Stegodyphus dufouri 'Oman' (Orange Desert Velvet Spider) 0.5-0.75"

Stegodyphus dufouri 'Oman' (Orange Desert Velvet Spider) 0.5-0.75"

The Orange Desert Velvet Spider, or Stegodyphus dufouri 'Oman', is an arboreal true spider from Oman that builds tangled, sticky webs through sticks and brush. This Oman locality can express a high level of orange, giving adults a bold, jagged striped pattern across an orange and white velvet coloration. Spiderlings hatch out nearly solid white, with that orange and white pattern developing after each molt. Mature males take on their own transformation at their final adult molt, trading the orange and white pattern for a striking black and white coloration with a long, leggy build. This species grows to about 1.25 to 1.5 inches in diagonal leg span for females, with smaller males at about 0.75 inch, and lives a long time for a true spider, with females reaching around 8 years. This calm, low-maintenance true spider gets everything it needs from its food, making it one of the easiest invertebrates in the hobby to keep. Grab this velvet spider for sale today, offered here as a juvenile.

Why do hobbyists keep the Orange Desert Velvet Spider?

• Orange And White Coloration: This Oman locality can express a high level of orange, giving it a bold, jagged striped pattern across an orange and white velvet coloration.
• Striking Mature Male Coloration: At their final adult molt, mature males shift to a black and white coloration with a long, leggy appearance, a dramatic change from the orange and white pattern seen at every other life stage.
• Low Maintenance Care: This species gets nearly everything it needs from its food and a light misting once it is past spiderling size, making it one of the easiest true spiders in the whole hobby to keep.
• Large Adult Size: At up to about 1.5 inches in diagonal leg span, females of this species reach an impressively large size for a true spider in this family.
• Long-Lived True Spider: Females can live around 8 years, giving keepers a genuine long term companion rather than the short lifespan most true spiders are known for.
• Alternative to Jumping Spiders: This true spider gets larger and lives longer than most jumping spiders while staying just as calm and easy to watch, making it a great next step for anyone who already enjoys keeping small, visible arachnids.

How should the Orange Desert Velvet Spider be kept?

• Adult Size: Velvet spider size for this species starts around 0.125 inch at hatching and reaches about 1.25 to 1.5 inches in diagonal leg span for females, with mature males staying smaller at about 0.75 inch. This animal measures 0.5 to 0.75 inch, the range given in the title.
• Enclosure: A 4 by 4 by 4 inch enclosure fits this size well, with about 1.5 inches of substrate and real sticks or twigs set in for webbing material. Consider sizing up one notch for extra room.
• Setup Tips: A velvet spider enclosure does best with real sticks and twigs, along with a layer of moss, which make a big difference for this species, especially at spiderling size. The sticks and twigs give it something secure to anchor its silk retreat and tangled web to, while the moss helps hold a touch of humidity without ever staying wet, and we have seen a real increase in how quickly a new arrival settles in when this kind of real, natural material is available from day one, rather than bare substrate.
• Rehousing: One more rehouse is ahead, into a final 6 by 6 by 6 inch enclosure once it reaches about 1 to 1.5 inches.
• Temperature: Keep it around 75°F, which is fine at normal room temperature, no extra heating needed for most households.
• Humidity: Past 0.5 inch, a light misting or a small water dish is appropriate, though not required if it's feeding well. Whatever is misted should dry fully within about 24 hours, and substrate should never be kept wet.
• Water: Adults and larger juveniles do drink water, and the bigger this species gets, the more it needs. Mist it lightly once a week, or offer a small shallow dish, just don't make it too wet, let it dry out fully within 24 hours as you would with any arboreal.
• Diet: We recommend a 1/8 to 3/16 inch cricket at this size, offered at least once a week.
• Temperament: Calm by nature, though like any true spider it can be unpredictable if it feels threatened.

Are there any additional notes or considerations for the Orange Desert Velvet Spider?

• Solitary Species: This is a solitary true spider, not one of the rare social or colony forming velvet spiders occasionally seen in the trade.
• Color Form May Vary: The typical Stegodyphus dufouri is a white spider with black markings down the abdomen; individual animals, including this Oman locality, can vary somewhat in how much orange they show and how bold the pattern is, so yours may look slightly different from the listing photo.
• Wild Supply Is Tightening: Export closures across part of this genus's wild range are making genuine wild Stegodyphus bloodlines harder to source every year. Grab this one while it's available, since numbers like these are only going to get harder to come by going forward.
• Included Habitat Vial: This species ships in a small, roughly 5 gram vial lined with moss, about half an inch wide and an inch and a half tall, the same housing we use for animals at this size in our own facility. It's not a complete habitat kit, just a small, effective setup that means no watering is needed while it's in there. We suggest keeping a spiderling in this vial until it reaches about 0.5 to 0.75 inch so it is easy to keep track of, though our standard 2x2x3 inch enclosure works perfectly well for the smallest sizes too if you would rather size up right away, so see Enclosure above for what to grow it into from here.

Listing Notes

• This listing is for a Stegodyphus dufouri 'Oman' Orange Desert Velvet Spider juvenile measuring around 0.5 to 0.75 inch in diagonal leg span, which is the size given in the title, unsexed, with roughly a 50/50 chance of male or female. Our most established size of this locality form, already past the point where light misting comes into play, with more of its adult white and orange pattern visible than on the smaller sizes.
• Looking for other sizes? This species is also available as a 1/8 to 1/4 inch Spiderling, 0.33 inch Spiderling, or 0.33 to 0.5 inch Spiderling.