Hogna sp. "Pine Giant" (undescribed trade name)
Sold under its hobby name. This guide covers the group or trade name this fella is sold as, so the ranges fit the whole group. Start in the middle and watch how your animal settles in.
Pine Giant Wolf Spider: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A big, fast Florida pine flatwoods wolf spider that starts around 1-2 in and grows large enough to pass for a tarantula. Give it wide floor space, low cross vents and one moist corner, and keep hands out.
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Terrestrial, wide floor, 4-6 in dig depthHandling: Not recommended, bites if cornered
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 | 70-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 50-70%, one moist corner, rest drier |
| Setup Type | Terrestrial, wide floor, 4-6 in dig depth |
| Substrate | 4-6 in sand/soil + leaf litter, one moist corner |
| Feeding | Juveniles every 5-7 days, adults 7-14 days, live prey to 1 in |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | Not recommended, bites if cornered |
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
- Spiderlings: Baby Buddy with a pebble-packed water dish
- Juveniles: Burrow Buddy, floor space over height, vents low on two opposite walls
- Adults: large wide-floor terrestrial with 4-6 in of diggable substrate
Warnings First
- Fast, with a high escape risk: it runs and jumps. Keep the lid secure and open it with care.
- Bites defensively if cornered or restrained. Mild venom, but a painful bite.
- This genus does badly in stagnant, wet conditions. Vent low on two opposite walls and keep only one corner moist.
- Remove uneaten prey within a day. Eating little or nothing for a week or more around a molt is normal.
- Pack the water dish with pebbles. Females carry their brood, and dispersing spiderlings drown in an open dish.
Simple Care
- Give it wide floor space. It hunts the ground and does not build webs.
- Provide 4-6 in of compactable sand/soil with leaf litter so it can dig a retreat.
- Vent low on two opposite walls, at the substrate line.
- Keep one corner moist and the rest of the substrate drier.
- Keep a shallow water dish full and packed with pebbles.
- Feed live crickets or roach nymphs up to 1 in. It usually ignores pre-killed prey.
- Remove uneaten prey within a day.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- These are floor-space animals more than burrow specialists. Go wide, not tall, with 4-6 in of compactable sand/soil so it can dig a retreat if it wants.
- Low vents on two opposite walls make cross-ventilation real. Without them the moist corner spreads until the whole floor is clammy.
- Hold 50-70% by keeping the moist corner topped up and a dish running, with the vents flowing freely.
- Judge by hand: the moist corner holds shape when squeezed with no free water and dries back over several days. If the whole floor feels the same, add airflow.
- Wet the moist corner under a hide or at the retreat entrance instead of misting the floor. A gravid or premolt female sits there while the floor stays drier.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Live crickets or roach nymphs up to about 1 in. It hunts by movement and usually ignores pre-killed prey.
- Juveniles eat every 5-7 days, adults every 7-14 days.
- Remove uneaten prey within a day. A weak or missing feeding response for a week or more around each molt is normal.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Florida pine flatwoods in the southeastern United States, on the sandy pine forest floor.
- Habitat translation: Sandy pine forest floor becomes a wide build with a 4-6 in sand/soil blend, leaf litter, one moist corner, and moderate rather than tropical humidity.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Pine Giant is a trade name for an undescribed Hogna, so it has no species name yet. Hogna osceola is a nickname, not a valid scientific name.
- A different animal from the Carolina and Miami wolf spiders, and it grows into a large spider often mistaken for a tarantula.
- Females carry egg sacs on the spinnerets, then spiderlings on their backs. A new female may already have a sac, so learn to spot one.