Looking for something, and I need some help

[Rain_Flower]

So I'm not really into true spiders and such, I like Ts alot more, but here I am and I need some help.
My dad's birthday is coming up, and I would looove to get him a black widow. He talks about them all the time and says how much he would like to have one.
So how would I go about getting one, and where? How much do they cost? What are the basic precautions to take when owning these?

Please and thank you!!

 

[What]

To get one you can probably just catch one. Or you can order one from someone on arachnoboards. I wouldnt recommend spending more than $10 on one.

Basic precautions are: dont handle them, keep them in their cage, and dont over feed. Widows seem to live longer when kept thinner than full capacity.

 

[Widowman10]

ah, the wonderful world of widows! careful, cause once you get one, they are very addicting!! like what said, don't spend more than about $10-$15 on one. female of course. they live for *roughly* 3 years. warmer temps and tons of feeding speed up their life cycles quite a bit. you can put them in pretty much any kind of container any size. they are one of the hardiest spiders on the planet. you hardly can kill them even if you try. they can go for months w/out food. hardly any misting is ever required, i don't even mist mine, they get moisture from food. you can get them anywhere, outside if you look hard enough. if not, many people on the boards have plenty . precautions: just don't be stupid. use common sense and you will be fine. as long as you use tools and such, you're allright. they are not super lightning fast like some T's are, but they can be fairly fast in their web. they are quite happy just finding a little niche in their cage, but if you do ever need to get her out for any reason, i've always just used 2 pencils. stick one down in the web and start twisting and use the other to guide the widow to where you want it to go. really simple. they are pretty much like every other animal, just use common sense, don't be stupid, and you will enjoy it immensely!! widows are the best! enjoy and let us know if you got one and then post some pics!!!

 

[cricket54]

Black Widow females

I have loads of widows all around my house her in southern CA. I am in the high desert of the Mohave Desert. I have two big female widows living in y garage and several around the porch. I just had one little sling from this spring thats fully matured mate with a pretty male that I found in my house. Your Dad's interest, I commend him on it. Been faciated with black widows since I lived in NC and kept one as a pet. I would gladly find a way to ship one of the big girls in my garage to him for just the cost of postage if you private message me. Don't know if sending them from CA they would need a heat pack, does anyone know? They are real interesting spiders that you only have to give them a couple crickets a week to feed them and they can survive for up to 4 yrs. Good luck and I think you are wonderfull to want to do this for your Dad. Once they establish their webs in a tall plastic container or big jar, they stop trying to come out and let you just drop in the food for them. At first they sometimes panic and come out and you have to gently get them to go back in. I've even had them crawl across my hand without biting me. They reallly are not aggressive and scarey spiders and are very easy to maintain. Have 3 girls of various ages in my house as pets.

Sharon

 

[Widowman10]

Don't know if sending them from CA they would need a heat pack, does anyone know?


They are real interesting spiders that you only have to give them a couple crickets a week to feed them and they can survive for up to 4 yrs.


Once they establish their webs in a tall plastic container or big jar, they stop trying to come out and let you just drop in the food for them. At first they sometimes panic and come out and you have to gently get them to go back in.

they don't need a heat pack. widows are so tolerant it's incredible. i actually just shipped buthus a big female (thread just started today in this forum) a week ago. and it's been snowing in CO. they are fine don't worry. i wouldn't suggest a couple of crickets per week if you want it to live longer. they will live longer and do just as well on 1 cricket every couple of weeks. if you have them in a plastic jar or such, i would even recommend drilling a small hole for feeding. you can just put tape over it or something, but it makes feeding so much easier, b/c you don't have to worry about opening a lid or anything. small hole is really easy to just shove a cricket through and you don't have to worry about the widow that way.

 

[Rain_Flower]

Yaaay thank you everybody! You've all been very helpful

 

[Rain_Flower]

So I have two coming in the mail now, and for those of you who have kept them before: What would be good to house them in? I want to have a nice looking display tank, as it's for my dad's birthday... Can I keep them together or should I house them seperatly?
Thanks once again

 

[What]

If you want you can put in a divider to separate the tank into two sections. You could then utilize the cage for both spiders.

Otherwise keep them separate.

 

[lostriverdoc]

Just keep them seperate or you will only have one. Kritter Keepers work great with a twig to ancher the web to. One cricket every couple of weeks and they're good to go.

 

[Rain_Flower]

Alright, I'll do that. Thanks again for the info (and the spiders)!

 

[spydrhunter1]

16 ounce pre-punched deli cups with a couple of twigs. I house dozens this way.

 

[Widowman10]

16 ounce pre-punched deli cups with a couple of twigs. I house dozens this way.

that works great! basically ANYTHING will work. they will build and thrive literally everywhere. just make it so it looks good to you . and no, not together, they don't like that too well...

oh- and remember, when you unpack them, they will probably be very pissy, so please use long tools...

 

[Rain_Flower]

Yay! So my two little (big actually...) black widows came in the mail today What's the scientific name anyways? I'm so excited about them, although I thought I was gonna wet myself when I did the cage transfer... It went rather well actually. I opened the deli cup, and used tweezers to put the tissue she was on in her new home Though I kinda freaked out and shut it with the tissue in there and now I'm scared to get it out. Haha.

I've only opened one right now, and she was safe and sound and absolutely gooorgeous! Thanks again Brian!

 

[lostriverdoc]

Your very welcome Courtney;
Those are Western Black widows ( l. Hesperus ) Hope the other is as pleasing to you as the first. These are my favorite spiders.

 

[DrJ]

16 ounce pre-punched deli cups with a couple of twigs. I house dozens this way.

How big are the holes? I'm afraid of escape, as they are so little. I know T slings can escape very easily...I've never had experience with a widow variety, but I'm thinking of capturing the female outside my patio door after her eggsac hatches out and all the kids are gone.

 

[Widowman10]

How big are the holes? I'm afraid of escape, as they are so little. I know T slings can escape very easily...

just make sure the holes are smaller than the prosoma, or cephalothorax. plus, widows are quite happy once in their webbed home. they have no reason or want to go anywhere else.

I've never had experience with a widow variety, but I'm thinking of capturing the female outside my patio door after her eggsac hatches out and all the kids are gone.

get all the kids and raise them as well!!

 

[DrJ]

Well, How would I keep the kids from escaping?! I don't think anything makes a hole small enough...I'm afraid of escape, if you can't tell...For the adults, what do you use to make the holes, and how large do you make them? I'm guessing using a small nail and shoving it through the plastic on the deli cups will work? That would be small, but I'm thinking a little kid could get through that, maybe? Plus, to further complicate things...how would I ever get the kids seperated...especially from Mom? I know I have a lot of questions here, but the advice would be appreciated. I just know I'm interested in the big girl! I'll have to get a picture of her eventually to post. I would be curious to know what specie she is.

 

[Widowman10]

Well, How would I keep the kids from escaping?! I don't think anything makes a hole small enough...I'm afraid of escape, if you can't tell...For the adults, what do you use to make the holes, and how large do you make them? I'm guessing using a small nail and shoving it through the plastic on the deli cups will work? That would be small, but I'm thinking a little kid could get through that, maybe? Plus, to further complicate things...how would I ever get the kids seperated...especially from Mom? I know I have a lot of questions here, but the advice would be appreciated. I just know I'm interested in the big girl! I'll have to get a picture of her eventually to post. I would be curious to know what specie she is.

well, lets start at the beginning. you can use nails to poke holes if you want, i prefer using a drill and a drill bit to make my holes (tends to look nicer IMO). use your judgement and look at the spiders cephalothorax, just go half as big if you're worried (but pretty much, as long as the holes are ginormous, you will be just fine). for the kids, well, i always take the sac out when it starts to darken, then it's about a week or so before the babies hatch out. i kept the sac in a large-ish *airtight* jar. airtight so i know they can't get out. it's not a problem b/c it's not like they're using up vast amounts of oxygen or anything . then i suggest keeping them in airtight jars til they are too big to fit out of any holes you make in any lids. to separate the hundreds of babies that pop out of the sac, i've used a set of hypodermic needles and those work best for me. they are super super tiny and really help. anything bigger, like a pencil, would be too bulky to separate such tiny spiders. anyway, hope this helped, any other questions, just let me know!

 

[Rain_Flower]

Thread jackers!!! Just kidding, I don't care.

 

[Widowman10]

Thread jackers!!! Just kidding, I don't care.

well, at least it's still about widows...