pholcidae/cellar spiders - care advice (picture warning)

[MadameButterface]

this sounds nuts, but if you are not a fan of the big hairy twats currently running around like maniacs giving everyone heart failure then I STRONGLY advise you to make friends with these babes, the spindly leggy bois who just hang around upside down in corners minding their own business. you may not think they look up to the job, but they eat the fat hairy fuckers. since I learned this, I have stopped escorting them off the premises and can report a downturn in heart stopping OH FUCKING JESUS FUCK style encounters.

anyway. so in the course of making friends with my enemy's enemy, I have found that the gentle, nice pholcidae spider is an attentive mother, staying with her babies until they have their first moult. I have one on my attic stairs who has 12 hatchlings with her. last time this happened (front room, bookcase) the mother was stuck there over a week with her babies and I started to get worried about her eating and drinking and so on. so, does anyone have any advice on how I can support her post partum (or whatever you call it for spiders). or should I just leave them all be? I want to encourage them, they're my house spider death squad. TIA

I always let these share my living space, they are really elegant and sashay about daintily. I don't actually mind the big furry jobs either, but I do catch them and throw them outside.

Do the leggy babes eat blue bottles ? Because at the moment my dog manages to catch them (how he can catch a blue bottle when he can't catch a ball God only knows) but getting a poodle to swap a slightly chewed blue bottle for a gravy bone is one of the less pleasant tasks of my day and I'd be glad of some spidery assistance.

My profoundly autistic niece is terrified of spiders to the point of utter meltdown. I taught her all about Spindly Disco Spiders recently and it's helped enormously. She is fascinated by them and encourages them to live in her house. It's bloody lovely to see.

This thread has made me very happy.

I love this thread

I don't think I've ever seen one of those spiders though. We've got the ones like tiny ball bearings on wires but they look different to those photos.

they're my girl gang and they've got my back

Please don’t mention spiders and backs in the same sentence! 🕷 shudder

We have several in our house. They just seem to hang there most of the time. Although I did see one of them catch a silverfish once. Obviously right about them liking damp houses.

I love them! We have loads in our house and rarely see the black hairy ones. I'd love to know how to attract more of them. If a JL voucher would do it I'd order a big fuck off one.

I am terrified of the big spiders that have started to make their way into my house, but thinking of the spindly ones as Smack heads who help me out really helps. They don't bother me too much so from now on I'll leave them be
Thank you

they are mega, they will eat stuff inferior spiders turn their noses up at, like woodlice. sing it loud and proud (and be careful hoovering)

Now i actually have a cellar but never see any cellar spiders ! and i am a real wimp with the 8 legged hairy ones so i could do with some .
Though this year we have a new cat and so far it has not been too bad. Socks the cat definitely chases anything that moves and has caught a few already so he is rarning his keep at present .

Hey madamebutterface. Snap!

Think my spindly-spider-mama may be receiving better post-parfumerie care than yours. Mine has got a big spider baby-daddy hanging round, ready to be commanded to bring tea and chocolate digestives at regular intervals and not judge her if she binge watches box sets on Netflix all day.

Post-parfumerie?!

I meant of course, post-partum

Autocorrect has ideas above it’s station.

Ahh, that's sweet Fitz

flapjack enjoy the cat - mine used to eat spiders but they’ve gotten a bit elderly and lazy and they ignore them now!

Fascinated - always found the ones that are all spindly legs less scary but good to know this.

I am terrified of spiders but these stay firmly welcome in my home. I'm in a temporary house right now (due to building work at home) and we have loads. I'm wondering if I can take some home with me!

My only slight gripe is that they don't ingest used web like some other breeds of spider so cobwebs build thick and fast. Still worth it in my opinion

Even the phobic dc have accepted them after seeing one dispatch a decent sized house spider

Love this thread

I read this on a thread a few years ago and have a house full now. DD calls them 'Señor skinnylegs"

@DMCWelshCakes Yes! My children are young enough that if I start with "Stevie" now, they'll not remember the Steve era. Good plan.

ahhh Fitz that is a superb crop - we had similar in the living room a few weeks ago, but the latest there were just twelve. Which was odd as dd had named this particular leggy babe Eleven after recently becoming obsessed with Stranger Things

Buffering I let the cobwebs be now until they are miss haversham level, I don't want to accidentally hoover one of my pals up

I did not know this!! There are several chilling in the corridor. I dislike the mad vibrations when I attempt to usher them out. Too horrible. They scuttle, just like their hairy counterparts. The dogs save me from hairy ones: very high prey drive.

they don't scuttle! the vibrations thing they do is apparently to confuse predators. I've never seen one scuttle. not like those other wankers. ugh ugh ugh

I seriously take Valium this time of year due to spiders - if the babies want to move on they can come and live here!

Please send some to my house, we live in the country side and I swear the house spiders are the biggest I’ve ever seen this year! Laying in the bed this morning at 6.30 just before my alarm went off and I hear a rustling noise from the Kitkat wrapper from last night on the floor and I just know it’s going to be a massive spider. I am absolutely terrified. So I switch the torch on on my phone and sure enough great big massive spider it was all stripey never seen one like it.

Heart starts racing, mouth went dry I could hardly move. Eventually it went under a slipper and I managed to smoosh it, there is no other way I could have dealt with it, it would have been gone by the time DH got home and If it disappeared id never have slept tonight. I need me some of those leggy bad boys

Cersei your story has made me be a bit sick in my mouth

hosp no way could I take valium at this time of year, I need my fight or flight instincts to be tip top

I know, thinking about it even now is making me ill, I don’t know how I even got the courage up to deal with it. Why is it always me that ends up seeing them when DH isn’t here! The fact it was making that noise moving about tells you how big it was 🤮