What to do with a stowaway black widow in the UK?

[przybyl28]

Hey guys, first time posting here so hopefully you could help us out,

we recently imported a car from arizona to the uk about a month ago, and noticed a suprisingly strong thick web all underneath the body like it was tying the car down to the floor. And after a couple weeks of clearing it all out to watch the web return overnight , we accidentally stumbled accross the spider causing the webs, and with it being quite a shock being such a big spider, the inital reaction was to swipe it with a stick, but unfortunatley killing it in the process , now i dont have any doubt at all that this was a black widow, And just tonight we noticed a second much smaller spider on the car, and this time we managed to save it ! I'm not 100% certain that its another widow But the body shape is very simmilar "large abdomen and extra long two front legs".
But its a black spider, this time with white spots rather than solid red,

the question is ... now what do we do with it ? We personally dont want to keep it, But we also dont want to set it free into the wild nor kill it ?

 

[Tarantuland]

Hopefully someone from the UK will see this thread and take it off your hands. That's wild, but I'm glad you don't want to kill it or set it free. Thanks for posting

 

[Edan bandoot]

First one is a widow for sure, I recommend burning the other spider if you can't find someone else who wants it, invasives aren't a joke.

 

[Poonjab]

Eat it

 

[przybyl28]

First one is a widow for sure, I recommend burning the other spider if you can't find someone else who wants it, invasives aren't a joke.

Haha i agree that i shouldnt be setting it free ! But burning it sounds the high end of the scale in terms of what to do ! Haha

 

[Edan bandoot]

Haha i agree that i shouldnt be setting it free ! But burning it sounds the high end of the scale in terms of what to do ! Haha

its the cleanest and easiest way to dispose of organics.

 

[Tarantuland]

its the cleanest and easiest way to dispose of organics.

More than freezing it?

 

[VaporRyder]

It is possible that there are others in or around the vehicle, of course, and the risk of invasive species is definitely something to be taken seriously. BUT, latrodectus would not survive the British weather… we barely do!

Years ago I was in the local reptile shop when a couple of police officers brought in a cricket tub containing a mature P.nigriventer. I can’t remember whether it was them or the supermarket staff that had captured it - usual story, came in with bananas. I don’t think anyone had realised how medically significant they are. The owner, despite being an extremely experienced keeper of some of the most venomous snakes on earth and a recognised authority regarding dangerous wild animals, decided that it should be humanely destroyed - he had no experience or interest in fast and dangerous spiders, and I don’t think he had any connections in this area of animal keeping either.

I had an OBT at the time and asked to keep it.

I was the Chumlee to his Rick Harrison… *withering look* included!

 

[The Snark]

BUT, latrodectus would not survive the British weather…

Memories of Prescott at -5 F. Hesperus are very durable creatures. Darwin went 2 feet underwater with Cyclone Tracy. Hasseltii survived quite well.

 

[VaporRyder]

True dat…

 

[Emi248]

Eat it

With some Beatle sauce, Its delicious!

 

[Tleilaxu]

I'm hoping your keeping it, they are fun pets.

 

[Cororon]

Yeah, keep the spood in an enclosure. You'll have fun taking care of it and it's a nice conversation piece as well as a pet. It's a nice spider with a reputation, and it has a story behind it.

 

[The Snark]

Yeah, keep the spood in an enclosure. You'll have fun taking care of it and it's a nice conversation piece as well as a pet. It's a nice spider with a reputation, and it has a story behind it.

And if anyone makes a stink about an imported invasive just point at the 'do as we say, not as we do' government and their preferential treatment policies that let invasive s through by the shipload then go to guns on individuals just trying to learn some natural history..

 

[Edan bandoot]

More than freezing it?

leaving a dead spider in the freezer or 2 minutes with the lighter, you decide.

 

[Cororon]

And if anyone makes a stink about an imported invasive just point at the 'do as we say, not as we do' government and their preferential treatment policies that let invasive s through by the shipload then go to guns on individuals just trying to learn some natural history..

Nah, point to that it's now a pet in an enclosure. Then it isn't invasive. People import pets all the time that you're not allowed to release in the wild.

 

[Jumbie Spider]

With some Beatle sauce, Its delicious!

Could you imagine ?

 

[basin79]

Just a heads up that here the UK black widows are on the DWA (dangerous wild animals) list and require a DWA licence to keep *legally.

*because although there are lots of keepers of hot snakes, scorpions, spiders that do things legally there are keepers that don't. Our DWA is a joke/mess.

 

[viper69]

Hey guys, first time posting here so hopefully you could help us out,

we recently imported a car from arizona to the uk about a month ago, and noticed a suprisingly strong thick web all underneath the body like it was tying the car down to the floor. And after a couple weeks of clearing it all out to watch the web return overnight , we accidentally stumbled accross the spider causing the webs, and with it being quite a shock being such a big spider, the inital reaction was to swipe it with a stick, but unfortunatley killing it in the process , now i dont have any doubt at all that this was a black widow, And just tonight we noticed a second much smaller spider on the car, and this time we managed to save it ! I'm not 100% certain that its another widow But the body shape is very simmilar "large abdomen and extra long two front legs".
But its a black spider, this time with white spots rather than solid red,

the question is ... now what do we do with it ? We personally dont want to keep it, But we also dont want to set it free into the wild nor kill it ?

Don’t release it! Invasive species are never good.

Curious, why did you import a car from AZ, did you live in AZ?

Call your local nature center

 

[Ian14]

You cannot keep it. Latrodectus spp are a Dandmgerous Wild Animals Act 1976 Schedule 1 species, which means you need to have a licence to keep them. It is a criminal offence otherwise.
You could try to find a reptile shop that has experience with such species as they would be able to take it on.
You could also try to find a licensed keeper but this will be very hard.
And you cannot keep it while you find a legal keeper.
Ultimately it will need to be euthanized.