Hello

[Nothingface]

My name is Zach I am 15 years old and very interestid in arachnids especialy latrodectis :D I used too have a total of 5 intill my parents killed them all in my sleep becouse they are highly dangerous.parents are always right :shame: .Well not for long ;P any ways i live in calif now but in 2 weeks i will be in new mexico.oh yah is the red widow keeping reqirements the same as any widow?

Zach

[orcrist]

Oh yes, latrodectus are CERTAINLY "highly dangerous." lol. Just don't tell them exactly WHAT they are, if you don't have to, and you're fine. If not, explain exactly how dangerous they actually are. (relatively... not very)

[Nothingface]

i do but one thing is stoping me,there ignorence :evil:

[edesign]

don't lie to your parents about the toxicity of ANY pets you are keeping...it is morally and ethically wrong. Not to mention if the find out you were lying about the toxicity you can bet they're going to come down on you hard! They live there, THEY pay the bills, they do have a right to say what you can and can't keep in THEIR household.

the L. mactans that I have is the ONLY invert I currently keep that I consider medically significant...because it is. The three species of scorpions I have and the one tarantula, while the bite/sting would be very painful unless I go in to anaphylactic (sp?) shock I'll be fine. get bit by the L. mactans and to the hospital I'll go...probably won't die from it, but the physical and neurological effects will probably warrant medical attention.

Now...Latrodectus aren't aggressive and prefer to run from everything I've read about them, even in their own web. They are pretty fast movers but that's what feeding tongs are for. I keep mine in a small jar with no airholes (i've been keeping it this way for over a month with no problems) and I crack open the lid once every couple of days, usually when I feed it a cricket. This minimizes chances of escape, the jar falling and breaking open is the only way this can occur. If you keep any pets like cats or dogs be sure to keep the Latrodectus' locked up because they can and WILL find a way to get in to it, especially cats.

Perhaps since your parents do not like the Latrodectus that you should start with some arachnids that are less poisonous and show them over the course of a couple months that you are a responsible keeper. If you can do that for a while with no mishaps and don't try to force the Latrodectus down their throats, they may allow you to keep one or two. Just my two cents...compromise is usually the best way to solve problems. The worst way is to lie and keep things secret.

good luck! (and Nothingface kicks ass! would love to see them live :) i'm assuming that's where you got the screen name from)

[Nothingface]

Thanks for all you help currnetly i M just keeping a celler spider/daddy longlegs.yes nothingface does kick much ass but the broke up a while ago. :(

[pandinus]

actually, cats are not very suseptable, and canines are virtually immune to latro venom. just like how the only mamals truly vulnerable to atrax robustus are primates.