How to care for baby cellar spider

[Argenta]

Hello everyone. I would appreciate any pointers on looking after a very young cellar spider.

I found its mother in the stairwell at my workplace with her eggs and brought her home so she didn't get cleaned up by the housekeeping staff! The babies hatched about ten days later and have just undergone their first molt. I have released most of them into my garage which is a good spider habitat and has a number of cellar spiders living there happily already. I kept one spiderling for myself however, and though I know how to care for older spiders, I'm unsure how to feed the baby. I have tried fruit flies but while mama spider catches these easily and is plump and healthy, the baby seems unable. I can make sure it is kept hydrated but how can I feed it?


Any advice would be appreciated?

 

[jbooth]

Springtails, maybe. baby ones lol. I think I've seen these slings before, pretty tiny.

 

[8 legged]

Definitely springtails! In the house they usually survive the first few weeks/months through cannibalism...

 

[The Snark]

You're talking pholcid. Dangle some fruit and keep the fruit flies coming. Best and easiest food for the little ones. Mom will bundle up excess food and the kids will get a shot at those too.

 

[8 legged]

You're talking pholcid. Dangle some fruit and keep the fruit flies coming. Best and easiest food for the little ones. Mom will bundle up excess food and the kids will get a shot at those too.

Hygiene requirements can also differ.

 

[Sugarpill]

I used to feed my cellar spider ants which it loooved, living in a Florida swamp I’d just put a small bowl of sugar water down and I’d collect the black ants that would gather, then feed them off throughout the week~ pinhead crickets may also appeal to it though I’d just keep feeding fruit flies and let mama do the work

 

[The Snark]

I used to feed my cellar spider ants which it loooved,

Interesting that it tolerated the formic acid which is ordinarily a strong deterrent to potential predators. But there are always exceptions to the rules when mom nature is calling the shots.

 

[darkness975]

Interesting that it tolerated the formic acid which is ordinarily a strong deterrent to potential predators. But there are always exceptions to the rules when mom nature is calling the shots.

I am thinking the venom must do something about that. The enzymes breaking down the insides, etc.

 

[Argenta]

Thanks to everyone who replied - I appreciate all your comments.

I've ordered some springtails which have already arrived so will try to get some of these into baby's webbing. As someone said above, it is tiny - around half a centimetre across and most of that is legs

The baby is in a separate container from its mother - I never saw her feed them when they were all in together, she just caught her fruit flies, drained them, then dropped them and none of the slings got anywhere near them, to the best of my knowledge.

I released the other youngsters when they started eating each other. I know it's natural but didn't want it to be their only option, hence putting them in my garage where there are plenty of bugs and it's enclosed and sheltered (there are quite a few pholcids of varying ages/sizes there and they seem to do pretty well!).

 

[8 legged]

Good luck!