Poec54
Arachnoemperor
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2013
- Messages
- 4,745
While upgrading cages for some Stromatopelma juveniles (around 3"), one ran on the shelving unit and disappeared. I use the big beige free-standing plastic shelf units from Home Depot and there's a hole on each shelf on the underside, about an inch in diameter, from when the plastic is in molds. As luck would have it, the spider zipped right in that hole; there didn't seem to be any other holes elsewhere it could emerge from. I used several layers of wide masking tape to hold a piece of clear, hard plastic over the hole. That bought me some time to come up with a plan.
They're a fast and alert species, quite agile, good eyesight, and if I just untaped the hole, I doubted I could catch it while it came out (using a catch cup). No doubt it would make me look pretty foolish (more than it already had). After careful consideration during the day, I decided to lure it out into a trap:
- Using what I had available, I cut the bottom out of a 3" long clear plastic vial.
- Cut a slightly smaller hole in the lid of a deli cup, and securely taped the vial to the outside of the deli cup lid (masking tape).
- Set up a 32 oz deli cup with the usual accoutrements: top soil, cork slab, some long fiber sphagnum under the cork (nest), and a small water bowl.
- Snapped the lid contraption onto the 32 oz cup.
- To get it to the right height, I put an empty 32 oz deli cup and lid under it, and with a few paper plates to press the vial snuggly against the shelf hole. There could be no gaps.
- Equipment prepared, I untaped the hole, and set the trap in place. The plan was to gently slide the cup/vial away from the hole and screw the lid on the vial. I turned off the lights and left the room. Then I waited...
A few hours later I tip-toed in the room with a flashlight. The spider was in the vial, and as soon as it saw my light, it darted back into the shelf hole. Alright. Next visit, it was in the deli cup, upside down on the lid. More careful with the flashlight this time. I touched the cup and it dashed into the vial, but not up into the shelf, although it could in a millisecond. While not quite what I wanted, these were promising developments: it had an attraction to the deli cup, maybe from having been raised in one, and the cup was a lot more interesting than being stuck inside a shelf all day in the dark. At this point we were an equal match in intelligence, or so it seemed.
To finally get the upper hand over an arachnid with a brain a fraction the size of mine, I cut a piece of stiff cardboard to slide between the vial and the shelf, to block the spider's escape route. I knew that once I touched anything, even if it were deep down in the deli cup, it would probably scramble up to the vial and the security of the shelf. Third visit (same night): It was in the deli cup (too much temptation!). I set the flashlight down so it wasn't shining on the spider as much, and quickly slid the cardboard in place and held it firmly against the top of the vial. The spider darted around, back and forth between the cup and vial, and when it was down in the cup, I screwed the lid on the vial. Success!
When it's calmed down, I can replace the modified lid with a regular one, and then transfer it to a new cage.
They're a fast and alert species, quite agile, good eyesight, and if I just untaped the hole, I doubted I could catch it while it came out (using a catch cup). No doubt it would make me look pretty foolish (more than it already had). After careful consideration during the day, I decided to lure it out into a trap:
- Using what I had available, I cut the bottom out of a 3" long clear plastic vial.
- Cut a slightly smaller hole in the lid of a deli cup, and securely taped the vial to the outside of the deli cup lid (masking tape).
- Set up a 32 oz deli cup with the usual accoutrements: top soil, cork slab, some long fiber sphagnum under the cork (nest), and a small water bowl.
- Snapped the lid contraption onto the 32 oz cup.
- To get it to the right height, I put an empty 32 oz deli cup and lid under it, and with a few paper plates to press the vial snuggly against the shelf hole. There could be no gaps.
- Equipment prepared, I untaped the hole, and set the trap in place. The plan was to gently slide the cup/vial away from the hole and screw the lid on the vial. I turned off the lights and left the room. Then I waited...
A few hours later I tip-toed in the room with a flashlight. The spider was in the vial, and as soon as it saw my light, it darted back into the shelf hole. Alright. Next visit, it was in the deli cup, upside down on the lid. More careful with the flashlight this time. I touched the cup and it dashed into the vial, but not up into the shelf, although it could in a millisecond. While not quite what I wanted, these were promising developments: it had an attraction to the deli cup, maybe from having been raised in one, and the cup was a lot more interesting than being stuck inside a shelf all day in the dark. At this point we were an equal match in intelligence, or so it seemed.
To finally get the upper hand over an arachnid with a brain a fraction the size of mine, I cut a piece of stiff cardboard to slide between the vial and the shelf, to block the spider's escape route. I knew that once I touched anything, even if it were deep down in the deli cup, it would probably scramble up to the vial and the security of the shelf. Third visit (same night): It was in the deli cup (too much temptation!). I set the flashlight down so it wasn't shining on the spider as much, and quickly slid the cardboard in place and held it firmly against the top of the vial. The spider darted around, back and forth between the cup and vial, and when it was down in the cup, I screwed the lid on the vial. Success!
When it's calmed down, I can replace the modified lid with a regular one, and then transfer it to a new cage.
