Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i think she is just the most beautiful thing... have placed in her own private lil condo/townhouse, and actually have had some success in feeding her. im just wondering, since i found her in my garage, inside one of my wetsuits, are there dozens more of her family and friends hiding out, which i should start searching for?

in other words, if you find one black widow in your garage, does it mean there are many more unseen and hiding, or are these relatively solitary creatures?

this is her pic...

How many widows you have depends on your area. Where I live in Michigan, there are very few widows. I've seen only one ( in the crawlspace under my house ) in almost 8 years of living here. And I've been LOOKING for them in sheds, outbuildings etc. There just aren't many up here. If you are out west, or in the south --- it is a different story. I have heard of hundreds on a single property. I'm not saying that's the case in your house, but if you are in a warmer area, there will likely be more. If not in your house, then in your area, and if not now, there will be later. Just keep your eyes peeled, don't stick your hands in any dark corners, and check clothing stored in dark/ undisturbed areas. As for whether they will tolerate each other's presence, the answer is yes-to a point. Widows live almost their entire lives in their webs, which they almost never leave. As long as there is enough room for the widows to have separate webs, or at least to stay out of each others webs, yes, there can be quite a few in a given place. Please don't take this the wrong way and freak out. Widows are shy creatures and generally don't bite unless given a reason ( if you threaten their eggsacs, grab or otherwise pin or smash them, though I also wouldn't recommend you stick you hand in a widow web ).

What state do you live in, by the way?

hey venom,

thanks forr the reply and info...

i live in southern california, irvine, and havent seen any other widows hanging around my home, but i have had friends say that they see them around their homes, occasionally. im not really too concerned about any others... famous last words!

my black widow has been doing great! ive been giving her crickets and she is growing at an incredible rate. shes currently about 2 inches total from tip of leg to tip of leg. ive thrown a couple of other spiders into her cage, just out of curiosity to see what they would do, but they dont seem to care about each othter. the others are not widows. are widows known to eat other spiders?

also, since shes been growing ive been keeping a good eye out for an egg sac. is there a good chance that this widow has not received a sperm sac from a male, or should i expect an egg sac? its a small pea-sized white ball, right? will her abdomen get noticably smaller once shes laid it? im assuming i should take it out as soon as i see it. should i just dispose of it? i had a friend tell me that newborn widows devour each other, so that fewer than a dozen survive from each sac. is this true?

finally, since my widow is pretty huge now, im wondering how much longer she might survive. whats the normal lifespan of the black widow? is there anyting else i should be doing to ensure her a happy and healthy life?

thanks again for all your help...

Hello. I live in San Diego, and I've recently encountered several widow spiders around my house. So far, I've just been killing them, but I've decided to capture the next one I find (and there WILL be more...).

Assuming that your specimen has already mated once in her life, she will probably have sperm stored inside her, so another eggsack is possible, even in the absence of a male. The small, gray, egg-shaped eggsacks are more typical of southern black widows (Latrodectus mactans), which aren't found in California. Your specimen is probably a western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus), which has a yellowish (never gray), pear-shaped eggsack. Females can live up to three years. Widows are pretty shy unless something approaches their eggsack. Anything so unlucky to do such a thing gets bitten. Spiderlings (baby black widows) are cannibals, so if you do find an eggsack, I say keep it and watch the little darlings decide amongst themselves just whom is most fit for survival. It's amazing how strong their silk is, isn't it? To keep her happy, I suppose you should just leave her alone and watch her sit in her nest (which she would probably never leave anyway, even if she weren't in captivity, if you have any moral questions about keeping her).
Enjoy your personal representative of this fascinating and misunderstood species.

Dr V Rossi