The Journey of Making Friends With a Tiny Spider

This is my friend Earl, a tiny jumping spider with funny eyebrows. To get a sense of how small she is, here she is next to an orange and here she is next to a watermelon. Despite their size, jumping spiders are surprisingly rewarding pets and incredibly, you can actually build trust with them. In just 14 days, Earl went from being scared of me, to accepting food, to even hopping onto my finger and letting me hold her. But this time, I wanted to take things even further, so over the next 30 days, I set out to see just how far a human can bond with a spider and I had no idea what was about to unfold and this all begins in our brand new home. If there is one thing that's stressful for a spider, it's moving house and ever since we moved into our new home, Earl doesn't trust me like she used to. So the first goal is to gain Earl's trust back, the second goal is for Earl to approach me completely voluntarily and the third goal is to find Earl a boyfriend. Now this last one was wild but more on that later. There is only one way to truly gain a spider's trust and it's through their stomach. Now Earl was eating crickets before but there is one food she simply cannot say no to, so to conquer that first goal and win Earl's trust back, I'm offering her a butterfly. She hasn't taken food directly from me since we moved house and as I sit here, fly in hand, nothing changes. Three minutes pass by and still nothing. But it seems that the lure of a tasty meal is too much for our little arachnid and Earl makes her way over. I will never get bored of that little face even when she has a fly in her mouth and I'm counting this as a huge win but it's only half of the battle and the real test of trust is whether or not she will let me hold her again. Okay baby steps, we are ending the day with Earl climbing back into her terrarium and we will try again in a few days. It's day four and for the first time since day one, Earl is out of her terrarium. I extend my hand out to her and without the promise of food, surprisingly she climbs on. Are we really back at pre-house move bonding levels? Well if she completes this next challenge, I can tick off the first two goals. I'm going to create a bridge between two chairs. At one end is me and on the other end is Earl. If Earl can walk the length of the bridge and climb on my finger, she will get a reward but the catch is she doesn't know that she's getting a reward so let's test this out. I believe I did that. Now she's understandably nervous and moves to the side of the bridge. I make some gestures at the other end and Earl begins to make her way over. The likelihood is is that she has now associated my big moon face with food and is feeling a little hungry. Earl has now reached the other side of the bridge and approaches my finger. The first attempt doesn't work and she wanders off. Undeterred, I try again and fail. Come on Earl, I'm not going to hurt you. At the third and final attempt, Earl slowly crawls onto my finger and I think we can tick off the first two goals. I almost forgot, I promised you a prize Earl and here you go. But just as I thought that we were in a good place, a big fat problem gets thrown into the works. It's day 10 and now Earl has stopped laying the funk down, let me explain what this problem is. Jumping spiders molt which is where they grow too big for their exoskeleton and have to literally break out of it. The process is easier and safer when they're younger but as the spider gets older the risk of a bad molt increases and the final molt is the time where most people lose their jumping spiders. For this process, Earl has made herself a little hammock and she will stay in here until it's complete. I checked back every day and the only sign that she was okay was that she had changed position slightly. It's only when your spider's life is in danger that you realise just how attached you've become and I can't help but feel a little helpless as she goes through this process all on her own. But in the interest of optimism and with all fingers and toes crossed for Earl, there is a third goal to complete and there is someone that I would like you to meet. This is Toejam, Earl's potential boyfriend. Here he is next to a peanut and here he is next to a tomato. Toejam is smaller, darker and has his romance tools right next to his mouth, more on that later. Toejam has no idea that his girlfriend is in the middle of a life or death battle but as a warm-up let's see how he reacts to a video of Earl. The meeting of two jumping spiders is dangerous. Females are bigger, stronger and in the worst case scenario can actually eat the male. Toejam is well aware of some movement and gently approaches the screen. He starts to climb on but Earl moves in the video which causes him to jump back. Come on buddy, compose yourself. But this is one smart spider and it's clear that he knows something isn't quite right and here's why. Jumping spiders have insanely good vision with their eight eyes and their ability to sense depth. While a 2D video with a female jumping spider on there does grab his interest, it doesn't take Toejam long to realise that this is actually not a real spider. He climbs around on the screen for a bit before scattering away and we end day 16 with a new member of the Worcester Terrariums family. But there has been a development and it requires our immediate attention. Earl has been in her web for over a week without eating or drinking and as I checked on her this morning I had a feeling something was about to happen. Her little silhouette moves around in her web and over the course of 30 minutes she breaks out of her exoskeleton and successfully molts. But we are not out of the woods just yet because on the morning of day 20 I made a discovery. I promise you that if you ever get a pet jumping spider you will go through a roller coaster of emotions during its short life. Like if you find a random leg in their terrarium and I didn't find just one. Now this is reminding me of my first ever jumping spider Aerith who died just two days after her final molt. So when I found Earl lying motionless on a leaf this morning my heart sank. But don't worry because Earl is fine and had just kicked her old exoskeleton out of her web. The molt has been a success and the most dangerous part of Earl's life is over but the most dangerous part of ToeJam's life is about to begin. Everything on this journey has led to this moment and if it doesn't work he will get eaten. As he climbs out of the film canister I have an overwhelming urge to stop the process and keep them both safe. But as Earl has trusted me during her entire life it's time that I trust her. ToeJam spots Earl and runs over to her and the window of intervention has now passed. It's down to them. The seductive dance begins and Earl watches on. As he gets closer she backs off and as he retreats she moves forwards. Legs raised and fangs revealed and I do not know if this is in defense or if she's accepting his invitation and then she chooses. Earl allows ToeJam to climb on her and for the next 10 minutes the spiders roll around in the film canister and successfully mate. But if you thought that watching spiders do it was strange well it's about to get a whole lot stranger because in the throws of passion they spill out onto the table and suddenly ToeJam becomes aware of me. Each time I adjust the focus on my camera he lunges forwards with his arms in the air. ToeJam man I am engaged and Earl is all yours. Now amidst all of this x-rated spider footage I almost forgot we can tick off the final goal and as a gentle reminder of the journey we've been on together Earl steps onto my thumb and look how cute she is. She hops back into her terrarium very lightly pregnant and of course this is not the end of the story but there is one more thing I'd like to ask from you. I've written two books about terrarium making and if you would like to support me buying a copy is the best way to do so. There's even a section on jumping spiders. If you enjoyed this video please subscribe and stay tuned for the incoming tidal wave of baby jumping spiders.