keeping widow

[alex]

Hi
I'm thinking of get a latrodectus of some kind.
How big tank do I need and how to decorate it?
If you have pictures of your enclosures, please put them up here.

Alexander

 

[Kugellager]

Hi, Alexander,

I keep my L.hesperus/L.geometricus in 1 liter glass mayonnaise jars. Anything alog this size is more than acceptable to keep these spiders. You could also use the smallest size pet pal/kritter keeper as long as you make sure the vent holes are small enough.

These are a very easy genus to keep in captivity. I feed them one medium-large cricket every 2-3 weeks depending on how fat their abdomen looks. I lightly mist the L.hesperus once every month or so and the L.geometricus every other week.

They get all their water from their food but I like to increase the humidity every once in awhile as I live in Colorado where it is very arid.

These spiders have a reputation that is unfounded. The are very easy to manage when cleaning their container or moving them from one enclosure to another.

Check out this thread for lots of photos and other miscellaeous information.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?threadid=4898

I enjoy them quite a lot.

John
];')

 

[xanadu1015]

I have kept a black widow before and they are one of the easiest spiders to care for in my opinion. Now I had her in a large mason jar and misted lightly to provide her water, and dropped an insect in to her web about once a day (she was a voracious eater). Of all the ones I've seen, they are not aggressive and usually get the idea that when the top comes of their cage that food will drop from the sky, and they move down the web accordingly. Charlotte (thats what I named her) lived to be a ripe old age and got very large, but she was so calm! I'm looking forward to getting another one some day.


Laura

 

[JPD]

I keep my Widows in clear deli-containers (potato salad type) with a small stick to build their web on. I mist once every couple of weeks and feed an appropriate size cricket once a week. They are incredibly easy to care for and make very interesting captives. Best of luck.

 

[cricket54]

keeping widows

As Laura said, we kept her female widow in a large pickle jar that I also put a branch in for her to build her web. We had her from a tiny striped little baby that Laura found on one of my cactus till she died 3 yrs later of old age.
I did get her out of the jar to clean it out a few times during all that time by lifting the twig out, putting it in another jar, then putting it back in afterwards. The spider never tried to excape off of the twig. This species seem to want to stay on their webs at all costs. When they are tiny, they migrate around, but once they establish a safe area, they seem to stay there and just repair their web if it is disturbed or destroyed somehow. I don't see what the fuss is about them, why they are consdidered so dangerous unless you come upon when out in the wild and they bite you mistaking you for food.
We lived in North Carolina so the one we had was a Southern Black Widow. I saw them everywhere there and was afraid for my kids at first. I watched this one particular spider we kept as a pet hatch from an egg sack, but didn't think then of trying to keep any of them.They left the sack and all seemed to
move away on their own. I don't think the babies migrate very far from where they hatch to other places. These spiders must be in clusters wherever they are found. With as many as we had in the area where we lived, you would think that there would be lots of people sick from the spiders bites. Never happend the 5 years we lived there. My kids and I just thought they were so pretty and intersting. They helped me raise my kids unafraid of spiders and insects. Sorry to go on, but I have never liked a spider so much as these untill I started buying pet tarantuals.

Sharon

 

[Kugellager]

.They left the sack and all seemed to
move away on their own. I don't think the babies migrate very far from where they hatch to other places. These spiders must be in clusters wherever they are found. Sharon

Snaron, widow spiderlings actually can migrate quite far from where they hatch out. They do this by a method called ballooning where they climb to a high spot on a bush or other object and let out a strand of silk the is several inches long. The silk catches on the slightest breeze and they float away. They can literally be carried for miles under the right circumstances...its quite a sight to watch...I have done this with several egg sacs by letting them hatch out in a pill vial with a few pinholes for air circulation. Once the spindelings were all out of the egg sac in the vial I would take the vial outside and open the top...its a really neat thing to observe.

John
];')

 

[JPD]

I don't see what the fuss is about them, why they are consdidered so dangerous unless you come upon when out in the wild and they bite you mistaking you for food.
Sharon

My thoughts exactly. Although I don't recommend it, the Widows are actually easily handleable. I hold mine often when I do educational presentations. My main point in doing this is to dispell any rumors associated with the Widows being horrible, aggressive, creatures.
I do let audience members know that there is always the possibility of being bitten when holding any spider and that they are probably best when left alone.
Anyway, I wish more people thought like you do Sharon.

 

[pediepablo]

How long do male/female Widows generally live?

 

[xanadu1015]

I don't know if this is the actually life expectancy of a widow, but like I said before, Charlotte lived for three years. So, maybe they can live about that long. Anyone an expert here?



Laura

 

[JPD]

Anywhere from 1-3 years for the female and the males I would guess about 6 months to 1 year in captivity.

 

[Kugellager]

Anywhere from 1-3 years for the female and the males I would guess about 6 months to 1 year in captivity.

The longest I have had a female live so far is just over two years for L.hesperus...they reportedly can live up to four years for the females. The males of this species don't live much more than 4-5 months from sling to death...the longest I had one survive after its final maturing molt is two months most died at about one month after maturing...I suspect that in the wild they don't make it that long as the frost, in Colorado anyhow, will get them. Regardless...The males don't make it past fall.

Another thing to note...I have yet to see a mature male eat more than once after its final molt...IME most of the time they eat nothing until they die.

John
];')

 

[alex]

Thanks for your help guys!

I think I'm ready to get one of these.
It will probobly be a male, because they don't live so long
and I don't know for how long I want to have the spider.
I'm doing like this because I don't like to kill animals, at least not a pet.

Alexander

 

[Stormcrow]

I keep Widow lings in small deli and glass/plastic jars. Juvies, subadults, and adults I have kept in large jars, anything from mayo to pickles to spaghetti, etc.

Juvies to adults I have also kept in critter keepers with two papertowels taped to one side -each lengthwise- and overlapping the bottom, in a medium to large keepers their webs fill the whole space. And with the small dispensary feed lid on the cover, I've never ever had a Widow spin her silk on it though the cover in it's entiriety is a firm piece of Widow silk realstate. And the paper towels themselves are kept a inch or two from the cover. Rather easy to clean and maintain. But blah, you might prefer soil and decorations. Especially with the more tropical adapted species L.bishopi and L.geometricus. Even to a lesser degree, L.mactans. But Widows are the hardiest of true spiders.