What should I do about this spider?
October 31, 2017 8:47 AM Subscribe
I rescued a very tiny, tiny spider from my bathroom sink, then was super-chuffed that it made a home by my bathroom window. Over about three months it feasted on the multitude of ants we were having trouble eradicating, and I was charmed to watch it grow into quite a sturdy small spider. But the ants have finally gone away (yay?) so what will my spider friend eat now? Should I relocate it?
Basically that's the gist -- I love this little guy, and was grateful for the number of ants he managed to eat. The ants have been gone for about a month. Is Spider going to be finding enough other things to eat or should I put him...in another spot inside? Outside?
I don't know how to describe him except "generic gray spider" that once was very tiny, and now is merely small. He doesn't appear to have any kind of markings. His abdomen is a lot larger than the front part of his body. His legs are medium-sized.
I live in Los Angeles so it's very dry inside the house (though he's in a bathroom with a shower, so it does get humid from time to time). The weather is mild so we still do have doors & windows open during the day. We do have plenty of moths, and also plenty of bigger spiders like daddy longlegs.
Shortly after the ants went away, my spider friend disappeared. I thought he'd bailed or been eaten or otherwise was gone forever, but then he showed up again in his old spot, posed there...waiting for some ants.
How can I help this little guy live his best life? Leave him alone and let him do his business? Or put him somewhere else?
Basically that's the gist -- I love this little guy, and was grateful for the number of ants he managed to eat. The ants have been gone for about a month. Is Spider going to be finding enough other things to eat or should I put him...in another spot inside? Outside?
I don't know how to describe him except "generic gray spider" that once was very tiny, and now is merely small. He doesn't appear to have any kind of markings. His abdomen is a lot larger than the front part of his body. His legs are medium-sized.
I live in Los Angeles so it's very dry inside the house (though he's in a bathroom with a shower, so it does get humid from time to time). The weather is mild so we still do have doors & windows open during the day. We do have plenty of moths, and also plenty of bigger spiders like daddy longlegs.
Shortly after the ants went away, my spider friend disappeared. I thought he'd bailed or been eaten or otherwise was gone forever, but then he showed up again in his old spot, posed there...waiting for some ants.
How can I help this little guy live his best life? Leave him alone and let him do his business? Or put him somewhere else?
Just let him be a spider. He'll know what to do.
posted by bondcliff at 9:01 AM on October 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 9:01 AM on October 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Bugs will eventually wander in your bathroom or that spider will set up shop elsewhere. I wouldn’t disturb the web and just let it be. Anecdotally, I left a little spider in my house because I thought it would catch bugs. It might have... but after a while it made a larger than expected web and covered a router. Then it laid eggs. That wasn’t so cute for me. Otherwise, the spider figures stuff out.
posted by buttonedup at 9:02 AM on October 31, 2017
posted by buttonedup at 9:02 AM on October 31, 2017
If you really want to adopt him, I've successfully fed spiders by bringing smaller prey to them.
However, if there's a good spot for him outside, I'd probably take him out there.
posted by amtho at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
However, if there's a good spot for him outside, I'd probably take him out there.
posted by amtho at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
As for the idea that spiders are smart enough to take care of themselves: mostly, but it's nature, so creatures die young all the time. Interaction with the works of humans is a major impediment to their living good, healthy, lives, so being helped by humans occasionally seems only fair.
posted by amtho at 9:11 AM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by amtho at 9:11 AM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Okay, I'm going to leave him there unless anyone else comes along with concrete advice otherwise.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:28 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:28 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to bring him a present now and then if you want to encourage him to stay in that spot.
David Sedaris's latest (I think it was?) has some charming bits about his obsession with feeding and looking after his house spiders. You might enjoy it!
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:32 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
David Sedaris's latest (I think it was?) has some charming bits about his obsession with feeding and looking after his house spiders. You might enjoy it!
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:32 AM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not that it matters but most spiders that you’d notice are female. She’ll be fine.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:50 AM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:50 AM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's gonna rain soon, and rain for me tends to bring out the ants for some reason. Hope I get another bathroom spider sometime soon.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:00 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 2:00 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Just adding that the day I posted this question, the spider left. Well, left the visible portion of my bathroom, anyway. I miss her.
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:19 PM on January 13, 2018
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:19 PM on January 13, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:57 AM on October 31, 2017 [8 favorites]