Care guide
Okefenokee Giant Fishing Spider
Dolomedes okefinokensis
The largest fishing spider in North America. Females reach a 3+ inch leg span and hunt right off the water's surface. Bite is not considered medically significant, striking size, needs a water feature to thrive.
Dolomedes okefinokensis
Okefenokee Giant Fishing Spider: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The largest fishing spider in North America. Females reach a 3+ inch leg span and hunt right off the water's surface. Bite is not considered medically significant, striking size, needs a water feature to thrive.
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water featureHandling: Not recommended
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 72-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | High ambient (75-85%) with airflow across the water surface; moist land substrate, open pool |
| Setup Type | Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water feature |
| Substrate | Moist substrate with a stable water dish/shallow pool and emergent perches |
| Feeding | 3/8-1/2" crickets/roaches (no larger than body length), occasional small feeder fish for adults; weekly, offered at dusk near the water |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 2: Beginner |
| Handling | Not recommended |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- juvenile setup with a small water dish
- adult enclosure with a proper shallow pool/perch area
Warnings First
- Needs a real water feature; a shallow dish alone shortchanges this species
- Fast and semi-aquatic; can run on the water's surface and dive briefly to escape
- Bite is not medically significant, but this is a startling, fast-moving display animal
- Single housing only
- A standing pool in a still, humid enclosure fouls fast. This is the one species where the airflow needs to cross the water surface, not just the substrate.
Simple Care
- Provide a shallow water feature (dish or small pool) with an emergent perch, alongside moist land substrate.
- Ventilate across the water surface: vents low on two opposite walls at pool level keep it from going stagnant.
- Give the pool a sloped edge or emergent perch so feeders and juveniles can climb out rather than fouling the water.
- Keep humidity high; this is a swamp-edge species and dries out poorly in an arid setup.
- Feed crickets or roaches weekly; larger adults can also take an occasional small feeder fish at the water's edge.
- Give plenty of open floor and water surface area. This is one of the largest spiders you can keep in a display tank.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- This species naturally hunts from the edge of still or slow water, using surface ripples to detect prey. A stable shallow pool or large water dish with an easy-access perch is essential, not optional.
- Keep humidity high with good airflow over the water surface to avoid stagnation.
- Place the vents low on two opposite walls at roughly pool level so the air genuinely crosses the water rather than passing over the lid. On a fishing spider the pool fouls before the substrate does, so the air has to move across the water, not just over the soil. Moving air across it is what keeps the pool clear and the enclosure from going swampy.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity trade against each other, and here you are running both high. The moisture comes from the pool and the damp land substrate rather than from sealed air, which is exactly why the airflow can stay generous without drying the spider out.
- Judge by the water and the substrate rather than by a gauge. The pool should stay clear with no surface film, and the land substrate should be moist without standing puddles outside the pool. A film on the water is your first sign the airflow is insufficient.
- Change the pool water regularly and give it a sloped edge, emergent perch, or a few flat stones breaking the surface. That gives the spider its hunting platform, lets escaped feeders climb out rather than drowning and fouling the water, and means any small juveniles have a way back out too.
- Rather than misting, let the pool and the damp land substrate carry the humidity. On a swamp-edge species the microclimate you want is the moist margin between water and land, which builds itself once the pool and the substrate are right.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: crickets or roaches no larger than the spider's body length, roughly 3/8-1/2in, offered at dusk near the water feature where it naturally hunts. Adult females may also take an occasional small feeder fish or guppy from the water. Weekly feeding suits both life stages.
- Growth: multiple molts to maturity over about a year; lifespan roughly 1-2 years, with females outliving males.
- Maintenance: remove uneaten prey within 24-48 hours, keep the water feature clean, and stop feeding at the first signs of premolt (dulled color, reduced activity) until the new exoskeleton hardens, about a week for this size.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Okefenokee Swamp and similar wetland habitats across Florida, Georgia, and the southeastern United States.
- Habitat translation: A large terrestrial enclosure built around a stable, clean water feature with emergent perches, kept humid.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Exhibits strong female giganticism; females can be several times the size of males, so a mated pair will look mismatched.
- This species can run across the water's surface and briefly submerge to evade threats. A secure, tall enclosure prevents it from using that trick to escape.
- Venom is not medically significant, but its speed and size make an accidental bite or scratch more startling than dangerous. Treat as hands-off.
Dolomedes okefinokensis
Okefenokee Giant Fishing Spider
Big Z's Quick Verdict: The largest fishing spider in North America. Females reach a 3+ inch leg span and hunt right off the water's surface. Bite is not considered medically significant, striking size, needs a water feature to thrive.
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water featureHandling: Not recommended
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Care Snapshot
| Temp | 72-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | High ambient (75-85%) with airflow across the water surface; moist land substrate, open pool |
| Setup | Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water feature |
| Substrate | Moist substrate with a stable water dish/shallow pool and emergent perches |
| Feeding | 3/8-1/2" crickets/roaches (no larger than body length), occasional small feeder fish for adults; weekly, offered at dusk near the water |
| Handling | Not recommended |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Recommended Big Z's Setup
- Large terrestrial setup with an added water feature; no dedicated Buddy line for semi-aquatic species yet
Critical Notes
- Needs a real water feature; a shallow dish alone shortchanges this species
- Fast and semi-aquatic; can run on the water's surface and dive briefly to escape
- Bite is not medically significant, but this is a startling, fast-moving display animal
- Single housing only
- A standing pool in a still, humid enclosure fouls fast. This is the one species where the airflow needs to cross the water surface, not just the substrate.
Care Basics
- Provide a shallow water feature (dish or small pool) with an emergent perch, alongside moist land substrate.
- Ventilate across the water surface: vents low on two opposite walls at pool level keep it from going stagnant.
- Give the pool a sloped edge or emergent perch so feeders and juveniles can climb out rather than fouling the water.
- Keep humidity high; this is a swamp-edge species and dries out poorly in an arid setup.
- Feed crickets or roaches weekly; larger adults can also take an occasional small feeder fish at the water's edge.
- Give plenty of open floor and water surface area. This is one of the largest spiders you can keep in a display tank.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: crickets or roaches no larger than the spider's body length, roughly 3/8-1/2in, offered at dusk near the water feature where it naturally hunts. Adult females may also take an occasional small feeder fish or guppy from the water. Weekly feeding suits both life stages.
- Growth: multiple molts to maturity over about a year; lifespan roughly 1-2 years, with females outliving males.
- Maintenance: remove uneaten prey within 24-48 hours, keep the water feature clean, and stop feeding at the first signs of premolt (dulled color, reduced activity) until the new exoskeleton hardens, about a week for this size.
Current Big Z's catalog: Yes
Dolomedes okefinokensis
Okefenokee Giant Fishing Spider: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The largest fishing spider in North America. Females reach a 3+ inch leg span and hunt right off the water's surface. Bite is not considered medically significant, striking size, needs a water feature to thrive.
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water featureHandling: Not recommended
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 72-80°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | High ambient (75-85%) with airflow across the water surface; moist land substrate, open pool |
| Setup Type | Semi-aquatic terrestrial spider with a water feature |
| Substrate | Moist substrate with a stable water dish/shallow pool and emergent perches |
| Feeding | 3/8-1/2" crickets/roaches (no larger than body length), occasional small feeder fish for adults; weekly, offered at dusk near the water |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 2: Beginner |
| Handling | Not recommended |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- juvenile setup with a small water dish
- adult enclosure with a proper shallow pool/perch area
Warnings First
- Needs a real water feature; a shallow dish alone shortchanges this species
- Fast and semi-aquatic; can run on the water's surface and dive briefly to escape
- Bite is not medically significant, but this is a startling, fast-moving display animal
- Single housing only
- A standing pool in a still, humid enclosure fouls fast. This is the one species where the airflow needs to cross the water surface, not just the substrate.
Simple Care
- Provide a shallow water feature (dish or small pool) with an emergent perch, alongside moist land substrate.
- Ventilate across the water surface: vents low on two opposite walls at pool level keep it from going stagnant.
- Give the pool a sloped edge or emergent perch so feeders and juveniles can climb out rather than fouling the water.
- Keep humidity high; this is a swamp-edge species and dries out poorly in an arid setup.
- Feed crickets or roaches weekly; larger adults can also take an occasional small feeder fish at the water's edge.
- Give plenty of open floor and water surface area. This is one of the largest spiders you can keep in a display tank.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- This species naturally hunts from the edge of still or slow water, using surface ripples to detect prey. A stable shallow pool or large water dish with an easy-access perch is essential, not optional.
- Keep humidity high with good airflow over the water surface to avoid stagnation.
- Place the vents low on two opposite walls at roughly pool level so the air genuinely crosses the water rather than passing over the lid. On a fishing spider the pool fouls before the substrate does, so the air has to move across the water, not just over the soil. Moving air across it is what keeps the pool clear and the enclosure from going swampy.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity trade against each other, and here you are running both high. The moisture comes from the pool and the damp land substrate rather than from sealed air, which is exactly why the airflow can stay generous without drying the spider out.
- Judge by the water and the substrate rather than by a gauge. The pool should stay clear with no surface film, and the land substrate should be moist without standing puddles outside the pool. A film on the water is your first sign the airflow is insufficient.
- Change the pool water regularly and give it a sloped edge, emergent perch, or a few flat stones breaking the surface. That gives the spider its hunting platform, lets escaped feeders climb out rather than drowning and fouling the water, and means any small juveniles have a way back out too.
- Rather than misting, let the pool and the damp land substrate carry the humidity. On a swamp-edge species the microclimate you want is the moist margin between water and land, which builds itself once the pool and the substrate are right.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: crickets or roaches no larger than the spider's body length, roughly 3/8-1/2in, offered at dusk near the water feature where it naturally hunts. Adult females may also take an occasional small feeder fish or guppy from the water. Weekly feeding suits both life stages.
- Growth: multiple molts to maturity over about a year; lifespan roughly 1-2 years, with females outliving males.
- Maintenance: remove uneaten prey within 24-48 hours, keep the water feature clean, and stop feeding at the first signs of premolt (dulled color, reduced activity) until the new exoskeleton hardens, about a week for this size.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Okefenokee Swamp and similar wetland habitats across Florida, Georgia, and the southeastern United States.
- Habitat translation: A large terrestrial enclosure built around a stable, clean water feature with emergent perches, kept humid.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Exhibits strong female giganticism; females can be several times the size of males, so a mated pair will look mismatched.
- This species can run across the water's surface and briefly submerge to evade threats. A secure, tall enclosure prevents it from using that trick to escape.
- Venom is not medically significant, but its speed and size make an accidental bite or scratch more startling than dangerous. Treat as hands-off.