Money spider

[Iain L]

I have just been observing 1 of my Avicularia versicolor slings moult and something moving caught my eye in its tub. Upon inspection its a tiny (~1mm) 'money spider' which must have clambered its way through a ventillation hole - as I dont think T's keep little spiders for a hobby
Should I just leave it as a snack for my avic when it hardens up or does something as small pose any sort of risk to a newly moulted (now approx 1cm body length) sling
Now that Ive looked closely it must have been in there a while as its got a canny sized web for such a tiny critter. I'd just have took it out if the avic wasn't mid moult and hadn't attached its web to the screw on lid of its pot. The avic is out of its exuvium and busy pressure testing its hydraulics at present

[matthew spooner]

i am wary about spiders being in with Ts no matter what the size. i would remove it, especially as your avic is a sling and is very vulnerable due to moulting. what you must remember is that spiders are poisonous and a bite could kill a tarantula. a friend of mine once put a tegenaria gigantea in with a sub adult l.parahybana and the parahybana got a deadly bite as the gigantea didnt take to kindly to the T trying to eat it

[Iain L]

disappearing spider

I just tried fishing for the little money spider with a bit of wire and the bl00dy thing has vanished, haven't a scooby where its gone. Think with it being tiny and brown it has disguised itself as a piece of substrate, it lives on my computer desk currently so I will hunt periodically over the coming hours. Like I said in my previous post I don't want to unscrew the lid as the avic has attached its web to the lid as well as its lump of cork just to be damned awkward I think
Luckilly I fastened one of those little sling transporting vials in the lid so I can feed/water it without any problem

[wayne balcombe]

i agree with matt. i've never been happy about common domestic spiders having access to my theraphosids as a bite from a small house spider would be fatal to them. a money spider may be of no significance but i wouldn't take the chance.

microgram for microgram the venom of our domestic spiders is alot more potant than that of our "tarantula's"

wayne.

[Iain L]

money spider escapes

The 'money spider' escaped the tarantulas lair earlier this afternoon
I was having an afternoon of sport made myself a half time drink and checked to see if I could spot the little thing, there it was clambering out through a ventillation hole so I captured it and removed it from the area. Hadnt thought about the potency of our domestic spiders venom, you tend to ignore it with them not having the delivery apparatus to inject people (usually - hopefully!) but the rules we apply to prey items for our T's dont apply to 'little' domestic spiders cos they will eat anything their webs are capable of trapping.
Makes me shudder to think of it and reminds me why I'm a total arachnophobe - fascinating creatures though aren't they

[wayne balcombe]

you would be surprised iain with just how many of our "little domestic spiders" can pack a nasty bite even for us.

Teginarie Gigantia - the common house spider. its bite is potent enough to cause painful erytheama and swelling on a larger scale than a bite from a theraphosid.

Araneaus Diadematus - garden spider. ( pretty, orangey brown orb weaving spider) can give a nasty bite if handled carelessly.

Disdera Crocata - the woodlouse spider. has the largest fangs of all british aranomorph spiders and packs a powerful bite.

Steatoda Nobilis - the false widow. has probably the worst bite of all the domestic spiders in the uk. the bite has been known to cause cardiac arythmia in the elderly or extremely young.

there are others but the scientific mames elude me at present. these are spiders we in the uk all have in our homes and gardens.

wayne