First jumping spider - what now?

[Thekla]

Everyone at work knows I'd love to have a little jumper, so today a colleague brought me a jumping spider that she caught on her breakfast table. But now I'm not really sure how to care for it. It's really, really tiny, maybe 3-4 mm DLS.



I have no idea what species/genus it is. So, if anyone has an idea, I'm all ears.

I housed it in a 10cm cube:



I covered the holes with tape and pricked some new holes with a needle.

I also put some springtails in the sub. That was the only thing I could imagine it would/could eat, everything else I have is way too big.

Do you have any advice for me? Is the enclosure okay? Too small? Too big?

 

[nuck]

I've seen jumping spiders take down baby crix with ease, so try those. Sprigs are too small, but they will benefit the soil.

 

[Thekla]

I've seen jumping spiders take down baby crix with ease, so try those. Sprigs are too small, but they will benefit the soil.

Wow! Even at this size? :wideyed:

I'll be at an expo next weekend, maybe I get some pinheads there. I probably need them anyway, because I'll be getting some tiny t slings as well.

How much food do they need in general? And how often should I mist the enclosure for water?
And what about some fruit flies if I can catch one in the kitchen? I suppose that would be its normal food source around here anyway, right?

 

[nuck]

Wow! Even at this size? :wideyed:

I'll be at an expo next weekend, maybe I get some pinheads there. I probably need them anyway, because I'll be getting some tiny t slings as well.

How much food do they need in general? And how often should I mist the enclosure for water?
And what about some fruit flies if I can catch one in the kitchen? I suppose that would be its normal food source around here anyway, right?

Well I recently caught a couple and observed them in a preserved ecosystem within a jar (I tend to label them jarrarium's). Some didn't make it, some did, but I observed one feasting on a juvenile cricket that I acquired at Petco; they usually are labelled as small crickets. It ended up passing on later, but it sucked that cricket dry, like literally, just a former shell of what it once was. The one I observed was at least around the size of yours, but a lot bulkier and heavy looking (an Arizonan native species).

Honestly if I were you I would just look up guides on google. Some say they can last very long periods of time without food, but I would probably feed it as much as you would any other juvenile arachnid. I would recommend something for it to climb and hide in, like a plant, since crickets seem to not like to climb those for whatever reason, and can be quite dangerous to a jumping spider.

Fruitflies are possibly an option, however I am not an expert at this, I just capture and observe things to see how they function within a closed environment.

EDIT: Here's a good reference pic of its size.

 

[HamZ]

Thats a p.lanigera they don't get very big, when i had some i would feed them small moths i found around my house. mosquitoes work too .

 

[Thekla]

Sorry, these icons on my mobile are way too small. It seems I can't hit the informative button.

Thanks a lot for that information. I never would have found that species. It's a bit unfortunate, it won't get any bigger, but at least I got one.

There are no moths here at the moment, but it'll get warmer now, so I bet there'll be fruit flies soon.