My boyfriend brought a spider home that he found at the farm yesterday. We googled it and it looks like a garden spider. So I was wondering a few things. Are they dangerous at all? What do they eat? Can they live with other spiders like them? If he was to catch some more could they be kept together in a 10gallon tank with some branches and be fed bugs? How can you tell if they are male or female? Cause that would suck to end up with hundreds of tiny spiders(*shudders*). And how long could it live? Is there even a point or will they just die after a few days? It survived the night.
Thanks in advance. And I didnt like the idea of a spider at all at first but it looks kinda neat.
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1) No, a garden spider is not dangerous to humans. Although all spiders have venom, and if they are large enough a bite from them may hurt, very few spiders have strong enough venom to be dangerous to people. 2) All spiders are carnivorous and eat whatever they can catch in their webs, usually insects and arachnids that are smaller than themselves. You can buy crickets at the pet store to feed your spider. 3) Spiders should not be housed together because they are cannibalistic. They will eat each other. 4) I would not recommend putting spiders together. Yes, spiders are usually housed in plastic or glass terrarium-type tanks, and should be given natural objects, such as branches, on which to climb and create a web. 5) With most spiders it is difficult to tell males and females apart. Females may be larger and usually live longer. 6) Some spiders can live for years, but I have no idea what a garden spider’s normal lifespan is.
Having said all that, I don’t believe you should take an animal out of the wild and keep it as a "pet." It would be much happier if you set it free outside. If you want a pet spider, get a captive-born rose-haired tarantula at the pet store (after researching how to properly care for it).
I have found the following site to be helpful in answering my questions about spider care: arachnoboards.com