keeping an orb weaver? first time with spiders,

[squibb0413]

heya, so i live in southwest ohio and we have orb weavers (im pretty sure m. labyrinthea) all over outside my apartment. a few months ago the female in my window laid eggs and since then ive been finding slings inside. I thought I had relocated all of them but today I found one smaller than a dime in my living room. my dad will kill it if he sees it and itll die if i let it outside, its supposed to be like 29F° tomorrow. how do I keep it alive until springtime when i can let it out? I have a few 2ish gallon enclosures or a 5.5 gal I could put it in, if i need to i could go get a small vertical tank at the pet store. could I feed it fruit flies and the like? Ive kept a mantis, millipedes and beetles but ive never kept spiders so idk what to do. help would be appreciated :]

 

[Tbone192]

All you really need is a deli cup with some deciduous branches and a bit of substrate, you can use a lid if but that means you also have to feed it. Flightless fruit flies or small crickets, prekill the crickets by removing legs and crushing the head, it's sad and gross but safer for the spider. Once it gets bigger you can feed it crickets no problem. You could always set it up in a corner or a windowsill. orb weavers typically choose a place and make it home so long as you give it a good place to hide and some anchor points. They make some cool webs.

 

[Owinlovesfalsewidows]

Once they grow into adults I'd recommend (generally for all orb weavers) that you'd place climbable items in a circle shape,with a way for a spider to climb onto it. You can throw/drop crickets,earwigs (my recommendation,they're really easy to find and breed) and other small bugs after the web is set up

 

[squibb0413]

All you really need is a deli cup with some deciduous branches and a bit of substrate, you can use a lid if but that means you also have to feed it. Flightless fruit flies or small crickets, prekill the crickets by removing legs and crushing the head, it's sad and gross but safer for the spider. Once it gets bigger you can feed it crickets no problem. You could always set it up in a corner or a windowsill. orb weavers typically choose a place and make it home so long as you give it a good place to hide and some anchor points. They make some cool webs.

thanks for the advice! ive set him up in a small critter keeper (i believe its a 2.2 gal). i might move him into a smaller one if him cathcing food is an issue but i wanted him to have room for a big web, hes already picked a favorite corner lol.
i put some sticks and driftwood in for him and some spaghnum moss on the bottom for a hiding place. is there anything else I should add?

 

[squibb0413]

Once they grow into adults I'd recommend (generally for all orb weavers) that you'd place climbable items in a circle shape,with a way for a spider to climb onto it. You can throw/drop crickets,earwigs (my recommendation,they're really easy to find and breed) and other small bugs after the web is set up

thank you for the help! i put some curvy driftwood in his container, did my best to make a circular area with it. mustve done a good job because hes decided thats where he wants to build a web :]
also where would i get earwigs from? ive never caught wild insects for my critters