A friend found a black widow and gave it to me. So I need help on what to feed it with, how to know it’s gender, what do I put in the terrarium (like rocks, branches maybe grass?).
Pretty much everything.
So if you know anything or maybe a website that will explain this to me, please help.
Thank you. 🙂
Also it has five orange dots on it’s back.
Here are the pictures:
http://oi.tinypic.com/jlgr.jpg
http://oi.tinypic.com/idu.jpg
✅ Answers
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Not a black widow.
I’m sorry to tell you that that is not a widow, whether male or female. One thing widows aren’t is hairy. Furthermore, that spider appears to have suspiciously mygalomorph-ish spinnerets. I don’t suppose you could get a photo from above, and also indicate where it was caught? I don’t recognize it offhand, but assuming that you are from the south or southwest US, there are a bunch of things it might be that I wouldn’t necessarily recognize.
Anyway, your idea of a terrarium is a good one; a soil base would be a good start, not clay or too moist, but kind of sandy until you know what you have. Someplace to hide, like a curved piece of bark it can crawl under, would be good, and as for food, start with small crickets that you can get from most pet stores. Just put one in at a time and see what happens. If it gets eaten, give it a day or so and try another. I wouldn’t put any water in until you know what you have, some spiders don’t do well with too much humidity.. You could put a small ball of wet tissue in to see if it sucks the moisture out, but replace it after a day so it doesn’t get moldy. Your main job, though, is to find out what you actually have.
That spider is not a black widow. Not even in the same family.
To determine the gender, answer one simple question — is he wearing boxing gloves? In male spiders, the pedipalps (little structures that look like an extra set of small legs in the front, near the jaws) are have large, well developed tips that make him look as if he’s wearing boxing gloves. in females, the pedipalps are slender, without the developed tips. The female organ is a little more tricky to find on the underside. Juvenile males can be mistaken for females until their pedipalps develop fully but the spider you have appears to be more or less adult, so if there are no “boxing gloves,” you have a little girl there.
To keep a spider in a terrarium, you’ll need to provide her with live insects. She’ll also need a place to hide (like half of a small flowerpot for a “cave” and, depending on the species, you may want to provide some structure for her to build a web. Not all spiders build structured webs, but the structure will also provide some vertical space for the spider to use, so go ahead and put some branches in.
Also, you’ll want to provide water, but do not put in a dish of water. Your spider can accidentally drown in it. Instead, put in a very shallow dish (the spider must be able to easily walk onto it) and on that, put a bit of clean sponge — make sure to use sponge that isn’t soaked in chemicals like detergents or antibacterial chemicals. Just a plain, cheap sponge. She only needs a piece that’s a couple of inches square. Keep that sponge soaked in water. The spider will be able to drink from it without the risk of drowning.
Make sure there’s some ventilation, and don’t place the container in an area where it will overheat.
Regarding the “zoologist” who said that Black Widow venom will kill you within half an hour — apparently spiders aren’t his specialty. Widow bites are painful, but very rarely fatal. Most people have only a local reaction to the bite. The occasional fatality is generally a small child or someone with other serious health issues — or someone who happens to be allergic to the venom. Of course, it’s not a bad idea to be checked out by a doctor if you’re bitten by a widow, just in case, but it’s nothing to panic over.
It is a male black widow. Females are all black with a red hour glass shape on the abdomen.
If you are not an experienced professional…i would not suggest keeping it as a pet. Black widows have one of the most powerful neurotoxins in the world. If it bites you and you don’t get the antidote soon you will be dead in as little as a half hour ( more or less depending on person and body size) Its venom is times more powerful then a western diamond back. It can and will paralyze you if kept long enough untreated. You cannot feel the bite.
If you are a proffessional then you would know the habitat it requires. Release it and
do NOT touch it unless you have thick leather gloves on.
Source(s): Zoologist. And someone who does not know you but cares if you get hurt.
I have done some searching for you, but also for me seeing as I love spiders. http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthrea…
This link confirms what you may have.
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/L-mactans.html
http://www.kaweahoaks.com/html/latrodectus_hesoeru…
If the spider you have isn’t a Black Widow I do not know what it may be. But the good news is it won’t be deadly either way. Even the Black Widow isn’t as deadly as commonly believed, only very painful; but, still go to hospital either way and take the spider. Always best to be safe.
It’s a male, the females have red hourglass looking marks on there backs and the males have random deferent colored marks or sometimes no marks at all.