Health and Safety - Jumping Spiders and Water

A jumping spider has to drink, and like many creatures, they need fresh water every day, but there are different options offered as a source to drink from. However, not all of them are as good of an idea as you might think.

Spiders do not breathe through their mouth parts, they have a small opening on the underside of their abdomen called book lungs. Without getting too bogged down in biology, these allow air to flow over a series of respiratory channels where oxygen can be absorbed. They look a little like pages of a book hence the term book lungs. Due to water tension and the size of jumping spiders, it is very easy for water to cling across this opening and hinder or prevent breathing, so you need to be careful of how water is offered. Bowls: This is not advised for jumping spiders as one wrong pounce and the spider could easily end up in the water, struggle to free itself from the water or remove the water from their underside. This is often fatal. Water Sponges: These are a safer option when it comes to giving your jumping spider a drinking spot but it requires a lot of maintenance. The sponge should be boiled every 2 days to remove bacterial growth which in the warm environment of a sub-tropical enclosure will thrive on the sponge. Jumping spiders are arboreal and are used to drinking rain and dew, they may not always wander down to the substrate to look for the sponge in the bowl until they feel rather dehydrated. Spray bottle: Regular spray bottles used in gardening are not suitable as their droplet dispersal is too large, creating large drops that will cling to your spider’s underside. A clean, unused fine mist sprayer or atomiser will create must finer spray. This is the best and safest option for jumping spiders and also helps with the overall humidity in the enclosure. You can mist the side of the enclosure every day, preferably in the morning to mimic natural dew, twice if it is particularly warm. If you live in a hard water area you can use a water filter to stop the limescale build up on the sides of your enclosure and make it easier to clean.

Signs that water is stuck to the underside of your spider is when they drag their abdomen and back legs across the enclosure or on décor. If you see this happen, get them out as soon as you can and place them on a tissue or kitchen roll to absorb the water as they drag. Then check to see if there are any pools of water on leaves and décor, or large drops formed on the sides. You can remove these with a cotton tip. It’s good practice to keep a cotton tip amongst your spider-wrangling tools to remove water hazards after every spray. If they have fallen into water, once again quickly place them onto the kitchen roll to get as much water off of them as quickly as possible. Remember to check for these hazards, such as drink, when handling your spider. If you have plants in your enclosure, the best way to water them is with a tattooist's wash bottle to get the stream of water as close as possible to the base of the plant. I have noticed that a longer jet of water looks like prey movement to spiders, and I have had jumping spiders try to pounce on the stream, luckily I was quick to notice and no one was squirted. Have you accidentally misted your spider? Don’t panic, at some point, it will happen to every keeper and in most cases all is fine and they will sit and wash themselves. But keep an eye on them to look for signs of dragging in case the water has collected underneath. Condensation? If your enclosure has been newly put together then the substrate will likely be damp and it may form a small line of condensation near the bottom of your enclosure, This is very common and will settle down over the next week or so. Use a cotton tip or sponge brush to remove large build-ups. If you are struggling to control the condensation and it sits heavily on the sides of the enclosure, or mould is forming (which is natural and nothing to overly panic about) you may want to think about using a wad of kitchen roll to soak up some of the excess moisture from the substrate. It may also be a sign that there isn’t enough ventilation. Most enclosures are easily modified to add more with a drill bit.

Going on Holiday? While a quick trip away may be easily worked around your older spiders feeding schedule it is unadvisable to leave them without water every day. You can try a sponge but as mentioned this is not the cleanest option, and it is likely the sponge will dry out in a few days. Water is not only essential, but it’s essential to spiders that aren’t mature and need extra fluid around the time they moult. If they don’t drink enough water before moulting they can easily have a fatal mis-moult. I recommend you look for a pet sitter or someone to come by your home and at least spray your spider's enclosure once a day.