Camel Spider!!

[ikissedafrog]

I am so incredibly excited, I'm finally getting a camel spider! I imagine it is an Eremobates species, a native US species, and it's young so hopefully I won't have too much trouble with it!

Has anyone here actually managed to successfully keep these creatures? I'd love any advice on what to expect and captive care. As for now, I'm just setting up a simple, roomy, desert-type enclosure with a very tight fitting lid, lol...I hear they can climb damn near anything!

[Helios]

Are you also referring to a "Wind Scoprion"/"Sun Spider": (Solifugae)? Do you have any pictures you can post of it?
I don't have any experience keeping these, but I've studied them some. I've heard they're hard to keep... Not sure how much you already know, but they're primarily nocturnal. I'm in Colorado and we have them naturally where I live--even inside buildings. Again, take my advice for what's its worth, I'm not expert by any means. That said, I'd recommend you do a pretty barren set up--like you say. You obviosuly aren't going to need humidity so I'd say don't mist or anything like that. Give it lots of hiding places--rocks, dritwood, hides, anything you could imagine finding on the desert or prairie (I pretty much live on the prairie). I've read they'll use their pedipalps to collect water, so maybe try a very very shallow dish. I know when they get big, they'll even eat small lizards. I'm guessing crickets are something it would prey upon, not sure though... Based on the research I've done, I think it's goign to be way more apt to prey on those as opposed to things like worms, but who knows? I don't think they're the kind of thing you're going to "hurt" with feeding it certain things. As I understand it, in captivity the issue is more what you'll have success getting them to eat.
Tempwise I'd say try to figure out what region of the US the speices you have comes from and try to keep the temperature similar to whatever that is. The fact that its a native species should be helpful. As far as I know, the life cycle and span are all issues no one knows much about yet. Hopefully some of that's helpful to you.
Keep some updates going! I've always been curious to hear about someone successful keeping these!

[Helios]

Looked up the speices you listed. That's pretty similar to what we have here-- most commonly known as the Pale Wind Scorpoin!

[ikissedafrog]

Thanks for the reply Helios!

As for now, I do not have an exact species...all I know is it's an Arizona species. I'm hoping that once it comes in I'll be able to determine the exact species, or at least narrow it down to a likely one. It is set to ship tomorrow, so by the end of the week I should have some photos to share. I've heard they are hard to keep as well, the few stories I've heard of success have come from those who offer lots of room...they seem to need to zip around. I too had heard about their using their pedipalps for drinking, lol, that'll be interesting if I get to observe that! I've also heard that they excrete some sort of sticky substance from their feet (?) that allows them to climb very, very well....sounds bizarre, but look at the creature we're dealing with here! I have no idea if that is true, but plan on securely covering the enclosure just in case.

I'm glad you brought up the need for numerous hiding spots, as that is something I hadn't considered....I was originally just going to add a few slabs of rock and slate, but perhaps more cover will help to settle it down. I'm hoping that being a young animal, it'll have a less stressful time adapting to a captive environment. Oh, temperature-wise...I was thinking I'd set up the enclosure at first to hit around 85 degrees for a daytime temp, and adjust as needed based on how it reacts. Having never actually seen one in person though, I hope I can determine 'normal' behavior! There would be about a 10 degree drop in temps over-night. For feeding, I have lateralis roaches a-plenty which I hope it will find to its liking...also, I have wax worms, phoenix worms, mealworms and earthworms here, not sure if any of those would make suitable feeders, time will tell I suppose!

Most of my 'plan' for this creature I am making up as I go along...info is so hard to come by! I've kept numerous species of spiders and tarantulas over the years, a few scorpions and other inverts which is what I'm basing most of my guesses on. I'm so excited to have come across one, I do so hope I can offer it a suitable, comfortable home!

[Helios]

Ah ok, very cool! Yeah hmm... I don't know what species they have in Arizona, probably depends on what region of the state. I know in Mexico they've got some that get pretty big. Haha if when you get some pictures up I'll help you sleuth that if you want...
Yeah, lots of space is somethign I've come across as well. Oh, you may already know this too, but I know they'll burrow as well. It's funny they're so supposedly so hard to keep--I find them indoors in basements here all the time... 85 seems like a solid temp to me, espeically if it's coming from Arizona.
Haha yeah they're a fairly unstudied arachnid!
Don't know if it changes species to species, but my general experience with their behavior has been that they tend to stay out of sight during they day, but can be very active at night. Haha haven't heard about the secretion of the climbing substance, but I do know they're very fast.
Where did you happen to find someplace selling them? I hope you have success-- They're pretty fascinating!

[ikissedafrog]

I'd love any help you could give on making a positive ID, thank you so much!

I just happened to be scrolling through the invert ads on kingsnake.com this evening and came across the listing. It seems to be a husband/wife thing, not an actual business, they just had a few listings for a few different Arizona species...scorpions, spiders and such. I've never dealt with them before, but email conversation with Steve was smooth and easy. They seem friendly enough, I hope everything goes smoothly with shipping and all! I ended up ordering a (hopefully) sexed pair of scorpions from them too, lol, couldn't resist! They had 2 available...I was tempted, but only ordered 1 as I do not want to set up multiple enclosures with me having so many uncertainties right now.

[Helios]

I'd love any help you could give on making a positive ID, thank you so much!

I just happened to be scrolling through the invert ads on kingsnake.com this evening and came across the listing. It seems to be a husband/wife thing, not an actual business, they just had a few listings for a few different Arizona species...scorpions, spiders and such. I've never dealt with them before, but email conversation with Steve was smooth and easy. They seem friendly enough, I hope everything goes smoothly with shipping and all! I ended up ordering a (hopefully) sexed pair of scorpions from them too, lol, couldn't resist! They had 2 available...I was tempted, but only ordered 1 as I do not want to set up multiple enclosures with me having so many uncertainties right now.

You bet! I'll be looking forward to it--I've always been fascinated by wind scoprions.
Nice! Hope everything goes well with the shipping and your setup!