Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I work in produce at a co-op and I cought a Black Widow today and am thinking of keeping it. I have some experience with exotic pets (reptiles) and am sensitive to the particular concerns of keeping a venemous critter in the home. I was wondering if any have advice re: containing, feeding, cage cleaning, etc. I have seen in research that I did tonight that widows usually only live a few months after maturity and was also wondering if that is affected by keeping one at home?

Hi,
I try not to keep dangerously venomous critters except for a few rear fanged snakes and various spiders, but i do indeed keep widow spiders.
I own and have experience with southern, brow, northern and western widows and they all are generaly very laid back and slow moving and i have never ever had problems with them. They never "attack" or attempt to bite and even when guarding an eggcase they are still generaly calm. hey all eat very well and make great captives and a great display animal.
The widows i aquired last march are still living and doing fine and continue to lay egg cases wich must be taken out to prevent infestation of many many tiny widows, I feed them large crickets wich even though they are sometimes larger than the spider , they take it down quickly and easy, just dont overfeed,
i feed them a large cricket every week or 2 depending on how fat they are.
You must keep them in a small escape proof cage that is secure , preventing it from falling, Substrate is not needed but you can use a substrate like sand that wont keep in moisture build up.
Give them a few twigs or something for them to build a web in at the top of the enclosure.

As for venom,
Widows can be dangerous if you get bit which, as long as you are not dumb should be pretty easy to avoid.
Generaly widows are not usualy deadly but mostly painful.

What Kind of widow do you have?
can you get a pic
and what are you keeping it in?
hope this helps
Kevin

Thanks, Kevin, for the reply. I'm currently keeping my widow in a 16 oz. jar and plan to move her to a bigger enclosure soon.
She's been dining on caterpillars and my roommate has a gecko which eats crickets so I guess I'll take a few here and there as they seem to be fine feed. As for potential "accidents" involving this spider, I've always taken precautions even with the most harmless of reptiles. I don't enjoy being bitten by boa constrictors or Burmese pythons, and I'd imagine that a Black Widow bite is much less pleasant. So rest assured, I won't be stupid when dealing with this wonderful arachnid. I'll just keep her away from any pet animals under 50 lbs., stupidly bold friends, and all should be well. Thanks again, Joe
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Once again, regarding the widow from the grapevine...
I don't have any pictures right now but I know the critter's from
Cali 'cause the grapes she came in with are Californian. Are widows common in the southwest? I don't think these grapes came from north Cali but anyone who has any info on widow subspecies on the west coast should reply because I don't have a field guide and I'd like to know what I have.
Link

the widow you have is most likely a Western widow( Latrodectus Hesperus), these are common in southern california and the southwest,
these spiders have a distinctive houglass wich is smaller and not as full as the sothern widow which lives throughout florida and some bordering states, Western widows are generaly all glossy black with a small dark red hourglass on the underside of her abdomen, Western Widows have been known to be all black and sometimes even have a yellow hourglass.
The other type of widow which has known to occure in the southwest is the Brown Widow(Latrodectus Geometricus),
These widows are originally from africa but in more recent years they are occuring throughout the southern states primarily in florida.
These widows are generaly brown with small blotches and spots on her back, Her hourglass is full and usualy orange red. Her legs are gold but banded with black.
Brown widows can also be black, light tan and many colors between. Look at her closley under bright light and look at her legs and look for pattern. She is most likely a western but she could be a dark brown widow.

Hope this helps
Kevin

I saw this comment and now question whether I have identified my new widow correctly...

I live in Bakersfield, CA and this particular spider is so common I used to be afraid to go bed when I was younger for fear there would be "black widows" in my sheets...but anyway, I caught her the other nite in my dad's garage and she appears to be fairly young by her size. She still has some white markings on the back of her abdomen and a deep red hourglass. She looks very black to me, not brown, but she does have tan and black banded legs.

I read that the hourglass on the northerns is often broken into two traiangles facing eachother and that the southerns tends to have an hourglass with one side taller that the other, somewhat resembling an anvil.

My widow has the anvil style hourglass.

Sorry but I have no pictures of her. Any light you could shed on this would be great. Thanks!

If the grapes came from California, then it is most likely Lactrodectus hesperus, the western widow, as that is their most common species. The hourglass in L.hesperus is often broken into top and bottom segments, and there will be no white spots on the upper side of the abdomen, as with L.variolus ( northern widow )