Spider deterents?

[dataDave]

Ok, I'm moving into my mates house so I can save up easier over the next 12months, the problem is his house is crawling with spiders, especially what is going to be my room. I need a good deterent. I've looked at the super-powerful ultrasonic and electromagnetic plug-in deterents on ebay which look really good, however these are also going to repel my pet tarantula and hamster.

My moving in has offcially been named 'Operation Nullify Spider Threat', so far I'm on with sealing the wooden floor, sealing the walls and vent in the wall, sealing off the cracks in the outside door that leads onto the balcony, putting a draft cover on the bottom of the room door, etc etc. Ideally I need a local chemical deterent I can apply to the door frames just to make sure.

I thought tarantulas were house spider deterents (I don't know where I got that from) but after the past couple of weeks that evidently hasn't been the case.

Any ideas? Cheers.

[Spatial]

I wouldn't bother going to all the effort. I know from first hand knowledge that if they want to get in, they'll find a way.

Plus I really wouldn't recommend sealing up that vent. In the long terms you'll end up with things like condensation. In the shorter and more immediate term, if it's needed for ventilation for gas safety reasons, you could die.

[dataDave]

I'm sealing it with a ladies stocking behind the cover, don't worry.

It's a tiny room man, as long as the doors are shut there is going to be no way in there, I'm determined.

I'm buying one of those bunk beds with a desk beneath instead of a lower bunk, just like most of us had when we were 10. The only way they can get onto my bed is by going up the walls and then down onto my bed.

I might try double-sided tape in the corners of the room so the bastards get stuck.

[merf]

don't spiders hate the smell of conkers ?

[Jebus]

Has the room been empty long?

More than likely once someone is living there, they'll bugger off quick sharp anyway!

Oh and the conkers thing doesn't work either, sadly.

[dataDave]

Has the room been empty long?

More than likely once someone is living there, they'll bugger off quick sharp anyway!

Oh and the conkers thing doesn't work either, sadly.

It's been empty for five years.

Nah man, Lee who lives in the room next door was off his face yesterday and said he eats seven spiders a week.

[charlesr]

Just clear a few of them out and leave a few for catching flies and woodlice. If it took 5 years to get an amount, it'll take ages to get more and the fact that you are in there will keep the numbers down.

[abigsmurf]

It's been empty for five years.

Nah man, Lee who lives in the room next door was off his face yesterday and said he eats seven spiders a week.

Don't make me get all snopes on yo ass!

->Open Spoiler<-

Spiders amazingly enough don't want to die and won't willingly crawl into people's mouths

.

Spiders like warm(er than outside), dark places. He's probably going to have to put up with an autumn of spiders (which is when they all come inside anyway). If there's lots of them it could take a while for them to go away.p. Sweep up the web, seal entry points for them and you'll get the numbers back to normal levels.

Don't think exterminators would be worthwhile unless it's a major problem or you have ones that are a real nuisance. Are they standard house spiders or are they fat, black ones? If they're the latter they're probably false widows which can bite (minor wasp sting level of pain).

[dataDave]

Big, black or brown, and fat. Tarantula sized only no where near as fat.

[112]

In my experience, spiders tend to come into the house when it rains outside.........

So get some bug spray, squirt the corners and crevices, semi-cover the vents like you already have and keep the room clean and clutter free.

Spiders are predators and love crawling into tiny dark spaces.

112

[Darwock]

You should welcome the spiders! I have a jumping spider that lives near my desk at work, and I entertain myself by herding flies towards him and watching him pounce. He's a bit crap at catching them though.

A good spider deterrent would have been my former pet (caption provided by Spatial..)



You wouldn't swallow one of those by accident, but they might wake you up when they flutter onto your face

[Ady]

don't spiders hate the smell of conkers ?

I wasn't even aware that spiders could smell.

Anyway David, you'd hate my flat if you hate spiders - especially my bathroom.

Luckily, I'm not to fussed about spiders.

[randombs]

My mate at work has a tarantula-type spider (dunno what type exactly. I think it's called a blue-something) which he uses as a deterrent. He says it works, but I think he means it stops him getting scared of the other spiders as long as he has that one.

At this point in my life, I'd cack myself if I saw a tarantula-sized spider prancing about. The most I've done so far is manage to pluck up the courage to throw a standard big hairy garden spider out with a tissue which I was really proud of doing. I really am now trying to properly overcome my fear of them though. I'm 26 and it's been at least 16 years of fear. My next challenge is to pick up one of the garden types with my bare hands. I found one in the garage who lives near the door and every time I go in there now I'll give him a poke if I see him.

As you already have a tarantula, you're naturally gonna be a fair few rungs up the ladder from me, but are you actually afraid of them or just don't want them crawling about? I find just keeping the place clean and not leaving things sitting there for too long helps. I see a possible problem, though - with all those nooks and crannies sealed up, if you do end up in a confrontation, where's the spider gonna run away to? You'll both be stuck in the room together!

I've read that they don't like tellies (CRTs I imagine, I doubt LCDs annoy them but you never know) so why not set up a little 14" one aimed at the door. You could also play retro consoles on it for that retro feel, and any spiders will head straight for the door

[Kieran76]

I think there is some sort of spider boom at the moment. My flat is covered, on the outside with webs. I quite like them though and get excited when a big feller moves in.

[JazzFunk]

Try and get rid of the webs, especially the ones in the upper corner of your room, because they can often contain what I can only describe as "fluffy egg balls" (which basically hatch seemingly hundreds of spiders if left unmolested, like generators in Gauntlet).

A few years back, my bathroom was running wick with spiders, and in some panic/stressy state, I ended up squishing loads of them, and the egg balls, but felt incredibly guilty, so left a few around, and it was quite comforting in the few weeks afterward seeing the occasional webbed-up fly dangling about when I went for a piss.

I had my space, the spiders had theirs, and that delicate balance still exists today.