Ooops - Almost my first widow mistake !!

[TNeal]

As most of the regular readers of this board know I recently purched 2 female widows. (L. hersperus) I have them in an upside down 1/2 gallon jar. They are doing awesome. After reading about how they take down large prey I decided to see if they would feed apon a medium size Blaptica dubia.

The roach was about three times the body mass of the widows. I left them in their jars overnight and neither spider touched them. So after 24 hours I decided to remove the roaches and replace them with smaller cricketts.

Here is where I almost goofed up. I am normally very carefull about removing the bottom (Lid). Unscrewing it very slowly. Making sure the spider and her sticks don't come tumbling out. This time, however; I was in a hurry and not paying attention to what I was doing. I unscrewed the lid and removed it when all of a sudden the contents of the jar emptied out on my floor. I was horrified. I was ready to stomp on the spider to keep it from getting away. I watched the scene for about 10 seconds, but it seemed like ten minutes. The roach was scampering away. The widow was still sitting on her web on the floor. She seems to be staying there. I ran to the roach and picked it up, keeping an eye on the widow the whole time. After throwing the roach into a container I gently reached down and picked up the stick the widow's web was on. I watched her closely while reaching for her jar. She slowly started to walk towards my hand, but I had plenty of time to put her back in her jar. Whew !!!!!!!!!!

The moral of this story is never take for granted your dangerouse pets. Always be on the cautious side when dealing with them. This could have turned out much different.

Now I want more of them. Anyone have an males. lol

Tom

 

[KUJordan]

I think another moral of your story is that widows are more or less nothing to worry about immediately after they get out of their containers after a spill. They are more than likely NOT ever going to leave their webs on their own and even if they do they are, in terms of other spiders' speed, extremely slow and clumsy when running.

Even if your widow would have decided to run, you probably could have caught the roach, fixed a sandwich, and gotten a hair cut before it would've run too far away...

 

[buthus]

To further Jordan's point...
There is NO situation where stomping on your widow is even remotely necessary. Even if it got on you, slapping it would put you in more danger than if you just let it be.
You need to lightened up a bit concerning its danger factor. Infact you should let it out and watch it wonder around your room and let it find a cool place to settle in and start a web. Just skip TV for a couple days and have fun watching your spider. You can manipulate its intentions with a poke of your finger. You are god to this mostly helpless creature ...at least when its stuck to living within your room.

 

[The Shadow]

Id stomp the damn thing in a second. But thats just me. ;P

 

[edesign]

Id stomp the damn thing in a second. But thats just me. ;P

why? they're not deadly...unless you're a child, an old person, or someone with a compromised immune system. They're also quite slow as far as spiders go, they aren't very prone to biting, he paid good money for it, etc...shall I continue?

 

[syndicate]

yeah stomping it seems a little harsh dont ya think?i clearly would never kill one of my pets like that if it got loose.makes me wonder why your even keeping widows in the first place.is it because there more venomouse than other spiders?
i honestly dont think your spider would go out of its way to attack you.

 

[TNeal]

I keep widows because I find them interesting. I am not a child who needs to have the worst of something. My major concern was not my health, it is the small children living in my apt. building. I could not allow it to escape.

I always post what happens with me and my animals here so others can learn from my mistakes. I don't appreciate people insulting me here. I take excellent care of all of my animals.

AS far as letting it loose to make a web in a cool corner. That is the most rediculouse thing I have ever heard. Because I do live in an area where small children abound, I could never let one escape.

Tom

 

[buthus]

Aint this the 2nd time we see you being a whiny little s**t because you didnt like the responses to your post? If I recall correctly, the 1st time was understandable but this time just proves you have a thin skin.

I dont recommend thin skinned people keeping venomous spiders.

the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard
When I didnt know jack, I had widows get out, and even though I may have panicked, it never occurred to me to stomp on any of them. Figure it was because I was doin' less whining and more listening.

Good luck have fun

 

[8+)]

The moral of this story is never take for granted your dangerouse pets. Always be on the cautious side when dealing with them. This could have turned out much different.

This is still a good lesson, and it's always good to have reminders that we need to be as vigilant as possible. Perhaps in this case more for the livelyhood of the animal, since she could easily have been ruptured by the sticks in the fall. As for accidental envenomations; they usually do occur when people get too lax when handling their animals.

Now I want more of them. Anyone have an males. lol

If you are so concerned about escapees harming children in your building, then you definitely shouldn't breed these. Just multiply by the number of slings and by the number of times smaller they are...

The roach was about three times the body mass of the widows. I left them in their jars overnight and neither spider touched them.

Roaches are experts at avoiding capture by many predators. Every time I clean a cage I find lobsters huddled in some crevice or under a rock. I have one that's been in with my revivensis for a couple of weeks. I put a meal worm in that tumbled though the web to the bottom. The lobster was up towards the top and it swooped down and attacked the mealie! I was surprised by such predatory action, but I guess starvation is a great motivator. I was also amazed at how aware the roach was of it's environment. Anyway, that's probably why they didn't get eaten, if it wasn't because of their size.

Or course it could've also been their size, and just as with the roach, hunger is motivating. If they are well fed, they are much less likely to make the effort, and take the perceived risks of tackling larger prey.