal from house spiders for the top sprinters a while back. Sure a male sydney funnel web might kill you, but if you see some close up video of the mouth parts on solifuges then id rather take the aussie bite anyday thanks

As far as records go, 90% of what you will find on the net about them has flies round it and looks oddly similar to that stuff cows drop. Too much hype was created by daft soldiers during the original gulf war and the ensuing troubles. Yes they will run towards you and even chase you, but only to sit in your shadow out of the sun. Yes if one had a go at you it would make a real mess of your hand/fingers to give the impression of the beginnings of severe necrosis. But they have no venom, with the possible exception of one species in india. Rhagodes nigrocinctus It was found to possess glands that once extracted did produce paralysis in some small animals. However no means was or to my knowledge has been discovered for the creature to administer this 'venom'

I have been tempted to get some in the past if not for the paranoia of getting tagged, sure a T.blondi will leave two inch long holes in your hand and hurt like heck. But a large specimin of these could potentially strip most of the skin and a large amount of meat under from one half of your finger. I saw a video a while back of one in the wild that found, took on, killed , and devoured a scorpian that was about the same size as the solifugae. That doesn't just take attitude but also some serious cutlery.

But good luck with your one james, don't treat it too much like a T though, they like shade and hiding places like T's but they have an appetite unlike anything with 8 legs. most likely 2-3 day feeding schedule, oh and don't expect much of a lifespan. Around 12-18 months I think is all they have. Live fast, die young and all that.

[mary walters]

I have had solifuges in the past, a couple of the 'bald' ones and a yellow fuzzy one, as has been said, they don't live long, I think the longest I had one was the yellow one, maybe 5 months. They are a lovely addition to a collection though, if only because they are so flippin ugly.

[James Box]

i dunno! i actually think mine's rather cute! or maybe i'm crazy?
she seems to fear me more than i fear her...though naturally not going to tempt fate by getting my fingers in the way.
just looking at that other forum...people were posting all sorts of alarmist gibberish, like "my husband's friend was in Iraq and got the top of his foot eaten off" etc...rubbish! i'm sure he'd have noticed the pain of a bite and promptly kicked it off or crushed it before it could do THAT much damage.

some of the theories on arachnoboards suggest that with allowance for hibernation (mainly lower slightly temperatures and solitude, along with no feeding) can extend the lifespan beyond two years...so i'm hoping to experiment with that.
at any rate, i've fallen in love with the little "brute" that i got, and will potentially explore this branch of aracnhids more in the future.

i'll also be checking out tailless whipscorpions (communal, docile, and apparently friendly, with maternal instincts...) and vinegaroons at some point.

of course i still love my T's, scorps, millipedes and boa though

[Rich.Harrington]

some of the theories on arachnoboards suggest that with allowance for hibernation (mainly lower slightly temperatures and solitude, along with no feeding) can extend the lifespan beyond two years...so i'm hoping to experiment with that.

That could well work, solifugae have evolved in places where food is scarce. As such it become easier to find food if you can cover a large area quickly. So but having the speed they possess they are able to forage further in any given time unit. Obviously this required more energy so they grew faster metabolisms to let them gain the energy quickly from each prey item. The problem often encountered with captive ones, is a small enclosure compared to the wild, coupled with food supplied leaves them unable to balance the equations.

Although in the wild mature males have very short live spans. One theory is that it is down to the fact of being unable to feed themselves. Males have few 'teeth' on their chelicerae and they are also flatter to aid with mating, since unlike T's the pedipalps are used more as a restraint of the female than an 'active sexual organ'
So if your going for an oap solifugae and it turns out to be male, you might endup having to prekill and mash food items.

[James Box]

hmm, well i'm quite sure it's young and female...so far it's shown little interest in food except to mash it up a bit itself and then ignore it! i'm thinking of trying with some meat or bits of pre-killed mice.