bird eating spider
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Farkurnell
Active Member
The Plaza Petshop at Flemington used to sell them, not sure if they still do though.
Springherp
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kellyville pets, reptile barn, wet 'n' dry pets in Penrith, thats just a few that I've seen before.
Farkurnell
Active Member
Yeah but they're not near Bankstown. :wink:
Nome
Very Well-Known Member
Hi there,
i breed and sell these spiders all over Australia, but currently don't have any left, and won't be selling anymore until Springtime, when my big girls have their babies.
Most pet stores only sell wild-caught adult spiders, and I suggest you don't support this practice. It is cruel and wrong, the same way that taking reptiles from the wild and putting them in a tank in a pet store is.
I have written a bit about this on my website: www.freewebs.com/saveourtarantulas/spidersaspets.htm under 'Why buy a captive-bred tarantula'.
I love these guys, and hate to see them suffer. I will have some captive-bred babies available springtime if you are interested in waiting till then. There are some pics on my site of some of my gravid females.
Kind regards,
Nome.
i breed and sell these spiders all over Australia, but currently don't have any left, and won't be selling anymore until Springtime, when my big girls have their babies.
Most pet stores only sell wild-caught adult spiders, and I suggest you don't support this practice. It is cruel and wrong, the same way that taking reptiles from the wild and putting them in a tank in a pet store is.
I have written a bit about this on my website: www.freewebs.com/saveourtarantulas/spidersaspets.htm under 'Why buy a captive-bred tarantula'.
I love these guys, and hate to see them suffer. I will have some captive-bred babies available springtime if you are interested in waiting till then. There are some pics on my site of some of my gravid females.
Kind regards,
Nome.
Springherp
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woops
thought it said Blacktown.
Nome
Very Well-Known Member
Umm...duh! Sorry blonde moment. That's great, dont' even know my own site . Proper link:
http://www.freewebs.com/saveourtarantulas/tarantulasaspets.htm
Sorry guys!
~Nome
. Proper link:http://www.freewebs.com/saveourtarantulas/tarantulasaspets.htm
Sorry guys!
~Nome
G
Guest
Guest
Great website Nome. Almost made me want one too!
Nome,
Congrats on your stance on vettoing the wild caught animals. We get some really big specimens of the bird-eating spiders up here that are being raided for the pet store industry and as much as I am not (yet) a spider fan, I find this practise as wrong as poaching other flora and fauna.
Regards Rina
Congrats on your stance on vettoing the wild caught animals. We get some really big specimens of the bird-eating spiders up here that are being raided for the pet store industry and as much as I am not (yet) a spider fan, I find this practise as wrong as poaching other flora and fauna.
Regards Rina
Nome
Very Well-Known Member
Hi there Moman,
It is believed (not my research) that there are no captive-bred adult spiders in the industry, due to the time and maintenance of raising so many spiders. The only adult spiders I have are wild-caught, and I only have them for breeding, so they are not for sale, and this would go against my beliefs if I did sell them. I'll have adult captive-bred spiders in 2 years when all the babies are raised.
Babies are just as fun, and it is really satisfying to raise your own spiderling from a 5 month old to a 17cm legspan giant!!
Kind regards,
Nome.
It is believed (not my research) that there are no captive-bred adult spiders in the industry, due to the time and maintenance of raising so many spiders. The only adult spiders I have are wild-caught, and I only have them for breeding, so they are not for sale, and this would go against my beliefs if I did sell them. I'll have adult captive-bred spiders in 2 years when all the babies are raised.
Babies are just as fun, and it is really satisfying to raise your own spiderling from a 5 month old to a 17cm legspan giant!!
Kind regards,
Nome.
Nome
Very Well-Known Member
HI there Hix,
I keep the following five:
Selenocosmia crassipes
Selenocosmia stirlingi
Selenocosmia sp. (unidentified species)
Selenotypus sp. (rare unidentified species)
Phlogiellus sp.
They are all have different temperments, colouring and size.
Thanks for the interest :wink: .
Kind regards,
Nome.
I keep the following five:
Selenocosmia crassipes
Selenocosmia stirlingi
Selenocosmia sp. (unidentified species)
Selenotypus sp. (rare unidentified species)
Phlogiellus sp.
They are all have different temperments, colouring and size.
Thanks for the interest :wink: .
Kind regards,
Nome.
PilbaraPythons
Very Well-Known Member
Hi Nome
Could you please advise me on any evidence you may have on the negative impact of wild populations due to collecting. My experience of collecting bird eaters from under the same sheets of corrugated iron in the same spot for over ten years has shown me that the population at these collecting spots seem to remain the same. It s seems as though when you remove one from its spot is then quickly filled by another although usually of smaller size. I am convinced that the very large spiders do not tolerate the close company of their off spring particuly when they gain in size. I?ve always found under tin either large numbers of medium sizes and youngsters or just a few large older ones and very few young ones.
Other past spider?s collectors in this area Tramain Anderson, Adrian Hogg, Shane Macualy have experienced the same result. Millions of people in this country have killed and constantly kill and spray spiders of all sorts around there houses at yet they keep coming back. I believe the limited collecting of spiders has next to no impact on the bird eaters or its own ability to sustain its self as a species in the wild. Also there was some Spider expert ( sorry for not remembering his name )from the Queensland museum claiming that wild collecting would wipe them out but he didn?t back his beliefs up with any thing to support this publicly. Please do not think that I am not on your side as to the promotion of captive breed spiders as I really do admire what you are doing in this regard. I would however like to see evidence backed with proof that wild populations are under threat and not just heart bleeding condemnation of such practices. There is such a thing as sustainable harvesting.
Please convince me other wise as I am not and probably never will be an expert on these spiders.
Cheers David Mackintosh
Pilbara Pythons
Could you please advise me on any evidence you may have on the negative impact of wild populations due to collecting. My experience of collecting bird eaters from under the same sheets of corrugated iron in the same spot for over ten years has shown me that the population at these collecting spots seem to remain the same. It s seems as though when you remove one from its spot is then quickly filled by another although usually of smaller size. I am convinced that the very large spiders do not tolerate the close company of their off spring particuly when they gain in size. I?ve always found under tin either large numbers of medium sizes and youngsters or just a few large older ones and very few young ones.
Other past spider?s collectors in this area Tramain Anderson, Adrian Hogg, Shane Macualy have experienced the same result. Millions of people in this country have killed and constantly kill and spray spiders of all sorts around there houses at yet they keep coming back. I believe the limited collecting of spiders has next to no impact on the bird eaters or its own ability to sustain its self as a species in the wild. Also there was some Spider expert ( sorry for not remembering his name )from the Queensland museum claiming that wild collecting would wipe them out but he didn?t back his beliefs up with any thing to support this publicly. Please do not think that I am not on your side as to the promotion of captive breed spiders as I really do admire what you are doing in this regard. I would however like to see evidence backed with proof that wild populations are under threat and not just heart bleeding condemnation of such practices. There is such a thing as sustainable harvesting.
Please convince me other wise as I am not and probably never will be an expert on these spiders.
Cheers David Mackintosh
Pilbara Pythons
Ella
Well-Known Member
I think her main problem (correct me if I'm wrong nome) with wild caught spiders is the stress captive life puts on them. Same as with reptiles. They're not used to such a degree of human contact. Something that's been free it's whole life just can't understand why it can now only move so many steps this way...so many that way...
I'm kinda the same. I hate standing in crowded lifts. I need space.
I understand what u'r saying about wild populations though. We've got so many huntsmans at our place! And some spider on the verandah just laid her second egg sack.
I'm kinda the same. I hate standing in crowded lifts. I need space.
I understand what u'r saying about wild populations though. We've got so many huntsmans at our place! And some spider on the verandah just laid her second egg sack.
Nome
Very Well-Known Member
Hi there,
I used to have Dr Robert Raven's (QLD arachnologist) figures on my website (10,000 bird-eating spiders a year collected for the pet trade), but found, as you did, that there didn't seem to be any evidence to back this up. Saying that, at the beginning of the spider trade, there were 50 a week alone sold in my local town, so I wouldn't doubt that in the beginning that these figures would have been a good estimate. As you may know, the Cairns region in particular was being overcollected at the time, and I do know that the giant spiders that used to be seen in the pet stores aren't anymore, just the smaller ones.
What I object to, is that to satisfy human's curiosity to 'bottle' these giant spiders they are being collected and put in a fish tank in a pet store. We are talking about a spider that may have lived 20 years in one burrow, and never seen a human, and then dug up and put into a fish tank, with hundreds of people being able to look at it, and nowhere to hide. I also know of collectors that accidently kill many spiders while they are digging them up. Most of the species i have are burrowing, and the ones found under sheets of iron are the males, but they have to actually go and dig up the females. The stress of trying to adapt to captivity, coupled with the inaccurate care advice and housing the buyer is often given, has been the demise of many of these spiders, and this is a sad, shameful waste. As with these kinds of animals, you also get the people that just want to buy for the 'freak factor' and once they realize their spider just wants to dig a hole and live in a burrow, they lost interest and the spider becomes neglected. What a waste, considering this spider could have been thriving in it's natural environment. I also know, only 1 out of the 6 of my local pet stores now stock the spiders as they found they were all dying in the store (correct conditions could have helped this). The QLD government also think that this is should be regulated, and as of the 1st of March this year, collectors are now required to have a permit and log everything that is collected.
I'm not talking spiders in general here, just the ones collected for the pet trade. I have heard the pesticide reason, but many of these spiders are dug up in a forest or bush area, and not caught around a house where they would be sprayed anyway. I have witnessed and rehabilitated many spiders that were dug up and subjected to awful conditions for the pet trade, and this is my main reason for captive-breeding the spiders, in the hope that the support of this trade will stop. I know wild-caught specimens are necessary for the captive-breeding of these spiders, and I don't object to this if they are kept in the right conditions.
Saying this, if there is anyone who has a bird-eating spider they purchased from a pet store, I have caresheets I send out with my spiders I sell, and I would be happy to send you one of these caresheets, so you can be sure you are keeping your spider in the right condition. Please email me on [email protected] if you have any questions about your spider, or wish to receive a caresheet, all free of charge of course! :wink:
It comes down to that, and I hope that clarifies my stance on this a bit. I know what uproar there would be if it were known that pet stores were blatantly obtaining reptiles from the wild and putting them in a tank 2 days later, clearly stating and knowing they are wild caught. It is sadly because of most people's aversion to spiders, that not an awful lot of people care about these giant's put into a pet store. This is what I hope to help educate people on.
Kind regards,
~Nome.
I used to have Dr Robert Raven's (QLD arachnologist) figures on my website (10,000 bird-eating spiders a year collected for the pet trade), but found, as you did, that there didn't seem to be any evidence to back this up. Saying that, at the beginning of the spider trade, there were 50 a week alone sold in my local town, so I wouldn't doubt that in the beginning that these figures would have been a good estimate. As you may know, the Cairns region in particular was being overcollected at the time, and I do know that the giant spiders that used to be seen in the pet stores aren't anymore, just the smaller ones.
What I object to, is that to satisfy human's curiosity to 'bottle' these giant spiders they are being collected and put in a fish tank in a pet store. We are talking about a spider that may have lived 20 years in one burrow, and never seen a human, and then dug up and put into a fish tank, with hundreds of people being able to look at it, and nowhere to hide. I also know of collectors that accidently kill many spiders while they are digging them up. Most of the species i have are burrowing, and the ones found under sheets of iron are the males, but they have to actually go and dig up the females. The stress of trying to adapt to captivity, coupled with the inaccurate care advice and housing the buyer is often given, has been the demise of many of these spiders, and this is a sad, shameful waste. As with these kinds of animals, you also get the people that just want to buy for the 'freak factor' and once they realize their spider just wants to dig a hole and live in a burrow, they lost interest and the spider becomes neglected. What a waste, considering this spider could have been thriving in it's natural environment. I also know, only 1 out of the 6 of my local pet stores now stock the spiders as they found they were all dying in the store (correct conditions could have helped this). The QLD government also think that this is should be regulated, and as of the 1st of March this year, collectors are now required to have a permit and log everything that is collected.
I'm not talking spiders in general here, just the ones collected for the pet trade. I have heard the pesticide reason, but many of these spiders are dug up in a forest or bush area, and not caught around a house where they would be sprayed anyway. I have witnessed and rehabilitated many spiders that were dug up and subjected to awful conditions for the pet trade, and this is my main reason for captive-breeding the spiders, in the hope that the support of this trade will stop. I know wild-caught specimens are necessary for the captive-breeding of these spiders, and I don't object to this if they are kept in the right conditions.
Saying this, if there is anyone who has a bird-eating spider they purchased from a pet store, I have caresheets I send out with my spiders I sell, and I would be happy to send you one of these caresheets, so you can be sure you are keeping your spider in the right condition. Please email me on [email protected] if you have any questions about your spider, or wish to receive a caresheet, all free of charge of course! :wink:
It comes down to that, and I hope that clarifies my stance on this a bit. I know what uproar there would be if it were known that pet stores were blatantly obtaining reptiles from the wild and putting them in a tank 2 days later, clearly stating and knowing they are wild caught. It is sadly because of most people's aversion to spiders, that not an awful lot of people care about these giant's put into a pet store. This is what I hope to help educate people on.
Kind regards,
~Nome.
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