Reptile & Amphibian Forums

just woke up to find my new widow making an egg sac. dont know if im exited or nervous. i'm not sure if im ready to try to raise hundreds of super tiny escape minded little spiders of this species. to burn or not to burn the sac, that is the question. especially since i have a 6 year old son, and my wife is still pretty upset that i got the one widow is there an easy (and super safe) way to hatch them all? aybe ill do like rmb and let them eat each other till only a few left. or maybe ill just torch the sac. i dunno

I think the generally accepted method is to let them cannibalize each other anyway (even if you are prepared to raise hundreds of little spiderlings). I have read that this method ensures the best feeders and best all-around quality spiders (survival of the fittest, right?).

Cannibalism is an effective method for ensuring that the survivors are the most fit of the group.

Now, of course I leave it to your good judgment whether you would like to hatch the sac out (aside: my recommendation is to burn it since you have a young child in the house and we all know that fatal bites really only occur in the young, sick, or old).

Black Widows (like most insects) have very slow resting metabolisms and respiration is minimal as compared to our more familiar mammalian counterparts. Hence, you can simply put the egg sac in a large jar and screw the lid on, there's absolutely no need for ventilation holes. The air in the jar is MORE than adequate for gas exchange. To err on the side of caution however, you can open the jar a few times a week to allow an influx of fresher air (especially when the spiderlings emerge). Believe me, a sealed jar does wonders for your nervousness.
Good luck,
Ryan