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What different invertebrates do you keep?

MassExodus

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Recently I've decided to branch out a bit, it started with Amblypigyds and pet hissers, and now I'm moving to centipedes and scorpions. I've decided I want at least one colony of my native scorpions, Centuroides vittatus, or striped bark scorpion. They're everywhere here (actually considered a pest by the uneducated or squeemish), finding a few males and females shouldn't be hard, and apparently these guys are very popular with scorpion keepers, for being active and agreeable with each other communally.. Mostly..Also I'm looking at Babycurus jacksoni scorplings to raise together the same way, and adding a few Scolopendra to my shelves. What inverts do ya'll collect? I like to know who I can bug for information :) , and threads like this are what get people interested in other inverts besides our tarantulas. Tell us what you keep, why you keep them and which one you favor the most. Tarantulas are not excluded, of course. Never that :)
 

MassExodus

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K hibernalis....true spider often called false tarantula or cellar spider or house spider
A gigas.....giant African millipede
M giganteus......vinegaroons
random isopods
I've almost bought a K hibernalis sooo many times..I should have pulled the trigger but I was looking for several things in one place to save on shipping..very nice looking spiders though, and long lived.. I've been looking at those huge millipedes since I saw your post, those are impressive..
 

Scoolman

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all the Kukulcania I have were brought to me by students and coworkers who caught them in their homes. One of the females laid an egg sac last summer and, while I was away, released them into my t room. She peeled back the mesh top of her jar, and just let them all go. I managed to find one tiny sling left in the jar and rehoused it.
 

Hisserdude

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Well roaches, obviously! :p Also lots of isopods, some beetles, ground beetles, click beetles, rove beetles etc. I used to keep a lot of desert darkling beetles, now I only have a few of the grain pests.

I have a few spiders, I got a Steatoda sp, a Gnaphosid, and a Cheiracanthium sp. This year I hope to keep more spider species, I certainly have enough food for them lol! :D
 

MassExodus

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all the Kukulcania I have were brought to me by students and coworkers who caught them in their homes. One of the females laid an egg sac last summer and, while I was away, released them into my t room. She peeled back the mesh top of her jar, and just let them all go. I managed to find one tiny sling left in the jar and rehoused it.
Ahahahaaa, that's awesome really..you have to appreciate the humor in that one..
 

MassExodus

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Well roaches, obviously! :p Also lots of isopods, some beetles, ground beetles, click beetles, rove beetles etc. I used to keep a lot of desert darkling beetles, now I only have a few of the grain pests.

I have a few spiders, I got a Steatoda sp, a Gnaphosid, and a Cheiracanthium sp. This year I hope to keep more spider species, I certainly have enough food for them lol! :D
No doubt there :) Are you thinking of getting a tarantula at all? You're obviously not an arachnophobe, keeping false widows..if so, don't hesitate with questions on this forum, we love to spout our knowledge to anyone who will listen :) Especially those of us who may pester you continuously about roach sp. .....:p I need to check your sale post, I didn't notice if you sell isopods with the roaches? I'm still thinking about the leaf roaches and I want to try isopods as well. I caught some armadillidum (sp?)(roly poly) isopods and I'm hoping they breed in my C lividus enclosure...
 

Hisserdude

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No doubt there :) Are you thinking of getting a tarantula at all? You're obviously not an arachnophobe, keeping false widows..if so, don't hesitate with questions on this forum, we love to spout our knowledge to anyone who will listen :) Especially those of us who may pester you continuously about roach sp. .....:p I need to check your sale post, I didn't notice if you sell isopods with the roaches? I'm still thinking about the leaf roaches and I want to try isopods as well. I caught some armadillidum (sp?)(roly poly) isopods and I'm hoping they breed in my C lividus enclosure...

I do have a tarantula, a female rose hair tarantula by the name Rosie. ( I know right?:rolleyes:) She was my first invertebrate pet, I've had her for over 5 years now I think! While I love her, she is pretty boring, and has not helped to inspire me to keep more tarantulas. That and I usually don't have a lot of money, and when I do I'd rather use to get more of my favorite insects ever, ****roaches! :D

I don't have any of my isopods for sale yet, but I really should, I got a ton of extra Porcellio scaber and Oniscus asellus. I've really been interested in my isopods lately, lots of cool color forms have been showing up in my colonies! I have been using Porcellio scaber as clean up crews with my Taiwanese leaf roaches, and they are lifesavers! They readily eat up any dead bodies, and they seem to reproduce at a decent rate even with 1000 roaches competing with them for food! :)

Forgot to mention, I also love omnivorous/carnivorous Orthopterans! :D I got my Jerusalem crickets, and some Gryllus cf. veletis nymphs.
 

MassExodus

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Nice..I don't know why I haven't tried isopods, until I caught those local ones recently. (Too soon to see how they're going to do yet, they're kind of big..they may get murdered..) I have several moisture dependent spiders and I've looked at clean up crews a hundred times, I just never grabbed any. I'll remedy that very soon I think, i have quite a few new slings that are moisture lovers and I've been putting it off for no good reason I can think of..
 

Hisserdude

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Nice..I don't know why I haven't tried isopods, until I caught those local ones recently. (Too soon to see how they're going to do yet, they're kind of big..they may get murdered..) I have several moisture dependent spiders and I've looked at clean up crews a hundred times, I just never grabbed any. I'll remedy that very soon I think, i have quite a few new slings that are moisture lovers and I've been putting it off for no good reason I can think of..

Armadillidium get big, so your T may kill them... than again, lots of my spiders have refused to eat isopods. You should get some, I got most of mine from the backyards of my friends houses. Only two of my isopod species have come from ordering online. :D I've been quiet lucky with how much different color forms I have been isolating from my stock, oddly most of them came from normal looking parents.
 

MassExodus

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Armadillidium get big, so your T may kill them... than again, lots of my spiders have refused to eat isopods. You should get some, I got most of mine from the backyards of my friends houses. Only two of my isopod species have come from ordering online. :D I've been quiet lucky with how much different color forms I have been isolating from my stock, oddly most of them came from normal looking parents.
Ok, i'm going to try it, you got me thinking about it. So when I go hunting for my local scorps in my back field, if I want to find isopods where would I look? Around the horse trough maybe? Where it's wet? Or should I dig? Last time I dug back there I found an awesome little pale burrowing snake about 4 inches long, I looked him up and ID'd him but I forget the species name at the moment. I want to find the little isopods like yours. I'm going to study up on them in a sec, but I found my armadillidum on the concrete at night, in town...internet research takes awhile to get to little tidbits like that :p You use a magnifying glass? I've never even seen what the little isopods look like to the naked eye..
 

Hisserdude

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Ok, i'm going to try it, you got me thinking about it. So when I go hunting for my local scorps in my back field, if I want to find isopods where would I look? Around the horse trough maybe? Where it's wet? Or should I dig? Last time I dug back there I found an awesome little pale burrowing snake about 4 inches long, I looked him up and ID'd him but I forget the species name at the moment. I want to find the little isopods like yours. I'm going to study up on them in a sec, but I found my armadillidum on the concrete at night, in town...internet research takes awhile to get to little tidbits like that :p You use a magnifying glass? I've never even seen what the little isopods look like to the naked eye..

Look under rocks or other objects on the ground, they can also be found under leaf litter. Look in moist areas, that's where the highest diversity of isopods will be found. Armadillidum and Porcellionides are often found in drier habitats though, they have a higher tolerance for arid conditions than other isopods. No, I don't use a magnifying glass, I haven't needed one to see the details on my bugs. I have pretty good vision when it come to looking at stuff up close, unfortunately the same can not be said for seeing things farther than a foot away from my face lol! :D

Seeing as you collect scorpions, got any tips for me? I'm going to the Brunneu sand dunes Saturday, and there are supposed to be quite a few scorpions there, I would love to collect some! The temps have been in the 50s lately, that too cold for them to be active? I assume I should look under objects on the ground for them, right?
 

MassExodus

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I will be keeping them soon :) The scorps here are found everywhere, even in your house, and in one instance my bed, when i rolled over on one. I think he pretty much emptied his stinger before I woke up roaring like an enraged gorilla :) But yeah, under stuff is where you mostly find them, wood and rocks, etc. I found a list of the possible species you'll encounter :
Paruroctonus boreus
Hadrurus spadix
Anuroctonus phaiodactylus
Hoffmannius confusus
Kochius hirsuticauda
Serradigitus wupatkiensis
Apparently the first one is known for being one of the species that lives the farthest north here in the states. All of them are interesting to me, but the A phaiodactylus is particularly attractive. I just realized you said temps will be in the 50s..you may not see any, I know the ones down here aren't moving at that temp..but I'm in Texas, so these may not take the cold as well as yours do..hopefully you'll get a chance at some..
 

Hisserdude

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I will be keeping them soon :) The scorps here are found everywhere, even in your house, and in one instance my bed, when i rolled over on one. I think he pretty much emptied his stinger before I woke up roaring like an enraged gorilla :) But yeah, under stuff is where you mostly find them, wood and rocks, etc. I found a list of the possible species you'll encounter :
Paruroctonus boreus
Hadrurus spadix
Anuroctonus phaiodactylus
Hoffmannius confusus
Kochius hirsuticauda
Serradigitus wupatkiensis
Apparently the first one is known for being one of the species that lives the farthest north here in the states. All of them are interesting to me, but the A phaiodactylus is particularly attractive. I just realized you said temps will be in the 50s..you may not see any, I know the ones down here aren't moving at that temp..but I'm in Texas, so these may not take the cold as well as yours do..hopefully you'll get a chance at some..

OK, I'll be looking under debris then. Thanks for that list, I've been trying hard to find what species live in Idaho, but I haven't had much luck. Hopefully some will be active, it's a sunny day, and the sand warms up real nice when it's sunny. It can be in the low 70s, but if its sunny the sand itself will be in the 80s.
 

MassExodus

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OK, I'll be looking under debris then. Thanks for that list, I've been trying hard to find what species live in Idaho, but I haven't had much luck. Hopefully some will be active, it's a sunny day, and the sand warms up real nice when it's sunny. It can be in the low 70s, but if its sunny the sand itself will be in the 80s.
In that case if they're like spiders they'll be taking the opportunity to hunt;) Hope you find some nice ones!
 

Hisserdude

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Well, no scorpions. :( There were quite a few darklings though, caught a female Eleodes caudiferus and several Eusattus muricatus. Also caught a few unidentified click beetles and a male Gryllus sp nymph. Overall not a bad haul, I was looking forward to seeing some scorpions and some tiger beetles though, as well as a few other things.
 

MassExodus

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Well, no scorpions. :( There were quite a few darklings though, caught a female Eleodes caudiferus and several Eusattus muricatus. Also caught a few unidentified click beetles and a male Gryllus sp nymph. Overall not a bad haul, I was looking forward to seeing some scorpions and some tiger beetles though, as well as a few other things.
Well it stinks that there were no scorpions, its most likely a bit early for them to be out much up there. They don't really show themselves here til it gets warmer. I looked yesterday a bit, too early here as well. Couple more weeks though..
 

Hisserdude

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Well it stinks that there were no scorpions, its most likely a bit early for them to be out much up there. They don't really show themselves here til it gets warmer. I looked yesterday a bit, too early here as well. Couple more weeks though..

Yeah, I looked at some prime scorpion habitat, but none were to be found. Oh well, maybe next time!

Grats on the stuff you did find though!

Thanks! :) Glad to finally get some cool darklings again, hopefully I get them breeding!
 
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