Black Widow, The Best Pet Spider? 

This was my first time viewing a Clint's Reptiles video. I didn't even realize it was over 20 minutes long as I was engaged and intrigued the entire time. Exciting host, gorgeous animal. 6/5, subscribing immediately.

My new pick-up line : Hey babe, just so you know "I am not a fly"

The story about the black widow wrapping her injured leg up in silk is one of the coolest things I've ever heard

almost every other clint video: "these need a large enclosure, need fed X times per ___, need this many hides, a hot spot of ___ degrees, __% humidity, and are very hard to find captive bred, and you DEFINITELY need to get a captive bred one, NEVER get a wild-caught one," this video: "get a jar, whatever size you find, a couple twigs. feed em once a week, but if you forget for 2 weeks oh well! keep it wherever you want, on top of your fridge, on your nightstand, they dont mind any temperature! out in the open they dont mind! Availability? Dude they're everywhere man what are you doing? go out in your yard and grab one!" lol love you Clint.

As someone who deals with some pretty bad arachnophobia when I see spiders in real life, these things absolutely terrify me. Learning more about them and hearing that their venom is far less deadly than I thought makes me fear them a lot less

Male black widow: *Mates* 1 second later *Boss music starts playing*

male spider: finally i've mated current objective updated *Survive*

My first experience with a black widow was by accident when one crawled up my hand while cleaning out a shipping container at work. I'm not usually a person that freaks out when a bug crawls on them, but when I looked down and saw that red hourglass against my bare wrist, I froze. I swear we sat there staring at each other for at least 20 minutes while it felt around my wrist with it's pedipalps. Eventually it decided I was boring and walked back down my hand and dropped to the ground. I've got mad respect for these beasts and am very grateful it decided I wasn't threatening after I disturbed its home.

The instant he referred to spider cannibalization post cupellation as "stinkin rad" I was in.

Something about "I don't like to just kill things, but would rather feed them to my pets" makes you sound like a super villain.

Instructions unclear. Told a girl “I am not a fly!” but did not proceed to mating phase.

I kept one as a pet for years and she was amazing. Always very chill when it came to cleaning out her web and feeling her. At this very moment I am unware of their expected life span in captivity but she was in an early adult form when she was found and passed just after 4 years.

Great video! Speaking of bites, I was bitten 2 years ago by a baby diamondback rattlesnake. When I got to the emergency room, they didn't have anti-venom. They called the nearby poison control center, and they didn't have it on hand either - they had to make it. It took 3 hours for them to make it and get it over to me, and even after I received the first couple doses, the snake's venom almost killed me and I had to spend 50 hours in the ICU. So yeah... poisonous bites are no joke!!!

For April fools, do a pet rock, but it’s super difficult but you give it a high rating

“If you’re [handling venomous animals] for a long long time, eventually there will be an accident.” Just remember that Steven Irwin died because a Ray got spooked and stung him. The man who dedicated his life to animal conservation and care, who handled the most dangerous things on the planet with the expertise and poise, he died because there was an accident. If you want to free handle dangerous animals then so be it, but you need to internalize the fact that you are at risk, and you might wind up in the hospital even if you “did everything right”

I’ve always been terrified of these. I’ve been somewhat successful in desensitizing my anxieties about other spiders, and these are maybe a little less scary since I was actually bitten (one climbed up inside the leg of my pants while I was outdoors and decided she did not care for the experience, and funny enough, neither did I) but your story about the one patching up her leg is the kind of thing that helps me see them as creatures just going through life rather than an object of fear. I try to foster a deep respect for life and rejoice in the forms it takes, and these girls are my biggest challenge. Thanks for this really neat, slightly anxiety-producing video!

This video convinced me on pet black widows a few months back! Since then I've gotten a little widow named Heather. She's absolutely awesome and is so chill. I've been able to feed her with tweezers and watching her eat and do her other spider things is so so cool. One of the best decisions I've made, so thankful for this video getting me hooked! ❤️

I am the "I saw a spider and I didn't squash it because I thought of you," guy. I love being that guy.

"eating your husband isn't uncommon, but it is worth talking about 'cause it's stinkin' rad" - clint 2020

I must confess, as an entomologist I have free-handled black widows a few times for personal curiosity and educational purposes. But even as I was doing so in the one time others were present, I did tell them never to try it themselves. These are such awesome and chill spiders, who want nothing more from us than to leave them alone. I have two of these beauties as pets, and they are great ambassadors in my quest to educate people (largely to stop people from killing them on sight). I just love watching them, they make great pets!

I'm here partially for exposure therapy to help with my arachnophobia (mostly here for the amazing facts you have on these animals, since I also tragically love spiders lol) and just wanted to say it's so helpful to see how much love you have for the spiders you've featured on your channel. Thanks for sharing them!

You’re incredible at teacher humour without being patronising. Not only that, but you don’t dumb things down to a childlike state, and still throw some mature jokes in. It’s great.

Clint: own a black widow? Me: *very no* Clint: *actually yes*

How neat! I went to Clint's Reptile Room with my son about a month ago for a neighbor boy's birthday party, and I was able to meet Clint and chat with him for a bit. Now a month later he's showing up in my recommended! Excellent video, love the enthusiasm that Clint has for learning about these awesome critters. If you're ever in Springville, UT make sure to carve out some time to visit Clint's Reptile Room!

Where I live, in New Zealand, the genus of black widow we have is called the katipō. It's the only venomous native spider. They live on Beach dunes, and rarely bite anyone. And it's something I have to keep reminding my mum of, as she mostly lived in Australia for years before retiring back home. Which I mean, it's fair enough to have healthy mistrust of spiders there. But besides hypothermia, highly changeable weather and getting sick from drinking untreated water from mountain streams. Not a lot is going to kill you in the New Zealand bush.

"I don't really want a few hundred black widow babies just emerging in my house. I'm weird like that." I must be weird too then lol

All I can say is _wow._ How smart does a spider have to be to realize "hey, silk will help stabilize my leg so I can still use it!" That's some incredible intelligence.

Dude that thing about you seeing a black widow fix her leg is an incredible story and you need to document and publish it asap.

As someone who collects arachnids black widows will aways be one of my favorite spiders, they're so gorgeous

"Hey I have a black-widow in a jar. I thought you'd want it" "You want to be that guy." I died.

I'm watching this and my partner just hollered out "Okay, fine! You can have a snake, just no black widow!" Win!!!

Your story of the Black Widow mending her leg (which was extremly fascinating!) reminds me of an observation I make on a pretty regular basis about the garden spiders (Araneus ssp) at my window. I have what I call acolony residing at my window for at least ten years. One female seems to stay behind every year or two to reproduce. And over the summer I see all these spiderlings crawling out and spinning their first nets. And the very first net is almost always only four, maybe five strings loosley attached to the frame. They get better over the following three-ish weeks, before taking of in the late summer to find their own nests. They normally never come into the room, not even before a thunderstorm, like the Tegenaria ssp. that live in my flower beds. But one day I found one (just one) of the spiderlings at my bookshelf. It was a curious little thing, almost tame, came up to me and let me carry it. But every time I sat it back out at the outer window sill, it came back in within a matter of minutes. It lived behind my bookshelf for a year, given it was pretty small I think it was a guy and when I finally lost sight of him he might have gone out to mate. But this was a really interestng occurance, as Aranea are normally not drawn to cave-like structures and especially not behaving somewhat interested at humans like jumping spiders would do. I'm really curious how his spiderlings behaved ...

"And you're careful when you put the lid back in the jar." This is much easier with a spider this size. Giant House Spiders (which honestly shouldn't be in a jar, they should be roaming free in your house, eating your bugs, but my family usually says catch and banish or kill) have a leg span about the same as a mason jar which means if they want to they can make it very tough not to clip a leg.

"He will become the victim of his former lover... and that's special."

**I h* a* d my own native plant nursery with water valve boxes in the ground with a 6" round access cap. So one day I notice a female black widow had taken up residence in the zone 2 valve box. She had attached part of her web to the valve handle. I gently broke that web point and she climbed into the corner. The next day, the same thing. The following day she had adjusted her web so it was no longer attached to the handle...nice. I would wait 20 seconds or so after removing the cover and then turn the valve. After a while, I would simply knock on the cover like it was her front door, and she would move out of the way lickety-split. In the end, it got to be that wherever she was...she would just stay still...knowing I would not harm her. Even when she had eggs... the same thing. We got to know each other. My wife and I took a trip to Europe, and had my Mom stay over and care for our pets. As I needed her to turn the water on while I was away, I showed her the routine. She was very scared of spiders, but after watching our little interaction, decided she could do it. When we got back, my Mom was beaming with satisfaction. She got along fine with (Betsy) and overcame her fear of spiders at the same time. She lived the rest of her life with a newfound respect for spiders (and herself). Mom was a real trooper in that regard. Great video!! EDIT: I just spent this spring/summer feeding a paper wasp nest honey by hand (finger), and it was a grand time. I watched this nest start up for the last few years under my doorstop. Each year it failed. I started to realize those big nests are an amazing achievement...the odds are stiff. So, this spring...like clockwork... a wasp began a nest next to the failed nests left behind from previous seasons. This time I decided to give this little guy an edge. It took a bit of doing and nerve on both of our parts...but we both got used to my finger being the feeding station. Of course, this only works with wasps that eat honey...not all do. But in no time there was an egg...then two...then many. As they hatched, each have their duties and methodology. I learned quite a bit just by being there once or twice a day to feed them. Usually only one would fly down...or crawl down the door and wait for me to pick it up. Then the wasp would gorge itself on the honey...could literally see it grow fatter. The feeding could take as long as 5 minutes! It would even take on the hue of the honey as the sun shined down. Then it would fly back to the nest...sometimes needed my help...lol. It was quite comical at times as the ones on the nest...just a foot away would eagerly look on. The last one hatched was fed first, and all took some. The rest was mixed into the nest chambers. Some of the wasps were bolder than the rest...and would be the first ones to flag me down as I passed by...as birds do. But be prepared to lose them. You get to see on a daily basis how rough it is for them. One day your favorite wasp goes out...and never comes back...gone...just like that. There was also not a single incident of aggression from any of them towards me, my wife, our dogs (who took some sniffs)...we all became part of their landscape. There is a rhythm to it all...and bridges can be built...if only temporarily. It's a win win for all involved.

This guy is so passionate about what he does earned my sub

Wow! What a story!! I already love these spiders, in Australia as you would know, we have redbacks. I can't believe you observed one creating a cast on her bitten leg. What an intelligent spider. I am truly amazed. Thankyou for sharing your story.

*Video pops up on my recommendations* "This dude is nuts" *Finishes Video* "You know I do have a couple extra jars lying around....."

Ngl, hearing how a Black Widow is capable of knowing how to bandage itself is so dang cool. I never ever knew that about a Black Widow.

We have raised them in our home (though I didn't realize that's what we were doing until my partner told me to avoid the desk so we don't disturb the hundreds of babies). Like you I don't recommend this, but our own experience has been pretty positive owing to the fact that they remain behind glass the whole time, and we get to see all of their behaviors. We have always acquired the adults as rescues which were in danger of being killed by homeowners who don't know enough to simply leave them alone and enjoy them for their beauty.

I just bought one a couple days ago. I put her in a big clean jar with a bunch of sticks. It took about two days for her to make a web, but she’s starting to move around now!

"I found a black widow and I figured you would want it" Me, miles away, in no danger, perfectly safe: *_InCohEreNT ScREeCHinG_*

Some male spiders have figured out the game and go a’courting with a “nuptial gift,” like a juicy worm, to offer the female to eat instead of themselves.

I'm a new subscriber! I'm also one who previously would describe myself as anti- spider. However, after watching this video and one on jumping spiders, they're growing on me. I saved a jumping spider last week from being stepped on and he's living in my garage somewhere for the winter. Clint, your sense of humor and ways of phrasing things are super interesting and I'm excited to binge watch your channel. I probably won't have a black widow as a pet but it's made me realize they probably won't be coming after me. Although once one ran out of my water turnoff valve box , after my push mower and is no longer with us. May God rest her soul. :/

When I worked in a grocery store, we had a black widow hiding inside a bundle of grapes. I was SHOCKED how easy it was to get them scooped up and back into the wild. everybody was freaking out, I had a manager watching me, and yet nothing risky happened. easily one of my favorite spiders.

Good advice for handling venomous animals: "Don't - is this really how you wanna find out you have an allergy to their venom?"

Imagine being able to describe "accidentally ended up with several hundred black widow eggs" as something that's happened to you a few times in your life.

There are also Brown Widows which are more common. Spiders generally are not aggressive and run away from you. I used to work under houses and brown and black widows everywhere, they would run up their webs into the floor joists when I had to swipe their webs to work. One house had hundreds, never got bit. Very awesome spiders

I kept a Black Widow as a pet at boarding school (high school) It was a fabulous pet. Easy peasy care and feeding.

I imagine clint tapping on his wife and just saying "i am not a fly"😂😂

You seem like a very genuine guy. The energy you give off made me enjoy learning something new!

Watching this has helped me with my specific fear of Black Widows (I love other spiders). I grew up in Arizona, and they were everywhere. This was the 70s/80s (I’m 53), so the danger-lore on them was through-the-roof. Thanks for a great video.

I was about to go to sleep, but I think staying up to watch this is the superior option

came her expecting a short little review instead got a few minute portion about spider sex, subbed

I breed Black Widows and they are amazing. I handle them often and have never been bitten. They are also really smart. They can lay eggs months and months after mating waiting until they feel safe enough to made the egg sack.

You speak about these precious creatures with great love! Thanks a lot!

"A great white shark would get a zero". That was gold.

Wow! They are so cool! The story about the female who wrapped her own arm...mind boggling! I am truly in awe! Umm, can I ask to those asking Clint to not post anymore arachnid videos to please not...just don’t watch them! It’s okay, you don’t need to enjoy all of the animals but a lot of people really do and want to know more! I’m not going to be keeping a Black Widow as a pet but there might be those out there that would love to but would like to know more. The way Clint presents these videos is unique and provides a concise but well rounded view into these species we don’t hear about all too often! If you read this Clint...thank you, as all of your videos are, this was mega rad!

I had 3 black widows as pets. I had one her name was Phoenix. She was about the size of a nickel. She laid several eggs sacks. She only bred once the whole time I had her. Never kept egg sacks but Phoenix lived for 3 years almost 4. They can live up to 5 years.

I'd love to see you do a video on Parasteatoda tepidariorum, the common house spider. I've always found them to be like cool little mottled widows and are safer to handle!

This really changes my perspective on these spiders!

I used to have a black window as a pet. After several months and a few male widow intrusions into our house it was decided to let her go since we had 2 small children in the home and even the male bite can be quite severe for kids. We later got a pink toed tarantula instead and she was just as great a pet.

Loved the way you explained it! I actually understand and learned something in an entertaining way! Thanks for that.

Hahahah you have no idea how validated I felt when you were demonstrating using your black widow container as a fly swatter! I'm currently using a 50mL conical as a moth catcher with a little baby mouse spider residing in there. I felt so understood with being that person taking in random critter pets lmaoo

"Sperm are cheap." You're telling me, brother.

When i was a youngster i had a pet black widow live over 2 years almost 3 if i remember right but i did reports on her in school and she was one of the most memorable pets i ever had

Clint: "If what you want is a spider-" Most of Clint's fanbase: "Nope!"

I tortured myself watching this but came away with a little more sympathy and respect for the Black Widow. I loved that after being injured, she went off and bandaged herself up!

At first I thought "who would want to have a black widow as a pet". After watching I am now thinking about it! Thanks Clint!

Clint is like the Bond villain in the fly world. Rather than just quickly swatting them they must fight for their lives until they are killed by a terrifying spider!😂

Black Widows are awesome! I keep a huge selection of arachnids & try to respect the many that I encounter in my job. I am so comfortable with spiders, I've "pinch-grabbed" black widows who would rather play dead than try biting me (I did have some rubber-coated gloves on when I'd do this, btw). These magnificent arachnids are definitely wonderful pets & so amazing to get to know better. Very worth it. All the species of Latrodectus are great.

love your channel. So genuinely in love with critters, we can all see your passion!

Black widow male: “knock knock I’m not a fly” Black widow female: “I know, but I’ll eat you anyway, cus I’m hot and hungry. PS: Love your animalistic nerdiness.

I had a pet black widow once back when I was still in my high school years, and I named her Wicked Wanda, and she was a very interesting pet, however, we ended up going on vacation for a couple weeks, and I dropped a couple crickets in her enclosure and when we got back, she had had babies, which were crawling out through the airholes and were escaping into my room! Our basement was then infested with black widows, hehehe!!!

the silk cast story is SO AWESOME, I wouldn't be surprised if you're one of if not the only person to witness something like that since it sounds like they don't get injured often

I was bitten by a black widow when I was 15 and working at a boy scout camp. IT SUCKED!!! I felt like death for a full day, but then I was OK again. I also found a brown recluse right next to my bed in that cabin, and I was careful to always check my bed carefully before getting in it. That black widow bite was not something I wanted to repeat!

“Black widow, the best pet spider?” Me, an arachnophobe : Well yes but actually no, very much no

I was cleaning the garage in sandals and one walked across my foot. That was when I remembered I should wear closed shoes when cleaning the garage. I won't forget again.

The bloopers at the end were amazing XD thank you for this awesome info. I use to keep huntsman spiders as a kid.

Just rescued a black widow and I built a small encosure until I find a place to release her, she's a beautiful adult and immediatly tought about checking how often they feed with you, love to see a fellow Biologist doing these videos

Had one of these as a pet, it was saved from a Costco cellphone kiosk in 2013. Lasted about a year and a half before it passed away. She had a 29-gallon aquarium to live in so she had lots of room to do her thing. After feeding she almost looked brown from being so full, was awesome to see. Had nothing like a normal spider web, was all over the place with its webbing for travel and interconnected lines to feel vibrations. Was an amazing hunter, fast, so fast. Truly was an awesome pet to have, would have another any day. Cool fact: Black Widows silk was used for crosshairs in the 2 world wars.

One of the ways I knew my husband was the one lol.. he’d catch spiders in the house and release them instead of killing them and he’s not even a reptile person. ❤️

Loved this video brother, when I was much younger I used to keep spiders as pets. I always found the difference in web density, texture, and strengths to be wildly fascinating. Funny enough my favorite pet was a black widow, she lived for just over two years, and was easily the most passive spider I'd ever kept She grew very accustomed to her new habitat, and purposely stayed low from the lid of the enclosure (I always assumed she knew I'd have to open it, or maybe that she knew I was feeding her) and she never tried to escape or pull any crazy stunts. It was quite fun to watch her build her webs, wrap up her lunches, and just generally existing like she wasn't captive at all. 10/10 best pet for arachnid lovers

love the knowledge and the energy. subscribed.

“A lot of people get bitten when they’re going to the bathroom” Me watching this on the toilet

Hearing about that black widow casting up her leg with silk is incredible! Clint pls write that down, we need this on record because that is genuinely so interesting.

Something you didn't mention about black widows that impacts handling them is, that they don't always hit you with a dose of venom. Many times bites from black widows are "dry bites", basically warnings telling you to back off. Ofcorse it's still a big risk, I personally wouldn't bank on a dry bite. But it's not as dangerous as most people to free handle them, just don't annoy or threaten them.

The spider wrapping her leg is a first for me, how smart and cool is that! Thanks for the great video. We learn more about wonderful nature every day 🙂

I'm afraid of spiders but DANG IT I'M GONNA WATCH THIS BECAUSE CLINT IS STINKIN RAD

"You know what? Let's keep her. I always wanted a pet THAT COULD KILL ME!!"

Clint is the exact person I would expect to have this channel and I am here for it. Been binging every episode

ty from a long time Living Science Teacher, Love your professionalism and info

"i got a black widow in a jar i assumed you'd want it."

You definitely need to write up that report on the black widow dressing its leg with silk.

Best video ever. beautifully delivered. Informative, articulate and entertaining.

Awesome video with some of the best information I have ever heard. Just wanted to say thanks

Female black widow: this is a suicide mission Make black widow: ok

2:49 “and he is gonna run for his life.” I laughed wayyy to hard

I used to play with Black Widows when I was a kid. There was a lava rock in my grandma's years and I'd lift it up to look at the family that was under it. I watched the mother Widow create egg sacs and I'd pick them up by their middle parts and I could see the spinnerettes with silk coming out. I held them close enough that I could see the mouthparts separately from the fangs. Then I'd put them down and they'd scurry away back under the rock. It was fascinating. I wouldn't do it again, but I was never bitten and they were never really aggressive towards me. I don't regret it at all. Black widows are really beautiful spiders.

Your demeanor is so addictive! I love you videos so much