In stock Western Black Widow for sale All spiders for sale
Latrodectus hesperus
Western Black Widow: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: Phoenix's native black widow: easy care, real risk. An adult female bite is medically significant, so keep it sealed and dry, feed with tongs, and never open the lid without knowing where she is. - Big Z
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 5: ExtremeSetup: Small sealed web cup, twig anchors, retreatHandling: No handling at any stage, tongs and catch cup
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 70-82°F room temp, nothing over 85°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 30-50%: dry, no misting, a droplet on the web |
| Setup Type | Small sealed web cup, twig anchors, retreat |
| Substrate | Optional thin dry layer; anchors matter more |
| Feeding | Slings 2-3x weekly; adults 1 prey weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 5: Extreme |
| Handling | No handling at any stage, tongs and catch cup |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- Sling (1/8-1/2 in): sealed 2-4 oz vial, fabric or micro-vented lid, crossed twigs, bare floor, housed alone
- Juvenile (1/2-1 in): sealed 8-16 oz deli cup, twig anchors, bark chip retreat, bare floor or thin dry layer
- Adult female: sealed 32 oz tall deli cup or locking 4 x 4 x 7 in enclosure, twigs, dark retreat, cap pebble dish
- Adult male (1/8-1/4 in body): same sealed cup as a juvenile; short-lived
Warnings First
- Medically significant: an adult female bite causes spreading pain, cramps, sweating and raised blood pressure. Any bite needs medical care.
- No handling, ever. Sealed enclosure, long tongs and a catch cup for every feeding and rehouse.
- Slings walk through normal vents. Fabric under the lid, and anchors well below the rim.
- Display only. Label it and keep it away from children, pets and anyone who doesn't know what it is.
- Unmated females still lay egg sacs of a couple hundred eggs. Pull sacs with tongs unless you plan to raise slings.
- Don't mist, and keep it below about 85°F. Wet, stuffy or hot cups kill widows.
Simple Care
- Keep it sealed: fabric or micro-vented lid, anchors below the rim, labeled cup.
- Room temp, 70-82°F, no heat mat, never in a hot car or sunny window.
- Dry: no misting, no damp substrate, a droplet on the web now and then.
- Twigs, bark or a short cork tube to web on, plus a dark corner.
- Feed with long tongs only.
- Pull uneaten prey within 24 hours.
- House every sling alone; they eat each other.
- Know where the spider is before the lid comes off.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Think small, tall and sealed: a vial for a sling, a 32 oz tall deli cup or a locking enclosure about 4 x 4 x 7 in for an adult female.
- Anchor points are the build. Two crossed twigs, a bark chip or a short cork tube, all stopping well below the rim.
- Minimal ventilation on purpose. Fabric under the lid or pin vents is plenty if the inside stays dry.
- Substrate is optional and never damp. It never digs.
- In Phoenix, hotter city widows grew slower and died more often than ones in cool desert refuges. Keep it out of sun and heat.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Slings: 2-3 flightless fruit flies or a pinhead cricket 2-3x weekly, adding pre-killed pieces as they grow; flies alone won't raise a female.
- Juveniles: small crickets about twice a week. Adult females: one cricket or roach about weekly; skip a week if round.
- Pull uneaten prey within 24 hours. After a molt, wait until it's dark, hard and moving normally.
- Most water comes from prey. A droplet on the web, or a cap pebble dish for adults.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Western North America, from southwestern Canada through the western United States, including all of Arizona and the Sonoran Desert, south into Mexico; it is the only black widow west of central Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. This is the native black widow of Phoenix. No locality came with this captive-bred group.
- Habitat translation: Wild widows sit in a tough tangle web strung from a dark retreat, a rodent burrow, a rock crevice or a hole in a wall, usually within a few feet of the ground, hunting at night and rarely leaving the web. Around Phoenix the desert refuges run near 80°F in midsummer; city webs run hotter and the spiders do worse. The build: a small sealed enclosure with twig or bark anchors, a bark retreat in a dark corner, a bare or thin dry floor, ordinary room temperature out of the sun, minimal air exchange, and the lid opened only to feed with tongs.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Latrodectism is worst in the first 24 hours and usually eases over a few days. Antivenom exists; that's a call for medical staff.
- Bites are rare. It's shy and nocturnal and bites when pressed, which is what a hand in the web does.
- You can't sex a tiny sling. Females darken over roughly 4-7 months; males stay tan, mature in 2-4 months and die soon after.
- Never release a captive widow, even in Arizona. Local venomous-animal rules vary; checking is on you.
- Spice 5 is about what happens if something goes wrong, not how hard it is to keep alive.