But I'm back for the time being...

My pet family has gone through many a shifts and I wound up herpless and arachnidless... not even a dog or cat...

this all changed this past weekend... when I adopted/rescued my new girl....


i rescued from the inside of my fathers shoe a wonderous magnificant beautiful....

full grown female black widow spider!!! good find - because my dad woulda caught a nasty bite and shed have been squished

(for those of u who dont know - i was the one rearing the juvi yellow anaconda for a long while - and have had several species of arachnid including asian and african (evil bitey ones) species)

my living situation has changed 4 times in the past 6 months and 2 out of the 4 places would not allow ANYTHING...thats where all my babies went

but my new girl very much so excites me and all at the same time saddens me...

being full grown female... she could likely drop an eggsac in her new little terrarium some point this fall... which for a black widow means shell die soon after...:cry:

the up side is IF I can get the sac to hatch I will have up to 900 (yes 900) replacements.... what am I gonna do with 900 widow slings...lol - anyone need a pet? j/k cant ship em - wild caught domestic species and I dont have permit to ship...

i figured that maybe I can pull a year out of her is she doesnt drop an eggsac... outdoors she might have subcome to the winter cold ...or my fathers foot... indoors the cold nor my dads foot can kill her...

i thought she would have trouble adjusting to the tiny terrarium and may reject food.... i was wrong....

she did what widows do and made a "disorderly" web in the VERY top of the terarium and just hung there belly up... i dropped in a moth - it kept running THROUGH her webbing ... which was kinda disheartening... stress and whatnot.,.. then she did someting I never seen before...

she slapped her hind legs into her spinerettes a few times and dangled by her front legs.. the next time the moth came by - she KICKED it with her hind legs - attatching her silk... the moth tried to flee but her...like a fisherman - literally realed the moth back in..

using the excess silk to stick the moth to the cieling of the terarium she couldnt get in for a bite because moth was fluttering to fast/hard - so she repeated before mentioned process - collected silk on her hind legs and "kicked" the moth in the wings... attatching the silk... pulled taunt and attatched the wing to the cieling of the terarium... id this with the two upper wings but the moth was still flapping the lower set...so wash rinse and repeat she did... after having moth anchored to the cieling and still wriggling in panic... she crawled onto him and bit him right in the head,,, the moth was dead very very VERY soon after...

i sat and watched her weave the silken deathshroud for the moth... and then climb aboard and start feeding... it was bizare and exciting all at the same time...

for those curious of her size.... her body is about the size of a lima bean and her legspan is about that of a 50c piece...shes stereotypical black bodied with a VERY well defined hourglass - shes beautiful...

i hope to make what could be her last moth or so one where she can just pig out on moths from the porch lamp and relax in piece witho cold deteriorating her health...

feel free to ask any questions you will...

allow me to address the garunteed 1st...

ill get some pics up as soon as I can bum a buddies camera

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The keeper of the black widow.

Hello,

Welcome back! It has been a long time. lol Sorry to hear about all of the moving and loss of the herps. Good luck with the Widow. We will be waiting on those pics! lol

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***WARNING - DO NOT ATTEMPT***

i HAVE handled her and thats only because I know what im doing and what im risking - i figured that would be a followup for some members to the photo question

again - do NOT attempt to handle ANY spider if you are uncomfortable and NEVER handle a species that you KNOW is venomous or are unsure of...

widows are non-aggressive BUT will bite by instinct due to touching or pressure... which is why she had to be evacuated from my fathers shoe .... widows CAN be encouraged onto a stick and very calmly allowed to crawl from the stick onto you - one should NEVER attempt to escourt the widow or hurry it along... you will more than likely be bitten... you cannot be affraid of what youre doing - as jerking - twitching - moving abruptly...will likely scare into a bite... even if you get those little "chillbumps" - the abrupted flux in temperature in your skin and its texture and moisture levels could antagonise an aggitated spider into doing what spiders do to defend (sept some species of tarantula[I.E. Pink Toe] will actually emit feces onto the "threat" - and for a person...that means a greasy stain on clothing that wont wash out)

one should never attempt to "jar" the widow away from your body by jolting r shaking the the spider off... the spider will likely hold on for dear life and once comming back secure to the surface of your skin... you get the picture.....

i held her for around 5 minutes until she went too far up my arm for comfort and then stuck a piece of paper in front of her and had her walk onto that

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The keeper of the black widow.

ill get em asap thanks for the welcome back

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The keeper of the black widow.

Awesome and Welcome back....I like the black widows...but you can do the handling LOL...Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Welcome back! What part of the country are you in? I'd like to figure out what species you have. I personally breed Latrodectus geometricus and Latrodectus mactans. If she spins an egg sac, don't worry, she won't die. Chances are, she'll lay more later They can store the sperm and they just keep pumping out sac after sac sometimes (or usually in my case). They're cool spiders, that's for sure.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Welcome back Crash, nice to see ya posting again.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Good to see ya back Crash, it has been a while.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

yep - good to be back

i live near charlottesville VA now - columbia VA to be exact

shed been in her web she built up top for the LONGEST while but now shes hangen out in the fake grass lump... i think I know why

i only had 1 moth to give her... there are 2 grasshoppers in the bottom... i think shes "moving in for the kill" lol

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The keeper of the black widow.

mostly wolfies n widows out this way - see the rare fiddleback tho

i dont care to attempt keeping one of those tho

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The keeper of the black widow.