# funnel webs as pets? + afew other Q's



## Luke1 (Jun 4, 2008)

hey all spider and scorp lovers!

*Spider Questions*
ok, so the title says funnel webs...i think they are the coolest spiders and i have so many running around the back and front of my house and i have caught several before and taken them to the hospitals and they milk them them give them back to me and i realese them...

...so anyway my main questions are:

> do you need a special licence for them?
> if you don't can you catch them from highly populated areas on your property?
> how big a tank would you need?
> how often would they want feeding?
>since they are burrowing spiders, how deep would you need the substrait?

i have a few tubs lying around for some that i could keep em in... 

*scoripoin questions*
i was just looking at my jar in which i have my good old dead pet scorpion in with spirits or what ever and i thought it would be cool to get another few! then...what freaked me out was my mum called me up to here and showed me an email that my mums sister had sent me from her mate at works whos got some pets scorps hes selling off...

heres the main quote or whatever that he said in the email:

They will be going for $25. 

They are local rock scopions, they grow to around 3cm, they are poisonous but not leathal (to humans) they pack the puch similar to a bee or huntsman spider bite (though i can't tell you from experience...yet). They are very easy to look after, only need to feed them once a week and since they are local they don't need any special equipment like heat lamps

so thats that and i thought it would be heaps cool to get little tiny scorps....

do any of you guys have info about these little scorpions? i have heaps of spare cricket containers and a duel simease fighter fish tank lying around would i beable to use them?

Cheers,

Luke


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## Luke1 (Jun 4, 2008)

hey again!
i have looked at the green scorpion and that was helpfull with scorps! 

also, i just remebered i did a project on scorps in year 7 and remembered about that chemical in there body that makes em go awsome colours...has anyone go pics of this?


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## Mark Newton (Jun 4, 2008)

Luke1 said:


> hey again!
> i have looked at the green scorpion and that was helpfull with scorps!
> 
> also, i just remebered i did a project on scorps in year 7 and remembered about that chemical in there body that makes em go awsome colours...has anyone go pics of this?


 

and for the #1 Site on Aussie Scorpions : www.thedailylink.com/phpBB
vip code= 196943KILL

I dont bite.....erm, actually I sting....LOL

cheers


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## scorps (Jun 4, 2008)

Heres one of my black rock scorpions normally and under a uv light

(please note these pics where taken when i had no idea how to use a camera, i cant believe how fuzzy they are lol but you get the picture) 

*NORMAL
*






*UNDER UV BLACK LIGHT
*






Cheers Ben


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## Mark Newton (Jun 4, 2008)

scorps said:


> Heres one of my black rock scorpions normally and under a uv light


 

yep//.....looks a bit like a blurry _Urodacus manicatus_


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## dunno103 (Jun 4, 2008)

I kept a funnel web for quite a while in a large coffee jar with a huge base and a rock in the middle on top of dirt. A female can live for many years approx 20 I think and if you have any cockys at home and don't spray the house then it is fun to watch.

A good book is spiderwatch, 

cheers


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## scorps (Jun 4, 2008)

Mark Newton said:


> yep//.....looks a bit like a blurry _Urodacus manicatus_



it is


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## Luke1 (Jun 5, 2008)

thanks guys! 
can i keep smaller species in cricket containers (scorpions that is)?
and with the funnel web i have a spare fish tank thats 45 x 30 x 30 (LXHXW)

cheers,

Luke


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## JasonL (Jun 5, 2008)

Funnel Webs are tricky to keep long term, they perish quickly in hot temps. I had them going great in tanks under my house, but thats the only place that doesn't get too hot for them here.


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## hornet (Jun 5, 2008)

Atrax robustus are tricky, qld species are alot easier


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## Luke1 (Jun 5, 2008)

thanks, its worth a try anyway! can i feed them just crickets or should i gice them both crickets, roaches and meal worms?


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## angel (Jun 5, 2008)

I find my funnels and my bird eaters prefer crickets and grasshoppers.... they are not really into roaches.. but that could just be mine.


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## notechistiger (Jun 5, 2008)

Could anyone pot pictures of their spider/scorpians, and their enclosures?


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## the_tsar (Jun 6, 2008)

No Licence required for Fun webs.

Make the substrate about 2 inches deep, Tip...., put in the dirt, and bury your finger into the corner, and put the dirt about your finger, this will make a hole starter for the F web, you will find it will start to did this hole in a day or so. Some like to have fake holes...

Mine dug down and then after hitting bottom, went sideways, then popped out in the other corner.
Took about 10 days for her to do it.
Feed 1 cricket a week, but judge hunger by their bum. Smaller than their heads, feed it. hould be bout the same sized *** and head.

You will not see them much in the day, but at night, they always seem about.

I even feed mine small geckos I find....(IMported buggers...their everywhere).

I have seen these spiders with mites on them, rather entertaining to get them off, so make sure you look closely at the ones you capture.


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## Luke1 (Jun 7, 2008)

thanks the tsar! great info...do you have pics of your tanks or what ever?

thanks everyone? 
anymore info is greatly appreciated! 

Cheers,

Luke


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## RedEyeGirl (Jun 7, 2008)

is it illegal...............all reptiles are protected?are they not


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## ecam8310 (Jun 7, 2008)

*Funnel-web Spider Care*

G’Day Luke.

I agree that funnelwebs are very cool spiders. I have been keeping them on and off for about six years and I have experience with two NSW species (_robustus_ and _versutus_). I found both species very easy to keep with little maintenance. My best advice would be to read up on them and develop a thorough understanding of their needs. However, I’ll give you a few simple tips to start off with and I’ll chuck some photos in as well. The funnelwebs in your garden are certainly _Atrax Robustus_, so they will have the same needs as the spiders that I have kept.

*Housing:* I have used two different approaches to keeping funnelwebs.

1. Get a tupperware container, about lunchbox size. Fill it about 10cm deep with moist dirt from near area that you caught the spider. Funnelwebs cannot jump or climb smooth surfaces but I would still keep about 10cm of air space between the dirt and the lid. There is no need to put air holes in the lid. Under these conditions the spider should burrow and lay extensive web on the surface. You won’t see very much of it because will stay in the burrow during the day and sometimes surface at night.

2. Get a jar or a very small tupperware container and line the bottom with about 2 cm of dirt. Put one small air hole in the lid and again be conscious of having the dirt level well below the lid. Under these conditions the spider will not be able to dig very deep and it will treat the entire enclosure as its burrow. It will remain on the surface and lay a lot of web. If you choose to keep the funnelweb like this then it is important to keep it in a dark area. Otherwise it will attempt to submerge itself in dirt during the day. You are attempting to simulate a dark, cool burrow.

*Feeding:* Feeding funnelwebs is pretty straight forward. Give it a week to settle in (although many will eat immediately). Crickets are an easy food source that you can obtain from most pet stores and the occasional pinky mouse for an adult funnelweb won’t do any harm. Offer food at the edge of the burrow or just leave the prey item in the enclosure. Remove dead prey after the funnel web discards it or if it dies without being eaten. You can judge how much food your spider needs by the size of its abdomen, but a cricket or two a week would be more than enough. They can go a very long time without eating and the longer they go without using their venom the more aggressive they become. A scientist, doing venom research at UTS, explained to me that they take quite a while to produce their venom and it builds up and becomes more potent with time. They are instinctively aware of this and are more likely to accept food, or strike at you, if they have been left alone for a while so that more venom can develop.

*Maintenance:* Keep their soil moist (not soaked) by spraying the enclosure with a water sprayer every few days. They require quite high humidity to breathe from their book-lungs. In Sydney heating is unnecessary and potentially harmful. In fact keep enclosures in a cool spot with no sun exposure, especially if you are using the second enclosure type.

Finally, always treat the spider with the enormous respect that it deserves! They have extremely toxic venom and often a really bad temper. Use long tweezers/forceps when feeding or removing old meals and never put your bare hands anywhere near the spider or its burrow! If any major maintenance needs to be done to the enclosure, then remove the funnelweb first by guiding it into a jar using a metal spoon.

I recommend two books. The Funnelweb by Gillian Scott and The Silken Web by Bert Brunet.

Best of luck.

ED.


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## dunno103 (Jun 7, 2008)

great advice ecam, thanks.


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## ecam8310 (Jun 7, 2008)

Some photos:


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## alex_c (Jun 7, 2008)

RedEyeGirl said:


> is it illegal...............all reptiles are protected?are they not


 a funnel web is a spider its not a reptile.


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## ecam8310 (Jun 8, 2008)

RedEyeGirl.

No Funnelwebs are not protected at all...
People can even bring exterminators in to clear them out of their yards.


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## Luke1 (Jun 8, 2008)

*ecam8310:* thank you so so so so so so much! i went out looking for sometoday, only ones i found were dead in the bottom of a puddle! i tried to see if they were still alive (cause they can make air bubbles and put themselves into a coma and survive for about 7 days!) but nothing, however, i was happily greated by 2 legless lizards under a log and a centopead...the legless lizards were way to fast for me to catch them so i took the centopead! 
so now i have a pet centopead and 2 little baby ones aswell! 
thanks for the photos too! great shots!

Cheers,

Luke


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## HerpDr (Jun 9, 2008)

When I was at uni one of the lectures was doing research and had like 100 of them. He kept them all in jars the size of a big nutella jar with about 5cm dirt and a cotton wall ball that was moistened. It was pretty cool feeding them all, we kept them all together in a couple of big drawers so dark all the time. The girls lived for years but the boys lasted one season when mature, some of the girls even had babies - that was pretty tricky cause they were so tiny, most of them ate each other.

Good luck with finding them, the uni had a couple of people that used to find them - they got them from the blue mountains area and dug up areas of soil under logs and stuff. Oh and they get angry when you blow on them, thats how we used to get venom from them.


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## daniel1234 (Jun 9, 2008)

RedEyeGirl said:


> is it illegal...............all reptiles are protected?are they not


 
People she was talking about the geckos that were being fed to the fun webs, I'll get back to you on the answer if I find it.


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## ecam8310 (Jun 11, 2008)

I need to make an amendment to my previous post. The third photograph is a trapdoor spider! I have misleadingly named this photo _Robustus :shock:_. Sorry for the confusion.

Ed.


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## redbellybite (Jun 12, 2008)

this post makes the hairs on my neck stand up !! put me in a pit of vens before I would or could ever have a funnelweb as a pet ............lol


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## Luke1 (Jun 12, 2008)

thanks guys, i nearly got a little one yesterday, it was atleast 4-5 cm when i lifted up a rock to use for my pond!the burrow was right under it then down...i saw her just sitting there im like HURRAY...LOL...i tried to get it out with a leaf and a twig but she went deeper into the hole! i was pretty angry bout that LOL!

redbellybite: LOL...im getting a funnel web to build up part of my confidence for when i get old enough to keep vens LOL!

Luke


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## redbellybite (Jun 12, 2008)

ohhhhhhhh luke I catch vens and even though yes they make a knot in my gut thats what keeps me focused no way in a pink fit would I ever consider a FWS to be a pet I am petrified of spiders to the point I scream and get so out of control I am a big girls blouse when it comes to 8 legged 100 eyed googling at me hairy monster arrrrrrrrr good luck mate with the spider hunting


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## FROGGIESrCUTEo_O (Jun 12, 2008)

I absolutely love arachnids. 
I had this wild huntsman that lived in my room, I called him 'Mr. Fabio'. I used to put a beetle up on the top of my fan and you'd see him crawl up there grab it and walk off!! I've got this video of me when I was 3 playing with caterpillars, moths, skinks and christmas beetles!!
Froggies


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## Nathan (Jun 12, 2008)

*MY Arachnids*

Hey All,

I used to milk the Funnel webs at the Reptile park as a volunteer wow what an experience. I have been keeping Tarantulas for around 9 years. I've also had a pet Funnel web female for 4 years. She is to easy to look after with changing of substrate every 6 or so months. Here are a few pics of both.


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## ecam8310 (Jun 13, 2008)

Nathan.

Those are wicked pics! 
Check out these girls. The bird eater used to come out jet-black after a shed and I caught that funnelweb on the central coast.


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