Im glad she ate for you, i knew she would. You really don’t have to aim for the webbing especially once her webs are established. The cricket or other insect will get caught in a trip wire pretty quick and she will be just as quick to devour them. I typically will throw in 3 appropriately sized prey items and let her do what she does best. Once they get nabbed by a web strand they aren’t going anywhere so you also don’t have to worry about the crickets turning the tables on the spider.
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So…I did a thing. Last night I ordered two tarantula slings. G. pulchripes (Chacao golden knee) and T. albopilosus (curly hair). The G. pulchripes is not a teeny tiny sling, it’s nearing the juvenile stage (just under 2"), and the T. albopilosus is itty bitty (1/2"). They should ship early next week. Super excited! When I saw that one of the highly-regarded tarantula vendors had larger G. pulchripes slings available (and on sale!), I had to jump on it. Last time I found some around that size, I waited too long to pull the trigger and they all sold out, so I couldn’t let that happen again!
I’ll give them their own thread once they arrive, but I was too excited not to say something. 
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Little update on Miss Delilah. She’s doing great! Eating well, webbing up her new enclosure, and generally being awesome! So far the front-opening enclosure hasn’t caused any issues. It does make it hard to toss feeders into her web, but she has enough trip lines attached to the ground that sooner or later, the crickets get tangled up in those and then she drops down on them like death from the sky. So far she doesn’t seem to have webbed up the door at all.
Here’s a picture of her pretty little hourglass.
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Lovin’ the hourglass 
she is making some nice webbing.
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She’s definitely made herself at home in the new digs! And I love that this enclosure has a crystal clear top (unlike her deli), so I can get that nice view of her underside!
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Is this a top down view? I might suggest some perhaps small curled leaves to make her feel a bit more secure a place she can retreat if needed. More than likely she will just stay in that spot, females rarely relocate unless their traps are not successful but you feeding her gives her way more opportunity than in the wild.
When i set her enclosure up i made a nice overhanging hide because i know they love places like that.
You really don’t need to do anything but admire and feed her, she will pretty much hang out waiting for the dinner bell.
I noticed a difference in the Southern vs Western my southern definitely preferred a dark corner and the western seemed to favor being up above everything, but he could get to any part of the enclosure in like a second or 2. Females do tend to stay put however even she will web everything up and wait for the vibrations to call her. These spiders can really move.
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The leaf she’s on in the picture has some fairly tight curls in it that she can retreat to if she wants (and she will run in there when she gets startled, she’s webbed up the inside of the curls), plus there are some places for her to hide closer to the ground. She actually seems to prefer being more or less out in the open, that’s usually where I see her. She only hides if something startles her. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how visible she usually is.
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I’ve discovered that Delilah can take down small crickets no problem! I’d been feeding her pinheads, but I got some small crickets for my new tarantulas, and after seeing my tiny T. albopilosus sling take one down no problem, I thought I’d try one with Delilah (whose body is only slightly smaller than the tiny T sling). She went for it right away and had no problem subduing it!
This is awesome, because I really hate dealing with the itty bitty pinhead crickets. Added bonus is that at least for now, all my spiders can take down the same size crickets, so I’ll only need to buy and store one size, which is nice and convenient. (Eventually the Ts will need something larger, but that’s a problem for future me.)
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They are excellent hunters and can take fairly large prey compared to their bodies. She will eventually take medium crickets about 2-3 a week. The cricket won’t have a chance to hurt the spider her webs are way to strong.
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Here’s a picture of Delilah looking nice and plump after eating a cricket that was bigger than she is. Love how this girl always seems to be out on display!
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Look who just molted! (That thing that looks like little sticks in her web above her is the molt.)
She’s definitely looking larger now! Sadly I’ve also noticed that her dorsal and lateral markings have noticably decreased, which makes me a little sad, though of course I knew that would happen (I’ll try to get a new picture of her back, she’s not in a good position to do so now). Still, I’m glad she’s healthy and growing and had a successful molt!
@rmleone how long should I give her to harden up before feeding her? She’s due for a meal this weekend, though I’ll obviously hold off if she needs more time for her new exoskeleton to harden. She must have molted either last night or today, since she hadn’t yet molted when I checked on her yesterday before bed.
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She should be good to go by the weekend, honestly because of her webbing prey stand no chance to turn the tables. Im sure you have observed how quickly her webbing and her fast movement prey don’t stand a chance.
Widows can go months without food so if you feel more comfortable giving more time you certainly can wait a couple days. She should be good to go however. If you have less “munching” insects such as a roach they are less of a threat, but honestly most prey are no match for her webbing and quick action and venom.
Your widow looks beautiful 
. Yes unfortunately she won’t keep her beautiful dorsal markings, however you will see some cool markings under black light. Just like scorpions they really don’t like that light.
Im glad you are really enjoying you new family member, i will be looking to get some new widows from a breeder i know next time i pick up some scorpions. They are just so awesome little animals i thoroughly enjoy every day with them. Such voracious eaters.
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I wasn’t really concerned about the insect chewing on her (it would have no way to really get to her when she’s up in her web), but I was more concerned about her potentially damaging a fang if she tried to envenomate the prey before her fangs had fully hardened. I know that can be an issue with tarantulas. Of course, her fangs are proportionally smaller than a tarantula, so they probably harden faster. Her abdomen is looking a little small, so I’ll probably give her something tomorrow.
I’ve really been enjoying her, I now think black widows make fantastic pets! She’s so beautiful, and I love the way she usually hangs out in the open. Watching her spin her web and catch prey is so freaking cool. I’ve always liked widows, but it’s been so cool to see various behaviours in action that I’ve never gotten to see up close before. I’m so glad I decided to keep her. You should totally get some widows!
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How much times are you feeding her?
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I knew you’d come to see Widows are amazing and fantastic pets. Super fun to watch and probably one of the easiest animals to care for, just throw in some prey, she will do the rest. Since the females rarely leave their area you dont need much space. In the wild she will just pick a spot and claim it, she will only move if food runs out or she gets chased out.
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I normally feed her once a week, but it’s been two weeks since I fed her last. Her last meal was pretty large and she was looking quite chonky before her molt, so I held off on feeding her last weekend.
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Yeah, they’re super easy to care for, and she’s out in the open way more than either of my tarantulas (my G. pulchripes is usually out a couple times a week, but I’ve hardly seen my tiny T. albopilosus since she disappeared into her burrow). I also like that I don’t really need to worry about feeder insects harming her. Widows are definitely super cool, low-maintenance pets.
I’m always vaguely amused by the fact that it’s my pets most people think I’m crazy for having that are actually the easiest and most low-maintenance to keep (my snakes and spiders). It’s my “normal” mammal pets (cats and chinchilla) that are the more annoying, high-maintenance animals. 
Don’t get me wrong, I adore my kitties and my chin, but their care is way more involved and time consuming than my “scary” animals. Plus they’re way noisier and messier.
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Yup. I love my mammals too, including my cats, but I always tell people that a kitten is WAY more dangerous than my corn snakes. Never had a snake who was entertained by repeatedly attacking and bloodying anything or anybody. 
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Yeah, I have a scar on my nose from when one of my cats decided he was going to pounce on my face at 4am. I knew he broke the skin, but I initially didn’t think it was that bad and just fell back asleep. Then when I got up and looked in the mirror, I discovered that one side of my face was covered in dried blood. 
Needless to say, my snakes and spiders have never torn open my face in the wee hours of the morning.
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I love my cat. I really do.
But I would need a new cat if that happened at my house.
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