UK House Spider

[jdjn13]

Hello everyone. I'm relatively new here...created the account ages ago but not really used it.

A bit of back story. I've always had a phobia of spider, so does my wife. (She's worse than me). We have two young children who we don't want to have a fear of spiders. I love nature in general whether it's birds, reptiles, inverts or fish. Our house, garden, garage is crawling with spiders so I've been doing what I can to educate my children and grow out of my irrational fear (I feel it's irrational because the spiders we have in the uk can't harm me. It would be somehwat less irrational if I was in Aus with widows and funnel webs!!!).

My daughter who's 3 asked if we could keep a spider as a pet and "watch him grow big". So I got an old sweet tub, put lots of ventilation holes in it and filled with some dry mulch and leaves from the garden. I found some bark to use as a hide and caught a juvenile house spider that was chilling on my garage window.

Currently it's about 2cm leg span, and over the past two days he/she has set about webbing all over the enclosure floor. It also chills under the bark. I did a search of the forum and couldn't find out much information about care requirements for this species. About two hours ago I fed him/her for the first time. I dropped a ant (lasius Niger, black ant) I found in and it was fascinating to watch our little pet pounce on the ant as soon as it hit the floor of the enclosure.

Has anyone else kept this species? If so, have you got any tips to help us succeed in our keeping of this little spider. I'm excited to see it grow, and hopefully in the process get over my fear, help my children not to fear them but instead be fascinated by them. I hope to one day keep T's...this is my starting point.

 

[Ungoliant]

Has anyone else kept this species? If so, have you got any tips to help us succeed in our keeping of this little spider. I'm excited to see it grow, and hopefully in the process get over my fear, help my children not to fear them but instead be fascinated by them. I hope to one day keep T's...this is my starting point.

Do you know the scientific name or have a photo of the spider? "House spider" is a pretty generic term and can refer to many different species.

 

[jdjn13]

Do you know the scientific name or have a photo of the spider? "House spider" is a pretty generic term and can refer to many different species.

By the looks of its markings, it appears to be Eratigena atrica. I believe they used to be known as Tegenaria atrica.

 

[The wolf]

Beginners can make a few pitfalls with IDs so maybe post a pic just to be sure I have kept this species many times and have even bred it I am raisins some slings ATM

 

[jdjn13]

Beginners can make a few pitfalls with IDs so maybe post a pic just to be sure I have kept this species many times and have even bred it I am raisins some slings ATM

Okay, I'll try to get a picture in a minute.

 

[jdjn13]

That's the best I can do right now.

 

[The wolf]

Definitely e.atrica lucky you I don't doubt she will get a bit bigger

 

[jdjn13]

Definitely e.atrica lucky you I don't doubt she will get a bit bigger

Do you have any care tips? How do you personally keep them?

 

[The wolf]

Do you have any care tips? How do you personally keep them?

They are ridiculously hardy I keep mine at low humidity but I did have two die from too low humidity because they were super young and the ventilation was too high yours will probably be fine,maybe a few drops of water every week or so but it's not 100%necary
As far as food is concerned they will eat pretty much anything that doesn't bite back or have a thick shell this rules out woodlice carabids ants earwigs wasps other spiders etc they particularly like winged prey I fed mine almost exclusively on waxmoths (adult waxworms) smallish crickets and blue bottles which were their favourite feed once a week other than that they really aren't fussy enclosure wise I've had ones in tiny enclosures not even as wide as their legs pans and had four eggsacs and no obvious stress and I have also kept them in 30x30x30 tanks in which they have been fine I advise a tank on the small end of the spectrum as they are less skittish
If yours is a male when he/she matures he/she will not eat or web at all and just try and find a female
Life span is 1-2 yrs they cannot survive two winters is the general rule

 

[jdjn13]

A

They are ridiculously hardy I keep mine at low humidity but I did have two die from too low humidity because they were super young and the ventilation was too high yours will probably be fine,maybe a few drops of water every week or so but it's not 100%necary
As far as food is concerned they will eat pretty much anything that doesn't bite back or have a thick shell this rules out woodlice carabids ants earwigs wasps other spiders etc they particularly like winged prey I fed mine almost exclusively on waxmoths (adult waxworms) smallish crickets and blue bottles which were their favourite feed once a week other than that they really aren't fussy enclosure wise I've had ones in tiny enclosures not even as wide as their legs pans and had four eggsacs and no obvious stress and I have also kept them in 30x30x30 tanks in which they have been fine I advise a tank on the small end of the spectrum as they are less skittish
If yours is a male when he/she matures he/she will not eat or web at all and just try and find a female
Life span is 1-2 yrs they cannot survive two winters is the general rule

Amazing, thank you. If it turns out to be male I'll probably release him to find one of the spidey ladies around.

I did wonder about ants (oops), I hope he/she didn't get hurt whilst killing the one earlier...it was over pretty quick. I'll try and catch flies and moths instead. Are earthworms suitable? I have an abundance...

 

[Ungoliant]

Are earthworms suitable? I have an abundance...

They could be smelly as they decompose.

 

[The wolf]

A
Amazing, thank you. If it turns out to be male I'll probably release him to find one of the spidey ladies around.

I did wonder about ants (oops), I hope he/she didn't get hurt whilst killing the one earlier...it was over pretty quick. I'll try and catch flies and moths instead. Are earthworms suitable? I have an abundance...

I never tried earth worms I never thought them suitable I don't know why not now that I think of it

 

[basin79]

Is is how I keep my adult female.

 

[The wolf]

Is is how I keep my adult female.

Knew I would see you here

 

[jdjn13]

What are the growth rates like on these?

 

[The wolf]

What are the growth rates like on these?

Very fast

 

[jdjn13]

what are the differences between males and females? I found a similar looking spider today except it's abdomen is massive and chunky. Is sexing these similar to tarantulas?

 

[basin79]

what are the differences between males and females? I found a similar looking spider today except it's abdomen is massive and chunky. Is sexing these similar to tarantulas?

If the spider is large with a big abdomen it'll probably be a gravid female. Mine has laid 3 eggsacks.

 

[The wolf]

The official way to tell the sex of araneomorphs(note this is not applicable for some primitive true spiders namely segestria and similar family's)
The subadult(penultimate instar) males wil have smooth enlarged palms
The mature males will have enlarged,complex palps
The mature females will have a small Ryan inbetween the booklungs called an epigyne

 

[jdjn13]

If the spider is large with a big abdomen it'll probably be a gravid female. Mine has laid 3 eggsacks.

Ah cool. I'm interested in breeding them one day, there's something about raising an animal from baby to adult that I find fascinating. I really want tarantulas one day, but they just aren't an option at the moment so I'm settling for uk natives.

Im still very much a recovering arachnophobe. I'm getting so much better with spiders. I can handle smaller ones now, but anything bigger or more specifically with a bigger body I just can't face touching.