Amblypygid Care - updated

[GRB]

Amblypygid Care Sheet

1.1 Introduction

The genus Damon (Koch 1850) consists of 10 species which inhabit tropical and subtropical regions (see table 1, reproduced from Prendini et al 2005). *I am unsure as to why it has these blue blocks over it :s






Most species of Damon inhabit crevices in stones, peeling bark or in caves and other dark places with relatively lower humidity than their cousins in other genera. Some species exist entirely on the trunks of trees and may sometimes wander from tree to tree on nightly excursions (Weygoldt, 2000), although their powers of dispersal are often somewhat limited to only a few metres in any direction.

For more information about the genus as a whole, and further discussion of localities I would suggest reading the following paper:

Prendini L, Weygoldt P and Wheeler W C. (2005). Systematics of the Damon variegatus group of African whip spiders (Chelicerata: Amblypygi): Evidence from behaviour, morphology and DNA. Organisms Diversity and Evolution: 5, 203-206.


Keeping Damon sp. in captivity


Housing

A 12” cube container is usually sufficient for a single specimen. Most species will appreciate moderate humidity (50-75% RH) and temperatures in the mid to upper 20’s (Celcius) daytime and a 2-4C drop at night (low: 17-18C). In many ways Amblypygids are similar to Avicalaria sp. tarantulas in that airflow is important alongside high humidity. Provide a decent airflow and ensure the air does not stagnate. Humidity can be maintained by wetting the substrate and misting décor.

Amblypygids will rarely venture onto horizontal surfaces and prefer dark vertical nooks and crevices in which to secrete themselves. They also moult using an anchor hold over a vertical drop, and will not moult on the ground like other arachnids. Simple enclosures can be made by stacking rows of egg cartons or bark sheets vertically over a 2” layer of substrate.

More complex enclosures can be provided utilizing roof areas and tree branches etc, although Weygoldt (2000) notes that stone décor can sometimes wear away at tarsal claws and cause fatalities when the individual moults (they fall off the surface and die).


Communal housing

Work by Linda Rayor et al (2008 onwards) has suggested that some Damon may be subsocial and cohabit for extended periods. This mirrors the experience in certain captive set ups, although it must be approached with caution.

To date, I know of communal set ups being employed in Damon diadema and Damon “variegatus” with success, although extra caution must be employed with D.variegatus as this group varies quite considerably depending on collection locality.

I will report here my own set up and observations on housing 2 pairs of D.diadema:

I use a large 45cm exo terra cube with 4 walls of décor (3 walls and the roof). The roof has so far been actively colonized by 3 individuals (male and 2 females) whereas the other male often stays lower down on the far wall, away from the group.

To date no individual has moulted, although other reports suggest that in smaller enclosures there is often cannibalism when moulting occurs. I am hoping that my larger set up and increased decor will recude the chance of this happening. I intend to use this thread to report back now and again on any new developments.


3.1 Feeding

Amblypygids are generalist carnivores and will generally accept any small and soft bodied organism. I have had success using the following small feeder items:

Brown Crickets Acheta domesticus (approx 1cm bodylength)
Waxworm moths Achroia grisella
Bluebottles Calliphora vomitoria

They sometimes accept small Tenebrio beetles and I have seen other keepers successfully use mealworms and other common feeder insects. I am currently trialling Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) to see if they will be accepted by the smaller individuals. Other successful feeder items include red runner roaches and other small roaches providing they are not too heavily sclerotised.

I usually throw in several feeder items once every fortnight and leave them until they are eaten.


4.1 Breeding

Breeding Damon is reported to be quite easy although my best effort has only resulted in 2 gravid females who later destroyed the eggs. For a more thorough review of breeding behaviour and copulation I suggest obtaining a copy of Weygoldt (2000). In general terms, they mate in a similar manner to scorpions where the male manouvering the female over a dropped spermatophore using his extended pedipalps.

In a communal set up, mating will often happen unnoticed at night time. For individuals, it is customary to simply place a male and female together in the evening and leave them overnight. Disturbance (such as trying to actually view mating behaviour!) often results in the mating behaviour aborting. In tolerant species, the male and female can be left together for several days or weeks. In other species it is advisable to remove the male the following day, and repeat the mating attempt a few weeks later.

If mating is successful, the developing eggs can be observed on the underside of the female as raised protrusions. Development tends to take around 3 months and the newly emerging young are best left with the mother until dispersion.

5.1 References, links and further reading

Prendini L, Weygoldt P and Wheeler W C. (2005). Systematics of the Damon variegatus group of African whip spiders (Chelicerata: Amblypygi): Evidence from behaviour, morphology and DNA. Organisms Diversity and Evolution: 5, 203-206.

Weygoldt P. (2000). Whip spiders (Chelicerata: Amblypygi). Their biology, morphology and systematics. Apollo books, Strenstrup.

Linda S. Rayor. 2007. Family Ties: Unexpected social behavior in an improbable arachnid, the whip spiders. Natural History Magazine. 116: 38-44.

L.S. Rayor & Taylor, Lisa. 2006. Social behavior in amblypygids, and a reassessment of arachnid social patterns. Journal of Arachnology 34: 399-421
Walsh, Rachel & L.S. Rayor. 2008. Kin discrimination in the amblypygid, Damon diadema). Journal of Arachnology 36:00 – 00 (8 pages)

[GRB]

From here on, I thought we could post images of set ups to inspire others. I've also copied my article on how to make caverniculous set ups like the one I used.

Making cavernicolous terraria

Introduction

Cavernicolous animals are animals which inhabit caves and caverns. These cave dwellers can be classified into those which can only inhabit caves (Troglobites), to those which enter caves opportunistically and can survive outside of the cave (Troglophiles). A third variant includes those animals which utilise caves to hibernate or overwinter, called Trogloxenes.

I’ve been after some Amblypygids for several years and recently the opportunity arose in which to obtain some Damon diadema, so naturally I jumped at the chance of creating a large display tank to house these fascinating animals. Rather than sticking with a generic store-bought container, I decided upon a cavernicolous set up mainly because the increased complexity of such environments allows for greater freedom in creating terrarium décor.

A cavern theme also allowed me to mix my interest in arthropods with my collection of fossils as many caves contain rich fossil deposits within them, and I thought these might make for interesting and eye catching decoration. I thought this article might be of interest to people who want to recreate similar environments for their own pets, but who might not be familiar with the relatively easy techniques that give fast and decent looking results.

Construction

I planned on using a 45cm Exo-Terra cube vivarium, although I immediately decided that the supplied background would need some work to make it look the part. For the walls of the cavern I decided that flat cork back sheets (broken into irregular sections) would make a lightweight, cheap and robust material to build upon.

After a quick dry fit I removed the sections from the vivarium and began making them look more like sections of rock face. The first task was to seal the polystyrene back wall using pva glue, before spraypainting it black. You need to seal polystyrene as it dissolves with solvent based paints. The cork bark sections were also sprayed black.


Whilst this material was drying, I painted all the fossils using a non toxic, natural yacht varnish (Le tonkinois Vernis No.1). This is an important step as fossils containing pyrite could potentially leach iron oxides into the vivarium, and pyrite is known to degrade to a white powder in conditions of high humidity. Another reason was so that later coats of grout and paint could be wiped off without damaging the fossils.

The next stage was to add a 3D element to the sections. I used small coal blocks glued directly onto the wall material. A few fossils were also included with coal around to make them look as if they were recently exposed from the background matrix.

I then filled in the holes using black grout and covered most of the polystyrene in this grout to disguise the various holes. Once this had dried thoroughly I painted large regions of the wall sections with pva glue and scattered coarse sand over this to add texture. Don’t cover the entire piece with sand as this will make it look too uniform and ruin the effect. After drying, this surface was then sealed again using water and pva glue mixed 50:50.







Painting and finishing

Painting cavern décor relies on two basic techniques - acrylic washes and dry brushing.

Using acrylic washes is an easy and fast method of painting uneven surfaces such as these sand covered cavern walls. You need to water down your pigments to about 1:4 consistency with water which can then be applied using a spray bottle. I mixed a basic grey colour which matched the stone matrix around my fossils. I then varied that basic colour with small patches of reddish grey or bluish grey. This gave a base colour similar to a light slate.

Drybrushing is another simple technique ideal for creating a rock effect. The basic idea is to load the brush and then remove almost all the paint from the brush onto a rag or such. The nearly dry brush is then gently brushed over the area you want to paint where it gradually builds up highlights on any raised areas. This effect is best seen on the coal lumps where it highlights all the veins and natural creases. Just remember to keep a light touch and apply several layers. It gradually deepens the effect and can give great looking results with little effort.







After drying, the wall sections were then varnished again to seal them, this time with a full matt effect using the ‘gelomat’ solution (LeTonkinois and “Gelomat” mixed 50:50).

It was at this stage I decided that making a roof section was going to be exceedingly difficult, so I altered the section into a floor section.

The substrate was 1” of pea gravel covered with coir fibre and top dressed with microfossil grit. This is just a nice grit which contains fossils of no real value – tiny shark teeth, bits of coral and other such fragments. There’s no requirement to use such grit but I felt it would add some extra detail. After adding a few blocks of painted coal and some selected fossils the tank was almost finished. I just need to clean some of the excess paint from the fossils and add some more details, but the damon seem happy

The next stage is to create similar sections to form roof panels and another side wall, and I would like to also create stone pillars from modelling foam to complete the look.

For now however the vivarium is set up and complete (see below), and the whip spiders seem to be settling in well. I hope this spurs readers into creating their own display terraria, and hopefully illustrates that whilst there are great ready-made products out there, great looking terraria can be made for a fraction of the price with a little know how.

Now that I've made this, I think it would have been easier to start with a polystyrene box, which would have formed the walls, back and roof of the vivarium. However, I am happy with the results and all told, it probably cost around £30 for materials besides the fossils which I collect separately.

[glitchIA]

Amazing. Very detailed.

Good job Grant!

[joeyboy]

oh thanks for that! I think I might up the humidity now, I've been doing a heavy misting from above once every 3-4 days, basically letting it dry out for a day or so before the next misting, I do it with my avics too only because people were debating about them needing a bit lower humidity then some thought.

Mine seems fine though. I started with 3 but 2 died, I'm unsure if it was cannibalism or that the crickets I first used were too large and attacked them. I actually think the latter.

Below is my rather simple enclosure. This is day 4 hence it being dry. She's found a way inside the cork bark so sometimes I can't find him, today however he was out on the smooth side so here are some pics...

[GRB]

If 2 of them died quickly, it could have been cannibalism. There's not enough space for 3 to spread out in that tank. Low humidity could be a problem too although some Damon sp. do occur in quite xeric habitats (still provide a water dish however at least).

You need more cover in that container - they like it very dark. I'd cover the sides with dark card or more cork bark. I'd also add more cork bark for them to hide.

[joeyboy]

ok well I just ordered 4kg of cork bark for another viv..I'm sure I can spare a few decent pieces.

It is actually quite dark, it's behind my bed and without the flash of the camera as in that pic, it is rather dim down there even with my bedroom light on, but yeah ok I'll blue tac some sheets of black A4 paper to three sides?

Humidity wise I suppose I can't be doing THAT badly since it moults ok, I have a very nice moult from it.

How often do yours eat? This thing seems to have a bit less of an appepite then some of my T's, it has to be a fortnight until I can put a cricket in and have it gone when I go to check the next morning. It seems to ignore it then after 14 days it switches on and runs after it even if it's daylight and I'm watching.

my only other concern is temperatures? I know you can find these guys on the roofs of caves..how warm is it? My room is about 21-26c in the day(warmer with central heating) and doesn't drop below 20c at night so far.

Finally am I right in calling it a she? I thought it was female as it's two clawed front legs don't go past it's first knee at the joint?

I was informed I'd probably get 3 females from the seller as they were low on males.

[GRB]

Those temperatures seem OK.

They don't eat a lot, I usually just throw in some feeders and leave them to it. I've never had hassles with crickets eating any of my inverts - I'd guess that as yours moulted, the others cannibalised them.

It looks from the photos like a female.

Originally Posted by joeyboy

ok well I just ordered 4kg of cork bark for another viv..I'm sure I can spare a few decent pieces.

It is actually quite dark, it's behind my bed and without the flash of the camera as in that pic, it is rather dim down there even with my bedroom light on, but yeah ok I'll blue tac some sheets of black A4 paper to three sides?

Humidity wise I suppose I can't be doing THAT badly since it moults ok, I have a very nice moult from it.

How often do yours eat? This thing seems to have a bit less of an appepite then some of my T's, it has to be a fortnight until I can put a cricket in and have it gone when I go to check the next morning. It seems to ignore it then after 14 days it switches on and runs after it even if it's daylight and I'm watching.

my only other concern is temperatures? I know you can find these guys on the roofs of caves..how warm is it? My room is about 21-26c in the day(warmer with central heating) and doesn't drop below 20c at night so far.

Finally am I right in calling it a she? I thought it was female as it's two clawed front legs don't go past it's first knee at the joint?

I was informed I'd probably get 3 females from the seller as they were low on males.

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by GRB

Those temperatures seem OK.

They don't eat a lot, I usually just throw in some feeders and leave them to it. I've never had hassles with crickets eating any of my inverts - I'd guess that as yours moulted, the others cannibalised them.

It looks from the photos like a female.

nah the other two didn't die in moult. I mean this survivor has moulted in my care, the other 2 died within the first 2 weeks so didn't.

I think maybe it was because they were imperfect? One didn't have those extended feeling limbs? It had the thick bit (first 2" or so) but not the main very thin parts with extent such a long way, maybe this stopped it being able to navigate?

The other was missing one leg and one extended feeler.

[GRB]

Originally Posted by joeyboy

nah the other two didn't die in moult. I mean this survivor has moulted in my care, the other 2 died within the first 2 weeks so didn't.

I think maybe it was because they were imperfect? One didn't have those extended feeling limbs? It had the thick bit (first 2" or so) but not the main very thin parts with extent such a long way, maybe this stopped it being able to navigate?

The other was missing one leg and one extended feeler.

I just noticed this; they can survive perfectly well with damaged antenniform legs. They most likely died due to lack of space, moulting attack or lack of humidity....or a mix of all 3. Age might be another issue.

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by GRB

I just noticed this; they can survive perfectly well with damaged antenniform legs. They most likely died due to lack of space, moulting attack or lack of humidity....or a mix of all 3. Age might be another issue.

ah right, not sure then, it did seem something had eaten them, though it could have been a cricket nibbling on their corpses overnight.

My single one is still going strong, moulted twice now, I love the way it hunts, using the antenniform legs to harass the prey by putting them behind it and tapping the prey or the ground near it quickly, herds the cricket towards it's claws.