Spider Rearing

Rearing Habitat

• A wide mouthed jar covered with a net held in place with several rubber bands, or by a lid with air holes punched in it.
• For ground nesting species, supply a cap filled with water.
• For ground nesting species, 1"-2" of soil or sand placed in the bottom of the jar. Provide a broken flower pot or piece of bark for the spider's shelter. A piece of paper toweling can be used to replace the soil for some species.
• For web building species: Provide a stick for the spider to secure its web. Place the stick in modeling clay so that it doesn't move around.

Food
Most spiders eat live insects. Many trap insects for food using a sticky web which can be a beautiful spiral or an apparently unorganized mass of threads. Providing food for a spider can be easily done by trapping flies, or other insects, and releasing them into the spider's container. Insects used for food must be alive and not dramatically bigger than the spider. Spiders can handle insects bigger than themselves, but feeding a 1/2" spider a 2" long grasshopper will only destroy the spider's web and traumatize both animals. Spiders will not accept dead insects. Prey is injected with poisons that immobilize them. Some spiders also inject enzymes that liquefy the prey. Providing an insect once a week should be sufficient. Offer insect prey more often to determine the dietary needs of individual spiders.

Water
Spiders obtain all of the water they need from the insects they eat but spiders in captivity do need additional water. For ground nesting species, supply a cap filled with water. If the spider is smaller than the cap, add rocks to the cap so that the spider does not drown. For spiders that have spun a web, gently mist the web every week depending on the humidity. The spider will gather the water off of the web. The misting method also works for spiders that are housed with paper toweling.

Taking Care
Cleaning
Remove dead insects at the bottom of the container. Using a long forceps is best to minimize disturbance to the web and the spider. When the droppings of the spider cover the glass, clean it off with wet paper towel. Make sure the water cup does not get slimy or remain dirty. Rinsing out the water dish once a week is sufficient. If paper towel is used in the container, replace the towel periodically when it becomes soiled.

Handling
Spiders of most species are delicate. They should not be picked up with the fingers as they will often loose legs in the process. If dropped, the abdomen usually bursts and the spider dies. Spiders can run rapidly. Chilling them in a refrigerator prior to moving them may be helpful.

Raising Young
Sometimes female spiders will lay egg sacs in the container. In most species the egg sac is closely guarded by the female. Continue to care for the female as you have but take care not to feed her insects that will break up her web and endanger the egg sac. After a period of time (various with species and season) the spiderlings will emerge from the egg sac. The spiderlings are very small and if the holes in the lid are too large they may find their way out. To avoid this, cover the top with a piece of nylon stocking held on with a rubber band. If there is enough space the spiderlings will set up small webs in the container. They will feed on each other if additional prey is not provided. You can also remove the spiderlings and set them up in other containers or release them outside. Ground nesting spiderlings will do much better if they have room to establish burrows. If they are left together, they will also eat each other.

Other Concerns
Precautions
Most spiders are harmless to people. Some of the larger species may be able to bite through skin, but most cannot. The bite of a few spiders (including the black widow and brown recluse spiders) can inject painful venom, which is moderately dangerous. It is recommended that these spiders not be kept in the classroom. If you are keeping a tarantula, do not be alarmed if it lays on its back. It is preparing to molt and should not be disturbed.

Special Considerations
Spiders are fun to watch. The webs of spiders are intricate. Many spiders destroy and replace their webs regularly and the process can be fascinating to watch. Some spiders make a refuge of silk into which they retreat. Spiders often wrap their prey in a thick coat of web.

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