# camel spider arrived



## benji2009 (Dec 16, 2009)

my camel spider arrived today and he's a beauty! lol unpacked him and put him in the setup and straight away he was rearing up, hissing, running at me, exactly what you would imagine lol i love it :mf_dribble: 

hammered down a locust in about 2 minutes and completely mushed it up :gasp: 

ill post some pics as soon as i get chance to take them  

post your pics of yours if you have any :2thumb:


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## boxofsorrows (Nov 7, 2011)

I'd be having nightmares if one of those things was in my house! :gasp:


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

I like these guys, would keep some if their survival rate in captivity wasn't so poor.


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

Apparently thier bite is really bad:gasp:. I woldnt handle it if i was you, not that i handle any of my T's anyway.


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## Embo (Jun 7, 2012)

Just the thought of one of those things gives me the heebie jeebies... you are a brave soul. I would be super paranoid that it would escape and eat me alive mg:

I think I would feel safer with a hungry grizzly bear with PMT...


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

Embo said:


> Just the thought of one of those things gives me the heebie jeebies... you are a brave soul. I would be super paranoid that it would escape and eat me alive mg:
> 
> I think I would feel safer with a hungry grizzly bear with PMT...


LOL. I thought your username said embryo.:whistling2:


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## Embo (Jun 7, 2012)

JK3ITH °_• said:


> LOL. I thought your username said embryo.:whistling2:


Haha, you wouldn't be the first to dub me as such! Nobody actually calls me by my real name anymore. It's usually Embo (or variations like Embob etc), my surname (which is Rose, but I get Rosey & Rosebush mostly) and then some that enjoy Embryo. :lol2:

But not to go off topic... Camel Spider... Bleurgh, scary! Pictures! lol


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

Embo said:


> Haha, you wouldn't be the first to dub me as such! Nobody actually calls me by my real name anymore. It's usually Embo (or variations like Embob etc), my surname (which is Rose, but I get Rosey & Rosebush mostly) and then some that enjoy Embryo. :lol2:
> 
> But not to go off topic... Camel Spider... Bleurgh, scary! Pictures! lol


lol. I still would never buy onemg:


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## Oderus (Nov 24, 2009)

Devils of the sand.. Camel Spiders (2012) - Official Trailer - YouTube


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## **louise** (Nov 10, 2010)

:shock: You've got some balls!

Or you're compensating for a very small willy :hmm:


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## bluerain (Jun 7, 2008)

I googled these guys last time you mentioned them and...you definitly are brave ;-)


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## Spiderstock (May 29, 2011)

I've kept these a few times. I think they look worse than they are. All they seem to want to do is burrow.


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

Scary ass creatures! 


Regarding their survival rate, Im sure it was on this forum I read about someone who was trying all different combinations of habitat/routine to keep them alive and couldn't seem to make them last more than a few months. But they had put one away somewhere in a dark room in its enclosure and just over time slowly forgot about it been there. Then "re-discovered" it again about 2 years later to find the spider still alive and healthy! 


Cant remember what happened after that, more than likely returned to normal living conditions and as a result probably died straight away :lol2:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Spuddy said:


> Regarding their survival rate, Im sure it was on this forum I read about someone who was trying all different combinations of habitat/routine to keep them alive and couldn't seem to make them last more than a few months. But they had put one away somewhere in a dark room in its enclosure and just over time slowly forgot about it been there. Then "re-discovered" it again about 2 years later to find the spider still alive and healthy!


They are pretty easy, just people seem obssessed that they should live for years like tarantulas, despite the fact that amongst arachnids, probably 90% live a single year or so, reproduce and die. 

Big containers and deep substrate is the way to go. I would have bought some of this batch but they were a bit pricey and from Egypt. The US ones would have been more interesting.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

**louise** said:


> :shock: You've got some balls!
> 
> Or you're compensating for a very small willy :hmm:


:lol2:


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

Dont let it bite you:gasp:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

Mines due to arrive tomorrow morning, can't wait but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't a little nervous !


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## benji2009 (Dec 16, 2009)

hahaha!! no compensating for anything here  lol hes a mean bastard but hes more interested in burrowing now, ive read that they dont live long so ill definetly keep buying them


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## Daf (Sep 11, 2011)

Just spat my coffee out when this popped up while scrolling throught camel spider pictures. 
LMAO


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## gambitgareth (Sep 18, 2011)

has anyone found any online vids demonstrating their defensive behaviour? just curious :/


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## BlackRose (Jul 8, 2007)

Where'd you get that from?

Not that I want one lol. Far too scary for me!


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

Well i'm quite surprised at how docile mine is, looks absoloutley mental though !
I can't find any vids other than people treating them like s**t !


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

Here's a pic of mine :


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

How deep is the substrate? That species will burrow in excess of 20" if given the chance


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

It's on about 4 inches of sand, not very deep i know but there's a lot of hiding places for it.
Do you recommend a much deeper substrate for it ?


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## benji2009 (Dec 16, 2009)

mines got about 8 inches of sand, and loads of hiding places, so far hes used them more


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## richwhite (Jun 5, 2012)

wow, didn't even know they could be got as pets.


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## gambitgareth (Sep 18, 2011)

theres a chap on a fb group i belong to posted a vid of his making a new home - i saw nothing defensive whatsoever - its actually a pretty interesting creature to watch, not my cup of tea tho - i'd like to find out why they dont live long in captivity :/ maybe they need to sucke on vertebrates more often that first thought


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## richwhite (Jun 5, 2012)

I'm usually terrified of spiders, but this one isn't so bad to look at. Do you pick the camel spiders up, or are they mostly just 'to have'?


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

richwhite said:


> I'm usually terrified of spiders, but this one isn't so bad to look at. Do you pick the camel spiders up, or are they mostly just 'to have'?


not sure, but this is what happens if it bites you:

http://media.nowpublic.net/images//3e/7/3e7c038e754c8a72747b2da503874f8d.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg


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## richwhite (Jun 5, 2012)

JK3ITH °_• said:


> not sure, but this is what happens if it bites you:
> 
> http://media.nowpublic.net/images//3e/7/3e7c038e754c8a72747b2da503874f8d.jpg
> http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg


Yeah I've seen the bites before, nasty. I met a soldier last year who had returned from Iraq and was telling me these horror stories about them. Not something I would want in my house!


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## lucozade3000 (Aug 16, 2008)

freemoyoyo said:


> It's on about 4 inches of sand, not very deep i know but there's a lot of hiding places for it.
> Do you recommend a much deeper substrate for it ?


Much deeper an diggable. That's what they do... dig
And loose sand is a No-No as there is no way to build a tunnel in that..

-J


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

I don't believe that they can give such a nasty bite, as they have no venom ?
It would be just like a cut that could get infected if not cleaned wouldn't it ?

Any way, mines showing no signs at all of digging, just hiding in the hides i've put in it's enclosure.


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

I might mix up a concoction of soil and sand like i keep my monitor on and see if it digs then.......


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## ecoherp (Sep 22, 2011)

*Piccies?*

Would love to see it! :2thumb:

Eco


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## Khaos (Jul 9, 2007)

freemoyoyo said:


> I don't believe that they can give such a nasty bite, as they have no venom ?
> It would be just like a cut that could get infected if not cleaned wouldn't it ?
> 
> Any way, mines showing no signs at all of digging, just hiding in the hides i've put in it's enclosure.


It's not a clean cut or puncture, they masticate with their very powerful mandibles and essentially rip and tear the flesh, so you have a very dirty, ragged slash wound, filled with dirt and solofugid bacteria and microbes. 

Which is pretty much always going to have something nasty in, even if you wash it and take antibiotics.


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

freemoyoyo said:


> I don't believe that they can give such a nasty bite, as they have no venom ?
> It would be just like a cut that could get infected if not cleaned wouldn't it ?
> 
> Any way, mines showing no signs at all of digging, just hiding in the hides i've put in it's enclosure.


"When a Camel Spider bites, it injects you with a Novocain type drug that instantly "numbs" your skin and the surrounding tissue. You can't even tell you've been bitten while you're sleeping. When you wake up, you find part of your leg or arm severely chewed because the Camel Spider has been gnawing on it ... all night long" - CAMEL SPIDERS - THE CAMEL SPIDER IS NO JOKE. FREE CAMEL SPIDER EGGS


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

I hope you don't think any of that information is true ? :gasp:

Just been having a closer look at mine and it looks like one of it's pincers has partially broken off at some point ! I hope it doesn't stop it feeding, it's not shown much interest so far....


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

freemoyoyo said:


> I hope you don't think any of that information is true ? :gasp:


explain the bites then...


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

They could be from anything ? The whole article just seems completeley unbelievable ?!


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## freemoyoyo (Apr 4, 2010)

Here's some more accurate facts :

Solifugae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Oderus (Nov 24, 2009)

This picture http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog%20Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg if real, is likely to be a _Loxosceles _bite, or something else with cytotoxic venom.

Edit: It may, or may not be a recluse bite (nasty pictures). http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/brownrecluse.asp


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

Oderus said:


> This picture http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog%20Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg if real, is likely to be a _Loxosceles _bite, or something else with cytotoxic venom.
> 
> Edit: It may, or may not be a recluse bite (nasty pictures). snopes.com: Brown Recluse


Fair enough. i was surprised that it wasnt DWA but that makes more sense now


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## SilverSky (Oct 2, 2010)

these are awesome, its a shame it'll die soon. enjoy it while you can though :2thumb:


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## DanielF (Oct 31, 2010)

**louise** said:


> :shock: You've got some balls!
> 
> Or you're compensating for a very small willy :hmm:


But wouldnt that mean girls with big snakes are also compensating for having a bucket :censor: :hmm:


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## **louise** (Nov 10, 2010)

DanielF said:


> But wouldnt that mean girls with big snakes are also compensating for having a bucket :censor: :hmm:


No silly! Girls own big snakes to make up for their male partners small size!

I myself own no big snakes


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

God didnt take you long to find one congrats 
The way they eat with those four pincer things is fascinating but as someone says very messy/not clean cut.
I would not handle myself as i was always told they have quite nasty secondary infections and i know first hand how aggressive they are!
Check out the video of the one on a wall eating a lizard on youtube, i used it to freak my mates out when i got back off tour lmao.
Hope he gives you plenty of time to appreciate the lil guy


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

Glad to hear yours ate. I got one from an Egypt shipment last summer. It looks like it was a fair bit smaller then yours. It dug at first though I had issues keeping the sub damp to hold a burrow because I didn't want to make it too wet, its burrow collapsed at one point then it didn't seem to bother trying again despite me dampening the sub in one area. 

Didn't eat much, probably 3 times in the 10 months I had it. Died about a week or so ago.


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## Spiderstock (May 29, 2011)

I would personally add a lot more substrate. Mix sand with coco earth. I used to heat from above substrate and keep the lower levels of substrate slightly damp, but the top dry.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

The method I used was to have deep substrate and a mix of desert sand, aquatic compost (like silt) and grit.

I currently use desert sand and excavator clay, which is probably even better than my mix above, but costlier. 

Just as an aside, the small black specimens from Egypt are for some reason sold as Galeodes arabicus which is incorrect. They are actually from the family Rhagodidae, and I think they are more likely to be _Rhagodes aegypticus_.

I don't think camel spiders are particularly hard to keep, just too many myths and too much clinging on to old 'facts' about them being hard is preventing much progress.


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

JK3ITH °_•;10144397 said:


> Dont let it bite you:gasp:
> 
> http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog%20Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg


 
Everytime something like this comes up this photo is shown . again and again and again.

If i remember correctly this bite photo is supposedly from a recluse spider but it is unknown for sure but it is DEFINATELY NOT a bite from a camel spider. >>>>  LINK




JK3ITH °_•;10148772 said:


> not sure, but this is what happens if it bites you:
> 
> http://media.nowpublic.net/images//3e/7/3e7c038e754c8a72747b2da503874f8d.jpg
> 
> http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/PebblePie/Blog Photos/CamelSpiderBite2.jpg


The first photo has already been disproven to be a camels spider bite and the second is extremely doubtful.

Quoted is is the text that you omitted when the second photo link was posted.



> *According to the soldiers relatives;* the bite *must have happened while he was sleeping*. He wasn't even aware that he had been bitten. He woke up to a large lump on his arm. Then while out on maneuvers, *the cyst*-like area ruptured open. He was then sent on to the MASH Unit in Kuwait. *They dug everything out (puss & ??)* then packed it with gauze, put him on a strong round of antibiotics with instructions to re-pack the site several times a day. The area was too large for them to stitch shut. They claimed that it would cause an air pocket under the skin. So it had to be allowed to heal from the inside - out! It seems to have healed pretty well, leaving a small scar about the size of a penny.


As the website offers a free T-shirt for every 'unusual' camel spider bite i wonder about how accurate the relatives story is, also a cyst, boil or abscess can, will and does come up over night which sounds like what has happened to this persons arm. 


Taken from the site that you seem to have taken your information from



> With the internet becoming so much more widely used during this Iraq conflict, rumors are spreading like wildfire. E-mail chain letters with claims, "he/she said his or her friend—or friend of a friend—knew a soldier stationed in Iraq who had said that these camel spider could inject a sleeping soldier with anesthetic, then chew out a chunk of flesh."
> Webmasters with *imagination and flare for the absurd take it to the extreme * with claims such as, camel spiders are know to eat dogs or cats.





JK3ITH °_•;10148921 said:


> "When a Camel Spider bites, it injects you with a Novocain type drug that instantly "numbs" your skin and the surrounding tissue. You can't even tell you've been bitten while you're sleeping. * When you wake up, you find part of your leg or arm severely chewed because the Camel Spider has been gnawing on it ... all night long"* - CAMEL SPIDERS - THE CAMEL SPIDER IS NO JOKE. FREE CAMEL SPIDER EGGS



A few more quotes from your mine of information :lol2:



> A Camel Spider can live for 10-15 years. Camel Spiders periodically shed their skin, increasing their size every time they do. Seems that more and more Camel Spiders are living longer, and longer. This means they are shedding more and more times, growing larger and larger. If this trend continues, *someday a ** Camel Spider may reach over 3 feet in length*





> If you move something that is shading a Camel Spider, when the sun makes contact with it, the Camel Spider will instantly *'jump' for "your" shadow!* *If you run, it will chase you, giving out a terrible scream the whole time.*





> _Unlike regular Spiders, which can lay thousands and thousands of Eggs, Camel Spiders lay only about 12 Eggs per breeding. *Although the nests themselves can be over 3 feet in diameter*, the Camel Spider Egg sack is a small mucus covered pouch. The Egg Sack looks like a "sticky" marshmallow, with a dozen brownish Egg nodules inside. Shown above is a rare sampling of Spider Eggs gathered from over 40 nests.
> _
> 
> _*Both the male and female Camel Spiders guard their nests, so collecting the Eggs is a highly dangerous event.
> ...


Your information is getting worse and worse, are you sure that you are not getting your so called facts from the 'Sunday Sport' ? 

opps no, its from Camel Spider. 

Have you actually read the rubbish on this site ?


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## stevier (Feb 15, 2012)

having spent some time in a sandy place in 2003, the words camel and spider used in the same sentence still make my wife break out in a sweat


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## Lordaradon (Oct 11, 2011)

Yet to see one during my stint in afghan, but i do believe the only "fact" near accurate, is that it can move with significant speed.
A petshop back home in manchester was selling them a few months back aswell, but, do to their short lifespan, i declined to buy it.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

they look a lot like the sun spiders i used to find in the mojave desert in california...


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## josh9961 (Feb 10, 2011)

That's because sun spider is another common name for camel spiders! :lol2:
Solifugidae translates as "those that flee from the sun"

So they're really the OPPOSITE of sun spiders but the name has stuck :2thumb:


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## Damo666 (Jan 1, 2012)

I had one of these bad boys, didn't last long as most people state.
Also was aggressive at times especially when destroying crickets or 
locusts, but at other times was quite docile.
These dudes can give lemmings a run for there money at digging:lol2:
: victory:


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## viperdan (Sep 15, 2011)

boxofsorrows said:


> I'd be having nightmares if one of those things was in my house! :gasp:



They are the one thing I could never own, spiders. I love everything else, just not spiders. :bash: :lol2:


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## d34noj (Mar 11, 2009)

Just bought one of these bad boys a couple of weeks ago - insanely aggressive and eats like a horse! Got loads of videos and pics but not got a clue how to upload

I try to fluctuate the temperate through low to high 20's and keep humidity around 60% and he's always out and about


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## JK3ITH °_• (Aug 3, 2011)

d34noj said:


> Just bought one of these bad boys a couple of weeks ago - insanely aggressive and eats like a horse! *Got loads of videos and pics but not got a clue how to upload*
> 
> I try to fluctuate the temperate through low to high 20's and keep humidity around 60% and he's always out and about


videos

pictures

: victory:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

d34noj said:


> Just bought one of these bad boys a couple of weeks ago - insanely aggressive and eats like a horse! Got loads of videos and pics but not got a clue how to upload
> 
> I try to fluctuate the temperate through low to high 20's and keep humidity around 60% and he's always out and about



Try not to overfeed it like these people...


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## retic lover (Sep 23, 2008)

GRB said:


> Try not to overfeed it like these people...
> 
> image


 
Ugh my god thats horrid i cant stand the things, but if it floats your boat go for it..... I will stick to my T's: victory:


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2012)

PeterUK said:


> Everytime something like this comes up this photo is shown . again and again and again.
> 
> If i remember correctly this bite photo is supposedly from a recluse spider but it is unknown for sure but it is DEFINATELY NOT a bite from a camel spider. >>>>  LINK
> 
> ...


Say what you like, you can't argue that spider eggs don't spontaneously hatch when you add water. They're like gremlins.


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## snake in the grass (Jul 12, 2010)

Don't know if it has been mentioned, but there is a 5 page article in practical reptile this month on camel spiders if anyone is interested.:2thumb:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

snake in the grass said:


> Don't know if it has been mentioned, but there is a 5 page article in practical reptile this month on camel spiders if anyone is interested.:2thumb:


I might check that out, it'd be great to see an article dispelling the husbandry myths...


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## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Been hoping to keep one of these guys for a while, let us know how you get on with it 
Regards
jB Owens


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## benji2009 (Dec 16, 2009)

you should get one definetly, realised they aint actually as agressive as i thaught, mines taking down large locusts like theres no tomorrow! great to own as long as you give it respect lol


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

benji2009 said:


> you should get one definetly, realised they aint actually as agressive as i thaught, mines taking down large locusts like theres no tomorrow! great to own as long as you give it respect lol


They are really not that bad. Just hype for the most part. 

I was more wary with my Ornithoctoninae specoes than I ever was with the Solifuge. I mean to put it into perspective, in the US where these species tend to occur alongside spiders and scorpions, they are often the bottom of that triad food chain.


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## Patrachnid (Sep 28, 2011)

Where did u get it from as every time i search no one has one.
Hoping that i can acquire one at the Essex show from one of the traders there!
Wife is ok with it, daughter is not impressed lol :2thumb:


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## Oski1 (Jan 2, 2010)

Patrachnid said:


> Where did u get it from as every time i search no one has one.
> Hoping that i can acquire one at the Essex show from one of the traders there!
> Wife is ok with it, daughter is not impressed lol :2thumb:


The spider shop has them


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## Patrachnid (Sep 28, 2011)

I am looking as I type, a phone call is going to be made in the morning ! Thanks!!


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