Thanks to all who responded. Come to find out she is highly food motivated. She is living the dream in the terrarium in my living room and doing great.
Pearl Sutton wrote:Welcome to Permies, where we understand things like feeding spiders!!
I had a boyfriend in high school who kept black widows in terrariums, I saw him move several in.
Be prepared to move fast, have your plan straight and then:
Get a stick, and hook her web about 3 inches above her, twirl the stick to wind up some of the web, lift it up, she will come with it (and quite probably charge up the stick faster than you expect she can move) drop the stick into the terrarium, put a lid that lets air through it on it, break the excess stick off if you need to to get the lid on (might measure the stick before you start, make sure it fits) make sure there is food in the terrarium, and leave the lid on for a couple of days. She'll be fine at that point.
They DO move fast when upset. Once they are calm they go back to not moving much. They are territorial, so she won't voluntarily change her territory, you'll have to make her, but then she'll claim the new place as territory.
:D
