Help - can a spider get out of a high-sided bath?

[DeeTreeDear]

Last night, I got up to use the loo and saw an ENORMOUS spider in the bath. The type that have a huge body and thick legs that wave at you.

I’m not a fan but thought I’d deal with the horror in the morning and went back to bed.

This morning, it’s not there! I thought it would reappear in the day but it’s now the evening and it has not reappeared. Can spiders escape a high-sided bath?? There’s no plug chain to climb up. Can they go back down the plug hole? I’ve never known that.

Where can it be???

Yikes ! Sounds like you have a lot of spiders in your house 😟

Even in the night I'd have removed it from the house - mainly so it was free to go and investigate food sources outside. Doesn't bother me removing daddy long legs type ones by hand, but lucky I have a jug ornament in bathroom and it's really easy to scope them up in there.

Maybe it made it's escape quick at the thought of a vacuum cleaner!

Maybe he ran round and round the bath until he got high enough up the side to get out like those motorbikes in the wall if death thingy they used to have at fairs.

Maybe they are dirty and have gone for a wash - or possibly a drink ?

Spiders keep the flies at bay. I don't mind them.

I would accept this but it’s one of those cuboid (?!? is that right?) shaped baths with straight up sides. Very difficult to clean the corners - stupid shape for a bath.

I had a big fucker in the kitchen sink the other day. He was struggling to climb out of that..

I didnt like it.

That is brilliant!!!!!!

I'm irrationally scared of spiders. Some things that help are:

Giving them a girl's name - a spider called Jennifer, Millie or Rosabelle instantly loses some of the fear-factor

Empathising with their situation and offering help, the way you would with a stuck panicking kitten or something. 'Oh my gosh, are you trapped baby? Don't worry, I'll help you out' in a soothing voice. Turn things round so you're helping IT instead of it threatening YOU.

Using a plastic wine glass and thin but stiff card to rescue them. holding the stem of the wine glass means you're far away from the leggy action but it's stable and clear (so you can see spider is contained). The card (one that comes in the envelope of a quality birthday card you've ordered online is great!) is stiff enough it can't bend and let Susie escape, but thin enough to slide under the glass and encourage her into it.

Be mindful where you release it. I always feel bad for chucking them out into the harsh outdoors so I release them in the carport. Choose a shady/sheltered spot under a hedge or something if this isn't an option for you.

Rescuing rather than killing them makes you feel good about yourself, firstly because you chose kindness and empathy, and secondly because you mastered your fear. Imagine how few wars their would be if everyone the world over could focus on these skills.

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter 's suggestions are all great.

Personally I favour conceiving, birthing and bringing up a child to teenage years and then letting them deal with it by themselves.

Baths are very smooth and you only have to watch a spider struggling to get out to understand.
Best way is to leave a toilet-paper ladder, it will find it and make it's way out.🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️👍

Hate to say it but it's probably lurking down the plug hole. There's a reason why spiders commonly get stuck in bath tubs because the smooth vertical sides are almost impossible for them to climb.

If this isn’t what Co-Pilot is for, then I don’t know what is!

I think they do. When I was living at home I came home from a night at work around 2am and I went to get a drink from the kitchen tap. There was a massive spider in the sink. I ran the tap and saw it go down. Turned my back went back to the sink and it had reappeared now looking very hairy due to cold I guess. It was terrifying. It took ages to get it back down the plug hole. Nowadays I have a spider catcher which is so much better but anyway to answer your question I think it has gone back down the plug hole.

You need a spider catcher. I'm terrified of them but I can remove large ones from bath no problem in a catcher then set it free outside.

I had a catcher and an enormous one escaped the fronds and ran UP the handle towards my hand. It’s been the vacuum cleaner method ever since.

Maybe you needed a new one. They do fray over time. I understand the fear but please don’t use the vacuum cleaner.

She's gone somewhere in your bedroom to lay her eggs ..........

Faulty or old catcher. I've used them for years and this has never happened.

Have you not seen spider man?

If you don't like picking them up in your hand, get them to run onto a piece of card, pop a glass tumbler over the spider, and then release the spider outside.

Personally I don't mind spiders at all, it's wasps that frighten me - if anyone near me is the other way round, happy to do a reciprocal exchange. I'll safely remove your spiders and you can deal with my wasps!

Everyone says this but I'm too scared to use this method with huge spiders, only small ones. The big ones are too fast and unpredictable and I couldn’t get that close to them.

I don't like wasps either but would take them over spiders any day!

No way can I get this close. The paper slipped once and that was me done.

See that really upsets me 😢. Couldn’t you at least get a sheet of newspaper or a cardboard box and it will walk in and you can let it outside.

They parachute in and then find it difficult to get out so that's why you see them in the bath. It is very slippy so it takes a while but they usually eventually manage, leave a towel over the edge of the bath and you won't see any in there again...