Caught a Bridge Orb-weaver, need help housing it

[Newspiderguy]

Hello everyone,

A couple weeks ago now I caught a Bridge Orb-Weaver (Larinioides sclopetarius) nearly an inch long, and kept it in a mason jar.

It tried to spin a web on the bottom, and I have thrown in a fruit fly, mosquito and a small jumping spider but it doesn't seem to want to eat.

I've learned they need to trap things in their web to eat, and need a larger enclosure. I have a large plastic container probably around 1 meter by 1/3 meter.

Would this be large enough for it? Any tips on how to make a proper enclosure for it?

Thanks

 

[egyptiancrow]

honestly, i dont know if that is big enough. youd ideally want a few feet in every direction.

but you can see how it will do. you need to glue in some twigs or something with texture on all 4 sides, like a picture frame, and then it can anchor silk around.

of all the spiders, i probably wouldnt reccomend that large of an orb weaver as a pet personally, unless you let it freely build inside your house. theres lots of smaller ones that dont need as much space to build a web it can be done but its not that comfortable for them to be cramped. for them their web is like their arms and legs, how they feel around and explore the world. imagine being in a cramped car seat or plane seat where you cant stretch out.

 

[Newspiderguy]

Thank you for your reply.

While I'm making the enclosure for it, do you think I could put a bottle cap filled with some water to keep it hydrated and will it drink in such a small space... I'm just worried about it becoming dehydrated.

I know they can go for months without eating I read, but would like to give him some water at least.

Thanks

 

[egyptiancrow]

Thank you for your reply.

While I'm making the enclosure for it, do you think I could put a bottle cap filled with some water to keep it hydrated and will it drink in such a small space... I'm just worried about it becoming dehydrated.

I know they can go for months without eating I read, but would like to give him some water at least.

Thanks

no, it will drink if you mist some water on the web once its build but it will not drink like a tarantula, most of the time they dont really need to drink anyway, they need to eat from their web regularly, but i do offer mine water at least once a week on their webs

 

[Newspiderguy]

Thank you, what if I mist some water on the small web its build in the large mason jar I have it in?

It also hasn't ate anything for longer than 2 weeks, do you think it could starve soon?

Thanks!

 

[Newspiderguy]

Also I put a mosquito in its jar a couple days ago, and don't see any trace of it as of today.... do you think its possible it ate it?

 

[egyptiancrow]

Thank you, what if I mist some water on the small web its build in the large mason jar I have it in?

It also hasn't ate anything for longer than 2 weeks, do you think it could starve soon?

Thanks!

if its a very large spider, you should feed it large prey. it will definitely starve eventually. the abdomen should be nice and round, and bigger than the head. if they are starving itll shrink down. and yes, it will drink from the smaller web

try to give it larger food, disable the food if you need to and get it well tangled. you may want to consider getting captive bred food like mealworms or crickets for the spider too! unless you want to risk it getting sick from wild food