Whiskas Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 OK so i had NO IDEA where to put this question and thought this was as good a place as any. This morning i found this large spider (approx 6-7cm across and a pale brown color) sitting on top of my tank by the cut off corner bit where the wires and tubes go down. I was wondering could he eat my young/baby fish? I wasn't able to catch him or squish him, or rather my mum wasn't able to. As soon as she went near him he scuttled off down the back of the tank. YUCKY. Also does anyone have any adeas of how i can get rid of it? Obviously can't use fly spray, so is there like a spider-trap? What really grosses me out is that it is in my bedroom! (if you can't tell - I DONT LIKE SPIDERS! esp big ones) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 get a photo- if it is an interesting species you might be able to catch it and courier it up to me- i like spider pets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Warning - link not for spider phobics Collections/InsectsSpidersAndSimilar/Spiders/Spiders_Web/What/'>http://www.tepapapicturelibrary.co.nz/TePapa/English/CollectionsAndResearch/ Collections/InsectsSpidersAndSimilar/Spiders/Spiders_Web/What/ Might help you ID it. The water spiders ( Dolomedes aquaticus ) actually lives under water - but usually in rocky bush streams. I guess it might catch small fish, but I think it's mostly after insects. The Nursery web spider is similar and common in gardens, one might have wandered insde. They are harmless, just catch it in a container and throw it outside again Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopy Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 yeah you were right Warning - link not for spider phobics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Had a look at the TePapa site, creepy crawly. If i see it again i will take a pic and try to catch it under a cup. davidb - do you really want it? Cos i dunno how to send them and would only send it if i can find someone else who is willing to package it up! I am not to keen to handle it any more than i need to. Usually i just put a cup over a spider and just leave it for someone else to deal with. The problem with this one is there are a few places for it to hide - under the bed, under tank stand, on the shelves - and i won't go searching for it, it might scuttle out at me and it can move really fast! :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 Nice.... I've always had a thing for spiders and scorpions and am quite envious of a friend who has moved to Oz and started collecting "Bird Eating Spiders" or what I'd call Taratulas. Here's a pic of me and one of my 'temporary pets' when I lived in WGTN city and had a whole back yard of them. Always assumed they were Black tunnelweb spider (Porrhothele antipodiana) but never researched it conclusively. Kim witnessed one being hunted, stung and dragged away by a Golden Hunter Wasp, but the pics aren't very clear - Whiskas, did ur spider look anything like this? I assume they're too heavy to spread their weight over water surface enough to allow the tension to support them, but ya never know. Nature is amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 OK so i had NO IDEA where to put this question and thought this was as good a place as any. This morning i found this large spider (approx 6-7cm across and a pale brown color) sitting on top of my tank by the cut off corner bit where the wires and tubes go down. I was wondering could he eat my young/baby fish? I wasn't able to catch him or squish him, or rather my mum wasn't able to. As soon as she went near him he scuttled off down the back of the tank. YUCKY. Also does anyone have any adeas of how i can get rid of it? Obviously can't use fly spray, so is there like a spider-trap? What really grosses me out is that it is in my bedroom! (if you can't tell - I DONT LIKE SPIDERS! esp big ones) might just be a common water spider (diamond back???????) they catch an air bubble when they go underwater (i.e crawl on something underwater) if the fish are small enough then they could be a snack but fish arnt exactly liquid so i dont know how the spider would eat them, spiders generally only eat insects becuase they have a nice fat liquid center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 Black cobweb or false katipo spider (Steatoda capensis) Meet a South African migrant that can have people wondering if they have a property infested with katipo spiders. Thats the one that bit me. I caught it's mate and now have a spider pet in a bottle. Had it for over a year now, and it is one spider that wont be roaming the house again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Conkout Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 I would assume anything that big in your house would be a male tunnelweb. I have seena few larger spiders near rivers in warmer areas but nothing like the number I saw when I was in the country just outside Sydney a few years back. The rock walls at the creek we visited were crawling withem. But I think they were likely as not huntsman and not a special 'water-spider'. Spiders like water for drinkies, I remember someone telling me or having read that they creep up to the corner of your moth when your asleep even and have a lil sip-sip of that yummy droolage...! Might be a total fabrication but a good creepy story for arachniphobiacs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.PROPHECY Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 tunnel webs aint the best at climbing, usuly stays on the ground like most of nz's larger spiders. best bet would be one of the sheetweb species. heres a link to some old picks of some of my spiders in my collection, ill get some updated picks of the collection when i get a chance thats an old 50cent coin in the pik just so you get an idea on the size http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314 ... CN1019.jpg http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314 ... CN1015.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted May 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 A.PROPHECY - had a look at your pics and considering i only saw the spider for a couple of secs before it scuttled away it looked something like the spiders in the second row, from the top, of your second link. (took a guess at the size of "my" spider by measuring where its feet touched the tank). When you keep spiders as pets do you have to catch flies and other insects for them to eat, just like with frogs? Are tehy easy to keep? Do they get sick or are they quite hardy? I am not going to keep one as a pet, but am curious. :lol: Even though it creeps me out it has now got me curious as to what type it really is and i want to catch it to solve the mystery. I havn't noticed baby fish missing, although the number of young guppies seems to have dropped, but that could have been due to a pH drop i had. As for the story "Spiders like water for drinkies, I remember someone telling me or having read that they creep up to the corner of your moth when your asleep even and have a lil sip-sip of that yummy droolage...!" I too have heard this scarey story and it didn't help me trying to sleep!! Havn't seen it again but spiders aren't exactly the most visible of creatures. Have left my window open in the hope he will find his way back outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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