pidgequill
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2019
- Messages
- 7
Hi all, this is my first post on Arachnoboards but I’m so desperate at the moment I thought I’d consult you guys for help.
I’ve owned a little Tegenaria domestica (Barn Funnel Weaver or common house spider, as we call them in the UK) who I call Skitt for nearly six months now. I found her crawling around in my barn this summer and decided to keep her! Up until recently, she was doing absolutely fine, happily eating flies I found for her in the house, webbing up rapidly. I keep her in a large transparent yoghurt tub that seems to fit her well, with air holes in the lid, and she’s got a teeny tiny bottle lid with water in it. I’ve changed her container three times — the first was too big and the second got mould in it.
However, as it’s now winter, I could no longer find flies for her, so I bought a tub of crickets. I have a baby giant house spider who loves them, but Skitt was perturbed by it to the extent that she abandoned her web and no longer even wanted to be in the container. I also tried to breed her this autumn with a male I found, and he too scared her.
Now she won’t eat anything. I’ve tried everything from tiny fruit flies (which I’m a bit peed off about, because I paid a lot of money for them ) to bluebottles. No crickets though, obviously. I wondered at first if
Tegenaria domestica fast over winter but my little giant house is devouring crickets by the dozen.
Have I traumatised her? I know it sounds stupid but I do wonder. She hasn’t shed once since I’ve had her either — is that normal?
She hasn’t eaten for nearly a month now and she looks so thin and gangly — I just want to do what I can for her because I love her (damn, I love a spider!) and I do care an awful lot for her.
Anyone know why she’s doing this and have any suggestions for what I can do with her? Have I done something wrong? I can post pictures of my setup if that helps at all.
Thank you!
I’ve owned a little Tegenaria domestica (Barn Funnel Weaver or common house spider, as we call them in the UK) who I call Skitt for nearly six months now. I found her crawling around in my barn this summer and decided to keep her! Up until recently, she was doing absolutely fine, happily eating flies I found for her in the house, webbing up rapidly. I keep her in a large transparent yoghurt tub that seems to fit her well, with air holes in the lid, and she’s got a teeny tiny bottle lid with water in it. I’ve changed her container three times — the first was too big and the second got mould in it.
However, as it’s now winter, I could no longer find flies for her, so I bought a tub of crickets. I have a baby giant house spider who loves them, but Skitt was perturbed by it to the extent that she abandoned her web and no longer even wanted to be in the container. I also tried to breed her this autumn with a male I found, and he too scared her.
Now she won’t eat anything. I’ve tried everything from tiny fruit flies (which I’m a bit peed off about, because I paid a lot of money for them ) to bluebottles. No crickets though, obviously. I wondered at first if
Tegenaria domestica fast over winter but my little giant house is devouring crickets by the dozen.
Have I traumatised her? I know it sounds stupid but I do wonder. She hasn’t shed once since I’ve had her either — is that normal?
She hasn’t eaten for nearly a month now and she looks so thin and gangly — I just want to do what I can for her because I love her (damn, I love a spider!) and I do care an awful lot for her.
Anyone know why she’s doing this and have any suggestions for what I can do with her? Have I done something wrong? I can post pictures of my setup if that helps at all.
Thank you!