You bet! I spent about an hour today trying to positively identify him and I’ve learned that yes, he’s a Trap-Door spider. When my husband laid eyes on him, his first instinct was funnel web spider but, being the spider expert in the family, he was able to identify it more quickly and with more confidence that it was a trapdoor spider. Some research says they have painful poison that isn’t deadly to humans and, as it turns out, even if it was a deadly funnel spider, my husband would want to keep it. XD
Anyway, pictures!
For a little while, I had him in a tupperware. I wasn’t sure what kind of spider he was at the time but his laid-back, super docile attitude told me that he was anything but a funnel web spider. Feeling brave, I took the lid off of his tupperware and caught him in a pickle jar so that I could get a better look at him.
From front to back (including his legs) he’s roughly 3 inches long. He has four brown spots on the bottom of his abdomen, long palpus with fat ends with hooks on them, spurs on his front four legs, and short spinnerets. It’s downright cute how shy this guy is!
Here, you can get a better view of his palpus and the hooks at the end of them. His mouth is closer to the red spot on his underside.
Lastly, here’s a picture from behind. When I first saw him, he was completely curled up. He didn’t start to stretch out until I caught him. Relax, spider lovers. We got him a new house already.
And here it is! It’s an old 5 gallon fish tank that I used for my first fresh water tank. We threw some pill bugs, a dead bee and some sticks in there. In the back left corner is a little kennel cup with a little water and in the back right is a black plastic tube for him to hide in. Friday, we’ll be getting some sand, buying some crickets or meal worms and a screen to replace the warped cutting board we have on the top. You can see him in the top back right corner of the tank. Yes, he has oxygen. The roof is actually a little warped.
If you have any spider care tips, feel free to clue me in! While my husband’s kept giant spiders before, I haven’t and I would love the knowledge.
