I finally Took The Plunge

TNeal

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
211
I finally did it. I ordered two female black widows from a great person here on the boards. I have never kept many spiders, and have never kept any widows. Anyone have any advise for a newbie?

I am going to keep them in different 1/2 gallon jars. What's the best way to set the jars up?

Thanks in advance,

Tom
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
I finally did it. I ordered two female black widows from a great person here on the boards. I have never kept many spiders, and have never kept any widows. Anyone have any advise for a newbie?

I am going to keep them in different 1/2 gallon jars. What's the best way to set the jars up?

Thanks in advance,

Tom
Hey congrats, you won't be disappointed. Widows are very interesting spiders to keep, I assume you have Latrodectus hesperus or Latrodectrus mactans. The person you bought it from would be able to tell you that.

Advice: Don't get bit. Just respect the distance and use them for viewing purposes only.

The 1/2 gallon jars would work fine. You could, but don't have to, put a thin layer of soil at the bottom. Give them some sticks and stuff to build there web in.

Another thing you can do to make feeding and removing crickets easier is to put the jar upside down so that the lid is the bottom because widows tend to spend most of the time at the top of the jars.

Good luck and enjoy.
 

TNeal

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
211
Thanks for the wonderful advise about keeping them in the jar upside down. I will certainly do that.

Here is a stupid question. If the jar is upside down then no air will get in. How often should I open the jars cover to allow fresh air to flow in? Twice a day, once a day, once every two day, etc.?

What is the safest way to transport the spiders from the shipping containers to their permanent home.

This is one little thing that bothers me though. I am almost 51 years old, so I am certainly not a kid. I was never asked about my age when I purchased them. Is this common practice? If it is maybe sellers should try and make sure people are adults and not children looking for something cool. Don't take this the wrong way as the person I dealt with was awesome. It was just an after thought.

By the way the species I am getting is Latrodectus hesperus.

Thanks again in advance,

Tom
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
1,381
Thanks for the wonderful advise about keeping them in the jar upside down. I will certainly do that.

Here is a stupid question. If the jar is upside down then no air will get in. How often should I open the jars cover to allow fresh air to flow in? Twice a day, once a day, once every two day, etc.?

What is the safest way to transport the spiders from the shipping containers to their permanent home.

This is one little thing that bothers me though. I am almost 51 years old, so I am certainly not a kid. I was never asked about my age when I purchased them. Is this common practice? If it is maybe sellers should try and make sure people are adults and not children looking for something cool. Don't take this the wrong way as the person I dealt with was awesome. It was just an after thought.

By the way the species I am getting is Latrodectus hesperus.

Thanks again in advance,

Tom
What I do for jar setups is just that ...turn em upside down. I drill small airholes in the lid ...but I also drill holes in the side of the lid (where the threads are) This allows air to circulate up thru the threads. many here will tell u that latros like hesps dont need very much air exchange ...and its mostly true ...u dont have too many worries, but I have kept a butt load of hesperus and have found that the more air movement the more healthy and active the spider.
A couple other jar stuff... take it or leave it...
U can buy/find/make 4 small rubber feet (like what you find used for your computer or other junk that sits on your desk) These will lift the jar up and allow some more air current. Also, if you plan on breeding the spider (or dont plan on but sacs happen anyway :D ) it can be wise to buy some nylon mesh... think fabric store...think wedding veil. ;) The mesh size of a fine wedding veil is small enough to take care of even the smallest of slings. Spray adhesive the lid, stick the mesh on and cut the excess off. Let the adhesive dry/vent off for a day!! ...you spider will be fine without her lid for a day. Use a book or something as a temp lid;)

What is the safest way to transport the spiders from the shipping containers to their permanent home.
Thats the problem with keeping widows is that we dont necessarialy promote "handling" ..but thars the rub..because when you get to know and understand how latros "think", react and move it becomes much easier to transfer them around as needed. Use a plastic phototray or food container and let her get out of her cup, remove the cup and use a paintbrush to help her into her new home. Keep everything low so if she drops from the brush she wont hurt herself. Play with her a little ...shes not going to jump out and get ya! ;) If she gets on you, dont panic ...but just watch where her webbing is and what its attached too and you wont get her on you. Move slow and with thought behind your movements. Realise that she will always be connected to any object she has contact with (such as the cup or brush or hand..etc) AND if you suddenly decide to get up and walk away, grab for your camera or whatever...she could suddenly end up on the floor or in your hair. Anyway...thats why I say to allow yourself to "play" around with her a bit to get to know how she moves, webs, etc.
 
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TNeal

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
211
I would like to clear something up. In my previouse post it may have looked like I was calling the person I got the widows from irrisponsible. That is he furthest from the truth. Doing our conversation about the spiders I mentioned I was 50 years old. That's why he didn't ask me my age. I had forgotten about that. I do apologize to any and all who might have been offended by that post. As I have said before the gentleman was awesome and I wouldn't hesitate to order from him again.

Tom
 

8+)

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
645
Tom,

I think it's clear that you were just concerned that dealers/traders be careful when providing these to others. I don't know about individuals, but just about all dealers I've seen have warnings of toxicity and claims to only sell to persons over eighteen when dealing with the more dangerous inverts.

I recently dealt with Todd Gearheart of tarantulaspiders.com. Here's his statement on buying widows: "venomous! Must be age 18, submit venomous liability form and prove age/sanity"
 
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