# Housing a Jumping spider. help please



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 21, 2009)

what type of container and what food do i feed them and how often? i have a 1 pint jar and a 1 gallon jar for a container but i don't know if thats good, and also what food and how many times do i feed them? do i give them water to drink? i heard a cotton ball full of water in a dish is good for them, is that true? i just want them to be healthy 

also i live in south Florida and i heard there are many here, yet i cant seem to find any. so any hints on finding them or where to search?


----------



## Violet (Oct 21, 2009)

You could keep them in something like this (maybe a bit smaller), a few small air holes punched in the top, some twigs and bark for climbing and some fine soil for substrate.

For water you can use a small bottle lid. No need for cotton, these spiders are super intelligent so you shouldn’t have a problem with drowning.



(Note: The enclosures are for Steatoda but I’m sure jumpers would be happy in them)


----------



## spider pest (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm using a 4.25"x2.25"x2.25" rectangular plastic container from The Container Store (SO glad to have one of these nearby) called "Amac Boxes" for a 1/2" little bugger I caught in September. Used a hole saw on the top and glued down some screen, but you could just as easily drill some small holes. 

For food, I'm using pinhead crickets. My jumper seems to be a little hesitant if they're a little too big though. He/she is fussy (No sex/ID). If they're really small, they're dead meat! 

I've read on here that they don't really like substrate, and I've never even seen mine on the floor of the enclosure. His little web is up in the corner of the lid, which is great for watering because I just give that a spray every now and then for the dew/rain effect. Additionally, no substrate will make it much easier to dispose of the bodies! I'll try and put up a pic in a little bit, but here's what some of the various sizes look like:







If there's no container store near you, here's a link to various sizes:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/display/cubesCases?productId=10003497


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 21, 2009)

*ok so...*

small housing, no substrate, little dish of water, small crix and stuff for it to climb on. sounds easy enough, now i gotta get one....

thank you.


----------



## spider pest (Oct 21, 2009)

yeah i think an essential part of the enclosure.


----------



## Fyreflye (Oct 21, 2009)

I kept a P. audax for a little over a year (unfortunately their life spans are much shorter than Ts), and here are a few bits of information that might be helpful:

My jumper spent almost all of him time on the underside of the lid of his enclosure, and would only come down to eat and drink.  You'll want a container that allows you to access his home for husbandry without disturbing his 'loft.'

I used substrate for my setup, if only for visual appeal.  But, jumpers spend their time seeking the high ground and probably don't care what the floor is made of.

Small crickets work great- jumpers are very brave, even when it comes to taking down prey!

I don't know that you'll have any luck finding them this time of year, but i guess that depends on the area you live in.  I'm in OK, and had several hanging out around the house several months ago, but they've since gone into hiding.  When you DO get one, be prepared to have fun!  These little guys are just amazing!


----------



## spider pest (Oct 21, 2009)

Fyreflye said:


> My jumper spent almost all of him time on the underside of the lid of his enclosure, and would only come down to eat and drink.  You'll want a container that allows you to access his home for husbandry without disturbing his 'loft.'


For this reason I would highly recommend those container store containers. The lids come off very easily without any snap or disturbance to the spider and have a couple inches of height from the edge to the top, plenty of space. My jumper's little web is up there and i can remove the lid with the spider, set it down, and easily access the enclosure without messing up the web or risking escape.


----------



## TheTyro (Oct 21, 2009)

*My new setup!*

I've had several setup types, which i'll list here.

My first setup was a vivarium/terrarium type of setup. Originally it was for plants strictly, but I figured the spiders would enjoy living plants to crawl on.

It had soil in it, so it complicated things when the bug bodies and poo would mold up in the cage if I didn't remove it right away. The spiders just didn't seem very content in it. The container shapes were a tad of a hassle in themselves.

Then I had these candy jar sorta containers, since the lil' round opening is sideways it made putting things in and out easier. I had sand and coco fiber in there, but that molded up a little bit too with dead bugs. Not a ton though. I had plastic wrap over the opening with holes, secured by a rubber band around the jar mouth, but ventilation wasn't so good and it'd start to smell too much. I have a solution for that now though! Also, I had fake plants (plastic ones) they were great for the spiders. The container itself, being glass wasn't too friendly on the spiders for climbing, and me for viewing because of the distortion. And it was heavy, for it's small size.

My other setups were temporary, not really worth mentioning. 

So recently i've updated it ( I spent at least 30 bucks on all the materials XD) and I think it looks pretty good. There were some basic things I had as requirements.

Container size-Large in width and tall in height, but not oversized for the space I have it on ( my nightstand table thingy) I ended up buying 4 Rubbermaid 1 gallon square cannisters ( they have screw on white lids) The plastic has pretty good clarity and is the perfect size. Like, 7 inches wide and maybe 12 or so tall.

Container clarity- I love watching the spiders! The rubbermaid ones I got were good enough for me, better than the glass by a bit.

Price- I needed/wanted to buy all the same sort of container for cheap. The containers I bought were about 3 bucks each.

Substrate- It was optional, but for aesthetic purposes I opted to find one that was not going to mold quickly. I chose dried moss from Michaels. Mostly for the look. I put toilet paper below it to give it some grip.

Lid- Needed to have good ventilation, I wanted the spiders to have fresh air. I also wanted it to be easy to take off and put back. I chose the mesh sink strainer. Watering the spiders is a piece of cake, since the strainer is stainless steel. I just spray the water through the mesh. Lucky me, the strainer is EXACTLY the same size as the opening of the container, since it's got enough weight i don't even have to secure it down. The spiders can't get out, there's no gaps between the lid and the container even when it sorta slides around (slightly!)

Plants- I decided to go with the fake silk plants. I know my jumpers like nooks and crannies to hide in, and I figured a variety of flower shapes would benefit their need to hide and build their webs in. Also keeps mold away, and looks great. Easy to clean too. The spiders also get good grip on it.






This was awesome, I got it at Walmart and it was PERFECT for the "cage" I bought. It's "Mainstays" Mesh Sink Strainer. It was like $2





















Whew, went into way more detail than probably needed. But my spiders look ultra happy, they made great little hidey homes of silk inside the flowers. They even seem territorial. They don't behave in the stressed and wandering way they would before. They have room to leap at length and observe. So far my best setup.


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 24, 2009)

*do i need a light for them?*

do i need a light for them and what can i use for really cheap things for them to climb on and put on the bottom of the jar, thats not hazardous to them. sorry for all the questions but i wanna know whats best for them


----------



## TheTyro (Oct 24, 2009)

I only have a 60 watt lamp over them during daylight hours. I don't know if they are supposed to have something more specific.

Climbing stuff, find small branchy sticks, or fake flowers and plants.


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 26, 2009)

could i feed them tiny bugs i find outside? i think there small moths, the only thing i can catch


----------



## ZergFront (Oct 26, 2009)

I don't have substrate with my jumpers since most the time they stay up high anyway. They do have things to climb, jump from and web-up to hide - pinecones, empty nut or mollusk shells, hollow tree root, etc. Also have a plastic bottle cap of water handy for them to drink.

 I feed them almost any small soft-bodied insect I could catch/buy. Pinhead crickets, millers, leafhoppers/froghoppers (all plant hopping insects), woollybears (larvae of carpet beetles) and the occasional termites when I find a nest.

 Always give them ventilation! I've used pantyhose for when mine had a sac.


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 27, 2009)

my jumper isnt eating, i put in like 3 small bugs and she isnt eating its been like 2-3 days


----------



## TheTyro (Oct 27, 2009)

If they have eaten recently, sometimes they won't eat for a few days afterwards, if they are "full". After I feed mine a large cricket, they wait like 3 or 4 days. If it's hanging inside of it's silken " nest" and doesn't really come out much, it could be that it's preparing to molt. They stay inside the nest for the most part for like a week or more in my experience.

You can kinda tell when a jumper is ready to eat based on how big it's abdomen looks. The smaller it is, the hungrier it's likely to be. So if your spiders belly is big and fat, it may be longer, if the belly is small and triangular, it's likely to eat soon.

Also, what kind of jumper do you have, and what type of bugs did you give it?


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 27, 2009)

*a small brown one*

hairless brown jumping spider, it looks thinner then it did when i got it 3 days ago, but i keep trying to feed it small bugs in my grass, im getting it pinheads tomorrow and also i think it just had babys because its doing that nest making thing my last one did and i got like 500 babys


----------



## JuggaloSpi (Oct 27, 2009)

what do i do with the babies?


----------



## ZergFront (Nov 13, 2009)

Some people sell, others let them cannibalise to a more manageable number and I've even heard of others releasing but some seem to frown on that for the sake of spreading pathogens to wild spiders.


----------

