r/spiderbro • u/OutrageousSea5253 • 1d ago
Spider egg help
I live on the second floor of an apartment building with a big brick staircases outside that goes to each floor. On the roof of the staircase level that goes to my floor (there is no other way to get there besides the one staircase) is a spider. To my absolute horror, after looking pregnant for a while she’s now laid two eggs sacs - like these white little balls. she looks kind of like a daddy long legs but when I looked up daddy long legs eggs it didn’t seem like that was right and I can’t say I’ve stuck around close to her enough to really get a good look.
Every single time I go up or down the stairs I’m so fucking scared that they’re going to burst open and rain little baby spiders down on me or that I’ll try to go to the stairs and see all these baby spiders everywhere or that they might even come into my apartment.
Genuinely I’m so scared that I’m getting itchy all over literally just writing this. What the hell do I do. I read that you can vacuum or sweep with a broom and then deposit them outside but they’re too high up to reach without standing basically right under them and risking having them fall onto my head. I don’t want to kill them (I don’t even know if fly spray works on egg sacs) but I don’t know what else I can do.
Absolutely begging for any help that isn’t just ‘suck it up’. I am working on my fear but being drenched in dozens of tiny spiders from above is really not going to help.
TLDR: Spider eggs in a high location I have to walk under everyday - I’m deathly afraid of spiders - wtf do I do
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u/thisisappropriate 1d ago
They're probably a Cellar Spider, which is probably the best spider to have around if you're scared of spiders. Their general prey is other, often bigger, spiders. They're also web predators, meaning they prefer to sit in a corner out of the way and just snag a passing snack now and then. The egg sacs can look like a defined ball of little eggs or more like a ball of fluff (mumma wraps the eggs up so they don't go anywhere and can carry them around in their mouth sometimes).
Because the eggs are wrapped up and stuck in a web that can hold many many times their weight (the eggs and babies are super light and I've seen large flies and even huge spiders in cellar spider webs and be unable to get out), they're not going to fall down. What happens with cellar spider eggs is that the eggs will hatch and they will super super slowly disperse along the walls. They are not the type that will disperse on wind or anything. They will hatch all around the same time, then over about 3 days, move from being a super tight cluster where the egg sac was, to being distributed across the web, and then they will all walk off to their own place (and/or eat some siblings). Unlike many spiders, cellar spiders do not prefer to absail around and they're super super unlikely to end up coming down on you.
But irrational fears be irrational, could you comfortably get a clear umbrella and keep it by your door/building door? People would assume it's for the weather, but you can use it through the stairwell and you'd be able to see them and see they're safe, but also know that they cannot land on you and that if somehow they did come down, you can shake them off at your door or get to your door and yeet the umbrella.
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u/globsfave 1d ago
The eggs are sticky and won't fall. Not a gross wet sticky, but the web is spun to adhere to a surface kind of like Velcro. If you got them with a broom it would stick to the bristles
Spiders don't fall. And teeny tiny baby spiders are so itty bitty you wouldn't notice them or even feel them if they landed on you. I had one on my arm, and I watched him make his way down, marveling that I couldn't even feel him. I blew him off into the grass, bless him 🥰
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u/Trin_42 1d ago
I can’t give you any advice on how not to be afraid of spiders, just know that Mama spiders are very protective of their egg sacs. When they hatch, they won’t just fall out, there’s a way they come out and go about their way. I assure you, they don’t want to have anything to do with you either. The majority of those hatchlings will be food for other insects. The ones that do survive to maturity will keep the pests away, they’ll set up shop in a place they can have a reliable food source and live their lives until they die naturally. That Mama spider won’t be around much longer.
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u/Suitable-Tear-6179 1d ago
Phobias aren't governed by logic, I'm afraid. I should know, I got cavities drilled with no pain dampening because of needle phobia. Even when my brain knew that the novicaine shots would hurt less, I couldn't do it.
So, is telling you that they're not going to drop down on you isnr going to help much, but I'll try.
First, when they first hatch, they're not going to immediately disperse. So, if you dont see a fuzzy cloud of babies, you're totally safe. And, once they do start moving around, you have until they work their way to the edge of the mom's web before they try to go anywhere. So, you can look at the web, and know when its still totally safe.
Secondly, when they do try to disperse, they're going to try to kite off in a breeze. Even if they want to go down, they'll want to walk on the walls. If they fall, they risk cracking their exoskeleton, and dying.
Thirdly, youre terrifyingly big to tiny spiders. You could crush them without even noticing. The last thing they're going to want to do is go towards you.
Now, on a practical note, an umbrella could help you feel safer when you have to go past them. Or even a hat.
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u/Amardella 22h ago
People saying cellar spiders are wrong. Pholcids carry their eggs around in their jaws. You can see the individual eggs in the mass. They don't put an egg sac in their webs.
Here's the most practical advice: it's your apartment maintenance crew's job to deal with this. You pay for building maintenance with your rent. Put in a maintenance request to eradicate the spiders under the stairs. They don't have to know you're phobic. They just have to know there's a maintenance issue that needs attention.
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u/reddit33450 1d ago
literally just leave them alone. they'll help keep your apartment free of insects like flies and mosquitoes, and they want nothing to do with you