Is it fair?

[Tarangela]

I have collected 3 adult female wolf spiders, and 2 jumper spiders...

They are beautiful, interesting and fun to watch....I enjoy keeping them...but I want some opinions on me keeping them indoors...in a cage.

I do have 30+ tarantulas...and don't feel bad about keeping them, for obvious reasons, but the "wild" ones I have, I caught outside, either on the porch, or near the door...should I let them go? Or can I keep them???

Since they are "wild" I don't want to do them any injustice...

Thanks for your opinions :)

[Lick496]

i feel that they will live a longer life and probably a healthier one as well in captivity. No predators, consistent food and heat. I see nothing wrong with it

[Tarangela]

Thank you for your opinion, that is kinda what I was hoping to hear ;)

[Tarangela]

Keep the opinions and votes coming :)

[Moonkin77]

I agree as long as the creature has sufficient habitat regardless of species they will live a deserved long healthy life. Just think about rescue shelters that help wild animals that can never go back into the wild. These people truly love and cherish these animals.

[Raikiri]

My opinion depends on the size of the population. IMO if you go outside and collect some specimen of a species that has big population then you don't risk it's subsistence. But in case of collecting specimens of a rare or endangered sp. then IMO you do harm the environment. However if you collect rare specimens, meet them, then keep 1-2 females and let off the others, wait till the first eggsac appears then let off the females, too. And of course after the eggsac hatched You wait till the slings reach 2nd, 3rd molt, keep 10 and let off the remaining, then I think you don't have any negative effects for sure.

[Venom]

Umm...

Do you realize where you are posting this? At one point, ALL our animals were wild caught. Was it cruel to them? No. True spiders that you catch in your yard and keep as pets, are really no different than imported tarantulas, or, for that matter, tarantulas bred in captivity. I do not beleive anyone keeping spiders believes they are being cruel to the animals they keep. We take good care of our creatures--better conditions, indeed, than they encounter in the wild. Wolf spiders really don't need that much space anyway, just food and enough room to walk around a bit. It's not like spiders get bored of their surroundings, or need a lot of exercise, lol!

So I'd vote no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping wild-caught true spiders, as long as you can properly take care of them, which is very simple in most cases ( and yes, I have kept many of them myself ).

[Widowman10]

i vote no. but keep in mind that these are just bugs (i know, spiders...) that we are talking about. it's not gonna throw off the whole mini-ecosystem or affect their status or anything. and they don't know what suffering is anyway.

i like to keep interesting bugs around my house :D

[Motzo]

Agreed. It's usually a better environment than what is encountered outside. However, sometimes the conditions can be improved. Jumping spiders like to have a smaller home inside a larger home, for them to spin their web/tent/cocoon-thing inside. Large empty snail shells do nicely, as some jumper species will usually stay in one for the winter.
Just a little studying will help you to get to know your creatures a bit better >.<

[Raikiri]

Well I've never bought wc animals that had small population. That's right our T's parents were wild captured in the past but if You and others breed them then there's no need to capture more. In my opinion it's ok to start a population for yourself or for the hobby. It may protect endangered species since if they're available in commerce then probably they aren't captured in their original habitats. And I aggree that keep animals at home is much safer for them cuz of food availability and no enemys but many people mate bloodline-related spiders. It seems like it's ok, but nature made siblings reach maturity not at the same time to avoid thier multiplication. I think we shouldn't ignore nature, but we do it. Animals that are kept at home become smaller and weaker then in the nature. Wonder why?
Again, I have no problems if the population is big. But if you collect rare species then you impede maintaining their own strong population. They were formerly created to exist in the nature not in plastic boxes.

[Kid Dragon]

Jumping spiders make great pets. They are fun to watch and can live over a year in captivity.

[Mister Internet]

You caught them, do whatever you like with them. At the end of the day, they are simple arachnids, after all.

[crpy]

Fair? hummm, well , we dont have to worry about them getting released and running back to their clan and protesting "unfair" treatment. Then, us battling an uprising...although that would make a great movie.:razz:

[clam1991]

Fair? hummm, well , we dont have to worry about them getting released and running back to their clan and protesting "unfair" treatment. Then, us battling an uprising...although that would make a great movie.:razz:

wouldnt it though:D :rolleyes:

[Tarangela]

Thanks for all the words and opinions....I just didn't want to feel I was taking away "their life" by keeping them inside w/ the other spiders...yes, I know it's basically the same as keeping the tarantulas I have...but these wolf and jumping spiders were doing 'ok' outside....ya know? I just had to have them for some reason or another lol It's the 'wild' factor I guess....they are very unpredictable, and basically teleport instead of crawl, lol

One of them I did find on my fish tank light, it's some type of field tunnel-spinning wolf spider. Sorry for not knowing the correct name, but she is the fastest wolf spider species I have ever known. I have lots of them in my hedges outside, and various outdoor corners of the house, but this one was near my fish tank light! It was tough catching her ;P

The jumping spiders are the best, they will chase anything down, and really enjoy catching their food :) I will keep them all then, and enjoy them this winter :)

I don't mind spoiling a few wild ones!!

Thanks!

[The Flork]

it's only a crime if you get caught ;P
but its a bug with a bug brain, it don't care as long as its getting fed.
the only thing your preventing it from doing is reproducing :-/
the way i see catching things around the house is well i could have stepped on it, but i caught it instead, so it owes its life to me haha

[jynxxxedangel]

I just released the Platycryptus undatus I was keeping back into the wild. She is so persnickety about what she eats, I figured she'd be better off hunting on her own.

I guess it is a matter of how confident one is with keeping a spider to their best ability, when deciding to keep or not to keep. I go with my gut instinct.

[Tarangela]

Thanks for all the replies!!

They have been doing really well this weekend...eating and settling down....maybe I can/will release them in the spring :)

[Choobaine]

re-releasing any native you've kept is a bad idea. you've probably been feeding them commercial feeders, goodness knows what parasites/diseases they're carrying that the eco-system you are in wont be able to deal with. Very little is known about this in inverts but such risks shouldn't be taken. Besides, you've taken very little from the wild by the looks of it, a whole lot more would die regularly from natural causes like predation. Don't worry for what little you've got, look after them, breed them for the hobby but don't release them or their offspring, it's a nice idea with potentially bad consequences.