What does a widow sling look like?

[Sukai94]

I did a google search and a search on this forum. No luck

I am in San Diego so I assume if the little thing I caught were a widow it would be Latrodectus hesperus.

I wish I could get a picture of it.

 

[cacoseraph]

L. geometricus can also be found in San Diego


widow babies -at least of those two species- are not black, first of all. they are all browns and yellows. their legs are stripey looking. they are the shape of a widow, though

edit:
also, when the first hatch they are a more solid, but light color... they molt into stripey mode and then later black widows molt into a solid black if they are female or keep stripey mode if they are male. brown widows basically stay stripey their whole life, male and female

 

[Sukai94]

Thanks for the reply.

He is brownish gray and somewhat widow shaped (I don't keep widows but he looks shaped like one to me)

He has cream colored designs on his back. I guess they could be stripes but I think they could also be spots. He could have stripes on his legs but is too small to tell.

I do not see an hourglass on his underside.

 

[bluefrogtat2]

sounds like steotada grossa to me.
look like this?

andy

 

[spiders4life]

Sorry the pictures didnt get better, its the best my camera could do (at least i tried), but perhaps you can get an idea of the abdominal markings of Latrodectus hesperus sling:

And heres one of some who are even smaller (really bad picture I know)

 

[Koh_]

spiders4life. how big are those smaller guys?
i always wanted to get a sling which is about 1/4inch. but not sure how big vent holes should be for the best..lol

 

[spiders4life]

The smallest ones just hatched 14 days ago. From they are freshly hatched and until I separate them, I keep them in containers with no went holes at all, this works just fine, their containers are opened 2 times a week, while I feed them, and that gives them plenty of air. After separated i keep them in deli cups, again without any went holes, they are fed once a week, and just opening their container while feeding, supplies plenty air for them, to last a week.

 

[Sukai94]

Thanks for the pictures. They are very helpful. I just wish my eyesight was better. He does look like those spiders, just more gray then brown.

Is he dangerous at this size? If not I can take him out and put him under a magnifying glass. I can see if I can get a picture of him then.

I never cared much about widow spiders but that little guy, widow or not has really sparked my interest

 

[Sukai94]

oh goodie

I just found another one in my room. It set up camp less then 2 feet where my pillow is.

Trying to be a nice person a attempted to collect it. It fled behind my headboard. I am sleeping on the couch tonight. :wall:

I will likely relocate all my T's to my boyfriends to spray. I am sorry but I have been bitten by one before and it is not something I am going to repeat!

ugh

Thanks again for the pictures though!

 

[buthus]

There is no reason to fear those. They will not bite you nor will they make it to adulthood within your room.

 

[Widowman10]

There is no reason to fear those. They will not bite you nor will they make it to adulthood within your room.

ditto. and was it a sling really? that's not going to do anything.

 

[makalove]

The smallest ones just hatched 14 days ago. From they are freshly hatched and until I separate them, I keep them in containers with no went holes at all, this works just fine, their containers are opened 2 times a week, while I feed them, and that gives them plenty of air. After separated i keep them in deli cups, again without any went holes, they are fed once a week, and just opening their container while feeding, supplies plenty air for them, to last a week.

Hey, my husband was just gifted with 20 L. hesperus slings...he's been wanting black widows for years and a friend of ours just bought a fertile female at a reptile show and gave us these babies...they're so tiny!

I have no idea what to feed them or how to care for them. Can you please direct me to good resources? I've done some searching online without much luck.

We're excited to have them and want to take great care of them and make them part of our little 'zoo' - we have snakes, a cat, a dog, a ferret and rats.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Widowman10]

well, there's some really good info floatin around here in this section, try searching here. but, feed really small insects. FF work great (or other similar insects). not much else to it.

 

[spiders4life]

First of all, congrats with the little ones.

They are really easy to care for, when i have a cocoon hatching i let them live together the first molt or to. That way the weakest ones, will be eaten by their brothers and sisters, and they have grown a bit. But when you "only" have 20, I would separate them right away. Find a suitable container that could be a "test tube" a delicup or any small box, with a tight fitting lid. As mentioned in the previus post theres no need for airholes. Put something in there the slings can attach their web to, a small stick or what ever you have in the house, Iwe used cottonsticks once i were to lazy, to go to the garden, it worked out just fine.

Even though they are quite small, they can catch and kill fruitflies, as soon as they have molted from mobile nymphs. So fruitflies are the way to go with the slings. After a few more molts they can catch ordinairy flies and pinhead crickets, micro worms etc.

I dont mist the slings they get all the water they need from their pray, you risk to drown the tiny slings, if you mist their homes.

I hope that helped a bit. If you have other questions just ask

 

[Pacmaster]

I wanna start by saying that Ive only been keeping widows a few months now, and am not a expert but do have some good experience as of late . . .

Over the past few months, I have been catching and keeping a huge lot of hesperus, which all went to a trade.
I have had to deal with multiple sacs at one time, over the course of this venture.

The females were all kept in small delicups and would throw sacs like clockwork.
The sacs were all removed and put into airtight containers.

When the sacs hatched, the slings were left to eat each other, and Id crack the seal every coupla days for air.

Once they were down to about 15 big slings, Id separate them into deli cups with no holes, like the adults.
They were fed small to medium sized lateralis roaches and even the small slings would have the much-larger roach trapped up within seconds, like theyd been doint it for years.

I wasnt about to deal with fruitflies or going to buy pinheads, and the roach would last them almost a week before they discarded it.

I have many slings right now, and 6 huge females that I got since my other large group of about 30 or so.

Imo, a black widow sling can be kept and fed exactly like an adult with no problems, all can handle prey much larger than themselves.

The slings and juvies dont really look like adult females other than the general shape, and I havent yet gotten what I know to be a male from my slings.
I did catch a few males tho, and they also look nothing like a female.

I have become really fascinated with hesperus, they way they move, the way they hunt, the way they web up a bug, its the epitomy of a spider.

They are, imo, the most elegant spider there is!

Btw, Ive had them escape and crawl over my hands and fingers and up my arms, and never once did I get bit or did the spider display any defensive behavior which would lead to a bite.

 

[Widowman10]

pretty good pacmaster! it is true that they hardle ever show any defensive, or aggressive, behavior. reluctant to bite. they are elegant