Black Widow Enclosure

[JoeScorp]

What are you all doing for enclosures? Also what do you do for breeding? I would be afraid that the tiny babies would get out of any enclosure. It would have to be air tight.
I also am new here and have a black widow. After reading a few of these topics there are apparently many black widows. I caught it in Arizona. I'll have to take a closer look at it to identify it. Thanks for the info.

 

[chanda]

Widows are super easy to keep in captivity and can be kept in just about anything. Right now I am keeping mine in 32 oz tall deli cups with ventilated insect lids (the ones they sell for fruit fly cultures), but I've also kept them in plastic water or soda bottles. They don't need much ventilation - just the air exchange when you unscrew the cap to feed them is sufficient, as long as you keep the inside of the bottle dry. They don't really care what you use for substrate, but do like something to climb on and use as attachment points for their webs. Dry twigs work great.

Are you planning on breeding them, or are you just concerned that they might have babies if you catch a gravid female? I don't try to breed mine, since I have plenty of "free range" brown and black widows in my yard and garage, so to avoid having to deal with babies, I usually just pull and destroy the egg sacs before they hatch. (I use long tongs to pull the sac.) I have allowed the egg sacs to hatch out a few times, and when that happens, I generally let the hatchlings eat each other until they get down to more manageable numbers - that way I don't have to worry about escapees if I were to try opening the enclosure for feedings when it's filled with baby spiders.

 

[Greasylake]

I use the 32oz. deli cups with some sticks for anchor points. I don't have any substrate for my slings but my larger specimens do have a little bit just so it looks nicer. They're super easy to keep, feed once a week and you shouldn't have to do anything to keep it alive.

 

[WildSpider]

I haven't kept black widows but this is how I keep my false widows. Similar to how chanda does it sounds like. I keep it dry in the container and just open the lid every now and again to give it air and feed it.

 

[Quetzalcoatl Nyarlathotep]

I usually just tie a sheet of cheese cloth on the lid of a terrarium and fill the center with a bunch of individual hides and shelters that are somewhat spaced out until I place them in clear plastic spice jugs from the dollar store. Once they are fully mature, I will release many into the wilds of northern Michigan, where their mother was found. Also put lube along the rim and corners of the terrarium so they wont web up the cheese cloth. If they don't have enough room to create their own territories, I put the extra's in another terrarium with the same build set up. I use pinecones, sand and pine needles for substrate, and a few larger hides like old antiques and whatnot for visual appeal. However, I make sure all the hides are set up in a way that observation of the spider can be visible at one angle or another at all times. Sometimes I'll put grapevines in my spider terrariums when I can find them, as these are wonderful for web builders. That's my two cents for ya, hope it helps.

 

[WildSpider]

Sometimes I'll put grapevines in my spider terrariums when I can find them, as these are wonderful for web builders.

Thanks for this tip. We have grapevines all over the yard. Never thought to add them to the enclosures before .

 

[Quetzalcoatl Nyarlathotep]

Thanks for this tip. We have grapevines all over the yard. Never thought to add them to the enclosures before .

Anything I can do to help a fellow brother out. wooden ship models work surprisingly well too.

 

[Quetzalcoatl Nyarlathotep]

I also like to use a big conch shell for my adult hides, since the spikes can balance it in a way so that the opening of the shell lies vertically above the ground of the terrarium. It's difficult to explain, but I'll be posting pictures soon of my two breeding tanks.