Parasteatoda Tepidariorum

[goaethic]

The American House Spider.

Does anyone know the life cycle of these friends? The internet isn't being particularly helpful. Do the mothers live through winter? If they were to be kept as a pet, could they eat meal/wax worms? I don't imagine they'd need a large container as an enclosure. Would the spiderlings be able to survive winter if one were to lay eggs late autumn?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

They can definitely live a while if they're kept warm, I've seen adult females living indoors through the winter. Google says they can live more than a year after reaching maturity so definitely a decently long lived spider.

They should be extremely easy to take care of, they won't need any supplemental water, just insects.

I know they can eat mealworms because I used to have one living under my treefrog's tank and it ate mealworms that I accidentally dropped on the floor. They're pretty good at capturing any bug that stumbles into the strans of their web that make contact with the ground.

 

[Jonathan6303]

There real simple just need a deli cup some sticks and substrate. They will build there tangle web and eat almost anything from my experience.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

There real simple just need a deli cup some sticks and substrate. They will build there tangle web and eat almost anything from my experience.

They don't even need substrate, they're fine in completely dry and bare conditions. They build webs on the cieling in heated/air conditioned buildings after all.

 

[Jonathan6303]

They don't even need substrate, they're fine in completely dry and bare conditions. They build webs on the cieling in heated/air conditioned buildings after all.

True. I just like the appearance

 

[Ungoliant]

Do the mothers live through winter?

The mothers can overwinter if they are young enough. (Adults can live for more than a year.)

If they were to be kept as a pet, could they eat meal/wax worms?

They will eat just about anything they can overpower -- very impressive hunters.

I don't imagine they'd need a large container as an enclosure.

They don't need much space and aren't very picky about how it is set up. They just need some anchor points for webbing. However, they will tend to web near the lid if it's a top-opening container.

Would the spiderlings be able to survive winter if one were to lay eggs late autumn?

The spiderlings will certainly overwinter.