Caring for widow spider egg sac

[yancy]

Hi,

I have a black widow that's been in my place for about a year now, and recently she mated and produced an egg sac. I decided against letting it hatch in my place, and removed it, but I wouldn't mind if it hatches outdoors.

Any tips for what to put it in, or where to place it, to increase the odds of the eggs surviving? Right now it's in a glass jar, with a relatively tight lid, and I'm uncertain whether enough air will get in there, and I'm not too sure about leaving this jar outdoors in 100+ degree Arizona summer temps. I have no plans on caring for the spiderlings once hatched, but if there's something I can do (within reason) to increase the chances of them hatching and getting out into the wild, I'll do that. I've grown kind of fond of this spider, I'd like her babies to have a fighting chance

If you have any insights, I'd be grateful.

 

[kingshockey]

as a kid i always did ok with a glass jar and part of moms(make sure to ask first women get kinda pissed to find you cut parts off them for no reason ) old nylons stretched across held with rubber band then just open it up to release em along the backyard wall areas with plenty of cracks/weeds and ant trails etc.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

Interestingly enough, I'm planning to hatch a Western black widow egg sac to snag a few hatchlings to raise. I have a tall plastic jar. I put holes in the lid with a soldering pen and stretched one of my nylons over the top. I am going to put it into the old "coon pen" where I raised raccoons as a kid. There's a tree that keeps everything cool. I'm also going to place it inside a cardboard box with only one side open. That way the greenhouse effect shouldn't kill the eggs / hatchlings. I read somewhere that the longer you allow the female to care for the egg sac, the longer it will be before they start cannibalizing one another, but I'm not sure if that's true.

Interesting that I thought of nylons, too.

That said, I also have some questions:

1) I'm guessing they could use a "misting" every once in a while? Probably just a little spritz on the inside of the jar?

2) I am supposed to remove widows from my mother's property, so once I have enough hatchlings to raise, I need to turn the others loose: someplace where it won't look like "littering." I could hide it on a trail somewhere, secured by a bungee to a tree and come back for it in a week or so??? What do you think? Perhaps I could put a note on it, saying I'm releasing spiderlings back into the wild and will return for the jar. I dunno.

I hate it when people leave trash or dog poop on nature trails, so I don't want to be "that" person.

This is the egg sac I plan to hatch: Western Black Widow Working on Egg Sac - YouTube <---Clicky-clicky

 

[CRX]

Interestingly enough, I'm planning to hatch a Western black widow egg sac to snag a few hatchlings to raise. I have a tall plastic jar. I put holes in the lid with a soldering pen and stretched one of my nylons over the top. I am going to put it into the old "coon pen" where I raised raccoons as a kid. There's a tree that keeps everything cool. I'm also going to place it inside a cardboard box with only one side open. That way the greenhouse effect shouldn't kill the eggs / hatchlings. I read somewhere that the longer you allow the female to care for the egg sac, the longer it will be before they start cannibalizing one another, but I'm not sure if that's true.

Interesting that I thought of nylons, too.

That said, I also have some questions:

1) I'm guessing they could use a "misting" every once in a while? Probably just a little spritz on the inside of the jar?

2) I am supposed to remove widows from my mother's property, so once I have enough hatchlings to raise, I need to turn the others loose: someplace where it won't look like "littering." I could hide it on a trail somewhere, secured by a bungee to a tree and come back for it in a week or so??? What do you think? Perhaps I could put a note on it, saying I'm releasing spiderlings back into the wild and will return for the jar. I dunno.

I hate it when people leave trash or dog poop on nature trails, so I don't want to be "that" person.

This is the egg sac I plan to hatch: Western Black Widow Working on Egg Sac - YouTube <---Clicky-clicky

Just take a hike and release them in a nature preserve or something.

 

[darkness975]

Hi,

I have a black widow that's been in my place for about a year now, and recently she mated and produced an egg sac. I decided against letting it hatch in my place, and removed it, but I wouldn't mind if it hatches outdoors.

Any tips for what to put it in, or where to place it, to increase the odds of the eggs surviving? Right now it's in a glass jar, with a relatively tight lid, and I'm uncertain whether enough air will get in there, and I'm not too sure about leaving this jar outdoors in 100+ degree Arizona summer temps. I have no plans on caring for the spiderlings once hatched, but if there's something I can do (within reason) to increase the chances of them hatching and getting out into the wild, I'll do that. I've grown kind of fond of this spider, I'd like her babies to have a fighting chance

If you have any insights, I'd be grateful.

Interestingly enough, I'm planning to hatch a Western black widow egg sac to snag a few hatchlings to raise. I have a tall plastic jar. I put holes in the lid with a soldering pen and stretched one of my nylons over the top. I am going to put it into the old "coon pen" where I raised raccoons as a kid. There's a tree that keeps everything cool. I'm also going to place it inside a cardboard box with only one side open. That way the greenhouse effect shouldn't kill the eggs / hatchlings. I read somewhere that the longer you allow the female to care for the egg sac, the longer it will be before they start cannibalizing one another, but I'm not sure if that's true.

Interesting that I thought of nylons, too.

That said, I also have some questions:

1) I'm guessing they could use a "misting" every once in a while? Probably just a little spritz on the inside of the jar?

2) I am supposed to remove widows from my mother's property, so once I have enough hatchlings to raise, I need to turn the others loose: someplace where it won't look like "littering." I could hide it on a trail somewhere, secured by a bungee to a tree and come back for it in a week or so??? What do you think? Perhaps I could put a note on it, saying I'm releasing spiderlings back into the wild and will return for the jar. I dunno.

I hate it when people leave trash or dog poop on nature trails, so I don't want to be "that" person.

This is the egg sac I plan to hatch: Western Black Widow Working on Egg Sac - YouTube <---Clicky-clicky

What I usually do is let the young cannibalize until they are down to a manageable number.

If you don't want to do that, then I would suggest taking the jar with the hatchlings someplace outside and opening it up. Collect the ones you want to keep into individual containers (my favorite ones are the 32 oz transparent deli cups with fabric cloth lids) and let the rest wander off. It doesn't take them long - once they hatch they tend to wander. Do it near a bush or someplace they can disperse and hide into.

Glad you want to help them. Unfortunately our native widows are in trouble in that they are being displaced by the invasive brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus).

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

What I usually do is let the young cannibalize until they are down to a manageable number.

If you don't want to do that, then I would suggest taking the jar with the hatchlings someplace outside and opening it up. Collect the ones you want to keep into individual containers (my favorite ones are the 32 oz transparent deli cups with fabric cloth lids) and let the rest wander off. It doesn't take them long - once they hatch they tend to wander. Do it near a bush or someplace they can disperse and hide into.

Glad you want to help them. Unfortunately our native widows are in trouble in that they are being displaced by the invasive brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus).

That's too bad about the brown widow. In my state, they're pretty much contained to SoCal, at least for now. I'm sure my mother would happily send her current Latrodectus hesperus infestation to SoCal to help out. I've rescued quite a few L. hesperus, but I can't rescue all of them.

My smallest female, Portia, just laid another egg sac, so it will give me a second try if the first one doesn't hatch.

As for Cher's egg sac, I'm OK with letting the hatchlings cannibalize one another to get down to a reasonable number. If they're doing that, do they need water or will they cannibalize for moisture? After 10 days of leaving the egg sac with the mother, I pulled it and put it in the bottom of a large plastic jar with a nylon stocking on top. The babies could start hatching as soon as tomorrow, but I'm not sure whether or not the egg sac is viable. Is there a way to tell or do you just have to wait and see if spiderlings emerge?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.