# Ever seen a.......?



## Nome (May 9, 2005)

Ever seen a spider mate?

I know this will disturb some of you (well, most of you :wink: ), but I thought I'd put some pics up that Steve took of a tarantula (bird eating spider) mating we did today.

These two are the Phlogiellus species (one of the 7 named species of tarantulas). The big black female 'Jewel' is 17cm legspan, and the pink coloured male is a little smaller. Note the sexual dimorphism in this species  

So, this is what spiders look like doing their thing


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## womas4me (May 9, 2005)

If left will the female kill the male?


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (May 9, 2005)

great looking spiders nome..how close can you get to them??
great pics to
baz


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## Nome (May 9, 2005)

Jim,
Males can be eaten but we are careful not to let that happen. They are usually sensible enough to get out of the female's enclosure into the waiting container we have ready for them. They back very slowly and carefully away...they know what can happen  

ssssnakeman,
The spiders could be handled which I don't do because of the stress on them (unless absolutely necessary) and you really would have a good chance of getting bitten. They are a look but don't touch pet . The Australian ones aren't like the exotic tarantulas, as ours use biting as their main defense rather than hair kicking like their American counterparts.


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## pugsly (May 9, 2005)

She is massive! Awesome!!

Always wanted a Bird Eater but id rather handle my pets.. maybe one day Ill give ya a buz Nome


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (May 9, 2005)

i got bitten by a huntsman when i was holding it just like this
bit me on the palm,,,never held one since, 
this isnt the one that bit me


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## BROWNS (May 9, 2005)

Pic of one from my yard and i got pretty well as close as you can get with handling this one under experienced guidance....











Fascinating animals but i'll stick with my reptiles


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## westhamsc (May 9, 2005)

sweet as naomi always wanted to see that thanks for showing 

p.s tell steve he takes **** pic's


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## Guest (May 9, 2005)

*Ever seen a....?*

Browns thats monsterous mate it looks like it could kill a full grown mouse or someting pretty dam big.


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## womas4me (May 9, 2005)

*RE: Ever seen a....?*

How many offspring would you expect to come of this, and how many of those would make it to adulthood?


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## BROWNS (May 9, 2005)

*RE: Ever seen a....?*



> Browns thats monsterous mate it looks like it could kill a full grown mouse or someting pretty dam big.


Yeah ol mate,that's an Airlie Beach special :wink:


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## NoOne (May 9, 2005)

westhamsc said:


> p.s tell steve he takes poo pic's



Sorry westie i'll try and get up to the standard of your trapdoor pics next time :wink:


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## westhamsc (May 9, 2005)

> Sorry westie i'll try and get up to the standard of your trapdoor pics next time


lmao it's the $50 scaner i tell ya


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## trader (May 9, 2005)

> Ever seen a spider mate?



No 'mate' I haven't :wink: just kiddin Nome, great pictures, thanx for sharing, not something you see everyday! :shock:


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## alexr (May 9, 2005)

how good do they look... can't wait to see more pictures of the result of there hard work :wink: 

I think that I would be aloud 100 snakes before my wife would let me have one of these...let alone a breading pair. Thanks for sharing that with us Nome!!!

How often do they mate ? 


I'll show this to both my boys first thing tomorrow.

My eldest has had a thing for spiders since birth. He even managed to find a nest of syd funnelwebs in the pre-school sandpit. Correctly identified them played with them for a bit and then got the teacher. Needles to say they ended up getting the exterminator in, and we were called in to help explain to Jake why this is wrong (did no good I might add)

He often catches and hides red backs in jars in his room. Drives his poor mum mental. He is only six and we are waiting for the day he gets bitten.


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## diamond_python (May 9, 2005)

> My eldest has had a thing for spiders since birth. He even managed to find a nest of syd funnelwebs in the pre-school sandpit. Correctly identified them played with them for a bit and then got the teacher. Needles to say they ended up getting the exterminator in, and we were called in to help explain to Jake why this is wrong (did no good I might add)
> 
> He often catches and hides red backs in jars in his room. Drives his poor mum mental. He is only six and we are waiting for the day he gets bitten.



You need SUPER NANNY!!! LOL


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## instar (May 9, 2005)

EEEK!


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## Nome (May 9, 2005)

Thanks for the comments Alex, lol, sounds like the stories my parents tell of me as a kid. With my kids I have taught them to pick up nothing but a daddy long legs, after a few events like yours happened.

The spiders mate about every 2 weeks when the male has produced more sperm. I put the males in fairly often as when mature, they don't have long to live


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## hugsta (May 9, 2005)

Great pics Steve. Thanks for sharing nomes, they are awesome, blooody huge too."D


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## pugsly (May 9, 2005)

lol alex man sounds so much like me as a kid hence were i got the nickname pugsly, i would get dragged ointo to other classrooms to take spiders outside by teachers lol

Ill post some pics in a sec of a few Ive kept


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## pugsly (May 9, 2005)

Huntsman, A wolfy (used to catch these alll the time when i was little! Scared the crap out of my parents! and a water spider.


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## Hickson (May 10, 2005)

Nice pics Pugsly!



Alexr,

I grew up in French's Forest - the whole area is crawling with Funnelwebs and Mouse spiders. I'm sure your son will have no trouble finding more. Maybe you could get him interested in the Golden Orb Weavers, there seems to be a plague of them at present and they're nowhere near as dangerous.



Sssssssssnakeman,

That's a spectacular spider - looks almost like a fake. Is that a common Melbourne species? Do you know what species it is?



Hix


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (May 10, 2005)

its amazing isnt it hix :wink: :wink: :roll: 
you want more??lol
did you take those pics pugsly??
theyre very nice


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## Menagerie (May 10, 2005)

Nome - does this mean that you have slings available at the moment?


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## moosenoose (May 10, 2005)

Hahahaha Snakeman! The rubber animals seem to be popping out of the woodwork over your way! :lol: :lol:

Nice shots Naomi & Steve  They are big critters! :shock: And that shot of the one you found Browns blows me away! :shock:

I think I have a budding Arachnologist on my hands at home. My son is pleading for me to buy him a bird eating spider for his birthday :lol: I'm fascinated by them, but also a tiny bit apprehensive about him keeping one. He always has jars of huntsmans in his room and wants me to catch moths and things every night to feed them :lol: Relax Naomi, they often get released after a few days to be refreshed with whatever else he finds in the garden :lol: :wink:


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## alexr (May 10, 2005)

Are the bird eating spiders venomous? 

I remember seeing one at a pet store with a warning about being bitten. 

I also remember seeing Steve Irwin (stop laughing) actually looking scared while he was handling one, and mentioning something about there being no antivenom being availble for (some?) species - is this true?



> the Golden Orb Weavers, there seems to be a plague of them at present and they're nowhere near as dangerous.



Yeah we have tried but he knows they are not as dangerous so he is not as interested in them.


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## Nome (May 10, 2005)

Thanks for the comments everyone. Pugsly, I love the piccie of the wolf spider.

Raising spiderlings atm, last year's hatchies, but I'm not letting them go as yet as I want to make sure they are very well established first.

All spiders are venomous...they all have venom. The bird eating spiders are not known to be dangerous to people, but there could be someone somewhere that has some kind of reaction to them. The few bites I have had are very painful, and made me nauseous and feeling 'out of it'. Some people vomit for a couple of days, but there hasn't really been enough people bitten to know too much about the effects of the venom. That's why I say as a pet, they are not to be handled. Yes, you can handle them without getting bitten, but I don't recommend it as it is also stressful for the spider, and if it falls off you or you flick it off from a height, it will die. The bites I have received were because I wasn't careful enough, and breeding these tends to be a bit hands-on.

Yeah, for some reason Steve Irwin is sh&t scared of them. :lol:


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## Menagerie (May 10, 2005)

Nome - when do you think that they will be mature enough to sell?


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## pugsly (May 10, 2005)

Cheers guys got stacks more but won't bore ya, yes i took them all out in the back yard! well i back onto a stack of bush land so i can go for a treck and find all sorts a critters!


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## Nome (May 10, 2005)

Menagerie said:


> Nome - does this mean that you have slings available at the moment?



I usually sell them by this age, but I've had trouble raising these ones, so want to make sure they are fully established. I'd say in the next month probably. Will put up a post when they are ready.


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## Menagerie (May 10, 2005)

Cheers thanks


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## alexr (May 10, 2005)

Nome where abouts are you? (ie. are you in Sydney?)


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## craig.a.c (May 10, 2005)

That is bloody crazy. There is no way in hell I would get any closer then 6ft from those, ugly, awful creatures. But hey, what ever floats your boat. *shudder* I hate spiders.


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## NoOne (May 10, 2005)

Alex she's nowhere with NoOne  .....actually we are on the north coast.

Come on Craig, they are cuties  and the babies are even cuter when they try and be a big spider, catching food and stuff....so cute, Funnel Webs are the biggest cuties though, i miss mine, can't wait to get some more  

Steve.


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## alexr (May 10, 2005)

> north coast


Of NSW? - Just wondering if I could buy one (and hide it from the misses of course) 

Are you able to breed and sell Funnel Webs legally?

I am starting to think that APS is not very good for my marrage :wink:


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## NoOne (May 10, 2005)

Yep North coast of NSW.

As Nome said she hasn't got any avalible atm but when they are ready she will put up a post. She freights them out.

Theres no laws against keeping spiders in NSW or breeding them. 

Sydney Funnel Webs are not to be taken lightly they are most deadly spider in the world and are very agressive. All the funnel webs i have kept were very agressive and would " stand up" at the slighest disturbance. They can be tricky to keep as well as they don't seem to take well to captivity and it takes them some time to adjust and start feeding.

Steve.


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## NoOne (May 10, 2005)

Anyone who wants more info on Husbandry and other aspects of australian tarantulas check out Nome's website at 

http://www.freewebs.com/saveourtarantulas/index.htm

Steve.


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## alexr (May 10, 2005)

Just re-read my post. The Funnel Web question was to satisfy my curiosity and nothing more. (If I were to get a spider I would perfer one that would not cause a threat to my family if it escaped.).



> As Nome said she hasn't got any avalible atm but when they are ready she will put up a post.



I will keep my eyes open - but I think I the boys and I need a bit more maturity first...


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## NoOne (May 10, 2005)

lol plus you gotta get passed the wife :wink: :lol: They are a great pet and once setup like snakes are very little work but they must be setup properly or they will die.
It's good to see you are encouraging your boys interest in spiders they are the generation that needs to know that all the myths about spiders and snakes for that matter are a load of BS! Well done Alex!  

Steve.


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## alby (May 10, 2005)

ahh man that made me shiver hhahaha im not really a fan of spiders but they are amazing aminmals


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## alexr (May 10, 2005)

I believe that if children show a healthy interest in something it is our responsiblity to encourage it.

I would perfer to purchase a lizard and learn how to care for it properly (teaching my kids responsibility at the same time) than have to get mad at them for hurting skinks that they find in the garden. Since I have got them spike (our first beardie) they have left our skinks out side where they belong.

At least if I get a proper enclosure and get them involved in looking after a spider their interest is satisfied and the risk of being bitten outside (should?) reduce.

(and hey lets face it - there is nothing as impresive as a massive bird eating spider...)

Does anyone have any more pictures...

BTW I think that I have come across Nome's website previously - very impressive.


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## Nome (May 10, 2005)

it's really good you are encouraging him young Alex, often what they are into at that age is what they will have a passion for when they are older. My daughter is much the same.

I have some more piccies of tarantulas in my album:
http://www.aussiepythons.com/module...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php


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## Retic (May 10, 2005)

I love spiders, always have and have had some monsters over the years including a BIG female Goliath Bird Eater that dwarfs our stuff here. I have bred a number of species and they are a challenge to breed, there is always an element of guesswork when it comes to when or if the female is receptive.
I wish we had access to the really big South American species and the really docile Central American types.


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## pugsly (May 10, 2005)

Some more pics then!


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## alexr (May 11, 2005)

Love the last picy of the wolf spider pugs. He almost appears to be smiling at you.

We seem to have almost plague proportions of the goldern orb spider on Sydneys north shore at the moment - some of them grow absolutely massive - I always thought that spiders were quite territorial - but there are sometimes hundreds of orb spiders sharing the same web.... 

(I am getting very sick of removing there webs from my person after my early morning bike rides...nothing quite like being hit in the face by a big fat one at 50 klicks


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## Hickson (May 11, 2005)

I know exactly what you mean Alexr. And those webs have to be one of the stickiest things around too! And they smell also, although it's not that noticable when they're outside. But stick one in a jar or bugcatcher, and the web they spin begins to show off it's strong odour after about 24 hrs.



Hix


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## alexr (May 11, 2005)

Yeah - I have often wondered if one of these days I am actually going to be ripped off my bike 

Does anyone know how toxic the orb spiders bite is? I have read that they rarely bite...but the big ones seem to have pretty large fangs...


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## Retic (May 11, 2005)

Orb Weavers are very reluctant to bite and I believe their venom is fairly weak like the majority of spiders.


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## Nome (May 11, 2005)

They are listed as harmless to humans, they are very reluctant to bite and next to no effects from the venom is recorded. This is the case with most master and apprentice weavers.

Beautiful pics!


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