# Dealing witb a baby huntsman spider plague ....



## kingofnobbys (Oct 9, 2015)

Looking at my lounge room ceiling I have about a few dozen baby huntsmen spiders hanging out near the light (I think they've only just hatched as they are only 3- 4 mm across the legs).

Before I kept lizards as pets and had feeder insects to consider in the house I would simply give such plagues a blast with the Mortein insect spray or surface spray , but I don't want to risk my pet lizards , and don't want to kill my feeder insects in the process.

Thinking of getting a bit of Acrylic tube to put on the end of our vaccum cleaner and removing them this way but it will be tedious expensive (buying the acrylic tube (about 2-3m long).

Any suggestions .....


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## Shotta (Oct 9, 2015)

Give them a visit from good 'ole doctor shoe,or you can create a really large bug catching jar,or you could use a broom.


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## kingofnobbys (Oct 9, 2015)

Shotta said:


> Give them a visit from good 'ole doctor shoe,or you can create a really large bug catching jar,or you could use a broom.



I was hoping not to have to harm them.... but I guess I have no choice else before long I'll have a house full of big huntsman spiders (yes I know they are harmless) but I really would really have them living outside than inside.

Think I've come up with way of removing them - unfortunately it'll likely kill them (  ) , a broom handle with a bit cardboard tacked to the end (covered with the sticky side facing up with sticky tap). Will be laborious but will work.


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## pythoninfinite (Oct 9, 2015)

A couple of AHGs will soon sort them out...

Jamie

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Seriously, they will disperse and move outside of their own accord fairly quickly, or they will starve or dehydrate if they stay inside. Very highly unlikely that they could grow to maturity inside. If it was me I wouldn't worry about them. They (the babies) eat mosquitoes - that has to be a good thing!

Jamie


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## ronhalling (Oct 10, 2015)

[MENTION=41275]kingofnobbys[/MENTION], AAA+++ to what Jamie said they will only stay for a couple of days till their 1st moult and will then leave to find some territory to call their own. Please don't kill them or that will put you in the same class as the snake beheaders as far as the Arachnologists on here are concerned.   .........................Ron

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Those little babies will grow into a magnificent creature like this 1 that i encourage to live behind my wall mounted TV, she was only about the size of a 50 cent piece when i brought her inside from the shed, she is now the size of my fully outstretched hand, my wife now tolerates them after finding out that they love to eat those damn German Roaches.  ......................Ron


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## kingofnobbys (Oct 13, 2015)

pythoninfinite said:


> A couple of AHGs will soon sort them out...
> 
> Jamie
> 
> ...



No mozzies here yet .... I wish they'd eat the baby roaches I've spotted on the carpet lately.

Here's hoping they migrate back outside before long. 

I've had the big ones come inside occasionally. I usually very gently coax them onto a broom to be deposited outside.


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## Herpo (Oct 13, 2015)

I agree with leaving them. I kept inverts for a while before reptiles, and huntsman spiders are vagrant spiders, meaning they will, as stated by Jamie, move out soon. Unless they are the Social Huntsman Spider (_Delena Cancerides_), and even then, they will likely also eat eachother, thus lowering their numbers.

I personally love to see them around, as it means less other spiders, mostly white tails, and less flies and mozzies. They also prefer to run than fight, so I am never too uneasy around them.

Anyway, do whatever makes you feel comfortable, but preferably do not kill them. @ronhalling put it well when he said that to invert keepers, this is our equivalent to killing a snake just because it is on our property.


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## kingofnobbys (Oct 16, 2015)

Only a few last night up there on the ceiling. So I guess they are wondering off or dying off.


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## dragonlover1 (Oct 17, 2015)

huntsmen do more good than harm,totally non venomous but great bug catchers


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## kingofnobbys (Oct 17, 2015)

Yes they are all that , and very nice looking too. Still 2 places I'd rather they away from : inside with us (my wife is very fearful of spiders) and on the inside of the car windows (that just creeps me out when that happens), their place is in the garden , in the shed.


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## CrazyNut (Oct 18, 2015)

[MENTION=21299]dragonlover1[/MENTION] they are still venomous but the venom is not going to harm you, the bite itself might hurt, not that I know anyone who has been bitten by a huntsmen lol [MENTION=41275]kingofnobbys[/MENTION] I agree you should just let them be and let them move out on there own accord and even if they stay and disperse around the house, you can just coach them onto the broom stick when you find one and move it outside


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## Chris1 (Oct 18, 2015)

I had that problem a while ago in my exes bathroom, he was such a girl when it came to spiders he was going to buy mortien to spray them (idiot). I used a vacuum with a sock over the end secured by a hairband and got them all without any damage to the spiderlings.


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## dragonlover1 (Oct 18, 2015)

CrazyNut said:


> @dragonlover1 they are still venomous but the venom is not going to harm you, the bite itself might hurt, not that I know anyone who has been bitten by a huntsmen lol @kingofnobbys I agree you should just let them be and let them move out on there own accord and even if they stay and disperse around the house, you can just coach them onto the broom stick when you find one and move it outside



a friend of my son (while still at school years ago) had a huntsman in a little box and would deliberately get the spider to bite him,it left a red mark but that's all


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## CrazyNut (Oct 18, 2015)

Wow he was an idiot lol he could have easily had an allirgic reaction and gone into anaphlatic shock.....


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## ronhalling (Oct 19, 2015)

[MENTION=40362]CrazyNut[/MENTION], you are dead right about the allergy thing, before Reptiles i used to keep "T's" and got bitten a few too many times and became allergic to their venom, even the bite of a huntsman now makes me balloon up.  .....................Ron


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## brandosmith (Oct 20, 2015)

kingofnobbys said:


> No mozzies here yet .... I wish they'd eat the baby roaches I've spotted on the carpet lately.
> 
> Here's hoping they migrate back outside before long.
> 
> I've had the big ones come inside occasionally. I usually very gently coax them onto a broom to be deposited outside.


That's my method!! Chase them out with a broom or chase them into a bucket & carry them outside!!!


Herpo said:


> I agree with leaving them. I kept inverts for a while before reptiles, and huntsman spiders are vagrant spiders, meaning they will, as stated by Jamie, move out soon. Unless they are the Social Huntsman Spider (_Delena Cancerides_), and even then, they will likely also eat eachother, thus lowering their numbers.
> 
> I personally love to see them around, as it means less other spiders, mostly white tails, and less flies and mozzies. They also prefer to run than fight, so I am never too uneasy around them.
> 
> Anyway, do whatever makes you feel comfortable, but preferably do not kill them. @ronhalling put it well when he said that to invert keepers, this is our equivalent to killing a snake just because it is on our property.




Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## brandosmith (Oct 20, 2015)

kingofnobbys said:


> Yes they are all that , and very nice looking too. Still 2 places I'd rather they away from : inside with us (my wife is very fearful of spiders) and on the inside of the car windows (that just creeps me out when that happens), their place is in the garden , in the shed.


Not to mention the fear of them crawling on your face in the night. That's all I can ever yhink of. 

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## Wally (Oct 20, 2015)

Got very used to them over the years doing tree removals, particularly trees that had succumbed to ivy infestations. Not much you can do up a tree when one crawls up your arm.


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## ronhalling (Oct 23, 2015)

Whilst we are still on the subject of these beautiful creatures, she decided to come out for a wander this morning and must have been spraying some pheromones around as a male has come sniffing around as well, 1st pic is showing how big she is sitting atop the 55" wall mounted tv, the 2nd is the male (take note of his size compared to the cornice and the fact he has just nailed a daddy long legs and has his eyes on a small house spider) the 3rd is the female in comparison with the cornice and the 4th is just showing what a beautiful pattern she has.    .................Ron

(hmmm looks like i need to get the cobweb broom out lol)


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## Snapped (Oct 23, 2015)

She's a beaut Ron, I really like Huntsman spiders, the only time I relocate them outside is if they are in danger of getting eating by the dog (climbing down the walls). I just grab a container, place it over the spidey, slide a piece of paper between the wall and container and hold the paper over the top, or if it's night time, I just stick a lid on it and wait till morning to put spidey outside.

The only spider I will foot stomp on is a white tail.


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## ronhalling (Oct 23, 2015)

[MENTION=34451]Snapped[/MENTION], it's good to see a lady who likes Arachnida, they are few and far between, believe it or not the humble huntsman relishes the chance to munch on those insidious little beasties (white tails), i won't kill them myself, as with all creatures they are on the evolution ladder for a reason and deserve to live out their lives in peace (or until the huntsman comes a hunting lol) so long as they (white tails) stay out of my bed i will stay out of their web.  .....................Ron


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## cement (Oct 23, 2015)

hey ronhalling, what is it that makes the white tails so insidious mate?


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## ronhalling (Oct 23, 2015)

[MENTION=4778]cement[/MENTION], Buggered if i know m8, unless it is the false reports of the creeping ulcerated sores at the bite sites, or their method of locomotion (they walk the same as a Tarantula i.e 1 1/2 legs at a time) and it looks so weird on a spider that small, they are the only Arachnid that causes me any sort of anxiety when i see them......... just like any fear i suppose...hard to explain and for a guy who claims to like everything Arachnida' i find "White Tails" insidious.  .........................Ron


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## Snapped (Oct 24, 2015)

Thanks Ron, I grew up with 3 older brothers and on our many adventures to the local creek, we would look for tadpoles, or beatles, worms, bugs, all kinds of things. 
We used to have a Huntsman who lived in our letter box, and he/she never bothered me when I opened it to get the mail, but if my (then) partne (who was deathly scared of spiders, especially Huntsman) went to get the mail, the Huntsman would rear up in defense mode. It became a standing joke, I'd ask him to get the mail and he'd just give me "the look" hehehehe


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