black widow question

[PitViper]

hey everyone, so I am planning to add a black widow(Lactrodectus Mactans) to my collection and have done a lot of research, I'm looking for opinions of what arboreal cage i should buy to allow the spider to be happy and myself to have easy access to feed and clean the cage while reducing the chance of encounters, any pictures of current set-ups for this spider would be great, thanks.

 

[KUJordan]

Ahh they are easy. Many of us have kept hundreds of them in individual deli cups for their entire lives and as far as we can tell, they are perfectly happy- they eat, make webs, poop, and get it on and make babies perfectly fine. The latro picture thread at the top of this forum should have about 1000 pictures of setups from many of us. Good luck. Mactans is about as stereotypical as they get. What ever you do, don't just buy one container/setup- in about 2 days you'll want more widows and soon you'll be short of containers to put them in...

 

[Ritzman]

Try to maybe get something that can be used upside-down. The widow will cut loose all the crap in it's web, leaving it at the bottom. Much easier maintenance if the lid is on the bottom.
---Just an opinion.

 

[PitViper]

I was looking at the arboreal cages on tarantulacages.com and figured one of those would be nice since they have a hinged door in the front and the spider could make its web in a back corner away from he door.

 

[PitViper]

well after checking out the picture thread I can probably keep it in one of my small tanks.

 

[buthus]

Top,front and side access/covers tend to mess up their webbing. Jars turned over is the best ..or non-removable cover over 3/4 of top/lid with hide in the far covered corner and structure extending out from that into open area works well for tanks and whatnot. But, most of us latro keepers have kept them in just about every configuration possible...sometimes for good reasons (like photographic or mating access ..or laziness to "this is a cool thing...i should put a widow in it!" )
Have fun

 

[Jorpion]

What ever you do, don't just buy one container/setup- in about 2 days you'll want more widows and soon you'll be short of containers to put them in...

AGREE! This is exactly what happened to me. Started with one and now... well, I have plenty

 

[GeorgiaAngel]

Black & Brown Widows

hey everyone, so I am planning to add a black widow(Lactrodectus Mactans) to my collection and have done a lot of research, I'm looking for opinions of what arboreal cage i should buy to allow the spider to be happy and myself to have easy access to feed and clean the cage while reducing the chance of encounters, any pictures of current set-ups for this spider would be great, thanks.

I currently have a black widow that Iaquired Hakkoween Day last year. I've owned 3 or 4 black widows but not a brown one. Believe they servive very well in jars with a creative stick or tow and I py crikets to fed them, sometims I can caught small roaches and they love those too. Most of my Widows live 6/8 months I had one that lived within a one year anniversary.

I also have a box turtle that livesin my bath ron and before you think that's gross she really is a clean pet to keep. She also loves to sit on a towel on my lap and crawl to my face...not really kisses just a couple of heave puffs of breaths. She's a sweetie.

If you'd like to hear more or see pics you can e-mail me at WildGeorgiaAngel@aol.com.Title it BLACK/BROWN Widows.

Thank you for listening.
Marie Gaskin

 

[Widowman10]

most widows will live longer than 6-8 months, even after maturity. you must have brought them in at the end of their life. they can live over 3 years from little guys to death.

 

[GeorgiaAngel]

I'm lucky enough to be able to find them in spots around the house, we live with woods around us and I've learned where and what thei webs look like. People may think I'm strange but I don't mine. I love to watch them move and wear their webs.

Georgia Angel

 

[ZergFront]

Some Michael's cubes can be used upside-down quite easily.

 

[spidersnstuff]

Look what happened when I caught a mature female a couple months :}

 

[spidersnstuff]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=195602 Picture near the bottom

 

[Irene B. Smithi]

Top,front and side access/covers tend to mess up their webbing. Jars turned over is the best ..or non-removable cover over 3/4 of top/lid with hide in the far covered corner and structure extending out from that into open area works well for tanks and whatnot. But, most of us latro keepers have kept them in just about every configuration possible...sometimes for good reasons (like photographic or mating access ..or laziness to "this is a cool thing...i should put a widow in it!" )
Have fun

I need to clean mine.. that's a great idea... I think I'll take her out and flip it over. She's in a large one gallon pickle jar, mmmm pickles