Caring For a House Spider

House Spiders, (Hobo Spider, Giant House Spider, and Domestic House Spider) are fun and easy pets to take care of. Although you should be cautious if you plan to keep a Hobo Spider as a pet, the other two are completely harmless to humans and are not risky to keep. I would not recommend holding your house spider because they are very fast, and may fall off of your hand and escape. The following is a list of things to do if you are planning on keeping a House Spider as a pet.

• First off, you will want to find your pet. Sometimes, a House Spider will find you, and in that case you can skip this step. You may stumble upon one in your sink, and if so you are lucky. If you are planning to go looking for a House Spider however, the best places are in piles of wood or rarely disturbed structures, such as a shed, or garage. Once you have found your future pet, you will want to push it or scoop it up into a container with vertical and slippery sides. A glass container works best, but plastic ones can also work well. You will want to use gloves, because there is always a chance the spider you found is a Hobo Spider.
• Once you have captured you House Spider, you will want to start constructing it a suitable habitat. The size of the cage or container is really up to you, but I would recommend using no less then a large jar, because House Spiders appear to like building big webs. I would recommend using a small cage, because it has more room so you won't disturb the spider when you give it water. Also, if you have a container with corners, use it because House Spiders prefer hiding and building their webs in corners. You will want to put some kind of material along the bottom of the container. I would recommend using sand, but you are free to experiment with anything. After that, you should add in some sticks, small pieces of wood, dried up leaves, or whatever else you want. I put a stack of small wood pieces, and Housy, (my House Spider), loved it. I would highly recommend doing this, because it also gives you a base on which to put other sticks, leaves, etc. Put plenty of stuff inside the container, because House Spiders appear to favor a more cramped habitat. Once you habitat is complete, you can gently slide the spider out of its container into its final home. (The spider will not get hurt if it falls from a higher distance.)
• Once you have introduced your House Spider (I would recommend naming it by now) to its habitat, do not be surprised if it starts desperately trying to crawl out. This is natural and it will stop shortly after. Once the spider has settled down, it may not move from its spot for several days. But after about four or five days (don't be surprised if it takes longer), you may begin to see little strands of web in your cage. This is a sign that you spider is beginning to warm up to its home. House Spiders do not move much, and they may be quite slow and still throughout their life. I would say House Spiders are not the best pets for people who like to "interact" with their pets.
• Now you will want to take care of your spider's basic needs. For water purposes, you will want to use a damp sponge or paper towel. Make sure it isn't soaking, but make it nice and damp. Once you place the sponge or paper towel, all you will have to do is make sure to re-moisturize it every few days. For food, I bought tiny crickets at a pet store and dropped them into the cage. Housy immediately started grabbing them and biting them. If you do not have a pet store with small crickets, you can go looking for insects and then drop them in the cage. I would recommend not using pill bugs, also known as sow bugs, rollie-pollies, or woodlice, because Housy did not seem interested at all. You do not have to feed your spider that much, maybe five crickets every two weeks. House Spiders can go months without food or water, but its best to not starve your spider.

That is my little guide to caring for a House Spider. If you see a House Spider in you home and do not want to keep it as a pet, instead of just leaving it there, I would recommend relocating it to a more unused section of your home or in your garage. Do not put it outside, because chances are it will die out there. Always respect you pets, and if your spider seems to not be taking well to its new home, then put it back in an unused structure so it can continue to survive.

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