So, my girlfriend found a spider in the shower some months ago. In typical eccentric fashion, she decides she wants to keep the spider. At the time we had no idea what type it was, its sex, or its habits, but after some teasing she finally found it a home in a plastic container and a sponge bob pinapple house (meant for underwater fish I assume). I feel its important to note that we are not typically spider-people (but we do love Spiderman). We have no experience dealing with spiders or knowledge about them except for that they sometimes bite and can freak the ever loving hell out of you sometimes for no good reason. I figured it would crawl around in the cage for a few days before flipping over dead, at which point more teasing would ensue for the girlfriend, and maybe even a "I told you so". That was the beginning of our adventure with what we lovingly refer to now as simply, "Our daughter".
Since then, the pinapple house is a house of death and carnage. We have identitfied her species as a K. Hibernalis. And yes, it IS a her. She has spun webs not only inside the pinapple but outside of it on the ground. For months we enjoyed feeding time with her as we watched her dart out and grab grasshoppers and crickets alike, only to pull them into her hole of horror. We were surprised when we didn't see her for weeks, only to realize she had molted (we had no idea she would do that). After that it was back to business as usual, that is, until we found a male.
My girlfriend found it above our trashcan, seemingly minding its own business (how does she find all these). So her next bright idea? Lets breed her! We shove the male into the cage and wait. Within days the male died, we felt rather bad about this and there was no indication that the deed had been done. Well, not until we didnt see her for a few more weeks. After a month of literally not seeing her, I had to check if she was dead. I braved the pinapple, picking apart months of death and webbing, what I found was startling. She was larger. A LOT larger. And she was guarding a cotton ball. We screamed with glee as we realized it was an eggsac and quickly put her back in the cage and left her alone. 2ish months went by, no sign of her again. I decide to go back into the pinapple. And this is what I find...
Our baby has had.. babies.. lots of them. Sorry the quality of the pics arn't as awesome as others i've seen on the site. The first picture is to give you an idea of the webbing thickness, I had already took a lot of web away before that point. Anyways, they are all over the damn place but not escaping yet (to our knowledge). We understand the males move around and we are worried there isn't enough room for everyone. As a side note, any tips on how to deal with this family? Anyways, I found this website because I had an idea of maybe trying to set them all up in a large colony, which I didn't know was possible until reading a few peoples posts. Anywho, I thought I would share our adventure and some pictures with you fine people and let you know we are huge fans of this species! Hopefully someone out there enjoyed the story.. And...
A HUGE THANK YOU to Pitbulllady! I don't know who you are or where you come from but I've been reading your posts since I got her and your information has been extremely helpful!
Anyways.. I'll take more pictures later when I decide what to do with the brood.
Thank care friends!
- Adam (Ellohime)
Since then, the pinapple house is a house of death and carnage. We have identitfied her species as a K. Hibernalis. And yes, it IS a her. She has spun webs not only inside the pinapple but outside of it on the ground. For months we enjoyed feeding time with her as we watched her dart out and grab grasshoppers and crickets alike, only to pull them into her hole of horror. We were surprised when we didn't see her for weeks, only to realize she had molted (we had no idea she would do that). After that it was back to business as usual, that is, until we found a male.
My girlfriend found it above our trashcan, seemingly minding its own business (how does she find all these). So her next bright idea? Lets breed her! We shove the male into the cage and wait. Within days the male died, we felt rather bad about this and there was no indication that the deed had been done. Well, not until we didnt see her for a few more weeks. After a month of literally not seeing her, I had to check if she was dead. I braved the pinapple, picking apart months of death and webbing, what I found was startling. She was larger. A LOT larger. And she was guarding a cotton ball. We screamed with glee as we realized it was an eggsac and quickly put her back in the cage and left her alone. 2ish months went by, no sign of her again. I decide to go back into the pinapple. And this is what I find...
Our baby has had.. babies.. lots of them. Sorry the quality of the pics arn't as awesome as others i've seen on the site. The first picture is to give you an idea of the webbing thickness, I had already took a lot of web away before that point. Anyways, they are all over the damn place but not escaping yet (to our knowledge). We understand the males move around and we are worried there isn't enough room for everyone. As a side note, any tips on how to deal with this family? Anyways, I found this website because I had an idea of maybe trying to set them all up in a large colony, which I didn't know was possible until reading a few peoples posts. Anywho, I thought I would share our adventure and some pictures with you fine people and let you know we are huge fans of this species! Hopefully someone out there enjoyed the story.. And...
A HUGE THANK YOU to Pitbulllady! I don't know who you are or where you come from but I've been reading your posts since I got her and your information has been extremely helpful!
Anyways.. I'll take more pictures later when I decide what to do with the brood.
Thank care friends!
- Adam (Ellohime)
. Congrats! Well if you are just wanting the babies to go free. Does the females enclosure have ventilation holes large enough for the babies to fit out? Or can you open the lid just enough for babies to slip out but not the mother? Cause if either of these is a yes, you can place the enclosure in a garage, old shed, etc. Then just let it sit until all or most of the babies have moved on. Once they do, you can take the mother back inside the house.
