Black Widows as Pets: How to Safely Care for One (+ 14 Important Tips)

There are some things we are taught at a young age that stick with us for our entire lives. One such thing is that black widow spiders are deadly and will attack us. This is likely told to all small children so they don’t automatically grab the pretty black and red spider if one is seen while playing outside. Another reason is that many of us are not properly educated on the subject of black widows. Today, we’ll dance our way right into the pet black widow’s habitat and find out how to safely care for one of these “deadly” spiders.

Meet the Black Widow Spider

Black widow spiders have received tons of attention over the decades, though they often aren’t nearly as scary as everyone makes them out to be. However, they can be pretty intimidating when you cannot see them but know they are near. These small spiders are one of the most feared in the world. They belong to a group of spiders referred to as cobweb spiders because of their sloppy webs that look a bit like cobwebs. The small black spider has red, orange, or yellow markings on the underside of its abdomen that often appear as two lines or an hourglass and are approximately half an inch long.

Times When Black Widows Are Dangerous

The black widow spider lives a solitary life, aside from mating, and stays hidden most of the time. The spiders are dangerous mostly because of their ability to hide in less frequently disturbed areas like gardening materials, shoes, or gloves left outdoors or storage bins and boxes. An unsuspecting human will stick their hands into the container, glove, shoe or otherwise spider-free area and end up bitten because the spider doesn’t have anywhere to run or hide. Though a black widow’s bite is no joke, it rarely ends in death.

The other time a black widow is dangerous is when the female is guarding her egg sac. Most animals with young will do everything in their power to dissuade a human or another animal from tampering with them. She will even sacrifice her life in order for her young to survive. A small spider like the black widow doesn’t come with many defenses against predators and threats. She can run and hide or stay and fight. Black widows and all spiders would much rather flee than attack. They only attack as their last line of defense.

One of the Most Feared Venoms in the World

Their venom is filled with neurotoxins, which is why their bite is so bad. The bite is often painful but may also go unnoticed until the victim experiences abdominal cramping as the neurotoxin sets in. It can manifest into nausea, extreme sweating, shaking, restlessness, labored breathing, fever, and increased blood pressure. If the victim is allergic to venom, it can be fatal. It can affect children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems, especially hard, and emergency care needs to be received immediately.

Tips On How to Safely Care for Pet Black Widows

As with any pet, it is important to give your pet black widow plenty of space, respect, and the ability to live her life as close to naturally as possible. Overall, they are very easy to care for, and handling isn’t something the spider wants, so it should be avoided. Handling a black widow spider is asking for trouble. The following tips have been broken down by topic for easy reading. There are many different reputable videos on caring for black widow spiders on YouTube.

Watering

1. Choosing the right type of water is important. Tap water is filled with chemicals that will harm or kill your spider. Never use tap water, but do use bottled water. Make sure the bottled water you choose does not have any vitamins or minerals added to it.
2. Be safe when giving your spider water. They have book lungs, which are lungs on the outside underside of their bodies. It is extremely easy for a spider with these types of lungs to drown. Never spray large droplets of water into the enclosure for that exact reason.
3. Purchase a couple of beautician misting bottles. They are fairly inexpensive online and work very well at distributing a very fine mist to the enclosure wall. Not only does this keep your black widow safe, but it also allows you to hold the sprayer at the entrance and lightly mist a wall for your spider daily.

Feeding

1. Purchase several pairs of long-handled tweezers to feed your spider. It is a must for safety when you are dealing with dangerously venomous animals like black widow and brown recluse spiders.
2. Do not collect insects from the outdoors to feed your spider. The insects outdoors may have parasites that can be transferred to your spider. The insects might have also come in contact with pesticides or a number of harmful fluids that would hurt or kill your spider.
3. Do not feed crickets unless there is nothing else available. Crickets have powerful mandibles and can deal serious bites to spiders that can kill them. Crickets do not live long in captivity and tend to carry numerous parasites and diseases.
4. Mealworms can also bite. If a mealworm isn’t eaten by your spider on the day you offer it, take it out so it cannot hurt or kill your spider.
5. The best food to feed most spiders is flies. Before flies pupate, the larva, called spikes, can be fed to your spider as well. When flies hatch from their pupas, you can put them in the refrigerator long enough to slow them down.
6. Depending upon your black widow’s size, larger flightless fruit flies called Drosophila hydei may be used. There is also a smaller species of fruit flies if you happen to be feeding baby spiders. The smaller flightless fruit flies are called Drosophila melanogaster. These can be purchased at Petco or online at various companies. Your local agricultural department may also offer them.
7. Never try to feed your black widow by hand. Some people feed crocodiles by hand, but it doesn’t mean it’s safe or smart.

Enclosures

1. Purchase a pack of small, fine paintbrushes that can serve as your main “spider handling” tools. Even if you aren’t dealing with a dangerous type of venom, it makes guiding your tiny eight-legged buddy around much safer than if you used your finger. By using the bristle end of a small paintbrush, you will not risk squishing the spider and can easily guide it into a new enclosure. Make sure you have the enclosure decorated how you want so that once your spider walks in, you can leave her alone.
2. Black widow spiders are arboreal, meaning they like to climb up as high as possible and make their web. It is best to get a vertical container that’s specifically made for arboreal spiders. Make sure to get the appropriate size and ensure there aren’t any gaps that your spider can slip through.
3. Cross ventilation is important for spiders. Make sure the enclosure you choose provides side-to-side ventilation. They don’t need a lot of air, but it creates a much more sanitary living space for your spider.
4. If you choose to have a natural enclosure, which is called a bioactive enclosure, make sure to do plenty of research on it first. Springtails are very important because they act as a clean-up crew with dead bugs, spider waste, mold, and anything else that would jeopardize the cleanliness of the enclosure. Mold is deadly to spiders in enclosures.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Paul Sapiano / CC BY 2.0 – License / Original