so I wanted a new animal to add to my room collection of them and i decided that i should add a wolf spider as I can find big ones almost anywhere near my house and in my barn. My room is kept at 70-75 degrees will it do okay in that temp ? any suggestions? is it okay for me to take it from the barn one wont hurt right?
decided to get a wolf spider from my barn
- Thread starter Lalaland
- Start date
Help Support Mantidforum:
They are a favorite pet of mine (here is my post of some of them) and what I chose to put on my profile banner.
Yes they will do fine at room temperature, what I keep them at myself - not to mention they live outside year round in my area with below freezing temps (hiding in leaf litter).They do however like decent humidity levels 50-70%, I spray mine about daily and occasionally see some drink from the droplets; however, like a mantid they get most of their water from eating prey. Do not spray the spider with water though, some guides I've read claim it can harm them, and they absolutely hate it anyway. Their substrate should not be damp, and I never use a water bowl and I would recommend you avoid one for them as well.
I don't see how one would affect your local population, I personally collect several as needed here and still see tons outside.
If you try your hand at breeding them, or have a adult female with a egg sac you can actually build up your local population by caring for the babies briefly before releasing them outside (higher surviving numbers).For tips/suggestions I would just say to setup a habitat much like you would for a mantid. Small nymph spiders I place into nymph cups, and large adults do well in plastic shoe boxes or larger (for more substrate).
I use sphagnum peat moss for substrate, and most will dig a burrow (but may cover it up again - they like to move around); although, guides claim they do not dig at all which is funny as my four large ones all did. In that regard I found they like to dig at least 2" down, and some will go 4"-6" if you have enough substrate.
The top of the substrate should have leaves (crumble up for nymphs) and pieces of bark (many will make their homes under flat bark). Other things such as fake plants, sticks, or such is up to you. Personally I don't bother with anything that allows them to access the lid, which makes it easy to open and feed them that way without worries as they seem unable to climb the plastic habitat walls.
A basic spider/arachnid guide (covers the basic tips), a forum thread about wolf spider keepers, and wolf spider pet guide.
Here are a few photos of my current Tigrosa helluo female, her usual hide is under some bark, and a photo of her in a burrow (she kept it for a few weeks then one day she had filled it back in and abandoned it). Your see the basic setup for their habitat in the photos too, and your notice that they tend to lay down a layer of webbing around their habitat too.
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you!! I named mine Charlie I haven't looked in to seeing if it's male or female. She is adjusting fairly well I will add some leaves to the substrate. Charlie is quite large and my sister is very scared of spiders but hey she will stay out of my room lol. @CosbyArt although I haven't really seen Charlie attack her food and also my mantis Mr m molted 2 days ago and isn't eating like usual he only ate one meal worm last night :/ I've heard that it's normal for them to not eat for 3 days after but it still worries me.
Your welcome, and congrats on the new pet.
It will take her a few days to adjust and get accustom to her new situation. In time you will see her run and attack crickets with a fierce attack, mine usually do a small jump/bounce on prey covering them with their body - stops the crickets or whatever dead in it's tracks.
One thing about arachnids is they can go a really longtime without eating (3+ weeks) so give her time.Mr M may just be adjusting to his age, I wouldn't call it hormones/mid-late teens but describes the situation. Many males will eat much less and at times seemingly go without for long periods. Just keep offering prey, and give him a boost with 100% honey on a toothpick (ate by him or smeared on his forearms) to keep him healthy.
Do you have any photos of Charlie to share?
I do have photos of Charlie to share I will try to add them through some sort of link or something shes a pretty great specimen of her species. Well I'm still not sure if male or female but i will check her pedipalps when I get home. I have been really sick the past 4 days and I feel like poo but I could never let that stand in front of being a mom to my bugs. I finally got Mr. M to eat which is great he ate 6 mini meal worms 3 days ago and then again yesterday he eats about every other day and i feed him honey when he doesn't eat meal worms. He loves honey and he was doing his wind dance yesterday adorable as usual. He also got his wing buds I think they are they look like mini wings he is growing up on me and it is fascinating and I cherish every moment I have with him lol. I cant wait till i get my African giant millipede towards my birthday it is the equivalent of a cat alive for 10 years I cannot wait I might name it Millicent that is a proper name for a proper millipede well thats enough of my chit chat lol. I have a local supplier of honey my friend Luke lives 5 minutes away and has his bee keeping license and can give me local organic honey ! Im really done now I promise lol
Your welcome, and congrats on the new pet.
It will take her a few days to adjust and get accustom to her new situation. In time you will see her run and attack crickets with a fierce attack, mine usually do a small jump/bounce on prey covering them with their body - stops the crickets or whatever dead in it's tracks.
Mr M may just be adjusting to his age, I wouldn't call it hormones/mid-late teens but describes the situation. Many males will eat much less and at times seemingly go without for long periods. Just keep offering prey, and give him a boost with 100% honey on a toothpick (ate by him or smeared on his forearms) to keep him healthy.
Do you have any photos of Charlie to share?
No problem, write as much as you want I love to read and read fast (I read your post in not even a minute).
Sorry to hear your sick too, seems to be going around on the forum (thankful there is no air on the forum to share it lol), get feeling better. I look forward to seeing Charlie later then.
Great to hear Mr M is back to eating and doing fine (male mantids really are stubborn on that). Nice, if his wing buds are showing he is moving along and likely has two molts left until adulthood. Then you get to be worried or excited about his flying when he is out of his habitat, just turn off ceiling fans and such first, and it is a rather interesting event.
Sweet, millipedes are great, I've kept several species myself but right now just have a small "swarm" (nearly a hundred) of my local 1" varieties. The Archispirostreptus gigas are amazing for many things, and their size makes them even more so. Do you plan to get just one or a couple?
The mantids love Luke then even if they haven't met him, nothing better than real honey from the source.
View attachment 8690Hahaha I could see it now germs through cyber space a new epidemic. Good thing I have no ceiling fans IN MY ENTIRE HOUSE sorry it gets hot in the summer... I also never have my door open so Good thang. I cannot wait to get a millipede they are a dream. I'm including a few pics the one seen on this direct post is my set up for my room pets. I will be posting others @CosbyArt
Last edited by a moderator:
