- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
- Messages
- 384
A couple of friend's of mine found a Western Black Widow, Latrodectus hesperus, and caught her in a deli cup sized container. They wanted to keep her, but being that she is indeed a widow, they didn't want to risk coming in contact with her.
Of course she made her web on the lid of the container. So every time they tried to open the lid to feed her it would disturb her and she would run toward the opening. This made feeding a little nerve wracking to say the least.
They asked me if I could fix the lid so they could just pull up a tab and drop food in. What they wanted was pretty simple, but no one was willing to transfer the widow so they could modify the lid to her container.
I thought about it all the way home and decided a pull tab was way too unreliable, as well as unsafe. The stressed plastic would eventually crack and break, and tape to close it wasn't very sound either. There was only one viable solution - Creating a secure door.
Once I was home I found an ice cream bucket lid and set about making a pattern and testing it out. All I needed was two brass fasteners and a guitar pick-shaped piece of plastic from the bucket lid. Instant sliding door. And it's tight enough it won't pop open on accident.
I also tried to encourage the widow to build her web lower than the lid. A little hot glue and cut up popsicle sticks made a simple false ceiling lattice work. At first I thought it was going to work, because she was hanging out under it when I put her back in the cup. Unfortunately overnight she decided she liked the lid better and was back at the top. But the door works, and she didn't seem to mind when I opened it to spritz in a little water.
I enjoy problem solving, and now I can feel better about them taking care of her without getting in harm's way.
Of course she made her web on the lid of the container. So every time they tried to open the lid to feed her it would disturb her and she would run toward the opening. This made feeding a little nerve wracking to say the least.
They asked me if I could fix the lid so they could just pull up a tab and drop food in. What they wanted was pretty simple, but no one was willing to transfer the widow so they could modify the lid to her container.
I thought about it all the way home and decided a pull tab was way too unreliable, as well as unsafe. The stressed plastic would eventually crack and break, and tape to close it wasn't very sound either. There was only one viable solution - Creating a secure door.
Once I was home I found an ice cream bucket lid and set about making a pattern and testing it out. All I needed was two brass fasteners and a guitar pick-shaped piece of plastic from the bucket lid. Instant sliding door. And it's tight enough it won't pop open on accident.
I also tried to encourage the widow to build her web lower than the lid. A little hot glue and cut up popsicle sticks made a simple false ceiling lattice work. At first I thought it was going to work, because she was hanging out under it when I put her back in the cup. Unfortunately overnight she decided she liked the lid better and was back at the top. But the door works, and she didn't seem to mind when I opened it to spritz in a little water.
I enjoy problem solving, and now I can feel better about them taking care of her without getting in harm's way.