Does anybody supply 'em or breed 'em?

[Emily-Fisher]

Does anybody here know somebody who imports/exports black widow spiders or breeds them? I am interested in purchasing one (preferably a male.. hehe).

Thanks!

[Removed_2815]

Hello again Emily,
You might have a very difficult time locating a male Black Widow. Most widows are WC and almost all that enter the pet trade are female. Not too many people know what a male widow looks like and when they go out collecting they invariably only collect females (as this is the only sex they recognize as being a black widow). Here (http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/misc/bwmale.html) is a picture of a male widow. Also, males are incredibly small (approx. 6mm not including legs) and very short lived (6 months at most after maturity).
Cheers,
RMB
P.S. I sent you a PM indicating where you might begin your search for a female.

[Kyle Barker]

dont think i have any left, but i do have some egg sacs im waiting (hesperus tho)on. Once they hatch and grow a bit i can send some out to you.

[reverendsterlin]

I never see males though females here are a dime a dozen, if I find a sac this spring I'll pm you and we can arrange it to be mailed to you, best I could do Em.

[Dragoon]

Put me on the list, too, please!
Why not post it when you have babies? Then we can all PM you with our orders!
How long do the females live? I'm gonna do some searching on care info this weekend. They are really very pretty spiders.
D.

[Emily-Fisher]

I read somewhere that the females live approx. 6 years..... correct me if I'm wrong!

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by Emily-Fisher
I read somewhere that the females live approx. 6 years..... correct me if I'm wrong!
Most of the information I have come across states that longevity is between 1 and 2 years for females, but data is lacking for captive lifespans of this spider (we'll see how long mine lasts).
Cheers,
R

[Tarcan]

I had two that lived for about 2 years from the moment I found them in the grape bags at work... they were already full grown...

[Kyle Barker]

i kept a few girls that hatched Nov.15/02, and the wc female that had them was caught around the same time the previous year (full grown and still alive, on egg sac +13 this year).

[Dragoon]

Hey Emily, I just found out that Bruce from Arachnophiliacs carries these! They are on his list. They are not expensive.
I also figured out why the prices on that site seem so low... its all in US dollars! Hah! He's in Toronto, what's up with that? Oh well, must have his reasons...
I'm curious to know what a widow's face looks like, they seem to be all abdomen and legs, teeny head, like a cartoon spider. Aww, what a cute caricature of real spiders everywhere...
D.

[skinheaddave]

'goon,

Are you starting at http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Arachnophiliacs/ ? There is some older material circulating the web, but that is his updated list.

Cheers,
Dave

[Emily-Fisher]

Okay, on the Arachnophiliacs site, he said that his black widows are CB so there may be a chance of him having a male or two for sale. So i sent him an email and hopefully, he'll reply saying that he has a load of very pretty black widows for sale and is willing to sell me one :) Hehe :) I'll keep you guys updated..

[arachnomania]

I usually have some in stock but unfortunately only in the summer months. They also usually always come in gravid as 1 female can produce up to 9 egg sacs with one breeding.